If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:19-24

Psalm 139 ends in these interesting verses. It always seems odd to me to read the first 18 verses about God’s intimate relationship with us, and then the Psalmist’s assurance to God that he hates God’s enemies as his own― hate as a virtue.

Of course, the obvious explanation for this is that the Psalms were written under the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses, which was very much an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In fact, this may well be the greatest of the contrasts in the Psalm between Old and New Covenants, with the New Covenant having quite a different ethic with regard to “enemies”. In the covenant that Jesus established with us, we are to love our enemies, not to hate them.

The question then becomes, what do we do with these final verses? We could just strike them off because they are, in a way, obsolete; that’s what many commentators do. Yet a closer look reveals that there is value in these verses for the New Covenant reader, if he or she is willing to go beyond the epochal differences.

The Psalmist seems to be telling God that he is faithful to God in hating God’s enemies, that he is loyal to God and trusts Him in adverse situations. In short, it’s as though he is winding up this psalm about his intimate connection with God by telling God that he is a covenant-keeper.

We know that God is a covenant-keeping God; another word for this is that He is faithful and keeps His promises.

Biblical relationships are created by the establishment of covenants between God and people or groups of people. The Psalmist was a party under the Old Covenant; we are parties under the New. In both cases, the quality of the covenant relationship is dependent upon  the degree of faithfulness of each party in keeping the covenant. God’s covenant-keeping (hesed) is beyond doubt or question, but ours is another matter.

Our Psalmist is assuring God that he is faithful.

Faithfulness works the same now with the New Covenant: are we faithful too?

In our posts about the first 18 verses of this psalm, we saw a great deal about God’s relationship with us and His love for us. Here is where we take a few moments and reflect on our own positions― how are we doing? Do we have areas to improve in? Do we need to give thanks and praise to God for His faithfulness and loving-kindness? Do we need help of some kind?

There are lots of things to talk to God about in prayer. Have a great one.