![]() ![]() I know You have placed Your people around me and You work through them. ![]() The book of Proverbs says that a “friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity.” I acknowledge that I need help and that enemies are attacking me. O God, my Strength, when I am weak, You are strong. If I have been forgiven by You, how can I withhold forgiveness now? Give me strength. Yet I look to You, You who sent Your Son to suffer and die at the hands of His enemies and still forgiving them. Tempting me to seek revenge, they continue their unjustified attacks day and night. I am in trouble, O God, I am surrounded by those who hate me and seek evil for me. God, my Fortress, You are infinitely loving. But even more, let me ground myself in my worth in You. Let me imitate the courage Joshua had as he led the Israelites to the promised land. Lord, empower me to stand up for myself and others. You have not given me a spirit of fear and timidity but of power and a sound mind. When I am attacked by enemies, I need to courageously stand in righteous rebuke against those who would attack me. God of Heaven’s Armies, You are my strength and my refuge. Here are 10 prayers for enemies to leave you alone. 16–17).The enemy puts roadblocks in your path to steal and kill your joy, but we know that God is greater than any enemy we may face. ![]() But, even in the midst of his anguish, David understands and foresees that God is his fortress and final hope (vv. His language is vivid and raw because he is desperate and fleeing for his life. In this psalm David prays for deliverance. This is precisely what enables us, in the end, to love our enemies and pray for them. Every psalm becomes a pointer to greater realities that have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Therefore, whenever we pray or sing psalms, we always (as with all of Scripture) encounter them as Christians and sing them through the lens of the new covenant. We also should remember that whatever curses are called down upon enemies are all fully borne by Jesus Christ, who became “a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). When we see these references to enemies in the Psalms, we should be reminded of our real and more profound struggle with the Evil One and his satanic forces. Paul says that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. There are larger perspectives that we, as Christians, have been given. 12:19).Īs Christians, we must understand that although we may face injustices, structural evils, and a host of earthly enemies arrayed against us, this is not our ultimate struggle. God invites us to openly express our anger because he has reserved judgment for himself: “Vengeance is mine,” declares the Lord (Deut. David transfers his anger and emotion over to God because it is God who must act in these situations. It is important to remember that these are prayers to God, not actions against an enemy. Aren’t we told to pray for our enemies, even to bless them? This potential conflict is not easy to ignore, because it occurs in so many different psalms. We have seen this in several psalms already. ![]() 59:1, 3).ĭavid prays imprecation or cursing over his enemies. The opening lines of the psalm confirm this as David prays, “Deliver me from my enemies, O God . . . Saul surrounded David’s house to kill him, but David’s wife, Michal, warned David that Saul’s men were approaching and lowered him out the window with a rope so that he escaped with his life. The superscription for this psalm is quite specific: “Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and kill him in the morning.” The setting for this psalm is 1 Samuel 19:11ff. Sing this psalm with the Seedbed Psalter today! Visit the resource here. ![]()
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