and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
In choosing a passage for my morning meditation I am mostly impressionistic.
Two long or four or five shorter psalms are assigned. I read each for a verse or two that I find personally provocative or that makes me curious.
In this verse, why should enemies be my motivation?
The original Hebrew is:
הוֹרֵנִי יְהוָה, דַּרְכֶּךָ: וּנְחֵנִי, בְּאֹרַח מִישׁוֹר--לְמַעַן, שׁוֹרְרָי
The Hebrew translated here as enemies is soreq, which is a kind of grape vine.(!?)
This grapevine was commonly used by landowners or more often their overseers as a switch to punish those who were not working hard enough.
In the context of the psalm it would be more coherent with the original text to translate the verse as: "Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path to avoid the switch."
This, in turn, reminds me of Jesus in John's gospel saying:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
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