This headline is not what you might expect to see from a religious leader, I bet. But, please do read on.
In my daily Bible reading, I've been in the Psalms. These are ancient hymns and prayers of the Lord's people. Many are joyous, soaring praise. Some are painful laments. And some are vengeful. King David and others who wrote the Psalms had enemies — real enemies out to kill them. The Psalmist wanted God to win, and to smite the foes.
The Psalms are pre-Christian, as Jesus teaches us to "love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) In Christ we are called higher, to ways of peace.
We do not and dare not pretend that humans have no enemies. We are very thankful for our protectors in the military and police who go toe-to-toe with terrorists and violent criminals. Earth is not paradise. So, on some battlefield or gunfight site, unless one is fully pacifist, a literal "trample our enemies" prayer, along with a cry for mercy, may on occasion be uttered.
For most of us in daily life, the battle is also real, but spiritual. We do have enemies, out to destroy us. We pray and work for the Lord to win and for the adversary Satan to lose.
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May our enemies be crushed and cast down: greed and consumerism, isolationism and selfishness, neglect of the needy, immorality and addiction of many kinds, family decay, hatred and polarization. There is a battle underway. Spiritual warfare is indeed real, within people and between people. May the Lord trample our enemies and usher in the Kingdom of love!
