As Hurricane Ian brutally struck Florida on September 28, on her Twitter page South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem posted a message of encouragement in support of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Noem's choice of Scriptural language is intriguing and not due to any awkward misinterpretation, but rather the Psalm that it is derived from. The passage she quoted is as follows:
Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
It is appropriate, considering the burden of rebuilding and rescue DeSantis faces when Ian departs the region. But, the Psalm contains no sentimental warmth. The following are some highlights:
Listen to my prayer, O God.
Do not ignore my cry for help!
Please listen and answer me,
for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
My enemies shout at me,
making loud and wicked threats.
They bring trouble on me
and angrily hunt me down.
Is this in reference to the media?
Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans,
for I see violence and conflict in the city.
Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders,
but the real danger is wickedness within the city.
Everything is falling apart;
threats and cheating are rampant in the streets.
Yes it is true, but enough on Washington DC.
This is where it gets the most fascinating.
It is not an enemy who taunts me—
I could bear that.
It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—
I could have hidden from them.
Instead, it is you—my equal,
my companion and close friend.
What good fellowship we once enjoyed
as we walked together to the house of God.
If Noem was not meaning anything apart from the one verse she mentioned, this does not mean anything. But, Noem is sharp. She could have picked any of the passages encouraging DeSantis to hold his face in the game. Instead, she chose one from a Psalm where the author (King David) finds himself being surrounded by critics as well as one who was once a close friend, which has led to speculation about the person who would be this with regard to DeSantis. I wonder if it's a coincidence …
Former President Donald Trump and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis are widely seen within the Republican Party as potential rivals for the 2024 presidential nomination. Obvious public contrasts exist, yet both men have kept their powder dry, but behind-the-scenes tensions have reportedly already erupted.
Trump has all but announced his candidacy while DeSantis remains noncommittal — publicly, at least.
As I suggested in a June Article titled, Trump Plays Nice About Potential 2024 Showdown With DeSantis, but How Long Will the Geniality Last?, “Let’s just hope those wheels don’t fall off before it’s over.” While we’re far from the race officially beginning, no wheels have fallen off, yet, but they’re already wobbling.
While there have been hints along the way, according to sources familiar with both camps, “stuff” just got real. And by “real,” I mean in Trump’s mind, his former “great friend” and “tough, brilliant cookie” is now an unappreciative, “ungrateful” self-serving politician, about whom Trump reportedly grouses: “I made him.”
(Credit: Mike Miller)
Then we come back to the Psalm. There are 23 verses. The last verse is hardly meek, gentle or mild.
But you, O God, will send the wicked
down to the pit of destruction.
Murderers and liars will die young,
but I am trusting you to save me.
As mentioned earlier, this could seem to be purely accidental. But I don't believe that it is. The media will probably be hounding DeSantis after Hurrican Ian has long gone and look for any faults real or fictitious in his responses to make him appear more extremist than before. One would think that Noem is not opposed to a Noem/DeSantis ticket in 2024. If that's the case, Psalm 55 definitely does not harm her cause.
