The imprecatory Psalms have often been troubling for Christians. These Psalms which call for the punishment upon one’s enemies are often difficult to harmonize with the teachings of Christ in which we are to love our enemies. First, we get a definition of exactly what the Imprecatory Psalms are from an online encyclopedia of Christianity, Theopedia:
Imprecatory psalms are those those psalms that contain curses or prayers for the punishment of the psalmist’s enemies. To imprecate means to invoke evil upon, or curse. Psalms 7, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 79, 109, 137 and 139 all contain prayers for God’s judgment on the psalmist’s enemies.
http://www.theopedia.com/Imprecatory_Psalms
These imprecatory psalms are often the reason that most people believe that an apparent antithesis exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The imprecatory prayers and psalms have been severely neglected.
Perhaps one of the strongest psalms in the psalter which most Christians view as troubling is Psalm 109. This psalm is a prayer for the punishment of the wicked. It is the description of a ghastly account of an attempted homosexual rape of a Levite, the brutal rape of his concubine, and the dismembering of her body. The twelve pieces of her body were sent to the twelve tribes of Israel by her husband. In this psalm, the author David calls upon God to destroy his enemies in horrific ways using no less than 30 anathemas. Another which many regard as the most difficult is Psalm 137:8-9 which uses language such as “dash [your infants] against the rocks”.
There are other Psalms which contain similar prayers towards those that do evil. And it’s not just in the book of Psalms, but we find prayers of imprecation for the destruction of those willing to do evil throughout the Word of God. Moses prayed “Rise up, O Lord! And let thine enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Thee flee before Thee” (Num. 10:35). Jeremiah spoke words of imprecation (Jer. 18:19-23). There are also examples in the New Testament from the saints who were slain for their righteousness (Rev. 6:9-10).
In order to harmonize these judgmental attitudes found in the imprecatory psalms with the teachings of Christ, we must realize, as Kaiser shares, the key is in understanding. The psalmist is not praying to God out of malice and vindictiveness, or at the delight of the sufferings of others. These invocations are prayers addressed to God, they are earnest pleadings from the psalmist asking that God step in and correct matters that have been so grossly distorted that, without the divine intervention of God himself, all hope for justice is lost. Kaiser continues to observe:
These hard sayings are legitimate expressions of the longings of Old Testament saints for the vindication that only God’s righteousness can bring. They are not statements of personal vendetta, but utterances of zeal for the kingom of God and His glory.[2]
Walter C. Kaiser Jr. 1984. Hard Sayings of the Bible. Downers Grove, Illinois, IVP Press. Pg. 280
It must also be noted that the imprecations which are repeated in prayer had already been stated elsewhere by God. These prayers would be the fate of those who were consistently impenitent towards God and His Kingdom. Adams writes:
David observed the same principles in his time as Paul did later. The Lord’s anointed of the Old Testament and the apostle of Christ in the New Testament are in complete friendship. The rule for both is stated well by David, the author of the great majority of the psalms of imprecation. First Samuel 24:12 records his words to his deadly enemy Saul who has been hunting David to kill him (see v. 11): “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.
James E. Adams, 1991. War Psalms of the Prince of Peace. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. Pg. 46-47.
We must be very careful in our prayers and what we ask for. We see that these prayers are rightly justified. Still one may ask, why is it that we think asking God to bring judgement on the wicked is wrong? Adam’s continues:
Then where do we get the idea that is is wrong to ask God to bring judgement on the wicked? That mentality creeps up on us so subtly that it has become a very common idea in our day. You may even have heard a fellow Christian express such an intense love for friends or relatives that God’s judgement against their evil deeds is rejected. It is possible to perceive such deep feeling of love for another as very “Christian” while failing to realize that what is being expressed actually evidences a lack of love for God. In addition, such ideas demonstrate a woefully inadequate comprehension of the seriousness of man’s sin against a holy God.
James E. Adams, 1991. War Psalms of the Prince of Peace. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. Pg. 46-47.
Always lead with a blessing, be willing to imprecate yourself, and understand that these imprecatory prayers are a legitimate means to a legitimate end and that Gods will be done.
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