Forgiveness

Psalm 5, Luke 7:36-8:3

Some initial reflections on Psalm 5 that surprised me as I began to think about it. The Psalm is a psalm of lament, words spoken by one who fears for his enemies and wants God to take care of them (Tony Soprano-style, perhaps?)

At first blush, we could all join the Psalmist's cry. The "evildoers" of the world should be punished and destroyed by God and the "righteous" protected. Nothing very controversial about that.

Until you think about who may have written this. The Psalm is identified as a "Psalm of David." If David actually wrote this Psalm, that gives it a slightly different cast. Read this Psalm again as though spoken by a king, someone who is a politician and military leader. Someone who wants God on his side. It just made me think differently for a few moments.

Especially because I might imagine the Pharisee who hosts Jesus at his dinner party including the woman of the city who showed up uninvited at his house in the category of evildoers needing to be harshly dealt with by God.

BTW, for all of you who wonder how she got into his house to begin with, remember that locks on doors didn't exist then, and that most dinners were held in the coolness of the courtyard of a well-off home, a courtyard which would have been easily accessible from the street.

More later on the woman and her relationship with Jesus.