I must confess to wanting to skip over Psalm 139:20-22. My thoughts, as I’ve dwelt so intently on Psalm 139 for three days now, have rejoiced in the themes so far of this marvelous Psalm: God’s omnipotence, His omnipresence, His omniscience in knowing us even before our conception, and keeping us in His plan. And then come verses 19-22 which express a prayer that confesses hatred for enemies and a plea that God would slay them. If it is of any consolation to us, some scholars, in close scrutiny of these verses, hold that they may have been misplaced by those who decided on the canonization of the Scriptures, and that these four verses are more in keeping with the theme of Psalm 140 which is a prayer for deliverance from evil men.
We are very much aware that David, the likely author of Psalm 139, was beset on every hand with enemies who sought his life and wanted to dethrone him. It is possible that even in the midst of praising God for His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, David could have been reminded of his enemies and how they intended him harm. Another important lesson we learn from these verses is that we can talk to God about anything that bothers us; and certainly enemies fall into the area of troubles. David seems to have a viable ground for his hatred of enemies: He asks: “Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate you? Do I not loathe those who rise up against You?” An enemy of God is an enemy to David (and so they are to us as well, among them false teachers “in sheep’s clothing”).
Jesus gave us a different perspective on how we should consider and treat enemies. In the Beatitudes Jesus taught us to love our enemies: “You have heard it was said, 'you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”-Matthew 12:43-46 (NKJV). We are to treat enemies charitably: “Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” –Romans 12:20-21 (RSV).
In reconsidering the verses from Psalm 139 that deal with hatred of enemies, we also should consider that Jesus taught us to love our enemies and Paul admonished Christians to whom he wrote to treat enemies kindly. Someone has summed up how we should treat any enemies of God and ourselves: “Hate the sin but love the sinner.” President Abraham Lincoln, when asked what he would do with all the enemies the United States made during the crisis of the Civil War: “We will make them our friends.” And he had plans for reconciliation before his life was taken from him by an assassin’s bullet. We cannot join the enemy in their disobedience and hatred of God; but we certainly can replace hatred with love and destructive actions by compassionate deeds. And, like David, it is good for us to be on guard against the enemies of God and the damage they can do in the Kingdom of God. Life is a constant warfare; therefore “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8). Be on guard, therefore, and pray.
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