Seeking Judgment
Psalm 35:1–28
Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Psalm 35:4

Is it right to ask God to judge our enemies, as David did? Let me suggest the following.

First, remember that David was not writing as a private citizen but as the king and chief justice of Israel. The bearing for us of David’s position as king is that, while we must be careful about asking God to judge those who have offended us personally, there is nothing wrong with asking for justice on behalf of others who have been wronged. In fact, we should be vigorous in the pursuit of such justice. Usually, our problem is not that we are too vindictive at this point, but rather that we do not care about justice for other people much at all.

Second, in a more subdued way, there is also a sense in which we can pray along these lines for ourselves. This is because we are sometimes unjustly slandered, and it is right for truth to triumph.

But we have to be extremely cautious how we do this. For one thing, we are seldom entirely innocent of wrong ourselves. We must therefore always pray with a humble and contrite heart, asking God to reveal whatever fault may lie in us and so lead us in the way of righteousness. Again, while we properly appeal to God for justice, we are not authorized to take matters into our own hands and so try to do to the other person what he or she has done to us. Judgment is a prerogative of God. We should follow the apostle Paul’s counsel: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19–21).

Still further, although our enemies may be vicious now, it is true that God may convert them. We should never despair of their conversion. The apostle was himself a fierce persecutor of the early Christians, but after his conversion he became the church’s greatest missionary.

Finally, we can apply the words of this psalm to the devil, for he is described in Scripture precisely as David describes his enemies. He is our great foe, “a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8) and a slanderous “accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10). Thank God, we have a powerful champion and advocate in King Jesus. It is not wrong for us to pray for his help for the confounding of Satan’s devices and to rejoice in anticipation of the devil’s ultimate and certain fall.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.