Love Your Enemies Anyway

Day 263 of Bible Reading Plan – When people come against us, it is not us they truly hate nor is it really them who are attacking us. The enemy of our souls incites man against man, but we can take a different tactic. When we don’t take attacks against us as being about us, we are set free from the drama and let God fight our battles for us. When people attack you, love your enemies anyway.

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with Denise Pass

BIBLE READING PLAN

 

Love Your Enemies Anyway

When people come against us, it is not us they truly hate nor is it really them who are attacking us. The enemy of our souls incites man against man, but we can take a different tactic. When we don’t take attacks against us as being about us, we are set free from the drama and let God fight our battles for us. When people attack you, love your enemies anyway.

 

Bible Reading of the Day: Psalm 108-110

Todays’ reading has some interesting Psalms. We have a plea for victory, a prayer against an enemy, and an interesting allusion to Christ and an interesting person – Melchizedek.

According to the Easy English Bible Commentary, “Psalm 108 is parts of 2 psalms put together. The first 5 verses come from Psalm 57 and the last 8 verses come from Psalm 60. Why did this happen? Bible students think that Psalm 108 thanks God for the end of the *exile. The *exile was when many *Jews became *prisoners-of-war in Babylon. A prisoner-of-war is somebody that is in prison in a war. The prison may be a place, not a building. The *Jews were in Babylon for 70 years. Babylon was their prison. At the end of that time the new government in Babylon let the *Jews go back to their own country. Many did and built the city of Jerusalem again. They also built the *temple again. This was the house of God on the hill of Zion in Jerusalem. It may be the *holy place in verse 7.”

Instead of writing a new psalm, they put together parts of two psalms that David wrote. In Psalm 57, David thanks God for giving him help to fight his enemies. In Psalm 60, those enemies are Babylon and Edom, the two countries that started the *exile. So David really did write Psalm 108!

Psalm 109 has an interesting story behind it, as well. According to the Easy English Bible Commentary, “This is one of the Psalms of Imprecation. You say an imprecation when you ask God for something bad to happen to your enemies. Other Psalms of Imprecation include Psalms 35 and 69. Read the notes in Psalm 69 for help to understand them.”

Psalm 110 has many allusions to Christ.

Psalm 110:1, “This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Which is repeated by Jesus in Matthew 22:44-45,

“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet.” If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

David was king and Jesus is the King of kings. Both had enemies.

Gotquestions.org

Jesus quotes this verse in a discussion with the Pharisees in order to prove that the Messiah is more than David’s son; He is David’s Lord.

The clause the LORD says to my Lord contains two different Hebrew words for “lord” in the original. The first word is Yahweh, the Hebrew covenant name for God. The second is adoni, meaning “lord” or “master.” So, in Psalm 110:1, David writes this: “Yahweh says to my Adoni. . . .” To better understand Jesus’ use of Psalm 110:1, we’ll look at the identity of each “Lord” separately.

The first “Lord” in “the LORD says to my Lord” is the eternal God of the universe, the Great I AM who revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3. This self-existent, omnipotent God speaks in Psalm 110 to someone else who is also David’s “Lord.”

The second “Lord” in “the LORD says to my Lord” is the Messiah, or the Christ. Psalm 110 describes this second “Lord” as follows:

● He sits at God’s right hand (verse 1)
● He will triumph over all His enemies and rule over them (verses 1–2)
â—Ź He will lead a glorious procession of troops (verse 3)
â—Ź He will be “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (verse 4)
● He will have divine power to crush kings, judge nations, and slay the wicked (verses 5–6)
â—Ź He will find refreshment and be exalted (verse 7)

In Matthew 22:44, Jesus unmistakably identifies the second “Lord” of Psalm 110:1 as the Messiah, and the Pharisees all agree that, yes, David was speaking of the Messiah. When David wrote, “The LORD says to my Lord,” he distinctly said that the Messiah (or the Christ) was his lord and master—his Adoni.

Jesus’ reasoning is this: “Son of David” is your title for the Messiah, yet David himself calls Him “Lord.” The Messiah, then, must be much more than just a son—a physical descendant—of David. According to Psalm 110:1, this “Son of David” was alive during David’s time and was greater than David. All of this information is contained in the statement that “the LORD says to my Lord.” Jesus is David’s Lord; He is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, and Psalm 110 is a promise of Jesus’ victory at His second coming.

Another mystery is contained in this Scripture:

Psalm 110:4, “The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back: “You are a priest forever according to the pattern of Melchizedek.”

So who is Melchizedek and why is he here in the Psalms?

Easy English Bible Commentary:

Now the important thing about Melchizedek is this. He was a *priest of God before there were any *Jews. He was not a *Jewish *priest. This means that Jesus was not a *Jewish *priest! He was a *priest as Melchizedek was. Some Bible students think that Melchizedek was Jesus. We do not know if this is true. But we do know one thing. Melchizedek was a *priest (or servant of God) before there were any *Jewish *priests or religion. (Religion is a way of loving and obeying God.) The *Jewish religion is a way to lead people to God. Christians believe that Jesus’ death gives us a better way to God than the *Jewish religion. Jesus said that he was the only way to God (John 14:6).

From GotQuestions.org

In biblical Christianity, the Melchizedek priesthood is an office that applies only to Christ. Melchizedek is introduced in Genesis 14:18 and is described as the king of Salem and “priest of God.” Abram (later Abraham) offers Melchizedek a tithe and is blessed. The name Melchizedek is the combination of the Hebrew words for “king” and “righteous,” making Melchizedek a righteous, kingly priest.

Much of chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Hebrews is given to explaining why Jesus’ Melchizedek priesthood is superior to that of Aaron. Hebrews 7:23–24 (23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.) implies that Jesus holds His priestly office eternally, using a Greek word that suggests something that cannot be passed down or changed. Hebrews 7:26 calls this priest “exalted” and sinless.

For all of these reasons, Christ alone can fulfill the office of the Melchizedek priesthood (Hebrews 6:20), at least according to the Bible.

 

Scripture of the Day: Psalms 109:1-5

1 O God, whom I praise,

don’t stand silent and aloof

2 while the wicked slander me

and tell lies about me.

3 They surround me with hateful words

and fight against me for no reason.

4 I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations

even as I am praying for them!

5 They repay evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

 

Application                         

  • Christ is our priest who lives forever.
  • Our God is sovereign and sees all. We don’t need to fret when enemies attack.

7-Fold One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Day #263: Psalm 108-110

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 109:1-5

Listen: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ps.108

Join me live at 8:30 ET: Denise Pass – Author/Speaker/Worship Leader

Bible Reading Plan: https://denisepass.com/bible-reading-plan/ #SeeingDeep #BibleInAYear

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The post Love Your Enemies Anyway—September 19 Bible Reading Plan appeared first on Denise Pass.

 


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I write books, music, podcasts and blogs, speak and lead worship to help people to overcome the battles of the mind with the word of God and to see past the surface of this life by diving deep into the word of God.