They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft (Psalm 35:12)
David looked to God when his enemies pursed him. He trusted in God to vindicate him (v23). But this did not mean that David stood idly by waiting to see what would happed to those who hated him. He did good to them, even though they repaid him with evil. Likewise, Jesus said to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).
Perhaps during this challenging time, you have experienced opposition and conflict with others, and the temptation is to return evil for evil. If we are honest with ourselves, it’s impossible to love our enemies from our hearts. That’s where the good news of Jesus comes in. Not only did Jesus love His enemies (us) by dying on the cross for us, but we now have the Holy Spirit who empowers us to love our enemies like Jesus did. Let’s depend on the Spirit today to enter into difficult circumstances doing good and praying for our enemies.