What might it mean to Love Your Enemies Like Jesus? We all have enemies. We all have people who have hurt us. And if you’ve ever read the Psalms, you’ll notice David—a man after God’s own heart—isn’t shy about calling down God’s wrath on his enemies. In fact, he gets pretty graphic: “Let my enemies be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. Let burning coals fall down on their heads. Let them be thrown into the fire or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.” (Psalm 140:9-10 NLT) Is it okay to pray like this?
Or are we supposed to just “turn the other cheek,” like Jesus says in the Beatitudes? Honestly, I find this hard to do. In Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for them. But then I look at David, and how he begged God to physically destroy his enemies—in some of the worst ways possible. Sometimes, I want to pray the same way for people in my life. How do I reconcile David’s imprecatory Psalms with Jesus’ command? Maybe I need to see things through a different lens. Maybe that’s the key to making sense of all this.
Saul Was Hunting David Like An Animal
Here’s what I’m realizing: David, in every case, was asking for God’s vengeance—not his own. Saul was hunting him down like an animal, trying to kill him out of jealousy. And David had multiple opportunities to get revenge, to kill Saul. But every time, he refused to act on his own anger or sense of justice. He trusted his enemy (Saul) to God’s hands. Even after Samuel anointed David as king, he wouldn’t be the one to destroy “God’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 24:6-7 NLT) David was willing to wait for God’s timing and let God put him on the throne when He saw fit.
And when Saul “finally got his due”? Instead of celebrating his freedom to take the throne, David mourned for those who had plotted his death. “David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day.” (2 Samuel 1:11-12 NLT) What???
It wasn’t just Saul. Even others who tried to kill him, like Absalom, brought David to tears. “The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.’” (2 Sam 18:33 NLT) Absalom had just been on a rampage to kill David and steal his throne! And David wishes he’d died instead? No wonder God called David a man after His own heart.
Love Your Enemies Like Jesus
On the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34 NLT) Instead of calling down imprecatory prayers for His enemies, like David did, He asked for their forgiveness. But Jesus also knew that those who refused to repent would face God’s ultimate judgment. He’d already said, “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18 NLT)
Father, help me see my enemies like David and Jesus did. Covered and saved by the New Covenant, brought into force by the Blood of Jesus—the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Help me to love and pray for them, trusting You to execute Your justice: Your vengeance if they refuse, and Your mercy if they repent. Help me to trust in Your justice—not my own.