"Lord, how many are my adversaries!" As in today's first reading, the Old Testament in general speaks frequently of enemies and adversaries. Since the Psalms are the epitome of Old Testament spirituality, they frequently speak, as does today's responsorial Psalm, about a great many enemies and people rising up against the writer. This preoccupation with enemies may easily prove to be an obstacle to us in our use of the Psalms for prayer. This is even more true when the Psalm turn to cursing these enemies and wishing them evil. The cursing part we may well bracket and omit these sections, as being unsuitable for us to use.

Today's Psalm helps us to understand "enemies" in a way that suits the circumstances of our modern life. Thus the writer reports what his enemies say: "There is no salvation for him in God." In an age when disbelief seems to be increasing rapidly, Christians are often challenged by "enemies" uttering similar words. Faced with the growing evil in the world, even fervent Christians can be troubled in the faith and wonder if indeed there is any salvation for us in the Lord. The Psalmist maintains his faith, his courage and his hope: "The Lord sustains me".