Psalm 139 (the angry bit)

On Tuesday evening we gathered as a community in our apartment to eat, talk, worship, pray and share together. I made risotto (for the first time), which did taste pretty good, although I succeeded in burning some of it.

Later in the evening we were discussed a couple of Bible passages in groups. Our group was given Psalm 139 to read, reflect on and share any thoughts that came up. It was suggested that we could leave out the tough bit (verses 19 -22), where David clearly gets pretty angry, and focus on the rest of the Psalm.

This meant that I ended up focusing on verses 19-22. God's been talking to me recently about aggression and anger, and that it's an important part of being a man. "Be angry, and do not sin" as Paul says. This is an area that I've always found hard, but God has been working in me and bringing healing to this area. It's been challenging a lot of my assumptions.

So I began to look at these verses - there's some pretty strong stuff. Apparently David "hates them (the wicked) with perfect hatred." I was wondering, "what is it that gets David so angry?" Let's remember: this is in the middle of some beautiful stuff about God's perfect knowledge of us, His always being with us, His forming our beings and His precious thoughts towards us.

Then verse 20 stuck out - (referring to the wicked) "They speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain." It struck me that what seems to get David angry is that these people misrepresent God and His character. It then occurred to me that this is the heart of Jesus' rage at the Pharisees - they speak about God, but totally misrepresent His character and nature. Perhaps this is what gets Jesus so angry in those passages.

David knew God really well - reading through the Psalms you can see the depth of revelation he had. And of course Jesus knew the Father deeply and intimately. Therefore it really mattered to them who people believed God to be. May the same be true of me.