Pray for their ultimate good

Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace, (Psalms 83:17)

Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), but I doubt this is what most of us think he meant.

Here in Psalm 83 David is praying for the enemies that threaten the nation of Israel. Interestingly though, he identifies them not as his enemies, or even the nation’s enemies, but as God’s enemies.

For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads. (Psalm 83:2)

Lauren and I will often repeat this to each other when talking about someone we are experiencing hostility from: “They aren’t our enemy.” I don’t really have any enemies. I’m small fry, as the saying goes. Someone may take their hostility toward God out on me, just as these nations did in David’s time, but it’s important to remind ourselves not to take it personally, and to realize where the hostility really comes from.

But then, how David prays “for” them! We don’t pray like this!

He prays for God to scatter them like dust, to consume them as with fire, to terrify them as with a hurricane, to put them to shame and cause them dismay. He even prays that they would “perish in disgrace”. That’s pretty harsh.

But this prayer is not vindictive, its redemptive. David is praying for their salvation!

Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O LORD.

Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,

that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the LORD,
are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalms 83:16-18)

His prayer for the destruction of his enemies isn’t for his own benefit, but for theirs. Yes, praying for them to experience shame, dismay, disgrace, even perishing, is for their good, IF…if the intent is their coming to the end of themselves and seeking God. David wants the enemies of his nation to seek and know God.

On the surface it may look like David is praying for bad things to happen to his enemies, but in reality he is praying for their ultimate good, that they would know the Lord.

As we encounter hostility from people, and we will, let us remember that they are not really our enemies, but have made themselves God’s enemies. And let us pray that he shows them mercy, by bringing them to the end of themselves and giving them eyes to see his glory. Let us pray for their ultimate good.

Our prayers usually look nicer than this, but maybe that’s because we don’t care as deeply!