Some people rub us the wrong way. And in some cases, they’ve been rubbing us the wrong way for a long time. That history pulls us into negative patterns like ruts in dirt road.
It’s sad and painful, but family members and work colleagues have a long history of turning into bitter enemies.
Jesus teaches us to pray for our enemies. When he does so, he’s got the Psalms to provide him and us with companions for doing so. Psalm 87 is one of our best. I’ll be using the rendering of the psalm from my book Everyday Psalms.
Take some time to prepare yourself for prayer. Begin with God and his love for his people. Center yourself in it. This is our starting place.
God built his city on holy Zion,
His favorite place on earth.
No other house is quite like his home.
Wondrous things,
Shocking things,
Beautiful things
Are said of you, city of God.
Mt. Zion is where Jerusalem was built, with the temple at its summit. Consider how important it is to God to make connection with us, to live with us, to maintain relationship with us. Zion encapsulates this.
Take some time to talk with God about how important his presence is in your life. Soak in his presence. Be at home with him.
“I will write down these names
Among those who know me:
Monstrous Egypt and Babylon.
Not only those,
But Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia.
I’ll say of them,
‘You were born in Zion.'”
Egyptians enslaved God’s people. Babylonians conquered and exiled them. Philistines, Phoenicians, and Ethiopians harassed them. God writes down the names of these ancient enemies.
But when God writes them down, he lists them as his children, as those born in Zion, as those who know him. This is completely unexpected, absolutely shocking. The first readers of this psalm would have been floored by its audacity. Bad blood exchanged for family blood? Inconceivable!
Who are the people with whom you have bad history. Be specific. Name names. Now expand it. What groups of people rub you the wrong way? Which political groups? Which subcultures?
Having done so, consider how God thinks and feels about them. Might God love them?
It’s stunning but true,
But this too will be said of Zion:
“Women and men of every kind
Were all born in her.
For it’s the Great One who sets the rules.”
Yes, Yahweh himself will write their names
In the book of citizenship:
“Even that guy was born in Zion.”
“Even that guy.” There are some people we just can’t stand. What would it be like to call that co-worker a sister? What would it be like to call that politician (you know who I’m talking about) a brother?
Talk with God about what it means to be his child and what it means to include people you don’t like within the family.
Take time to thank God that he’s the one who sets the rules and not you, that he’s the one who decides who’s in and who’s out and not you.
There will be dancing and singing.
“My life is a fountain,
Springing from you.”
None of us is the source of our own lives. All we are and have arises from God. He is the spring providing the water that fountains from us.
Thank God for the life he pours into you with every day and every breath. Thank God that he shares his life and love not just with you, but with those who rub you the wrong way.
Now that you have included the worst within those “born in Zion,” pray a blessing over them. Do so especially with those who bother you the most.
Once you have blessed your “enemies,” take time to bless those you love the most. You’ve done the hard work. Now, do the easy work of loving those you already love.