March 21, 2023

Passage Read: Psalm 35-38
Meditation Verses: 35:12-14

Thought

David doesn't start off wishing for the destruction of the wicked; he cares about these people, even when they do him harm. He repays good for evil, seeks their good continually. But there comes a point when despite all his kindness, they refuse to acknowledge his love for them, then he asks the Lord to repay them according to their ruthlessness. He is not quick to ask the Lord to overthrow them; he has spent considerable time seeking their good, their repentance, but they have exhausted his compassion.

Application

This psalm is not necessarily in violation of Matthew 5. Even the Lord has a limit. And from the beginning, the Lord knows who will repent and who will not, whom He has chosen and whom He has rejected. We don't have that knowledge, and we're not likely to receive it at the beginning, nor can we be absolutely sure who will be saved and who won't, until the day of a person's death, then we can have a pretty good idea, based on their relationship with God at that point. But until then, there is always a chance they may repent. We have the right to ask for justice at any time, but compassion for even our enemy would gladly forgo that justice if they would only repent; God's love wants repentance more than justice. David has modeled that compassion, but his compassion had been worn down. Given what we know of him, his compassion is very great, so he does not lightly come to this point of calling on God to bring judgment on this enemy. God wants me to have this same attitude, to prefer even an enemy's repentance over their condemnation, to be motivated by that and do good continually even to those who work to trouble me, asking for humbling of them rather than destruction.