Psalm Meditation 1204 ¶Proper 10 ¶July 16, 2023 ¶Psalm 58 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+58&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶There is something deeply satisfying about revenge fantasies. ‘If only I could watch as the teeth of my enemies are broken in their mouths, as their fangs are ripped out while they scream in pain. That would be so satisfying.’ Except that it isn’t. It may be fun or satisfying for a moment but it does not undo any damage they may have done to us and our loved ones. Revenge is like so many other responses to injuries, it is better to imagine it than to experience it. In our imagination we can leave out all the loud, stinking, sticky, gory parts and simply enjoy the suffering from a distance. ¶The psalmist longs for the day in which ‘the wicked’ get what’s coming to them. There will be dancing and shouting in celebration of the suffering of those who heaped suffering on us. The psalmist longs to join others in bathing their feet in the blood of the wicked. I don’t know if that kind of thing actually happened, however I can’t imagine wanting to dip a toe or finger into a pool of blood, let alone soak my feet in it. ¶I know there are those who relish the experience of revenge, and I wonder how long the good feeling lasts. In a tit for tat society, an act of revenge simply opens the door for a bigger, action on the part of the original perpetrator. And it becomes a spiral of action and reaction that digs an evil hole into which all parties can bury themselves. God calls us to loving action to break the cycle of evil that is so easy and tempting to fall into. The ’reward’ for the need for revenge is the downward spiral of acts of revenge. The reward for the righteous is living a life of love in the presence of God. ¶July 10, 2023 ¶LCM