Psalm 109: An Easter epiphany
A week or so ago, someone quoted Verse 8 of this psalm to Ms. Possum, suggesting it was a portent for the Bobama regime. I was asked to extract the verse in two different translations and print it out. Instead, I read the whole thing, and was blown away by both the power and bitterness of it.
I was shocked and troubled that a man chosen by God for great things could beseech his Creator for such vengeance upon anyone.
Then came the epiphany: I realized that this bit of Scripture applies to The Red Herring and his myrmidons in its entirety. It's brutal, but the Bible is not all warm-and-fuzzy, and not for the faint of heart. The actions of the irrational liberals holding forth today are perfectly described herein.
I'm very careful about wishing death upon anyone, because I think it has karmic implications. Even if someone meets the simplistic criterion that "he needs killing," a hard-line gangster leaves the family out of it. The depth of anger expressed in this psalm upsets me, and I'm a nasty bastard.
I don't wish death upon incompentent, corrupt, megalomanical politicians, no matter how nefarious they are. I want them to live to the fullness of their days, as the Bible puts it, and I want them to live every day in shame and degredation that they are failures as leaders, role models, and human beings. I think this is a worse punishment than death; once you're discorporated, it doesn't matter much anyhow.
I'm thinking of Jimmy Stewart in "Shenandoah," where he is choking the life out of a young Confederate sentry who has just killed one of Stewart's sons. As the boy's eyes are rolling back, Stewart suddenly releases his grip, and tells the gasping lad: "I want you to live to be an old man, and have many children, and when somebody comes along and kills one of them..."
There are things worse than death, and the humiliation of being a one-trick pony and the disgrace that will engulf his children because of his failures is what I wish for The Manchurian Candidate. May he live the life he has foisted upon everyone else. May he live in interesting times.
Psalm 109
Oh God of my praise, don’t stand silent and aloof while the wicked slander me and tell their lies. They have no reason to hate and fight me, yet they do! I love them, but even while I am praying for them, they are trying to destroy me. They return evil for good; and hatred for love.
Show him how it feels! Let lies be told about him, and bring him to court before an unfair judge. When his case is called for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him. May his children become fatherless and his wife a widow; may they be evicted from the ruins of their home. May creditors seize his entire estate and strangers take all he has earned.
Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. May they die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation. Punish the sins of his father and mother. Don’t overlook them. Think constantly about the evil things he has done, and cut off his name from the memory of man.
For he refused all kindness to others, and persecuted those in need, and hounded brokenhearted ones to death. He loved to curse others; now you curse him. Cursing is as much a part of him as his clothing, or as the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats.
Now may those curses return and cling to him like his clothing or his belt. This is the Lord’s punishment upon my enemies who tell lies about me and threaten me with death.
But as for me, Oh Lord, deal with me as your child, as one who bears your name! Because you are so kind, Oh Lord, deliver me.
I am slipping down the hill to death; I am shaken off from life as easily as a man brushes a grasshopper from his arm. My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. I am a symbol of failure to all mankind; when they see me they shake their heads.
Help me, Oh Lord my God! Save me because you are loving and kind. Do it publicly, so all will see that you yourself have done it. Then let them curse me if they like—I won’t mind that if you are blessing me! For then all their efforts to destroy me will fail, and I shall go right on rejoicing!
Make them fail in everything they do. Clothe them with disgrace. But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone. For he stands beside the poor and hungry to save them from their enemies.
"Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him."
Verse 8
(From The Daily Walk Bible modern English translation via The Living Bible.)
I was shocked and troubled that a man chosen by God for great things could beseech his Creator for such vengeance upon anyone.
Then came the epiphany: I realized that this bit of Scripture applies to The Red Herring and his myrmidons in its entirety. It's brutal, but the Bible is not all warm-and-fuzzy, and not for the faint of heart. The actions of the irrational liberals holding forth today are perfectly described herein.
I'm very careful about wishing death upon anyone, because I think it has karmic implications. Even if someone meets the simplistic criterion that "he needs killing," a hard-line gangster leaves the family out of it. The depth of anger expressed in this psalm upsets me, and I'm a nasty bastard.
I don't wish death upon incompentent, corrupt, megalomanical politicians, no matter how nefarious they are. I want them to live to the fullness of their days, as the Bible puts it, and I want them to live every day in shame and degredation that they are failures as leaders, role models, and human beings. I think this is a worse punishment than death; once you're discorporated, it doesn't matter much anyhow.
I'm thinking of Jimmy Stewart in "Shenandoah," where he is choking the life out of a young Confederate sentry who has just killed one of Stewart's sons. As the boy's eyes are rolling back, Stewart suddenly releases his grip, and tells the gasping lad: "I want you to live to be an old man, and have many children, and when somebody comes along and kills one of them..."
There are things worse than death, and the humiliation of being a one-trick pony and the disgrace that will engulf his children because of his failures is what I wish for The Manchurian Candidate. May he live the life he has foisted upon everyone else. May he live in interesting times.
Psalm 109
Oh God of my praise, don’t stand silent and aloof while the wicked slander me and tell their lies. They have no reason to hate and fight me, yet they do! I love them, but even while I am praying for them, they are trying to destroy me. They return evil for good; and hatred for love.
Show him how it feels! Let lies be told about him, and bring him to court before an unfair judge. When his case is called for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him. May his children become fatherless and his wife a widow; may they be evicted from the ruins of their home. May creditors seize his entire estate and strangers take all he has earned.
Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. May they die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation. Punish the sins of his father and mother. Don’t overlook them. Think constantly about the evil things he has done, and cut off his name from the memory of man.
For he refused all kindness to others, and persecuted those in need, and hounded brokenhearted ones to death. He loved to curse others; now you curse him. Cursing is as much a part of him as his clothing, or as the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats.
Now may those curses return and cling to him like his clothing or his belt. This is the Lord’s punishment upon my enemies who tell lies about me and threaten me with death.
But as for me, Oh Lord, deal with me as your child, as one who bears your name! Because you are so kind, Oh Lord, deliver me.
I am slipping down the hill to death; I am shaken off from life as easily as a man brushes a grasshopper from his arm. My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. I am a symbol of failure to all mankind; when they see me they shake their heads.
Help me, Oh Lord my God! Save me because you are loving and kind. Do it publicly, so all will see that you yourself have done it. Then let them curse me if they like—I won’t mind that if you are blessing me! For then all their efforts to destroy me will fail, and I shall go right on rejoicing!
Make them fail in everything they do. Clothe them with disgrace. But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone. For he stands beside the poor and hungry to save them from their enemies.
"Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him."
Verse 8
(From The Daily Walk Bible modern English translation via The Living Bible.)
posted by Robert at 2:01 AM
4 Comments:
That 8th verse became a popular bumper sticker once Obama was elected...
Yeah. That's Old Testament nasty!
Yes, Verse 8 is good: "Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him", assuming of course that we are talking about his Presidency and not about his life. But I like a few of the other ones too. When it says "they", think about Lib Dems. When it says "him", think about Obama...
"They have no reason to hate and fight me, yet they do!" because I am an older, white male. Their constituency consists only of the youth, women and minorities.
"They return evil for good; and hatred for love." Their idea of working in a bipartisan manner is when the opposition rolls over and plays dead. If you offer the hand of friendship, they will spit on it.
"Show him how it feels! Let lies be told about him," the way he tells lies about everybody else.
"...bring him to court before an unfair judge," like the anti-constitutional judges he has appointed.
"Count his prayers as sins," because his prayers (which are few and far between), are calculated for political effect.
"May creditors seize his entire estate and strangers take all he has earned," like his home in Chicago which may currently not even be in his own name. Someone else is paying Obama's mortgage. And if the rumors are true that someone else like Bill Ayers wrote his books, then that income is illegitimate. He doesn't deserve it.
"Let no one be kind to him," because he is certainly not kind to others. He lies to the poor, steals from the rich, and pays off his cronies.
"Punish the sins of his father and mother," those dang communists.
"Make them fail in everything they do." Let their socialist plots be dashed.
"Clothe them with disgrace." Let the sins of their Charlie Rangels, John Murthas, William Jeffersons, Maxine Waters, Al Gores and Blagos be exposed for all to see.
Best regards...
Ya, I took the plurals to mean Those People, and the singular references to apply to their Anointed One.
Every point you make here is totally valid.
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