David asks the Lord Jesus in prayer to turn upside down the circumstances in his life. He wants those who once he trusted and lived with, the same ones who now seek his life to be put to disgrace and shame. He asks that those former family and friends who now plot his ruin to lose their resolution to do evil. Instead of pursuing him, he calls for angels to pursue them. He wants the trap they set for him to spring on them. David wants this to end not in his death, but in new happy beginnings for all.
David will not lift a finger against them because he should not be the one to attack the malicious. However, he does ask that the troublemakers be driven into a place that causes a change in their lives.; that they experience what they are doing to him, hoping they can be saved. Sometimes ruin and disaster are the best means to save a soul from malediction.
David shows compassion to those who seek his ruin. Jesus said, “Pray for those who persecute you.” To do so takes wisdom, faith, and love. To do so does not mean that I do not pray for deliverance for myself. To pray this means to pray for reconciliation and resolution.
“How to mend a broken soul,” is what I should be asking? How can someone who seeks evil be converted to a peaceful and blessed person? How can this end where all are saved? This puzzle must have been on David’s mind when he resolved not to fight against those seeking him harm. The answers to these questions were certainly on Jesus’ mind when he allowed himself to be arrested, tried, tortured, and crucified for the salvation of the world. David’s prayer is a “Woe to you,” request resulting in salvation for the damaged soul.
