Handling The Thoughts Regarding Our Enemies
Word-of-the-Day: ‘(23) Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Psalm 139:23-24)
Not speaking for anyone else, but I’m sure almost all of us battle daily our thoughts of what we think is right in contrast with what God provides for us as instructions to follow in Scriptures and in the motives of the Holy Spirit which are steering us to do what is Righteous and Godly. It’s easy to discern the improper thoughts that creep up in us at any given time, those that may be carnal or selfish (like the thought of going after that last chocolate cookie before someone else gobbles it up).
It may not be a sin to eat that last cookie on the plate, especially if someone snatches it before you can get your hand out to nab it. But it may be an improper thought, in a sinful way, if the intent was that you had to have that cookie at almost any cost, and there is a thought of silent, internal hatred upon that person who was quicker on the draw.
The Lord does not want us to hate others, or have ill thoughts on them. We can dislike and disapprove of them, especially if their ways and motives run counter to the Lord’s precepts given to us in Scripture. We can ask the Lord for His judgement to come upon, not to harm them but to correct them, to have them turn away from their illicit motives and acts and instead do the Righteous acts of God’s desires as written. We can judge the ways and words of others, but only to provide either correction and constructive criticism or to protect and defend God’s people from the harm their illicit motives may inflict.
Nevertheless, we have opinions that we may have regarding others that we don’t quite embrace the love of God to fall upon them. It could be cultural differences or biases that we were given in the home and environment we grew up in, and though our experiences and interactions may have softened these thoughts, a small portion still echoes. Also, it may be a recent event that occurred with a person or group, or at a certain location, that makes it difficult to forgive or let go of the hurt they caused, whether physically or emotionally.
We all have these biases and thoughts. Some can be lighthearted and playful, like someone from Ohio into football who roots for Ohio State or Cleveland and thus has a dislike for Michigan or Pittsburgh. The dislike may be one of taste, but if that dislike turns to a hatred, where it may turn to a violent outburst or a disparagement of people beyond football, is sin. A few years ago, an Alabama man who was a fan of the Crimson Tide, drove to the University of Auburn, Alabama’s biggest rival, to poison and kill off Auburn’s signature and stately old oak trees. His dislike of Auburn turned into a sinful hatred that ended up destroying something more valuable and irreplaceable to Auburn than football.
We know that many of our Biblical heroes also had such battles in their own heads, including David. Psalm 139 is a Davidic psalm, attributed to King David as the author, and is considered to be a Hymnal psalm in style. Some Jewish writings provide it is written in the voice or placement of Adam, but in my opinion, it is David, in writing down his thoughts, attempting to explain to the reader (or the listener if Psalm 139 is played and performed as a song) of his dependency upon God and, especially in the latter part of Psalm 139, the battle between his feelings and the need to follow God and His precepts.
David first acknowledges that God is always with him, and knows his every thought and motive. In giving praise to the Lord, David speaks of God knowing what he will say before he says it (verse 4), and David understands that there is nowhere he can go to escape God (verse 7). It is this knowledge that God knows David, who he is, what he is thinking, and what his true motives are, that David praises.
But then David changes from praise to self-incrimination, starting verse 19. David states his desire is for God to kill off his enemies, those who kill David’s people and blaspheme the name of God. This desire for the Lord to stop his and the Lord’s enemies is dislike, but appears to cross into hatred, wanting these enemies destroyed without an apparent opportunity to repent.
David states without remorse he hates these people, and considers them his enemies, per verse 22. In all honesty, I find myself with similar thoughts as David, and perhaps you do as well; there are those whose cultures and customs that oppose Christianity and American culture and customs who have stated they want to destroy us, and blaspheme Jesus and seek to injure His people. It is a thought that we may find hard to get rid of, and it may something that continues to flare up, like an ember that we keep trying to tamper down, when something occurs in the news that fans it back into flames.
However, David recognizes the sin in these thoughts. His response is not to counter God’s Word by falling into the temptation of tolerating the sins of his enemies, but for the Lord to provide him the strength and the guidance to control these thoughts and bring them back to becoming constructive for both David and the Lord’s Kingdom and not destructive upon David, the Lord, and his enemies.
Verses 23 and 24 show David seeking God’s correction, asking God to show him his destructive thinking and allow the Lord instead to lead him into a less toxic, more constructive way of dealing with these thoughts. David admits to his immoral thoughts, and asks God to lead him toward Righteous thinking. It is not necessarily a request to avoid confrontation, but a plea to confront his enemies through the Lord’s direction and guidance.
It is not for us to tolerate others’ sin by avoiding it, but to handle it without sinning ourselves. We will have confrontation, unfortunately, but how we confront sin must be in a manner that is Godly and Righteous. We may have to encounter our enemies, but we are also to pray for them and ask God to provide them the way toward Salvation. We can dislike what our enemies stand for and the sins they do, but we cannot hate them but instead love upon them – sometimes in confrontation but doing so in constructive, not destructive, fashion.
