Godliness with Enemies 1 Samuel and the stories of enemies, especially the narratives about Saul and David, have heightened my awareness of the need for worship and world-view living to be rounded out by a theology of enemies. I've heard a ton about a theology of quiet times, worship, daily work, finances, end times, and the like. But I've known very, very little of a Word-grounded theology of enemies. Have you ever heard the pastor announce on a Sunday morning: This coming Wednesday night, we'll be starting three small groups on Waging Godly Warfare on Enemies?
There will be much more on this in other posts, but at the start, we must learn to embrace and emulate the enmity that God established in the world at Genesis 3:15 with the words, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Somehow we need to get our lives wrapped around God's appointed, deliberate plan to set up and use the enmity between Christ and the men of unbelief. Being a Christian requires taking up Christ's cause and being on His side in a war that began right here in the garden; it's something that God ordered for the world of time, for the men of nations and for everyday living. This war will go on and on until the last day. It's the war of the Seed of the woman—Christ and His people, and the seed of the serpent. We were enlisted when the sign-line of baptism was applied to us; that's when Jesus called us to be His own, summoning us to a life of faith and faithful allegiance. It's war time, all leave has been canceled.
Part of the war is the godly practice of prayer. We're to pray against enemies, those against God and His gospel; and at the same time, we're to pray for His saving work in them. Praying curses against them like the imprecatory psalms in the Bible demonstrates faith.
I like this quote from PCA minister, John Day. It's from his book Crying for Justice. It's well worth our meditation. Listen to Day as he notes the role of faith in calling out to God to bring curses down on His enemies.
“...in the community of Israel, as in the broader ancient Near East, the legitimate curse was an expression of human powerlessness. It was used when people were unable to adequately help or protect themselves. This cry was the voice of the oppressed, the victim, and the unjustly accused. It was directed against powerful or unconvictable offenders. Indeed, the legitimate curse was an act of faith that God's desire for justice, as expressed in the Law and ethical teachings of religion, would be reflected in real life. When viewed in this light, the so-called imprecatory psalms and other imprecatory texts, which seem so vicious and strange to the modern reader, are seen to be expressions of faith in the just rule of Yahweh in situations in which the covenant member or community can see no other source of help or possible means of securing just treatment.”
Of course, I am one of Day's modern readers. Over the years, I have kept a safe distance from the imprecatory psalms. I have figured that name-calling, curse-praying and other similar forms of cries to God were for people and matters far, far away from today's evangelical Christianity. I've never thought of the imprecatory psalms as a show of faith, as a show of godliness of what real men do when they are backed into a corner, without the help and assistance of man.
See John Day's book on p. 37.
G. Mark Sumpter
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