“O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane! Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.” (v1-3,13-18)
In this Psalm the author God to deliver them from the oppressive enemy at Israel’s door. The author begs for deliverance from their enemies, with the expressed purpose that “they may seek your name, O Lord” and “that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.”
Despite wanting freedom from oppression, the author also wants their enemies to know God. They have at least some respect for them and seem to want the best for those who persecute them. Maybe they had this law of Moses in their mind: “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.” (Ex 23:4-5)
The author is doing the right thing by praying for their enemies, though Jesus takes this thought of loving our enemies one step further: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:43-48)
Great, we can understand the command to love and pray for our enemies, such as those who persecute us. What does Jesus mean by concluding His thought with “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? In biblical context, the term “perfect” originally referred to “a piece of mechanism, as a machine that is complete in its parts”. So what does that mean when applied to people? It would imply that someone is a complete person, not missing parts or having defective parts, and is wholly functional. Now, that does not mean we need to be flawless/sinless – Jesus would not call us to be sinless, He knows that would be impossible. Calling us to be perfect (ie. complete), however, is possible through God’s grace and mercy and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
So what would it look like for you and I to be perfect? I would suggest it looks something like this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal 5:22-23,25) To keep in step with the Spirit (ie. God), to exhibit His characteristics (ie. His fruit) could be one way of exhibiting wholeness and perfection of character.
Of course being made perfect and fruitful through the Spirit is only possible through God’s grace and mercy exhibited through Jesus’ atonement for our sin, and our acceptance of Him as our Lord and savior. Only then, will we be able to truly love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, as Christ loved the two criminals on the crosses beside Him. Though He loved them both, only one believed. I have chosen to be the believing criminal and will therefore try to love other criminals (ie. those who have sinned against God).
Father God, we praise You for the forgiveness, grace and mercy available through Jesus’ atonement for our sin. Since You loved us while we were still sinners (criminals), we ask that You would please teach us to love other criminals/enemies. We acknowledge that we cannot (and don’t wish to) do this without You – we need the fruit of Your Spirit in order to be perfect like You, and love others as You love them. Only then can we truly understand how You view us and Your enemies. Jesus, please help us to do this.
~ Conqueror in Training