Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
The psalm presents human wickedness and calls for deserved divine retribution as just punishment upon incorrigible wrongdoers. It expresses God's just anger against sin in that plea for judgment. At the same time it expresses His mercy and loving-kindness alongside that retribution.
The psalm is a prophetic word-picture of Christ's inner experience. It reveals the life-and-death struggles with the enemy that He endured. In this way it shows how He felt in suffering and temptation.
Together with Psalm 22 it shows Christ in humiliation as man's substitute. He took human weaknesses, infirmities, and sins upon Himself, identifying fully with man in failings and sufferings. He was brought very low, pouring out His soul in agony for God's help. Seen in this light, the psalm reveals the greatness of the sacrifice He made for man.
The psalm presents human wickedness and calls for deserved divine retribution as just punishment upon incorrigible wrongdoers. It expresses God's just anger against sin in that plea for judgment. At the same time it expresses His mercy and loving-kindness alongside that retribution.
The psalm is a prophetic word-picture of Christ's inner experience. It reveals the life-and-death struggles with the enemy that He endured. In this way it shows how He felt in suffering and temptation.
Together with Psalm 22 it shows Christ in humiliation as man's substitute. He took human weaknesses, infirmities, and sins upon Himself, identifying fully with man in failings and sufferings. He was brought very low, pouring out His soul in agony for God's help. Seen in this light, the psalm reveals the greatness of the sacrifice He made for man.