Reading in the Psalms this morning, I came across several times where David is praying to the Lord for the downfall – or even destruction – of his enemies. Here’s just one example from Psalm 140.
Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused. Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence.
Hmmm…I’ve got to say this is causing me to noodle on what it means to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44. David was a guy who was a man after God’s own heart – right? And yet this is how he prayed.
I guess I always felt that the best prayer for my enemies is that they would see the light, have a change of heart, and we’d all live happily ever after. Then I see a God-seeker like David asking God to let burning coals fall on his enemies’ heads.
What do you think about this? Is it every ok to pray “against” your enemies? Can you pray against someone and still love them? Oh…the questions…
I think if you define love as God defines love it makes more sense, to put the needs of another ahead of your own. I think seeing consequenses for their choices is part of growing, if they see the natural consequenses they may choose to turn from evil and seek God. I guess just like in your prayer, God usually uses consequenses to cause people to turn from their ways and “see the light.”
Good reminder that all of our prayers – for ourselves or others – are much more effective when seeking to see as God sees, not as we simply “want” things to be.
It’s an excellent question, Keith. C.S. Lewis points out (Reflections on the Psalms) that prayers like David’s have been included in the scripture to demonstrate how injustices inflicted upon the innocent can tempt a good man to turn bad, corrupting him with the desire for retribution.
As to David’s heart, famously quoted, I’m not sure it’s meant to be an endorsement of every action–he is certainly a model of repentance, though! (Psalm 51)
Peace!