1/9/11 Ezekiel 15-16; Psalm 70; Revelation 6
S: Psalm 70:1-2,5 Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. May those who try to kill me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace....But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my saviour; O Lord, do not delay.
O: This is a psalm of David, David wasn't shy to pour out his heart to God and ask for God to destroy the people persecuting him (presumably Saul and his men.) Yet, when he had the chance, he did not take the law into his own hands and kill Saul.
A: We can be honest with God in our prayers. We don't have to hide our feelings. God calls us to a certain standard of conduct -- like in David's case, not to take the law into his own hands and kill Saul -- but in our prayers we can be honest with our desires -- in David's case, for Saul to be humiliated.
Jesus tells us "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" and Paul elaborates on this, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
So, while we are not ourselves to take vengeance on those who persecute us, we can pour out our honest feelings to God.
P: Father, help me to restrain my hand from vengeance, knowing that I can our out my heart to you. In Jesus' name, amen.
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