God's Response to Imprecatory Psalms

Many Christians struggle with the imprecatory psalms. They wonder how to interpret and use psalms that call for God's wrath against enemies like this:

Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
(Psalm 69:22-24)

How do you reconcile this with Jesus command to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44)?

Graham Gladstone, a pastor at The Rock Community Church in Woodstock, Ontario, sent me this, and it's very good. He's given me permission to post it here:

The imprecatory psalms record for us the human response to evil, sin and injustice. We, with justice in mind, want to see evil-doers get theirs.

Question: I wonder if/to what degree the Hebrews expected the fulfillment of their imprecatory prayers to come through their Messiah?

If so, no wonder they were disappointed, because when He came, He came not as a nationalistic warrior, but as a Suffering Servant.

Now, here's the twist.
The imprecations are humanity's plea: God, punish evil!
The Incarnation is God's response.

The problem is, all of humanity finds itself under the curse that it calls upon its enemies in these types of psalms. Instead of doling out the punishment of the imprecations that every human deserved, God answered the prayer by sending (not a warrior to punish individual sinners), but His Suffering Servant Son to receive the punishment that all sinners deserve, and so ransom humanity. What incredible mercy!

What incredible mercy indeed. The incarnation, including the work of Christ at the cross, is God's answer to the imprecatory psalms.

Comments

[Tim Etherington]

I don't know that the incarnation is God's response to the cry "punish evil!". There still awaits a hell for evil, angelic and human, and so there is punishment coming for evil. The imprecatory Psalms are our honest cry for justice against our foes mediated through God's mercy, power and perfect justice. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" Romans 12:19. Paul doesn't tell us to not desire justice but to leave it to God. I think that is what the imprecatory Psalms do.

[Darryl Dash]

Tim:

I think I agree with you:

1. The imprecatory psalms are our cry for justice to a God who is just and merciful.
2. Hell is one answer to these prayers. God will ultimately judge evil.

But it seems to me that Graham is on to something. Keller and others have written about this as well. The cross is also an answer to the imprecatory psalms; the justice we long for was satisfied at the cross.

Tim Keller puts it this way:
"Basically, realize that calls for justice are absolutely right, and remind us how important God's holiness and justice are. But secondly, recognize that the Psalmists did not have the justice of God completely satisfied in Christ. Thus we pray for our enemies, not wish them ill. Yet we as Christians can pray these Psalms as longings for social justice and hatred against the 'power and principalities' behind the world."

[Tim Etherington]

Yeah Darryl, I think we are saying the same thing. I told my small group last week that no sin goes unpunished. Either Jesus suffered for it or the perpetrator of it will in hell. So in that way, the cross addresses justice and the cry of the impreccatory psalms.

[Tim]

C.S. Lewis, in Reflections on the Psalms, tackles this as well and comes to a similar conclusion. In addition, regarding Psalm 137's closing lines he suggests a metaphorical application for today's believer:

Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

Lewis looked at his own sinfulness (represented by Babylon in his applicatoin) and advised that the thing to do with nascent sins is pick up the little brats and dash their brains out against the rocks before they become full grown. I think we can safely say that our Rock is the Son of God and no sin - full grown or not - can stand up to him.

Cheers,
Tim (not the Etherington one)