The whole Psalm
Andrew McHenry, First Congregational Church
Friday, January 20, 2012
Those who are interested in the controversy surrounding Mike O’Neal, the Kansas Speaker of the House, and his recent email about Barack Obama quoting Psalm 109:8 would do well to read the whole text of the Psalm.
This psalm is a prayer for deliverance from enemies. In it the author prayerfully laments his situation. People are conspiring against his life (vv.1-5), so he prays for divine counter-action to take out his foes (vv. 6-15). Recalling the malicious nature of his adversaries (vv. 16-18), he prays that their malice will turn back against them (vv. 19-20). Then he begins to pray for deliverance (v. 21), but he quickly digresses back into lamenting his condition (vv. 22-25). After resuming his petition for protection and deliverance (vv. 26-27), he then expresses confidence in his future victory through God’s power (vv. 28-29) and then concludes by praising the Lord for His saving acts (vv. 30-31).
The Psalms express quite a bit of passion and emotion, which is why there is usually a high degree of resonance for many readers. The part that resonated with Speaker O’Neal was the part that says “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership” (verse 8). Quoted in isolation, this disposition is easy to understand – whether you agree with the Speaker or not. Clearly he wants Barack Obama to be a one-term President. He wants him to lose re-election in November. There is nothing scandalous about this by itself. Those of us who are Democrats had the same feeling about George W. Bush in 2004.
But there are definitely some lessons to be learned from this episode…
First, there is a danger in quoting isolated snippets of scripture without considering the larger context. Psalm 109:8 is part of the larger prayer for vengeful divine counter-action in Psalm 109:6-15. O’Neal’s opponents have pointed out that the next verse says this: “May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” The psalmist’s prayer also includes a petitions for the man’s children to become homeless beggars (v. 10), for the total loss of his possessions (v. 11), and for the perpetual retention of his parents’ sins (vv. 14-15). Surely this is more than Speaker O’Neal ever intended to wish on President Obama. Nevertheless, several thousand people have responded by signing petitions calling for O’Neal’s resignation. That strikes me as excessive, since the original email only quoted verse 8. But I’m sure that by now the Speaker knows more caution is in order. Bible readers should check the context before quoting and applying scripture.
Second (and along same lines), there’s a problem these days with slanderous emails and other forms of electronic communication. Some of the things that are forwarded are simply not factual, and some are just plain rude. Christians should be very careful not to be slanderous and not to bear false witness. Doing a check with snopes.com, truthorfiction.com, factcheck.org or other reliable sources is a duty of Christian discipleship if you’re going to forward emails. And regardless of factuality, Christians should certainly practice kindness (which is among the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22). Sometimes this will mean hitting the delete button on particular forwards. You can disagree with someone politically without disrespecting the person.
A third point is this: While I believe in the inerrancy of scripture, I don’t think the 109th Psalm is the epitome of Biblical prayers for Christians to model from. I would never say that the psalmist was wrong; that would be arrogant and presumptuous. But I can’t help but notice contrast between the prayer of Psalm 109:6-15 and the prayer of Jesus as He was dying on the cross (in Luke 23:34): “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The psalms have a strong current of venting, emotion, and even rage at times. They are very true to life, which is why they have such a high degree of resonance. But there is also a danger involved, and Christians should be cautious about using some of these prayers. It’s interesting that even in the heat of his passion the psalmist recognized this danger: Praying these kinds of prayers may come back to haunt you (Psalm 109:17-20). In prayer, as in many other parts of life, we will reap what we sow (cf. Galatians 6:7, James 3:18). Maybe this is why Jesus said to bless those who curse you (in Luke 6:28).