October 2, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

Thus they have repaid me evil for good and hatred for my love. (Psalm 109:5)

Like the default emotion of imperfect human beings, David expresses in Psalm 109 imprecatory feelings toward his tormentors who despise him without cause and repay him evil for good and hatred for his love.

Jesus must have felt the same thing but in an immensely greater magnitude. He was the victim of the ultimate injustice. Yet He overcame the enticement of retaliation and the ensuing schadenfreude against His executioners even if He could justify it. He would rather die for them than avenge Himself. This is our God, the antithesis of temperamental mythological deities who need to be pacified with human and animal sacrifice. He is also our Father whose divine nature we share and whose kindness we are called to demonstrate. Because it is what leads people to repentance.