It’s not the kind of psalm most would think is in the Bible. Let’s face it, David is openly praying for the destruction of his enemy.
But let’s back up. David was surrounded by those who were speaking against him, lying about him, attacking him without cause and doing evil against him.
It might be taken then that this was just a personal issue, but it wasn’t. David moves on to pray against a specific “him” and that him was evil.
“For he did not think to show kindness, but pursued the afflicted, poor and broken hearted in order to PUT THEM TO DEATH” (PS 109:16).
Whoever it was David as praying against, presumably another leader, was putting to death those who couldn’t defend themselves—the disposables of society. This man delighted in cursing the helpless instead of caring and helping them.
“He did not think to show kindness but pursued [them]”.
There comes a limit and that limit was passed. So David calls down on him what he has done to others (Ps 109:6-15). It’s some pretty strong words.
And the first thing we think of is a) Is it appropriate for David to say this? and B) Didn’t Jesus say to pray for your enemies? (Matt 6:5-8).
The writers of the New Testament and even Jesus himself never apologized for the impreccatory psalms. In fact Jesus himself quoted from some of them Psa 35 and 69 (Joh 2:17 and 15:25). Paul and Peter also quoted from Psalm 69 (Acts 1:20 and Rom 11:9) which are impreccatory psalms as well.
True, impreccatory psalms don’t fit our nice milquetoast version of God. But is there a time and place for them?
Yes. There is. But maybe not as how we think.
We tend to want to pray impreccatory psalms or ask God to get vengeance on those we don’t like or that have harmed us personally. This is where the Sermon on the Mount applies. The context of this message was in personal relationships. It’s not for us to get revenge and it’s not for us to take action. Put it in God’s hands and bless your enemies.
On the other hand David was a king. There was a point where other nations or other leaders performed heinous crimes against the innocent, the helpless and the needy. They not only performed such crimes but they persisted in them.
It would have been very appropriate to pray an impreccatory psalm against Stalin or Hitler or one of the notables of history who brought so much destruction to others. There’s a time when evil is abounding on a large scale that prayers of imprecation to remove evil are appropriate.
It’s not about stopping an individual you hate because you yourself don’t want them in your lives, but rather to stop the forward advance of evil against the helpless.
Although I have to admit a while back I did pray an impreccatory prayer. Not because I wanted revenge but because I needed someone from our lives that was causing harm.
And perhaps that’s important too. It’s not personal revenge but rather a prayer of protection from those who are helpless and being harmed.
