The responsorial psalm leads us directly to the heart of the needs of the Word of God. The Most High does not command us to be merciful, but is the first to give us the example: forgive all your sins, merciful and compassionate is the Lord. Paul speaks of a heavenly man of whom David, even with all the burden of the man of earth that he was, is a shining icon just when he is able to forgive and show himself merciful. The truth as divine compatibility of David’s heart is manifested in the ability not to eliminate the enemy, but to place himself in front of him while maintaining a large space between them. The Lord Jesus is categorical: love your enemies. The first – perhaps the fundamental – form of love towards our enemies is recognizing their right to exist in front of us as enemies and not as friends. This requires all the inner work of loving without ever eliminating the great distance that has been created – sometimes in a way that is difficult to explain or demonstrate – making it a meeting place that does not eliminate the feeling of difference and even opposition. Paul does not perhaps speak of each of us when he says: as we have brought the image of the man of the earth, so we will carry the image of heavenly man? Like David, each of us is called to carry the terrible effort of conversion and transformation to the end in our lives. David, despite his greatness, came to conceive a blinding passion as far as to murder. But that heart (1Sam 16: 7) capable of recognizing its own sin in order to open itself to God’s mercy, made it capable, in turn, of showing mercy towards its enemy.

Commentary by b. Michael David, osb Community of the Koinonia de la Visitation

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey