May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt. Psalm 71.13
who seek my hurt. Psalm 71.13
Well, that doesn't sound very nice. The psalmist wants bad things to happen to these people who are making life hard on him. Doesn't he know that he's supposed to love his enemies? He doesn't sound very Christian, does he? But it's in the Bible.
So, what do we do with it? We could say that it's in the Old Testament so we can ignore it. But that doesn't sound right. Actually, bumping up against this forces us to come to grips with this kind of prayer. Is this kind of request supposed to be an aspect of our prayers, too? Well, what does the rest of the Bible have to say about this? There are plenty of places in the Psalms where this kind of prayer - asking God to cause bad things to happen to others - shows up. But that won't persuade those still reluctant to accept certain things from the Old Testament. So, let's look at the New Testament.
So, what do we do with it? We could say that it's in the Old Testament so we can ignore it. But that doesn't sound right. Actually, bumping up against this forces us to come to grips with this kind of prayer. Is this kind of request supposed to be an aspect of our prayers, too? Well, what does the rest of the Bible have to say about this? There are plenty of places in the Psalms where this kind of prayer - asking God to cause bad things to happen to others - shows up. But that won't persuade those still reluctant to accept certain things from the Old Testament. So, let's look at the New Testament.
Paul wrote, 'I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!' Hmm. Does that pass the 'love your enemies' test? And yet, there it is.
John describes what the saints will do when Babylon, the symbol of some of the enemies of the Church, is destroyed. 'Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!' Or to say that in other words, 'Be happy that something bad happened to those guys.'
Even Jesus condemned people, whole cities, in fact.
And let's not forget what Paul tells us will happen one day in the future.
Indeed, God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you(!), and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
'God considers it just.' One day there will finally be justice. God will 'repay with affliction those who afflict' us. Justice.
In our Psalm, the author is simply asking God to bring some of that justice to bear and thus grant him some of that promised relief. Yes, we need to love our enemies. But there are also times when we need to ask God to be the just judge that He is. There are times to cry out for justice against our enemies.