David's handbrake turn

"Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD"

Psalm 139.21

Psalm 139 is a very popular psalm for good reason - it speaks of God's intimate knowledge of us and his care for us, it also celebrates the wonder of his creation of human beings. It may be that its present popularity is partly down to the way it touches on our modern preoccupation with ourselves. At its worst, this can rob the psalm of its real focus which is the greatness and glory of God.

Howeve, it is used, it is often the case that people stop at v.18, because v.19 breaks into the psalm with a squeal of wheels and a sudden crash. From a beautiful psalm about the wonders of God's creation and knowledge of us, David breaks into "If only you, O God, would slay the wicked!" It seems so out of kilter and tone with the rest of the psalm. Should we just gloss over it (a bit like v.5a of Psalm 23)?

The answer of course is no. All Scripture is God breathed. He didn't hold his breath when David wrote vv.19-22. So how do we make sense of these verses?

What hate and love mean in the Bible

We tend to think of hate and love in very emotional terms, but in the Bible it is sometimes used to demonstrate either implacable opposition (hate) or committed support (love), as I think here, or it could mean absolute priority of one of the other (as when Jesus calls on us to hate our families, compared to loving him).

David is speaking prophetically 

Some commentators argue that David is here speaking in his capacity as the anointed one, the king. At an immediate level, it is important that the king of God's nation should seek to govern in favour of those who worship Yahweh faithfully and against those who do evil. We don't consider a politician to be a bad one if they argue that murderers and thieves should be punished. More than that though, David is also seen as the prototype of the ultimate anointed one/ king/ Messiah, Jesus. When it is Jesus saying these words it gets around some of our difficulties with the idea of one sinful human being (in this case David) denouncing others as evil. If I were to say these words, I would be properly criticised as judgmental, but for Jesus to say this words are for him to fulfil his role as the final judge of all (Acts 17.30-31)

We are too comfortable

One of the reasons we struggle with those texts, is that we do not face serious human enemies, unlike the psalmist and many Christians around the world. As a result, we tend to focus on only some of the New Testament's teaching on love of enemies. In Romans 12, the instruction not to seek revenge on our enemies is tied to the notion of God's judgment of them. We are not to think that what they have done is, somehow, not wrong or serious or in need of judgment. Rather it is that we do not need to judge because God will - this leaves us free, not to try and hurt them, but to seek their blessing. This is important, because only those who have not suffered seriously, will be able to dismiss their suffering at the hands of others as of little importance. If though a believer is hurt by someone else, it is right that they feel a great sense of injustice. 
There is though a caveat to this, which is indicated when Jesus commands us to love our enemies in Matthew. When we hand our enemies over to God's judgment we are handing them over to the one who loves to show mercy and forgiveness.  The sin that has been done against us will be punished, but if our enemy turns to Christ, that judgment will be taken by Jesus, just as our punishment was.

Do we identify with God enough

So far, though, I haven't really dealt with the 'handbrake turn' moment. Why at this point does David talk about his enemies? The reason is that he does not see them primarily as his enemies (although they are clearly out to get him - "Away from me you, you who are thirsty"). David's problem with them is that they are opposed to Yahweh. As he contemplates the glory of Yahweh: his knowledge, wisdom and power, he starts to be entranced by God's beauty. David realises that Yahweh deserves all praise and glory. More than that, he comes to realise that for anything to fail to give him the glory he so obviously deserves, is unspeakably terrible. So his worship leads him to pray that God would only receive worship. He first prays that all in the world that denies or maligns this wondrous, glorious, beautiful God would be dealt with once and for all (he wants nothing to do with them), but he also begs that Yahweh would deal with all that is in him which does not give God glory. The powerful message of this psalm, is that a true worship of God, will give us a passion for holiness. We will want him to be glorified more and more, both in the world around us and in our hearts within. True worship breeds true holiness.