Read Psalm 83:1-8. 1O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 2For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. 3They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 4They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” 5For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, 7Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.
For Asaph an attack against Israel was an attack against God. To hate Israel was to hate God – against YOU they make a covenant.
This is no less true today. Because of our union with Christ, to attack the church is to attack Jesus himself. To hate Christians is to hate Christ. Jesus, appearing to Saul on the Damascus Road, asked him, “Why do you persecute ME?”
Years later that same Saul, now the Apostle Paul, would remind us that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces. No human is our ultimate enemy, but merely pawns in a spiritual war that Jesus has already won.
Christian, this is God’s fight, not ours. Those who oppose you for your faith oppose him. So let him do the fighting as we do the loving. Let him punish his enemies through our acts of kindness heaped like flaming coals upon their heads. Let God torture them with our forgiveness of them. May our faith and righteousness be God’s weapon in his war for their hearts.
To live is Christ is to love our enemies, to pray for them, to bless and not curse, knowing that every enemy of ours is actually an enemy of God, an enemy that he died for, and to whom he offers full and free forgiveness.
You: Have you felt under attack lately? Who is your attacker?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you are in Christ allow you to give grace to your enemies?
Christ in you: Is there an enemy that Christ has been calling you to forgive and love? How might you take a step in that direction today?
Pray: Father, I trust you to deal with my enemies. Help me to be an instrument of your grace in the spiritual battle for souls today. Amen.
To Live is Christ 