A shocking verse of Psalm 106
August 21, 2023 - Monday, Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope
Psalm 106:34-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44
Today’s fragment of Psalm 106 includes a disturbing phrase about the “extermination” of the inhabitants of the Promised Land, allegedly commanded by the Lord (see Deut 7:1-2; 20:16-18). The reason for its justification is to prevent Israel from learning their abominable practices which included sacrificing people to local idols. But the problem is that reading this verse in the 21st century makes many of us uncomfortable. The history of humanity is filled with examples of powerful invaders destroying the local population and justifying it in the name of their gods. So, how should we look at that controversial verse?
The psalmist writes his poem from the perspective of Israel that lost their land and was exiled to Babylon. It was a time for self-reflection and searching for the explanation of their national tragedy: Why did it happen to them? The psalmist, together with the editors of the Torah, saw its cause in people’s disobedience. As Adam and Eve lost the access to Eden through their disobedience, so Israel lost the access to the Promised Land through disobedience. Instead of obeying the Lord, they listened to other voices.
“They did not exterminate the peoples, as the LORD had commanded them” (Ps 106:34). The problem with this statement is that nowhere in the Bible we can find God commanding it. On the contrary, in the book of Exodus, God himself says that he will drive the local habitants out of the Promised Land (Ex 23:27-33; 34:11) – no “destruction” is mentioned. So, how did the editors of the book of Deuteronomy and the psalmist change God’s promise of driving out the local population into God’s command of destroying them? There is no clear explanation for this change. What we notice, however, is the blame placed on those local inhabitants for leading Israel into sins of idolatry and human sacrifices (Ps 106:39-40). This indicates that if they were not there, Israel would not sin and lose its land.
80 years ago, in 1943, some Ukrainian people instigated by their nationalistic leaders murdered 100 thousand Polish neighbours who peacefully lived among them. That event is known as the “Volhynian massacre of Poles”. The atrocities committed on those innocent and unarmed people were horrible. The aim was to scare the Polish population into leaving the land that the Ukrainian nationalists wanted to become part of their new and independent nation. Today, some of those who orchestrated and carried out those atrocities are considered national heroes of Ukraine. On the other hand, the majority of the victims still await exhumation and proper burial.
As Christians, we read the Bible through the eyes of the New Testament and verse 34 of Psalm 106 goes against Jesus’ statement: “love your enemies” (Matt 5:44). We definitively have to guard ourselves against being influenced by sinful ideologies and practices of others, but our response cannot be hatred and destruction. Jesus sends us to the whole world with the Gospel of God’s love. We are called to positively influence the world, so it will abandon its worship of idols and abominable practices, and embrace the values of God’s kingdom.