Pastor Scott,
I had a question for you about the message yesterday. You talked about loving your enemies instead of wanting vengeance. Turn the other cheek and don’t withhold your shirt from them. My question is this: Was David wrong when he prayed for the detriment of his enemies? Psalm 109.
David was a man after God’s own heart and I believe that this was before his fall with Bathsheba. So why is this in the Bible and what am I missing because I know the Bible doesn’t contradict itself.
Sincerely,
The Ponderer
Dear Ponderer
The short answer is you aren’t missing anything! You caught a major change in God’s program for dealing with people. Jesus changed everything (ie Matthew 5); In short, because He reconciled the whole world to His Father on the Cross (2 Cor 5:19).
God still hates sin and He made provision for it to be dealt with in our lives (Romans 5:8); in the church (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5). But unlike David, we aren’t given the power to judge others (James 4:11-12).
Something else to consider is the fact that David was God’s point man on earth and his position doesn’t really exist in the Church. Neither was his mission – slaying Israel’s enemies, the same as the church’s mission – making baptized disciples.
I’m barely scratching the surface here, but I hope this gives you enough to ponder!
Pastor Scott
P.S.
Alistair Begg does a Blog for CH Spurgeon. I liked this one:
Grace Notes 