What is it good for? – Haftarah 7th day of Pesach

2 Samuel 22:1-51

[I know…I know… I “missed” the Haftarah for the intermediate Shabbat of Passover. Basically, it’s Ezekiel 37 the dry bones. There is a lot there, but in essence, the bones are resurrected and brought back to life, as the Israelites are redeemed and brought back to Israel.]

This Haftarah from Samuel is great because it is in essence a psalm. It is a hymn of praise to God by David for deliverance from his foes. Psalm 18 appears to be a reworking of this song of praise.

Let’s break it down:

It can be divided into four parts after the prologue verse 1-2a:
1) Verses 2b-7: the negative situation out of which David is saved;
2) Verses 8-16a: God’s actions in the natural world;
3) Verses 16b-46: God helps David;
4) Verses 47-51: Verses of Praise to God.

One element that is important to focus on is the progression here. In a classically psalm-esque style, David moves from a negative situation, to witnessing God’s salvation to verses of praise in song. This mimics perfectly the exodus of the Israelites, who were enslaved, witnessed God’s miracles and then sang at the shores of the sea.

One piece that I was troubled by, however, is the element that comes in part 4.

Starting in verse 47:
God is exalted, the rock of my salvation, (48) the God who gives me revenge, who makes people subject to me, (49) who frees me from my foes…

I am taken aback by verse 48’s use of the word revenge. And it makes me think about a colleague who has considered excising the troublesome line: “Pour out your wrath upon the nations” from the Hagaddah text.

Today, we don’t like to think about God as wrathful and vengeful and promoting vengeance. The popular midrash of the Passover season tells us that while the people rejoiced at the drowning of the Egyptians, God rebukes them, having had no choice but to destroy creation to allow the people to live. God doesn’t like destroying God’s creations if God can help it. Yet we have this line here about David’s revenge (Not to mention verse 43 where David praises God for allowing him to pound, trample and pulverize his enemy, even after their pleas to God) and the line about God’s wrath. What are we to do?

Is it enough to say that the God of back then is different? Is it enough to say that the people of back then are different? I agree with the second statement more than the first, but prefer not to rely on it. What do we do with troubling text? And, is this text more troubling because God provides for a victory in battle? Is a war on God’s behalf allowed if we’re on the ‘winning’ side?

I don’t like war, but I am not a pacifist. I think this is how God works, too. God doesn’t like war, but God is not a pacifist. David was, among other things, a warrior king. He had many victories to thank God for. I have no doubt that many of the battles were of the total war variety, wherein the enemies were completely annihilated. His song of praise, though gruesome, reminds us of the power David saw in God. It was only because of God that he was able to win those battles. It was only thanks to God that he remained king. We also know, however, that it is because of David’s callous use of war for his own ends that he is punished. God will allow war, but not for every purpose.

So what are we left with? Passover celebrates God’s victory over Egypt. This hymn of praise celebrates God’s victory through David’s army over the enemies of Israel. Can I be ok with one, but not the other?

I see myself as if I have left Egypt, as commanded. Unfortunately, I am no closer to the promised land of answering any of my questions. At least I’m not the one who does not know how to ask.

Chag Sameach