Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg
And then there’s the junior Senator from Georgia, Republican Frank Perdue, at a “Faith and Freedom” conference today.
According to The Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff, Republican Senator Frank Perdue jokingly told attendees: “We should pray like Psalm 109:8 says: Let his days be few.”
Christians well acquainted with Psalms 108, know that it is not just a wish for Obama to be out of office, but a call for vengeance upon a rival.
According to the American Standard Bible, Psalm 109:7 begins, “When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin.”
Nah, let’s have the King James, instead.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
Nice people.
As the choirmaster in The Mayor of Casterbridge remarked, “Whatever Servant David were thinking about when he made a Psalm that nobody can sing without disgracing himself, I can’t fathom.”
Got to thinking, looking at the way the loudest, most obnoxious, most hateful have a way of dominating news cycles, sucking oxygen out of everything nearby, looking at the way the shit they throw does pollute the air, setting everyone on edge and at each other’s throats, and generally making life seem cheap and tawdry, what we really need is a lot more _nice_ things. (You were just asking: why can’t we have nice things? Because assholes break them. And also because maybe we haven’t been making enough…)
Therefore:
May he age gracefully, and be remembered fondly. May he cry at his children’s graduations and weddings. May he laugh often, shouldering aside the burdens of office with a mix of gratitude and liveable, wistful regret, anxious only that perhaps he had more to give, and hadn’t done enough, still had things to do, still may wish to do them. May he good give speeches, and speeches well-received. May he live to see his country slowly, incrementally better itself, despite its many, many challenges. May he continue to learn, continue to love. May his children grow up strong and happy. May he die when he’s good and ready, peacefully, in his sleep, surrounded by those who love him.
(Always said: unbelievers could write a way better canon. Not that it would take much.)
Obama’s going to be out of office in less than 7 months, whether god grants your request or not. What the hell.