Boqer Tov

Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
so as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.  Psalm 101:8  NASB

Every morning – When you walk the streets of Jerusalem as the sun rises, you are likely to say, “Boqer tov” to those you meet.  “Good morning” is a nice way to start the day.  David uses one of these words in his declaration of fidelity.  Labbeqarim is literally “toward the morning.”  The idiom could be translated “morning by morning” or “every morning” or even “each morning.”  The idea is a continual process occurring at the beginning of each day. 

But this is very curious.  We know what David intends, but does his statement actually make sense?  If he destroys all the wicked of the land and cuts off all those who do iniquity, would he have to repeat that action over and over?  After the first day who would be left?  Perhaps we need to reconsider what David is suggesting.  We can start by noticing the words he chooses for “wicked” and “iniquity.”

The wicked are rasha.  The word means those who are guilty because of their actions or because they have been condemned.  They act in ways that are contrary to God’s character, hostile to the community and intent on producing chaos.  God opposes such people.  These people live a life style that is incommensurable with God’s revealed nature.  But they are not eternally lost.  They can repent.  They can be restored.  They can change direction—if they confess and return to the ways of the Lord.  David’s proclamation that he will destroy these people assumes that they are beyond repentance.  These are the ones who have been given opportunity but refuse to return.  In David’s view, they are a liability to everything Israel stands for.  They are a cancer that must be cut out and destroyed. 

The translation “all those who do iniquity” is an attempt to capture the Hebrew kol-poale ‘awen.  Who are these people?  They are the trouble-makers, the idolaters, the liars, the ones who act unjustly, the ones who cause calamity, sorrow and sin.  The verb (p’l) indicates that they are not passive in their wickedness.  They choose to do these things.  They live bent lives and find pleasure in twisting the lives of others.  They must be removed if the community of God is going to survive.

Now we know whom to look for.  Now we can make this list.  Now we can scour the countryside rooting out the bad guys.  And I am sure there will be plenty to find.  In fact, we might not have to go very far at all to start the deportation and destruction.  Who do you suspect might be causing chaos, lying, acting unjustly, out of character with God, causing trouble, refusing to repent?  Oh, I can see one of them right now.  He is wearing my name tag.  Every morning starts a new battle for rightouesness, purity and fidelity.  By the end of the day, someone I know very well might need to be cut off.  But in the morning we start again.  Labbeqarim.

Topical Index:  morning, boqer, wicked, rasha, iniquity, ‘awen, Psalm 101:8

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