Nearly 100 times the writers of the Psalms specifically mention their “enemies.” Sometimes however, they don’t use that word. They speak (as they do in Psalm 129) of those who oppress, or who slander them.
I hope I don’t have that many enemies, and I find some of these “enemy” psalms leave me a bit cold because I really can’t identify with the situation of the writer.
But my “enemy” is not just someone who dislikes (or even hates) me. It’s not always a “person” (human person) at all. My enemies include Satan, his forces of evil, temptations, and, because of my own waywardness, my attraction to sin.
Now, when I read about this enemy business, it takes on a whole different light. Surely my proclivities have often been with me from my youth, and they have left their mark. But the writer says God can heal.
Verses 5 – 8 become difficult. City roofs in the ancient world were mud and straw and often were covered with grass or other plants. But the plants would never be hearty enough to cause a harvest. The writer prays that his enemies will be like such grass, sparse and short lived, so few that even their harvest would go unnoticed.
I pray that sin will be that way in my life and yours.