Pray for Your Enemies
Psalm 35
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 27) "May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, 'The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.' "
My Thoughts
Okay, I have to be honest here. When I first read this, I chose this verse because I, for some reason thought the word 'vindication' had something to do with being attacked or oppressed. David seems to be praying against his enemies in this whole Psalm, saying things like "May those who seek my life be put to shame..." and to ruin and disgrace. I was obviously wrong about the word 'vindication' because it means to have your name cleared.
The title of this post still stands and still works perfectly fine. If David was saying these things against his enemies, that's fine, but we can still do the opposite and pray for our enemies. Why would you want to pray for your enemies? Well, we are supposed to love them as well, right? We usually pray for those we love, however it is that we love them.
We should never have malicious thoughts for our enemies because, whether they deserve it or not, whether we feel that way or not, whether we are justified in feeling that way or not, they are still evil thoughts. Evil thoughts are never appreciated by God and never something that He wants from us. God is the one who ultimately gives punishment anyway, and His punishment is ultimate. Nothing we could ever think of could ever come close to what God could do. People are not always mean to others by malicious choice. Sometimes that is all they know because that is all they got, or sometimes it's because of things that have happened to them. You never know what could have happened in someone else's life.
It is very difficult to let go of what someone has done to you sometimes. The worse their deed, the harder it is usually. It may take some time, and that is perfectly alright. Once you are able to forgive and move past it, you can't hold a grudge. Holding a grudge is not letting go. If you never want anything to do with them again, that's fine, but how would it be if you could bless them?
If you could bless those who hurt you in return for their deeds, or even pray positively for them, you would have the ultimate comeback! People love to one-up each other, and if you blessed in return for a curse, that would be the best thing you could possibly do. Do that, give a blessing to those who hurt you from now on. You don't have to do it to their face, you can just talk to God. If you cannot think of a way to bless them, ask God to bless them however He chooses to. After all, God does know best.
If you are unable to give a blessing to them, then try praying positive things for them. If the person stole from you, pray that they would realize stealing is wrong. If they hurt you with words, pray that they would realize how hurtful their words are. Pray that they would change from these things. That's still a positive request. The next time someone hurts you, give yourself time to cool down from how you feel about it, then pray for them, and if you can, bless them.
The title of this post still stands and still works perfectly fine. If David was saying these things against his enemies, that's fine, but we can still do the opposite and pray for our enemies. Why would you want to pray for your enemies? Well, we are supposed to love them as well, right? We usually pray for those we love, however it is that we love them.
We should never have malicious thoughts for our enemies because, whether they deserve it or not, whether we feel that way or not, whether we are justified in feeling that way or not, they are still evil thoughts. Evil thoughts are never appreciated by God and never something that He wants from us. God is the one who ultimately gives punishment anyway, and His punishment is ultimate. Nothing we could ever think of could ever come close to what God could do. People are not always mean to others by malicious choice. Sometimes that is all they know because that is all they got, or sometimes it's because of things that have happened to them. You never know what could have happened in someone else's life.
It is very difficult to let go of what someone has done to you sometimes. The worse their deed, the harder it is usually. It may take some time, and that is perfectly alright. Once you are able to forgive and move past it, you can't hold a grudge. Holding a grudge is not letting go. If you never want anything to do with them again, that's fine, but how would it be if you could bless them?
If you could bless those who hurt you in return for their deeds, or even pray positively for them, you would have the ultimate comeback! People love to one-up each other, and if you blessed in return for a curse, that would be the best thing you could possibly do. Do that, give a blessing to those who hurt you from now on. You don't have to do it to their face, you can just talk to God. If you cannot think of a way to bless them, ask God to bless them however He chooses to. After all, God does know best.
If you are unable to give a blessing to them, then try praying positive things for them. If the person stole from you, pray that they would realize stealing is wrong. If they hurt you with words, pray that they would realize how hurtful their words are. Pray that they would change from these things. That's still a positive request. The next time someone hurts you, give yourself time to cool down from how you feel about it, then pray for them, and if you can, bless them.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
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