Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer shows how heavy and pressed you feel, as if foes are surrounding you on every side, in your neighborhood, among family and friends, at work, and even through spiritual attack. It is right to bring that fear and distress to the Lord, for He sees all that is done against you and He hears when you cry out for help.
The Scriptures teach that vengeance belongs to the Lord alone. He has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. There are psalms where David asks God to deal with his enemies and to reward evil according to truth, and there are prayers that ask God to show Himself as the judge of the earth. Yet even in those prayers David was not taking vengeance into his own hands, he was leaving the matter with God. That is where we must be very careful. Our hearts can so quickly want to devise vengeance ourselves and to ask God to destroy people in the way we imagine. We need to pray instead, Lord, keep my heart from seeking revenge, keep me from wanting to repay evil myself, and help me to trust You to do what is right.
The Bible also holds together two truths in the same breath. On one hand there is a coming day of judgment when God will deal with all wickedness and purge evil from the earth, and no one can sin against Him with impunity. On the other hand the prophet who spoke of that day of vengeance in the same passage turned to speak of the loving kindnesses of the Lord, the multitude of His tender mercies, and His great goodness toward His people. God is slow to anger, merciful and patient. He does not always bring swift judgment because He is giving time for repentance, but He has great power and He will not acquit the wicked. He reserves wrath for His adversaries in His own time and way.
That mercy is the hope for us as well. The Lord declares Himself to be a merciful God who blots out transgressions according to His loving kindness. Forgiveness does not come by justifying ourselves or by covering our own sin, it comes when we acknowledge our transgression and confess it before Him. As we cast ourselves upon His mercy He forgives and cleanses. If we are trusting in Jesus Christ, even though we are weak and stumbling, God does not impute iniquity to us but pardons us through the blood of Christ.
Because we have received such mercy, Jesus teaches us a different way to pray for those who oppose us. Under the old covenant there were prayers for judgment, but Jesus said to bless those who curse you and to pray for those who mistreat you. This does not mean we approve of witchcraft, sorcery, or any evil work, for those things are real and God is opposed to them, but it means we ask God to do what is truly good. We can ask Him to protect you, to deliver you from all trouble, to lead you in a level and unobstructed path, to lift up your soul as you trust in Him so your enemies will not triumph over you in a way that brings shame, and to bring your enemies to repentance and salvation rather than to destruction.
So let us pray not for bloodshed or for plagues to fall on people, but for God to do what only He can do in righteousness and mercy. Father, we ask for Your tender mercies and loving kindness toward this dear one who feels beset. Forgive sin as it is confessed, cleanse the heart, and cover this life with the blood of Jesus. Deliver from every evil work and from fear, and let no weapon formed against Your child prosper. Guard the heart from bitterness and from the desire to take vengeance, and help to leave all judgment in Your hands, for You see and You will repay in Your perfect time. We ask that You would bring conviction and mercy to those who do evil, that they might turn and be saved, and that You would burn up every work of darkness and set this child free to walk in peace and in the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We ask this in the name of Jesus.
The Scriptures teach that vengeance belongs to the Lord alone. He has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. There are psalms where David asks God to deal with his enemies and to reward evil according to truth, and there are prayers that ask God to show Himself as the judge of the earth. Yet even in those prayers David was not taking vengeance into his own hands, he was leaving the matter with God. That is where we must be very careful. Our hearts can so quickly want to devise vengeance ourselves and to ask God to destroy people in the way we imagine. We need to pray instead, Lord, keep my heart from seeking revenge, keep me from wanting to repay evil myself, and help me to trust You to do what is right.
The Bible also holds together two truths in the same breath. On one hand there is a coming day of judgment when God will deal with all wickedness and purge evil from the earth, and no one can sin against Him with impunity. On the other hand the prophet who spoke of that day of vengeance in the same passage turned to speak of the loving kindnesses of the Lord, the multitude of His tender mercies, and His great goodness toward His people. God is slow to anger, merciful and patient. He does not always bring swift judgment because He is giving time for repentance, but He has great power and He will not acquit the wicked. He reserves wrath for His adversaries in His own time and way.
That mercy is the hope for us as well. The Lord declares Himself to be a merciful God who blots out transgressions according to His loving kindness. Forgiveness does not come by justifying ourselves or by covering our own sin, it comes when we acknowledge our transgression and confess it before Him. As we cast ourselves upon His mercy He forgives and cleanses. If we are trusting in Jesus Christ, even though we are weak and stumbling, God does not impute iniquity to us but pardons us through the blood of Christ.
Because we have received such mercy, Jesus teaches us a different way to pray for those who oppose us. Under the old covenant there were prayers for judgment, but Jesus said to bless those who curse you and to pray for those who mistreat you. This does not mean we approve of witchcraft, sorcery, or any evil work, for those things are real and God is opposed to them, but it means we ask God to do what is truly good. We can ask Him to protect you, to deliver you from all trouble, to lead you in a level and unobstructed path, to lift up your soul as you trust in Him so your enemies will not triumph over you in a way that brings shame, and to bring your enemies to repentance and salvation rather than to destruction.
So let us pray not for bloodshed or for plagues to fall on people, but for God to do what only He can do in righteousness and mercy. Father, we ask for Your tender mercies and loving kindness toward this dear one who feels beset. Forgive sin as it is confessed, cleanse the heart, and cover this life with the blood of Jesus. Deliver from every evil work and from fear, and let no weapon formed against Your child prosper. Guard the heart from bitterness and from the desire to take vengeance, and help to leave all judgment in Your hands, for You see and You will repay in Your perfect time. We ask that You would bring conviction and mercy to those who do evil, that they might turn and be saved, and that You would burn up every work of darkness and set this child free to walk in peace and in the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We ask this in the name of Jesus.
