"Strike all my enemies on the jaw"

I guess that I'm not the only Christian who sometimes finds it difficult to read the Psalms.

Yesterday I was reading Psalm 3 (written by King David when in flight from his son, Absalom), which includes the line, "Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked." It's a difficult line to read because, whilst we admit that David is very much under pressure, it just doesn't seem to be a very 'Christian' thing to say. 'What's happened to the idea of loving your enemies?' we ask.

I've given some thought to this since when I read the passage. What is David actually saying when he calls for God to 'strike his enemies on the jaw'? Surely it's this: he is trusting God to work out his justice in his circumstances, and declaring that he will not want to seek vengeance in his own time. This is something that David himself did on several occasions, when he had the opportunity to kill his enemy Saul, but didn't. He preferred instead to leave God to do the working out of justice. Which is very similar to the principle of Romans 12:19.

I guess the other thing is that we now have more of an understanding than David in how God will work his justice out. As readers of the New Testament, we can grasp a deeper understanding of the eschatology that David and the other psalmists only saw shadows of. We are able to love our enemies knowing that God will work out his justice eternally, something that was demonstrated at the cross. We are able to cry out to the Lord for justice and yet to wish the very best for our enemies - even if it means coming to know the Lord for themselves. God will still ensure that justice is done - even if it means taken their punishment upon himself.