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Can we pray the way David did? Can we ask for God to pour out his indignation upon our opponents? Aren’t we supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44)? If, say, a lesbian couple were to sue us for not baking a cake for their wedding reception, shouldn’t we turn the other cheek instead of asking for God to make their loins tremble continually? But the situation becomes hairier when we try to apply David’s words to our own experience. (Psalm 69:22–24)īecause we believe that the Bible is authoritative and without error, we likely wouldn’t criticize David for praying the way he did in this passage.
![enemies of god enemies of god](https://pictures.abebooks.com/FIRSTPLC/md/md3303948956.jpg)
Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. Let their own table before them become a snare and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. To give an example, David prays in Psalm 69 against “those who hate me without cause” (Psalm 69:4). Sometimes called “the imprecatory psalms,” these songs of judgment call on God to punish the enemies of his people.
Enemies of god how to#
As we think of how to respond biblically, we would do well to take up one of the resources God has given us for our joyful resilience: the psalms of judgment. But not as bad as they could be.Īnd yet, we can’t deny that the American church faces opposition, an opposition that could very well increase in the days to come.
![enemies of god enemies of god](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TQSjzGa_q3c/maxresdefault.jpg)
Nor should we exaggerate the plight of the American church, as though our sufferings were on a par with what believers elsewhere have experienced under Boko Haram or ISIS or Kim Jong-un. Jesus has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church (Matthew 16:18). In the face of these developments, we shouldn’t fall into alarmism or fear-mongering. A second video - no less unsettling - emerged last week, with more likely to come. Finally, July 14 saw the release of disturbing undercover footage of a Planned Parenthood director discussing the sale of tissue and organs from aborted babies. The Supreme Court legalized so-called same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26. On June 17, Dylan Roof murdered nine people who had gathered for prayer at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. June and July have been strange and heartbreaking months for Christians in America.