Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
A Psalm of David.
35 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of [a]buckler and shield
And rise up for my help.
3 Draw also the spear and [b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4 Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my [c]life;
Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 For without cause they hid their net for me;
Without cause they dug a [d]pit for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him unawares,
And let the net which he hid catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.9 And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord;
It shall exult in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [e]mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.
15 But at my [f]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The [g]smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They [h]slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
David’s enemies certainly deserved everything he prayed for in this passage, but it leaves one wondering, didn’t Jesus tell us to pray for our enemies? Why then is David praying for doom and destruction upon his enemies? Wasn’t he a man after God’s own heart?
Yes, I’m not sure, and yes. In David’s defense though, he had never heard Jesus’ words, and all he knew was the law and the previous history of Israel. Perhaps these were people who God had already told the Israelites to destroy. After all, we know they never finished the job of cleansing the promised land, so perhaps David’s prayer simply mirrored Gods plan for His enemies, harsh as it may seem.
Whatever the case, Jesus did indeed tell us to pray for our enemies, and we are not to replay evil with evil, but repay evil with good (Romans and 1 Peter). Ultimately, vengeance belongs to God, not to us. Think of that in Jesus’ day, he was telling his followers to pray for the Romans, and Greeks, and anyone else who had oppressed them.
John reminds us that God loves the world, and is not willing that any should perish. And so we should pray for them all, friend, family, and foe. Especially those who do not know God, for if they do not turn to Him, their fate will be more awful than anything we could imagine.
So yes, God can rescue us from the enemy who is too strong, from those who lie, cheat, and steal from us. But we are not the victims, for He has already rescued us from the enemy of our souls. The fate of the fallen angels is sealed, but not so for the people on earth who desperately need His rescue. To them, we repay evil with good, we extend love and compassion in exchange for hate and misunderstanding. That’s a tall order, but it’s God’s heart for all mankind, and is our mission as long as we draw breath.