How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
Hopefully you do not remember your first steps as our granddaughter Harriet is now walking. You most likely remember a grownup teaching you to ride a bike, that feeling of freedom when they finally let go and then sheer terror when you are out of control. They cannot grab the handlebars fast enough. That is the feeling David expressed in Psalm 35. He had lots of enemies, King Saul among them, and it is understandable for him to pray for their demise. He will praise God because he no longer feels alone and it will be in the congregation, where he is definitely not alone.
After Jesus became the perfect sacrifice and we became his, we are to now love our enemies and pray for them, not for their demise but for blessings upon them. Our enemies are now sin, which Jesus defeated on the cross but are still present in our lives, and death, which is ever present on this earth but will be the last to be defeated. These are the enemies we are to pray against now. We have the assurance that we are not alone in the battle. Jesus is with us today and always unto the end of the age when all enemies will be destroyed. Let us praise him for his presence and let us praise him in the presence of the congregation.
Dear Lord, thank you for the cross and the church and that you are present in our lives. Help us to praise you together in the congregation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church