Praying Against our Enemies?

 "Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord; do not let their plans succeed. Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent." Psalm 140: 8-11

    To be honest, the above passage represents my feelings in the year 2020. As I saw what I perceived to be my enemies rising up against authorities, looting, burning out small business owners, pushing down random elderly folks in the streets, tearing down statues and replacing them with their own warped ideology, anger rose like bile in my throat. It was a righteous anger, one rooted in true justice and indignation, a strangled cry for the Lord to act swiftly.

    Psalm 140 is one of several imprecatory psalms, which is to say the writer is invoking evil upon his enemies. How do I reconcile this with the teachings of Jesus in Luke 6 which implore me to "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (verses 27, 28)? As a daughter of the King, I am called to turn the other cheek, to give up my cloak as well as my shirt and to invoke the Golden Rule.

    Though it seems these passages contradict one another, it helps to identify who my enemy is. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12) The missile of the imprecatory psalm is to be aimed at Satan, never our fellow man who is created in the image of God. For if all have "sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," then I was once as lost as those who "proudly rear their heads" in our government and society.  However, in fighting the good fight, I must stalwartly pray that Satan be bound, his plans be thwarted and the hearts of mankind be turned to salvation in Jesus Christ.

    Our God is a loving, merciful One who is also just and holy. A day is coming when everything will be made right and Jesus Christ will rule the world with equity and true social justice. Until then:

"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. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12: 20, 21