11. Slay them not, lest my people forget. It
argues great faith on David’s part that even while his house was surrounded by
his enemies he is yet so fully sure of their overthrow that he puts in a
detailed petition that they may not be too soon or too fully exterminated.
God’s victory over the wicked is so easy and so glorious that it seems a pity
to end the conflict too soon. Let the righteous be buffeted a little longer,
and let the boasting oppressor puff and brag through his little hour; it will
help to keep Israel in mind of the Lord’s justice, and make the brave who side
with God’s champion accustomed to divine interpositions. Enemies help to keep
the Lord’s servants awake. A lively, vexatious devil is less to be dreaded than
a sleepy, forgetful spirit. Scatter them by thy power. Let the foemen
live as a vagabond race, living monuments of divine power. And bring them down. Like rotten fruit from a tree. From the seats of power which they
disgrace, and the positions of influence which they pollute, let them be hurled
into humiliation. This was a righteous wish, and if it be untempered by the
gentleness of Jesus, we must remember that it is a soldier’s prayer, and the
wish of one who was smarting under injustice and malice of no ordinary kind. O Lord, our shield. David felt
himself to be the representative of the religious party in Israel, and
therefore he says, our shield, speaking in the name of all those who
make Jehovah their defense. We are in good company when we hide beneath the
buckler of the Eternal; meanwhile he who is the shield of his people is the
scatterer of their enemies.
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