In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Henry Wotton exclaims, “A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” Lord Henry’s observation, more broadly within the context, considers the benefit of choosing our friends from among those of good character and reputation; surrounding ourselves with persons of nobility can aid us in becoming noble. But he does not stop with the power of friends. By choosing our enemies wisely, which in Lord Henry’s case are those of intellectual power and persuasion, we sharpen ourselves, we engage in struggle with those who, through contest, can strengthen us.
Most of us, however, do not go through life choosing our enemies. Rather, we find ourselves at enmity. Tragically, an enemy can be made from a friend, or worse, a family member, a person with whom we share the bonds of kinship. In Christian community, we find ourselves in church with enemies whom God has made friends through the cross of Jesus Christ. We are then charged, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” We do not have to go far to find opportunity to keep Jesus’ command to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Enemies surround us every day.
Most of us do not seek enemies. In most cases, enmity catches us by surprise. We find ourselves in a contest. Pride and jealousies create division and strife. Ego gets in the way. We unintentionally harm one another. Or, seeking to do right, we get it wrong. There are unintended consequences. A natural byproduct of the human condition is to make enemies. Some people dislike a person simply because they are the kind of person who treats everyone as a friend. Some of us have public feuds. Others have secret enemies, made through private resentments. We’re alienated from one another. We feel it. We long for the elimination of that gap.
In Psalm 5, David is clearly under siege. David begins with an address:
Listen to my words, O Lord;
attend to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.
David asks God to listen to his sighing and cry, and declares God will hear his plea. Notice that David’s emotions are expressed. He names God as Lord and King. John Goldingay, an Old Testament scholar, translates verse 1 thusly: “Give ear to the things I say, Yahweh, consider my murmur.” David asks for God’s ear. He murmurs before God. Perhaps you know the feeling, exhausted by strife, mumbling to God?
The psalm continues with declarations concerning God’s character and the divine disposition toward the wicked. God does not approve of wrongdoing, does not companion evil, does not smile upon the arrogant, does not tolerate lies, and rejects the murderous and malevolent tricksters. David has his enemies in sight. In talking about things God does not like, David talks about things he does not like.
We could follow David’s template. But it is important to remember that the human perspective and the divine perspective are not always the same. While we may believe we are in the right and our enemy is in the wrong, God is the only one qualified to adjudicate that claim. This should not keep us from naming our emotions and even expressing the fullness of our disgust. But when we do so, we should remain humble. After all, we could be wrong. And if we are wrong, we should ask, prayerfully, that God would open our eyes to the truth. Imagine your enmity with another is based on a lie. Suppose the lie is yours. Would you like it to be otherwise? I would hope so. Too many of us are content living in a prison of falsehood and resentment. We build our identity on false righteousness. Repentance and reconciliation appear too costly. Truth, and freedom, terrify us. Fear keeps us from living in love. But perfect love casts out fear.
How do we receive and live by perfect love? Through an encounter with God. Psalm 5:7 draws a contrast. David, contrasting himself with his enemies, is a person of worship. He enters God’s house, bows low, is awed by God, and asks for God’s direction. Psalm 5:8 says, “Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.” We desire God’s righteousness as our guide. Not human righteousness. Not our righteousness.
Psalm 5:8-9 contains powerful imagery. David’s enemies are liars, black-hearted, spewing death and decay from their mouths. They are flatterers. Words are powerful, are they not? And even pretty, pleasing words can render harm. David suffers the consequences. David asks God to hold his enemies accountable, not because they have harmed David, but because they have violated the divine order. Does God notice? Will God act?
Psalm 5:11 marks another turn, another contrast, and a final petition. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.” The words of the righteous become a song. What comes forth from their mouths is not death, but life. They do not bear guilt, but joy. John Calvin writes, “The psalmist teaches us that there is no true and right joy but what is derived from the sense of God’s fatherly love.” They do not fall, like the wicked. Rather, they exult in God. They are not cast out like the enemy, but protected. David concludes with a declaration, writing in Psalm 5:12, “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield.”
It is not a pleasant experience to be at enmity—with people, or with God. And yet, we find ourselves opposed, sometimes by circumstance, and at other times by choice. When we find ourselves at enmity, we pray. We follow David’s example. We address God. We are honest about our emotions. We remind ourselves that God is Lord and King. We remind ourselves we have God’s ear. We examine ourselves. God opposes wickedness. Are we at fault? We worship. In God’s presence, we are in awe. We are humble. We might receive correction. Maybe we discover our way needs to be made straight, because we have gone way off the path. We’re living by our own righteousness instead of God’s. We reject lying, blackheartedness, death, and deceit. We embrace rejoicing, and joy, and blessing and protection. We remember that our struggle with our enemies can strengthen us, not only in character, but in faith.
Psalm 5 teaches us how to pray when we are opposed. It brings our conflicts into the arena of divine concern. It reminds us God is God, and we’re human beings. When we’re in the wrong, we need to know. When we’re in the right, we need divine protection. All of us need divine adjudication. We need help.
We long for the day we no longer need that kind of help, they day when peace is established, the day when God’s purposes are complete. Until the kingdom comes in full, we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Come, and set all things right.
Book Notes
I continue moving through Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, delighting in what I find on every page, highlighting sentences, starring paragraphs, adding marginalia. This book is filled with truth. And because it is slow going, I’m still reading Craig A. Hefner’s Kierkegaard and the Changelessness of God: A Modern Defense of Classical Immutability.
I recently finished reading Frank Herbert’s Dune and a book by Michael J. Rhodes, Just Discipleship: Biblical Justice in an Unjust World.
The former is an enduring, brilliant work of science fiction which I first read between fifteen and twenty years ago. I enjoyed reading it again. It is a testament to the human imagination. This book has politics, religion, ecology, science, intrigue…I recommend it.
The latter is a contemporary exegesis of, primarily, Old Testament texts, with applications made to contemporary societal challenges facing the evangelical church in the United States including our divisions over race, wealth, equality, class, and politics. I appreciated this book, though finding disagreement with some framing of these problems, and, despite the claims of the author to the contrary, believing certain ideological priors are interwoven into the argument. I’m not so sure about some of the biblical application, either. Despite my disagreements with portions of the book, I am in agreement that the world as we experience it is unjust, that discipleship is crucial for how the church responds to injustice, and that the Bible fuels our theological imagination as we seek to respond. In our present circumstance, this side of the Second Coming, I think we’ll always have approximate justice, rather than cosmic justice. I think Rhodes believes we can have cosmic justice now. Rhodes unsettled me, but I think it is the welcome kind of unsettling, the kind that makes me think more carefully about my convictions and my responses to real challenges facing us today, and doing so as a Christian.
I also finished Richard Russo’s Nobody’s Fool. “Sully, Sully, Sully.”
This week I began Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I’m also reading Nick de Semlyen’s The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage.
Sights and Sounds
I have watched a lot of movies since the last issue: Starship Troopers (1997), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Dune (1984), Oppenheimer (2023), Mission Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning Part I (2023), Barbie (2023), R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (2022), Back to the Future (1985), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), and Bullitt (1968).
If you want my opinion on any of these films, reach out.
Last Words
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Best,
BAS
P.S. - A dog picture to make you feel better. Here is one creature that has no enemies. I even think he tries to befriend our neighbor’s cat and other wild animals that come through our yard.