“All’s fair in love and war?”
Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, January 24, 2022
Psalm 52 (Forward, p. 87) CEV p. 586
In times of conflict and war, all sorts of things are done that would not normally be done, much less condoned. Thus, we have Doeg the Edomite stooping to some pretty nasty tactics, all because his master, King Saul, was basically at war with David. Saul wanted David dead and so David was now a fugitive, both from the royal court and from the nation itself. David was continually on the run and was living ‘from pillar to post’ and barely existing. It was for this reason that David, in desperation, turned to Ahimelech, the high priest, for help. However, David was a little more than just deceitful—in fact, downright dishonest—in his overture to Ahimelech. David claimed to be on a secret mission for King Saul, a mission that seemingly required him to leave on short notice—that is, without adequate provisions or weapons--and implored Ahimelech to help him out with food for himself and his men and a weapon for himself. Ahimelech somewhat grudgingly agreed to help David out, and this proved to be his undoing. For who was also there at worship but Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s principal servants. (For the whole story of this episode, see 1 Samuel 21:1-9).
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. In the next chapter, verses 9-23, the terrible outcome is described. Saul is paranoid, quite convinced that his own officers are plotting against him—or, at very least, withholding information from him. At this point, Doeg the Edomite speaks up and spills the beans about David. I have often wondered about Doeg’s motive here. Was he trying to ingratiate himself into the good graces of Saul’s, or perhaps, simply trying to show Saul that he, for one, was loyal to him and not withholding information?
So, what transpires next is perhaps permissible in ‘war’, but it certainly was pretty ugly. Whether he had eavesdropped on the conversation between David and Ahimelech or not and actually heard the gist of their hushed conversation we cannot know. Anyway, he certainly got it wrong—or, at very least, told it wrong in his account to Saul. In his telling, there was nothing said of Ahimelech’s hesitancy in helping David and nothing said of David’s duplicity and deceit in explaining his need. And, what is more is that Doeg added the detail that David also asked Ahimelech to consult the Lord on his behalf, of which nothing at all is said in the original account.
All in all, what this slander did was to convince Saul, already paranoid and insecure enough, that Ahimelech and his family were in league with David and conspiring against him, and so he had the whole lot of them slain, together with the town in which they had lived. Only one person, Abiathar, escaped with his life. Such was the studied nastiness of Doeg.
It is within this context that today’s psalm was written, and well does it describe that treacherous fellow.
“You people may be strong and brag about your sins, but God can be trusted day after day. You plan brutal crimes, and your lying words cut like a sharp razor. You would rather do evil than good, and tell lies than speak the truth. You love to say cruel things, and your words are a trap” (verses 1-4).
Doesn’t that description sound exactly like Doeg? Fortunately, the psalm doesn’t leave it there. Firstly, David describes the fate of Doeg:
“God will destroy you forever! He will grab you and drag you from your homes. You will be uprooted and left to die. When good people see this fearsome sight, they will laugh and say, ‘Just look at him now! Instead of trusting God, they trusted their wealth and their cruelty.” (verses 5-7).
And David doesn’t end there. He goes on to speak of God’s protection and care for himself:
“But I am like an olive tree growing in God’s house, and I can count on his love forever and ever. I will always thank God for what he has done; I will praise his good name when his people meet” (verses 8-9).
So, what are we to make of this psalm, and of its context? Are we to take the attitude that certain things are ‘allowable’, permissible, during times of conflict and war, during times of trouble? After all, in this story, we have such things on both sides:
-David in his lying and deceit;
-and Doeg in his desire to impress Saul, and in his lying and his murderous rampages (he was the one who actually killed the priests and the residents of their village.)
Is it justifiable when your life is at stake, or the victory of ‘your side’ or ‘your cause? All sorts of people justify all sorts of things because ‘the cause is right.’
And, can we, to borrow David’s words, always count on God to bail us out, to protect us from evil people and evil doings? It certainly didn’t help Ahimelech or his family or his community from the evil Doeg. By the way, the Scriptures themselves never say explicitly what happened to Doeg, though several of the Talmudic sources suggest his fate, a particularly nasty one, from several passages where an unnamed person meets his death in a particularly unsavoury way.
All that I can say, at least for myself, is that God is a God of justice, and that justice will indeed be done—sometime! It may not happen during our lifetimes, much less during our sight, but it will indeed take place eventually. Retribution, vengeance, a proper meting out of rewards and punishments, proper justice, will one day take place, and so I can relax and not feel that I have to take care of it myself, right now. I can let God take care of it for me, at a time and place and circumstance of His choosing, rather than mine. Amen.
Forward notes: “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will give you thanks for what you have done and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly” (verses 8-9).
“My grandfather used to tell me stories of trees who could talk to one another. Through their root system, they could communicate when an insect infestation was afoot. They would then send out different scents to attract the insects evenly so that the insects wouldn’t all attack one tree. The trees knew that if one went down, they would all perish. Their communication made it possible for all of the trees to survive.
“With this comparison to an olive tree in the house of God, the psalmist exhibits a selflessness in devoting himself to the steadfast love of God. Like the olive tree, the psalmist’s love for God is about strength,
perseverance, wisdom, and knowledge, all within the context of community. While our world seems to value and encourage individualism, this psalm encourages us to walk the path of the trees, declaring the goodness of God always.”
Moving Forward: “Can you think of examples in your own life that exhibit the selflessness of the trees in this story?”
