We are all created to be in a community with others. Many consider the Trinity to be our first and best example of community. It came to mind this morning while I was reading Psalm 12 how else that might be helpful.
If you are like me, you have read the Psalms many times. A minister friend once said that the Psalms about “I’m happy, I’m sad, or I’m angry” and if you read from a literal point of view, the psalms can be pretty depressing or irritating. If you read from the view of the writing expressing the human emotions of those living in community, then it makes more sense.
At face value, the writer of the Psalm is saying how badly he is being treated and then asking God to vindicate him and destroy the enemy. But, what if there is a different way to view this? What if the battle is within us? What if the enemy is within? As Pogo said, “we have met the enemy and he is us”. That is a better description of what the Psalm and most of them are about, the voice of the human viewpoint being expressed and then begging God to help.
The beautiful 23rd Psalm reads a little differently if we see the “enemy” and the “want” as our own ego that wants us to go our own way. A table set in from of my “enemies” can now be seen as me recognizing that being at the table with myself and then having God anoint my head with oil for choosing to follow God, not my own will. So many other Psalms now make sense in this context. The Psalms express the heart of the Nation of Israel, the community and when they are read in this way, they start to make even more sense.
Our ego is “the enemy” and maybe we should remember that we are anointed with oil (meaning the presence of the Holy Spirit) in the presence of our “enemies” which can be a society in general. Now if I public say that I am for God and act like it, is that not doing things God’s way?
TMM