In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:4)
The words of today’s passage sound
ridiculously glib. They bring to mind a scene from one of the Marvel movies, in
which Loki boasts at the Hulk, who proceeds to use Loki to batter the concrete floor
repeatedly and with firm determination. What can mere mortals to do me? Murder,
rape, assault, rob, malign, betray, defeat and parade me before others as a
prisoner, lie to me, lie about me, … there are lots of things mere mortals can
do to a person. For David to ask such a question is the height of hubris - unless you look at the context.
David wasn’t being like Loki. What
comes before and after this verse has to do with the danger from which David
wants God to save him. His enemies were many and pressing the attack. They
pursued him – meaning that he fled before them. They twist his words, and conspire
against him, hoping to take his life. He knew exactly what mere mortals could
do to him. His boast had nothing to do
with himself, and everything to do with God. David is the little boy who runs
away from the bullies, and when the bullies follow him around a corner, find
him standing in front of his father and maybe a couple of big brothers. When he’s
with God, he can ask, “What can mere mortals do to me?” And even then, it’s not
that the mere mortals can’t make life difficult. It’s the fact that God can repair
the damage or that what the bullies thought was damage isn’t.
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