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What is Psalm?
What is an imprecatory Psalm?
These are those Psalms where the author calls for God to defeat and destroy the wicked.
What are some examples of this kind of Psalm?
The first instance of this in the Psalms is here:
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, and arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. … O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. (Psalm 7:6, 9)
In Psalm 35, David prays:
Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the LORD driving them on. Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the LORD pursuing them. For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unawares, And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall. (Psalm 35:4-8)
In Psalm 55, David prays that death would surprise his enemies and that they would go down alive to Sheol. (Psalm 55:15)
In Psalm 58,
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD. Let them flow away like water that runs off; when he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts. Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun. (Psalm 58:6-8)
In Psalm 59,
You, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah. … Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; that men may know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah. (Psalm 59:5, 13)
In Psalm 69,
May their table before them become a snare; and when they are in peace, may it become a trap. May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their loins shake continually. Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be desolate; may none dwell in their tents. For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, and they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and may they not come into Your righteousness. May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous. (Psalm 69:22-28)
In Psalm 79, Asaph cries out to God that he would pour out His wrath on those nations who did not worship Him. (Psalm 79:6)
In Psalm 83,
Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon, who were destroyed at Endor, who became as dung for the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.” O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. Like fire that burns the forest and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your storm. Fill their faces with dishonor, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, and let them be humiliated and perish, that they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:9-18)
Psalm 109 is the most horrific of all these kind of Psalms.
Psalm 137:
Pss 35, 69 and 109.
What are we to think of Psalms where David curses his enemies?
First, cursing one’s enemies is forbidden in both the Old and New Testaments.
You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD. You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:13-18)
Jesus’ words on this subject are more well known:
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44)
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28)