Observation: This type of Psalm is very common. It is a cry to God for deliverance against one's enemies.
Application: It's sometimes hard for me to relate to the term "enemies" in the Bible. I try to follow Ralph Waldo Emerson's advice in trying not to dream I am persecuted when I am contradicted. There are plenty of people who disagree with the way I look at life or think about God or humankind. Lots of people have different ideas about which direction our country, our culture, our world, should go. I do not regard these people as enemies. In fact, a few of them I call friends.
But that said, I am a white, straight, Christian, college educated man. I have an awful lot of privilege in our culture. No matter what ideas are discussed in the public sphere, I'll probably still be able to stay married to whom I want, go to the bathroom where I feel most comfortable, seek medical care when needed, and safely drive or walk through most neighborhoods with little fear of being harassed. If this were not the case, I'm not sure I'd be so detached and reasoned in my approach. Maybe the psalm's language of "enemies" would make more sense.
Still, I hold strongly to the word from Ephesians that our true enemies are not flesh and blood, but Spiritual. We are all under attack from Sin, Death and the Devil, an equal opportunity enemy, who wants us all destroyed. But in Baptism, we have already been delivered. And, whether we can see it or not, united in one body. Let's live like it.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for delivering me from the true enemy, the Evil One. Deliver, too, my brothers and sisters. Send your Spirit into my heart. Help me fight by their side, not in spite but in love. Amen.
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