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Digging Holes

             Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads. (Psalm 7:115-16)

Sometimes, people share memes or make statements about “karma” getting someone. Technically, karma is supposed to “get” people for doing good with good things, but we never hear statements of hope that karma would visit someone with anything positive. No, karma is the thing sought or hoped for when someone isn’t doing what we think is right. And we are delighted when karma either KOs someone or beats him/her to a pulp. In some ways, the person we think deserves a visit from karma is like the bait dog in a dogfight.  We don’t care if they’re incapable of defending themselves. The whole point is to enjoy the bloodshed, whether literal or figurative.

I don’t believe in karma, but today’s verse sometimes has the same feeling. Whoever digs a hole…falls into the pit, and we cheer or laugh. The trouble they cause recoils on them, and we say, “AND IT SHOULD!” We think of these verses as justifying our celebration of the punishment or calamity of our enemies.

In the past, I’ve mentioned my near-elation at discovering that David wrote songs in which he called on God to shatter the teeth of his enemies. Some may justifiably question how someone who is delighted that David says that has difficulty with others celebrating the defeat of an enemy. My delight isn’t with the idea that God would shatter the teeth of David enemies, or mine. It is with the fact that David or I can call on God to shatter someone’s teeth. We can express our anger about something to God. God is not so small or weak a god that He can’t endure our anger. We don’t have to be politically correct in our expression of anger to God. It’s not what I’m thinking about in these verses.

What if the proper response to today’s verse is, “Oh no! They’re digging a hole and they’re going to fall into it! The trouble they’re causing is going to recoil on them and their violence is going to come down on them. We’ve got to stop them if we can and be ready to act with pity/compassion toward them if we can’t!” Same words, different emotions.

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