One of the hardest things a Follower of Christ is asked to do is to pray for their enemies. How do you bless those who curse you and feed those who clearly wish you have nothing to feed yourself with? (Luke 6:27-30.) Human nature is much more comfortable with the cries of David for God to slaughter His enemies and deal with them terribly.
But here is the thing, David was all mouth when it came to dealing with Saul. Twice, he had the opportunity to cut off his head but he left him sleeping. In doing this, he was leaving vengeance to God even if he did not explicitly say so. Saul’s eventual fate tells us that God shows up and stands up for His chosen.
“Vengeance is mine” says the Lord– Deut. 32:35. Let that sink in for a second. God wants sole ownership of vengeance. He wants to be the custodian of vengeance. He is more than able to take on that role becaus He has all the reources of warfare and punishment at His disposal. He is not asking to share the role with anyone of His creations. Once we interfere with His desired sole privilege, He leaves it for us to handle ourselves. God never shares His glory.
If it gives any comfort, Paul tells us that feeding our enemies will be like heaping burning coals on their heads – Romans 12:20. This confirms that God will avenge when He observes our own obedience to His instructions. Test this Word and see whether you will not be moved to pity for your enemies once God begins to deal with them. God’s wrath is not to be messed with, think of modern-day Egyptian plagues.
Indeed, you can only be moved to pray for God to have mercy on them, because the same God will not tolerate our gloating over their downfall. ‘Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice’ – Proverbs 24:17
May we boldly trust in God’s Word and lean on His Spirit to help us relate to our enemies the way He wants.
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 