“I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.”
The psalmist's affirmation that he counts God's enemies as his own establishes fundamental identification between personal interest and divine interest, making the covenant relationship so comprehensive that opposition to God automatically becomes opposition to the faithful. This verse suggests that the boundaries of the self expand through covenant relationship to encompass God's concerns and conflicts, establishing that the faithful person cannot compartmentalize personal welfare from divine glory. The declaration of complete enmity toward God's enemies establishes an unequivocal stance that admits no middle ground or neutrality, creating a clear boundary between those who serve God and those who oppose Him. By identifying God's enemies as his own enemies, the psalmist establishes that covenant loyalty necessarily involves joining God in opposition to rebellion and wickedness, making the conflict between the righteous and the wicked an expression of the larger battle between God and all forces opposed to divine rule.
Church Fathers on Psalms 139:22
1. ...Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks in the Prophets, sometimes in His own Name, sometimes in ours, because He makes Himself one with us; as it is said, “they two shall be one flesh.” Wherefore also the Lord says in the Gospel, speaking of marriage, “therefore they are no more two, but one flesh.” One flesh, because of our mortality He took flesh; not one divinity, for He is the Creator, we the creature. Whatsoever then our Lord speaks in the person of the Flesh He took upon…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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