Read Psalm 58:6-11. 6O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. 8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. 9Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away! 10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
When Jesus told us to pray for our enemies I’m not sure he had this prayer in mind. Breaking teeth. Stillborn children. Bathing feet in blood. Psalm 58 sure doesn’t sound very Christian.
But like David before him, Jesus too prayed for the holy wrath of God, his settled disposition against evil, to curse and crush all tyranny (Matt. 23). And like David before us, we too must leave this judgment to God and his Son, Jesus. God will judge the earth. God will sweep the wicked away. God will have vengeance. Not you. Not me. Jesus.
In the cross of Christ, all mankind sees the judgment of God and in the empty tomb the reward of the righteous. And one day all mankind will see the judgment of the Lord when he returns for his own. On that day, the world will see the reward of the righteous in Christ. Until that day, those who are in Christ live in patient waiting, wielding spiritual weapons in a spiritual war. Overcoming evil with good. Knowing that to live is Christ will bring us safely through that final day of reckoning.
Prayer. Jesus, help me to live in this unjust world with a deep desire for righteousness but also a deep desire for forgiveness and reconciliation, as I wait patiently for you alone to wield the sword. Amen.
***
Check out Proverbs on the TLICFamily blog! –> Click Here
To Live is Christ 