Pursuing Truth, Cultivating Virtue, Creating Beauty

This is the continuation and conclusion of a previous post on imprecatory prayers.

Imprecatory Prayers Hope in God’s Deliverance

When God saves his people, he of necessity defeats their enemies. He delivered Israel and judged Egypt (Exodus 1-15). He repeatedly rescued Israel by defeating other nations during the time of the Judges (Judges 1-16). He saves his people by defeating Satan and death (John 12:31; 1 Corinthians 15:54-56). When Christ returns, he will fully and finally deliver all his people and judge his enemies (Revelation 19-20). And the imprecatory psalms almost always include cries for deliverance (Psalms 5, 17, 35, 55, 109, 140).

This is why every wish for Christ to return is an implicit wish for the wicked to be judged. Every time you pray, “Come, Lord Jesus” or “Your kingdom come,” you are implicitly praying an imprecation because when Christ returns and establishes his kingdom, he will destroy his enemies.

Imprecatory Prayers Mingle Personal Vindication and God’s Vindication

Whenever God claims a people for himself, he identifies with that people, and attacks against those people are ultimately attacks against God (Psalm 7:7; 28:5; 79:6-7, 10, 12, 13). This is why God would bless those who blessed Abraham and curse those who cursed him (Genesis 12:3). This is why, when Saul was persecuting Christians, Jesus appeared to him and said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5). So when God’s people are persecuted, the vindication of God’s people is ultimately a vindication of God himself.

The connection between personal vindication and God’s vindication appears in the imprecatory psalms. David prays, “Let those who want my vindication shout for joy and be glad; let them continually say, ‘The Lord be exalted. He takes pleasure in his servant’s well-being’” (Psalm 35:27). Again, “Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your faithful love so they may know that this is your hand and that you, Lord, have done it” (Psalm 109:26-27).

Thus, imprecatory prayers arise when God’s people are persecuted. They desire personal vindication or the vindication of God’s people, but they desire this because it will ultimately vindicate and glorify God.

Imprecatory Prayers are Responses to Extreme Evil

Most, if not all, of the imprecatory psalms were written in response to extreme cases of evil: violent rebellion against God (Psalm 17), attempted murder (Psalms 35, 59, and 70), violent crime and oppression (Psalms 55 and 94), nationwide acts of terrorism and destruction (Psalms 79, 129, and 137). In the New Testament, imprecations are also used for severe cases: hypocritical religious leaders (Matthew 23), false teachers (Galatians 1:8-9), apostasy (Acts 1:20), persecution of Christians (Revelation 6:9-11).

This indicates that imprecatory prayers should be reserved for cases of extreme evil. Even with extreme evil, though, the main issues seems to be not the severity of the sin, but the fact that the sin is directly against God and his people. This may be why Paul ends 1 Corinthians with the general statement, “If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him” (16:22).

Along with 1 Corinthians 16:22, a few New Testament imprecations introduce a powerful tension to this idea. In Romans 3:10-18, Paul quotes Psalms 5 and 140, among many other passages, to prove that all people are sinners deserving of God’s judgment. Later, in Romans 11:9-10, Paul quotes Psalm 69:22-23 to describe the judgment coming on the non-elect in Israel. In other words, Paul is saying that in God’s sight, everyone—including you and I—are the kind of people described in imprecatory psalms, and we all deserve the judgments described there, too. Apart from God’s sovereign, intervening grace, we are all just as evil as anyone we would pray an imprecatory prayer against, even if we don’t act it out as much.

So how do we respond to this tension? Does this mean we can pray for God to judge every sinner and every sin? No. Even if that were allowed, we wouldn’t want to do that because it would mean we’d have to ask God to pour out his wrath on us every time we sinned! Only God has the perfect view of sin and how it should be judged. Because we’re not God and don’t have such perfect wisdom, we should reserve imprecatory prayers for cases of extreme evil, cases in which judgment seems to be the obvious need. Even then, God may have a better plan. And as we pray those prayers, we should do so with a deep humility, knowing that we deserve the same condemnation.

Imprecatory Prayers are Not Normal

Imprecatory prayers make up a small portion of the Bible’s prayers. Out of one hundred and fifty psalms, only about a dozen contain imprecations. Imprecatory prayers are not normal, and they arise from specific situations. In the same way, if we follow the Bible’s instruction on prayer, our prayers will include imprecation, but they will comprise a small portion of our prayers as the need arises. Instead, our prayers will be characterized by worship, thanksgiving, confession, and asking for things we need.

Imprecatory Prayers Should be Prayed Carefully

With all that, it seems clear that Christians can and should pray imprecatory prayers. However, we should pray them carefully. Let me summarize and synthesize the applicational points I’ve mentioned. Pray imprecatory prayers:

• To express the Christlike emotions of holy hatred and grief over sin.
• To protect those harmed by sin.
• But continue to act lovingly towards your enemies.
• But be ready to rejoice over an enemy’s repentance and conversion if God chooses to work that way.
• To pray for justice while leaving vengeance in God’s hands.
• In faith that God will fulfill his promises to bring perfect justice, but he will do so in his way and time.
• For the glory and vindication of God, not just personal vindication.
• Only in cases of extreme, unrepentant sin, especially when sinners knowingly oppose God, his people, and the gospel.
• With deep humility, recognizing that you are just as sinful as the one(s) you pray against, and that you deserve the same condemnation.
• As a rare part of your prayer life, not a normal part.

Following these guidelines should give you a safe path for applying imprecatory psalms to your life and praying them yourself. However, I caution again: pray carefully. It’s very easy to let strong emotions overwhelm us and to justify sinful motives. Before you pray these against someone else, carefully examine your own heart and motives, and may God be glorified as we pray for sin to be punished and justice accomplished.