19. THE CHRISTIAN'S ENEMIES
Back to THE CHRISTIAN INDEX
That was a good prayer of David, "Lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies" (Ps. 27:11). A similar is that in Ps. 5:8: "Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness, because of my enemies." Divine guidance is in every respect a blessing. When surrounded by foes we must fall, unless God leads and protects us. At such a time it is a great mercy to be kept from perplexity respecting duty. "A plain path," a smooth, clear, open way is of the Lord. The reasons are obvious.
Our enemies are numerous. "Many are my persecutors and my enemies." How the dogs do surround some godly men. Packs of them pursue some all their days. One man often contends against a thousand enemies.
Our enemies often have power, and wealth, and influence on their side. They are also lively (Ps. 38:19). They sleep not except they do some mischief; nor do they measure their hostility. They are like wild beasts. They roar (Ps. 74:4). They make a tumult (Ps. 83:2). They are very violent.
Indeed they are often deadly. Since the days of Pharaoh, their great model, each cries: "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword; mine hands shall destroy them."
Nothing is more noticeable than the merriment of the wicked over sacred things and innocent people. "Our enemies laugh among themselves" (Ps. 80:6). So we still have in the world "cruel mockings," even where "scourgings" and "imprisonments" are unlawful. They love to cry—Aha! aha!
Oftentimes our enemies are so allied to us that we have no more peace at home than abroad (Mic. 7:6). When this is the case, they are a smoke in the eyes, a thorn in the flesh.
Very often they are full of treachery. "The kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Judas was neither the first nor the last who pretended friendship with the basest hypocrisy.
Some men's enmity has no holidays. It never wanes. It never cools. "And Saul became David's enemy continually" (1 Sam. 18:29). Such enemies often produce a deep impression on others, persuading them that we are evil. No small part of Saul's subjects really believed that David was a bad man, so that he says: "Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends—those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery."
Even godly men may be often greatly distressed by such hatred. David says: "My eye is consumed because of grief; it waxes old because of all my enemies." Read the Book of Lamentations, and see how Jeremiah sighed and wept under the raging of his foes.
It is no small part of wisdom to know how to treat our foes. God gave Solomon a great blessing because he had "not asked the life of his enemies" (1 Kings 3:11-12; 2 Chron. 1:11-12). We must love our enemies (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-35). We must pray for them at all times, feed them when hungry, clothe them when naked, lend to them when needy.
God always takes sides with the just against all their wicked foes. His promise is: "I will be an enemy unto your enemies, and an adversary unto your adversaries" (Ex. 23:22). The godly man will God never "deliver unto the will of his enemies."
And it is very easy for God to defeat and overthrow all our enemies. He says: "I will send a faintness into their hearts; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursues" (Lev. 26:36). See also Ex. 23:27.
Under the shadow of God's wings His people are safe from all their adversaries. He stills the enemy and the avenger. "You have been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy" (Ps. 61:3). God can make our worst enemies to be at peace with us (Prov. 16:7). God can convert foes into friends: "Verily I will cause the enemy to entreat you well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction" (Jer. 15:11). God's power can subdue any will, change any heart.
Every child of God may therefore address every foe, as did the Church of old: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the Lord’s rage until He argues my case and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His salvation. Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" My eyes will look at her in triumph; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets." Micah 7:8-10
Oh, how sweet will be the rest of heaven. There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest, and the righteous have everlasting deliverance from all their enemies.
A late writer gives this good practical advice: "Have you enemies? Go straight on and mind them not. If they block up your path, walk around them, and do your duty regardless of their spite. A man who has no enemies is seldom good for anything—he is made of that kind of material which is so easily worked that everyone has a hand in it. A sterling character—one who thinks for himself, and speaks what he thinks—is always sure to have enemies. They are as necessary to him as fresh air; they keep him alive and active. A celebrated character, who was surrounded with enemies, used to remark: 'They are sparks which, if you do not blow, will go out of themselves.' Let this be your feeling while endeavoring to live down the scandal of those who are bitter against you. If you stop to dispute, you do but as they desire, and open the way for more abuse. Let the poor fellows talk; there will be a reaction if you perform but your duty, and hundreds who were once alienated from you will flock to you and acknowledge their error."
Back to THE CHRISTIAN INDEX