Ps. 52.3-4 (love and conflagration)

“You love evil / more than good
a lie / more than speaking / the truth.
You love / every cruel word,
and a deceitful tongue.” 

The problematic nature of the ‘hero’ emerges most fully in these two verses. The hero is impelled forward and drawn to evil. He not only loves it more than good; he loves it in itself. The first verse focuses on the comparative nature of his love: evil more than good; a lie more than truth. This is a very damning description. The ‘fool’ in scripture is one who knows the good and refuses to do it. Here, the hero is described in much the same manner but in terms of love. He is, literally, drawn to evil and lying, even though he knows the good. For him ‘the good’ holds no appeal. Rather, what he finds persuasive is the allure of evil and lying for what it accomplishes for him. We are probably not far from the truth if we say that it is the allure of power and destruction inherent within evil and lying that is so tantalizing to the hero. He loves, in other words, to ‘lord it over’ others, exploit them and watch them crumble (his tongue “plots destruction”). He is, importantly, a force of chaos and he loves it. He works against the creative impulse in others in order to destroy it. He attempts to thwart the purpose of things, delighting in his power to bring them down. This is the ‘evil’ he brags about—and, for him, it is the power to destroy that is power. He finds conflagration beautiful—because he has wrought it. He is, properly seen, a terrifying thing. The second verse focuses purely on the object loved: every cruel word; deceitful tongue. Notice the totality of the statement: every cruel word and deceitful tongue. It is the fact of cruelty itself and deceit that beckons him. This ‘total depravity’ will become important when we come to witness the judgment enacted on the hero. In the end I do not think we can overemphasize the horror this man represents. He is not a traditional ‘enemy’ of the psalmist as in many other psalms. This man is not only wicked, he loves evil and destruction. He loves watching all numbers reduced to zero. And he finds company in those like him. To the psalmist, he is an utter absurdity, a puzzle that is unsolvable and a riddle without an answer. Importantly, he is that to God as well.