salm 35 talks about how the Psalmist is wrongfully pursued and plotted against by his oppressors. This aggression is unprovoked: whenever those who are his enemies were sick or in trouble, the psalmist would pray for them and mourn with them. He would genuinely and earnestly wish for and seek their good, interceding for them.

My attitude, and Christians' attitude, should be the same to those who persecute us, trouble us, or who are not counted among us. Our mind should be that of Christ's, who when he was reviled did not revile in return (1 Peter 2:23).

We are not to return evil for evil (1 Peter 3:9) or avenge ourselves (Romans 12:19). It is God's office to avenge (Deuteronomy 32:35)) , and the Bible testifies that the wicked and evil are given over to foolishness and in will fall in their own traps that they have laid (Psalm 35:8; Psalm 81:12; Romans 1:24) . Their doom is sure (Luke 20:43; 1 Corinthians 15:26).

We are not to adopt the attitudes of and imitate the wicked, no matter how cathartic this may feel or apparently effective: those attitudes are anti-Christ. We are to be set apart, holy like God (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Corinthians 6:20).

We can pray for the wicked, for their well-being, for their health, for deliverance when they are in calamity. This can happen at the same time as praying that their foolish plans - those that are not in line with the will of God - will be thwarted.

The Bible also warns against boasting against the wicked when they fall (Proverbs 24:!7-18). Our boasting should not be against anything, but in something: the Lord who rules, delivers, and saves us (Jeremiah 9:24; 1 Corinthians 1:31).

In our fallen state, it is easy to get caught up in cycles of returning evil for evil, at trying to tear each other down trusting in our own strength. May the Lord grant us the wisdom, strength, and peace for relying on Him, looking to His words and His Word as our guide, so that we may love our enemies and those who mistreat us.

| Permalink