March 25, 2009

• Deliver me from my enemies, O my Elohim

  Psalms 59:1-17  For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David; a mikhtam, when Sha’ul sent men to keep watch on David’s house in order to kill him: My God, rescue me from my enemies! Lift me up, out of reach of my foes!  (2)  Rescue me from evildoers, save me from bloodthirsty men.  (3)  For there they are, lying in wait to kill me. Openly they gather themselves against me, and not because I committed a crime or sinned, ADONAI.  (4)  For no fault of mine, they run and prepare. Awaken to help me, and see!  (5)  You, ADONAI Elohei-Tzva’ot, God of Isra’el, arouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those wicked traitors. (Selah)  (6)  They return at nightfall, snarling like dogs as they go around the city.  (7)  Look what pours out of their mouth, what swords are on their lips, [as they say to themselves,] “No one is listening, anyway.”  (8)  But you, ADONAI, laugh at them, you mock all the nations.  (9)  My Strength, I will watch for you, for God is my fortress.  (10)  God, who gives me grace, will come to me; God will let me gaze in triumph at my foes.  (11)  Don’t kill them, or my people will forget; instead, by your power, make them wander to and fro; but bring them down, Adonai our Shield,  (12)  for the sins their mouths make with each word from their lips. Let them be trapped by their pride for the curses and falsehoods they utter.  (13)  Finish them off in wrath, finish them off, put an end to them, and let them know to the ends of the earth that God is Ruler in Ya’akov. (Selah)  (14)  They return at nightfall, snarling like dogs as they go around the city.  (15)  They roam about, looking for food, prowling all night if they don’t get their fill.  (16)  But as for me, I will sing of your strength; in the morning I will sing aloud of your grace. For you are my fortress, a refuge when I am in trouble.  (17)  My Strength, I will sing praises to you, for God is my fortress, God, who gives me grace.

  This Psalm comes from the time of…
  1 Samuel 19:1-16  Sha’ul told Y’honatan his son and all his servants that they should have David killed. But because Y’honatan was very fond of David,  (2)  he told him, “My father Sha’ul is out to have you killed. Therefore you must be very cautious tomorrow morning. Find a well-concealed place to hide in.  (3)  I will go out and stand next to my father in the countryside where you’re hiding. I will talk with my father about you; and if I learn anything, I’ll tell you.”  (4)  Y’honatan spoke well of David to Sha’ul his father and said to him, “The king shouldn’t sin against his servant David, because he hasn’t sinned against you. On the contrary, his work for you has been very good indeed.  (5)  He put his life in his hands to attack the P’lishtim, and ADONAI accomplished a great victory for all Isra’el. You yourself saw it, and you were happy about it. So why do you want to sin against innocent blood by killing David without any reason?”  (6)  Sha’ul heeded Y’honatan’s advice and swore, “As ADONAI lives, he will not be put to death.”  (7)  Y’honatan called David and told him all these things. Then Y’honatan brought David to Sha’ul to be in attendance on the king, as before.  (8)  War broke out again, and David went and fought the P’lishtim. He defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him.  (9)  Then an evil spirit from ADONAI came upon Sha’ul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing his lyre,  (10)  when Sha’ul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he dodged it and moved out of Sha’ul’s way, so that the spear stuck in the wall. David fled, so that night he escaped.  (11)  But Sha’ul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. Mikhal David’s wife told him, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be dead.”  (12)  So Mikhal let David down through the window; and he left, fled and escaped.  (13)  Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat’s-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth.  (14)  When Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He’s ill.”  (15)  Sha’ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, “Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him.”  (16)  But when the messengers entered, there before them was the household idol in the bed, with the goat’s-hair quilt at its head.

  David did nothing wrong against Sha’ul, and yet Sha’ul wanted him dead. Sha’ul recognized that David would be king one day, and Sha’ul was trying to prevent that from happening. But David did not try to usurp the throne or come against Sha’ul. He respected Sha’ul because he was the king, although he did not agree with everything Sha’ul did. And Sha’ul became a paranoid Schizophrenic over this, one minute he liked David, the next he wanted him dead.

  The dogs spoken of here are not your Lassie type dogs. These were wild dogs that hid themselves during the day but at night would run in packs, terrorizing areas, howling and searching for food. They would kill sheep, pets, and even humans depending on how big their pack was.

  The wicked are like that, doing their evil in the dark. And with words they cut people to pieces, thinking no one knows what they are doing, but HaShem does. HaShem hears their evil plans and destructive words.

  In his column, Art Buchwald discussed the yiddish word chutzpa. He said that it has no English equivalent, but it refers to one who has an attitude of incredible gall or presumption.  “The classic example of a chutzpa,” says Buchwald, “is the young man who murders his parents and then asks the court to show mercy because he is an orphan.”  Now, if we are inclined to smile at that, is it because we think murder is funny?  Of course not!  We are amused, not out of an evil delight, but at the ridiculousness of the situation.  And that, I believe, is what the Scripture means when it portrays HaShem as laughing at his enemies’ troubles.  His response doesn’t stem from anyone’s pain; it reflects the absurdity of thinking that one can ultimately come out ahead if he tries to take advantage of either HaShem or His people.

  HaShem will take care of us.

  Shalom

  • 6:59 pm
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