Should We Pray to God to Punish Our Enemies? Well that’s a very interesting question. Because really a lot of Christians are in practice of praying to God to punish our enemies.
We’re told that we should not pay evil for evil
Love, Not Violence
Well, the quick answer to that is, no. It doesn’t reflect who we are, to be as Christians. In fact, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says you should love your enemies. In John 18, He says that His kingdom is not of this world because if it were, His followers would resist with violence. And in Romans chapter 12, we’re told that we should not pay evil for evil.
But Don’t The Psalms Curse Enemies?
But then the question arises that what do we do with the Psalms where there seems to be a lot of cursing?
Well, first of all we have to be careful how we read the Bible. It’s not everything that is said in the Bible that is endorsed in the Bible. For instance, you see a lot of lying, a lot of adultery, that doesn’t endorse it.
Not everything that is said in the Bible is endorsed in the Bible – like lying or adultery.
So, when we come to the Psalms, we have to read it carefully. Now most of them were uttered by David who was Israel’s king who God made a covenant with. And in that covenant, He said that there would be an offspring that would come in his lineage that would bring about salvation to the world. That’s the Messiah. Now, that means that the fate of the salvation of the world is tied to the fate of the Messiah. And the fate of the Messiah is tied to David.
So, if David is destroyed by his enemies, then there will be no salvation to the world. Now, thankfully that didn’t happen.
God Has Promised Justice
Christians are called to pray for and love their enemies.
Now, since we are not David – and the Messiah has already come and we are not him – Christian enemies are here, but it is God’s job to actually pay back with justice. And He’s promised that He will do that either in His eternal act of justice in hell, or on the cross of Jesus Christ for those who turn to Him.
For now, Christians are called to pray for and love their enemies.
