Power in Prayer

Prayer for the Future

5 May all who hate Zion,
Be put to shame and turned backward,

The Futility of the Enemy

6 Let them be like grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up;
7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;

Unlike the examples of blessing we saw in Ps 128, the enemies of God are here compared to withering grass. Worse yet, they are like that grass that attempts to take root in the thin sod of the roof, not even considered for harvest.

• Their high position on the rooftop might be taken to signify pride.
• The rapidity with which they wither is symbolic of their weakness.
• The image is of the enemy cut off suddenly, by act of God, before their natural course would do so

Isa 51:12

"I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
And of the son of man who is made like grass;

Like the grass of the rooftop, the enemy's destruction is born in itself. The grass cannot draw from its thin soil the strength it needs in order to bloom, and so kills itself trying. So also, the enemy kills himself trying to gain a victory that cannot come about.

Propriety in Prayer

8 Nor do those who pass by say,
"The blessing of the LORD be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the LORD."

Ru 2:4 Now behold, Boaz come from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "May the LORD be with you." And they said to him, "May the LORD bless you."

Custom would have us to greet and bless those we meet. And it is certainly well to pray blessing on the work of the industrious. But such blessings remain holy and sacred, and are not to be trifled with. The blessing of the Lord ought not to be sullied by seeking it for evil acts. Only a fool would waste his breath blessing one who was attempting to harvest his rooftop. Only a fool would seek to bless the enemies of Zion, for their cause is just as futile.

2 Jn 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

The unstated implication of this verse is that those who will not bless them will cry out against them, and seek God to defeat them. "Such a prayer cannot but be regarded as proper and right." (Barnes)

Yet, what of Jesus' teaching?

Mt 5:38-39 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Ro 12:20-21 "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Should we find the sentiments of this Psalm at odds with the New Testament? The obvious answer is no, for God has not changed. He is the same God He has always been and always will be. Rather, we must understand how the Psalm fits into this understanding.

If we take the Psalmist at face value in this prayer, we will see that he is not looking for a personal vengeance, but rather for a defense of God's honor. Remember that Zion, refers to Jerusalem in its role as God's chosen city. With that in mind, those that hate Zion, are in fact hating God. The cry of this Psalm is not for personal vengeance, but for God to avenge His own name. This is certainly in keeping with God's declarations that vengeance is to be left to Him, for it is His to deliver.

Yet, can we pray for the destruction of God's enemies, and still walk in obedience to the Gospel message? Is it not hypocritical to give food and drink to the very ones you are praying against? This is a hard thing to balance. Is it resistance to withhold your blessing? Is it overcoming evil with good to pray down God's vengeance upon our enemies? When John and Andrew sought to do such a thing, Jesus rebuked them. Are we to apply that today or not?

Earlier this week, I saw a bumper sticker that, in an attempt to suggest that capital punishment was unscriptural, had words to the effect of "The death sentence…What would Jesus do?" Well, I can think of any number of possible answers to this. The most obvious would be that He already did it in paying the penalty Himself. Should we take from that the idea that we ought do the same? Is that the point of the bumper sticker?

Perhaps we should look to His second coming, rather than His first. Then, for all those who refused to accept what He had done for them, He will sit as judge. And the death sentence that He will pass against those who reject God will be an eternal death.

Vengeance is indeed God's to deliver, and He will in His time and by His chosen means. In effect, we could argue that the prayer of "Lord, come!" is a prayer of vengeance, for what is our greatest joy to look forward to contains within it the seeds of eternal death for those who have refused Him.

Again, we reach the point where we must recognize that there will be those for whom no amount of prayer will avail their salvation. This is no reason to quit trying to reach the lost. It is a recognition of whose work their salvation is. Our witness is a matter of our obedience to our Savior. Their response will either be evidence of His Spirit working upon them, or of their harness of heart.