David gives me an example of how to love my enemies. He called the man who persistently tried to kill him “beloved and lovely” (2 Samuel 1:23, Berkeley). My enemy is not an irritating neighbor, a bitter-tongued boss, or a person of different skin color and speech. My enemy is, as David’s was, anyone who stands in the way of doing God’s will. As long as Saul was alive, David could not mount the throne of Israel. Saul’s death, therefore, was David’s life. Yet not once would David make any effort of his own to remove the obstacle to his kingship.
To love an enemy is the ultimate end in the negation of ambition and desire. To love an enemy is to accept his hindrance as part of God’s purpose, to be serene toward him, and to realize that his hindrance, like that of Judas, is only leading to ultimate victory.
The natural man fights his enemy. He tries to remove him as an obstacle by doing him physical harm, even death. War is the full-scale display of the natural man determined to have his way.
The shallowness of that way of acting is that for every enemy I destroy, ten more arise. The only way I can “conquer” my enemy is to love him. That does not mean that I “like” him; it simply means that I have good will toward him. that I place him in God’s hands for disposition, and that I yearn for his ultimate spiritual blessing in Christ. The disciple of Jesus Christ is the only person who can afford to have enemies, because he knows how to treat them. Doing the will of Christ means I will never lack enemies, but I will never lack the support of Him of whom 1 Corinthians 13 is a perfect description. As I trust Him who is perfect love, He will work out that perfect love through me.
“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
Daily with the King 