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What do we make of the "problem" psalms?

In vv.1-5 the Psalmist tells us that he is in a difficult situation and he is praying to the LORD for an answer – he does not want God to remain silent.

He's in this position not because he's done anything wrong himself but because of the duplicity of those who have opposed him. He declares clearly that he has treated them with love and when he has been mistreated in return his response has been to give himself to prayer.

In vv.21-29 the psalmist makes it abundantly plain that he can't do anything to save himself and so he looks to God alone for help and deliverance. Specifically he looks to God to act for his own name's sake and in such a way that it will be evident to his enemies that it was the LORD who has brought deliverance.

 vv.30-31 bring the Psalm to a close with a commitment to praise and thank the LORD for His salvation.

These verses cause us no problem whatsoever but what do we make of vv.6-20?

There are a number of Psalms in the Bible that have a real capacity for shocking us. I refer to what are known as the Imprecatory Psalms. Now an imprecatory psalm is one which invokes God's curse upon others. Such Psalms include Ps.69, Ps.137, Ps.139 and the psalm we're looking at this evening Ps.109.

How should we approach these psalms? Is there anything for us to learn from them and if so what?

Some suggest that we are to look on these psalms merely as the record of psalmists who lost their cool under pressure or persecution and who under admittedly intense pressure let fly with some momentary outbursts? As such they are understandable explosions though hardly worthy of imitation. They resemble more of a scream wrenched from the soul of the sufferer rather than the fruit of careful reflection. If such were the case then what place do they have in our Bibles?!

However as we look at these psalms in the psalter we don't find them written as expressions of individual emotion forced out in an uncontrollable way but rather as crafted works of poetry mostly designed to be sung in corporate worship!

The language may grate on the ears of those attuned to the use of "politically correct speech" but that language is language inspired by the Spirit of God!

The NT does clearly teach that we are to love our enemies, how then can we possibly use the type of language found in these imprecatory psalms? Doesn't Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount show us that such psalms are past their sell by date?

Mt.6:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

But wait a bit – Jesus was not rejecting what the OT taught but rather the wrongful deductions that some had made of OT teaching. Nowhere in the Bible is it taught that we are to hate our enemies. Yes the OT clearly taught that love was a duty owed to one's neighbour but the command to hate one's enemy is simply not there. And the evidence is all the other way:

eg. Ex.23:4-5 "“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him."

Cf. Prov.24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,"

Furthermore the OT is not the only place where we find imprecation or the calling down of curses! It is simply not true that imprecation is confined to the pre-Christian era. Jesus Himself utters severe denunciations of the Scribes and Pharisees with His Seven woes in Mt.23. There are a number of examples too where Jesus quotes from one or other of these imprecatory psalms. Then the apostle Paul writing to the Galatian church is exceedingly clear and repeats his words so that we can't misunderstand his meaning!

Gal.1:8-9

Imprecation in the New Testament is not limited to our Lord's statements in the Gospels. In the closing of his first letter to the Corinthians Paul wrote, "If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed" (1Cor. 6:22). The word "accursed" is a strong word and could be translated "damned". Paul used this same word twice in Gal.1:8-9: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." The NIV has "eternally condemned". One aspect of the entire book of Revelation is that it is an answer to the imprecatory prayers of the saints to bring justice to this earth. Rev.6:10 "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

A number of points need to be considered.

1.       Imprecation is a relatively minor theme of the Psalms. Let us understand, then, that our question concerns a theme which does not characterize the Old Testament or the Psalms or even most of the imprecatory psalms.

2.       The imprecatory psalms do however show forth the righteous side of God's character. God is not only loving and gracious; He is righteous and holy and He abhors sin. He must deal with sin in judgment. The very phrases that are prayers in the imprecatory psalms are definitive statements of God's actions against the wicked in other psalms.

3.       Another point to keep in mind is that hyperbole (purposeful exaggeration or excessive language) is a figure of speech which is often used in Hebrew poetry. Consider, for example, David's lament in Ps.6:6. "All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears." (NKJV) We are not meant to take such a description literally! While the colourful overstatement of Hebrew poetry does not explain away the imprecations of the Psalms, it does help explain such expressive terms as "break teeth" and "dash infants". The strength of such language is designed primarily to give expression to the sense of outrage felt by the psalmist rather than to describe the judgments he literally intends.

4.       None of the imprecations of the Psalms (or any other book of the Bible) is a request for personal revenge! When the context surrounding the imprecations is examined, we find that the psalmist is not involved in a personal vendetta but rather desires to see the righteous standards of God upheld by His judgment of the wicked for their sin. The wicked are the psalmist's enemies because they are the enemies of God. This was especially true for David (who wrote most of the imprecatory psalms) because of his office as king of Israel. As the anointed ruler over God's chosen people, David knew that his government reflected God's standards of righteousness.

5.       Curses and cursing do form an integral part of the Covenant.In the Bible a divine covenant is always a unilateral, one-sided imposition. God voluntarily condescends in order to bestow a gracious reward. A response is normally required from their recipients: enjoyment of the spiritual blessings promised is made conditional upon this response. Curses play a two-fold role in relation to the Covenant.

a)       When God made the Covenant with Abram as the head of the covenant community a curse was declared on those outside the community who opposed him.

Gen.12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

b)       As the Covenant was developed under the Laws of Moses curses were to be pronounced upon those of the Covenant community who were disobedient cf. Deut.28.

The coming of Jesus Christ did not put an end to the curses of the covenant or the judgment of God!

From the OT perspective the coming of God to save His people (the Day of the LORD) was inextricably bound up at the same time with the destruction of their enemies. John the Baptist gave expression to this when he spoke of the Messiah:

Mt.3:12 "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

In John's mind the wheat is to be "saved" while the chaff" is to suffer judgment.

But that is not what John sees. Lying in prison he sees no judgment taking place in the ministry of Christ so sends the question as to whether they should look for another. Jesus replies with the evidences of salvation in His ministry.

Christ indeed is bringing salvation but judgment is postponed and delayed to a future moment. It will be carried out when Christ returns at His Second Coming. In the intervening period the gospel is to be proclaimed throughout the world allowing for the genuine conversion of God's enemies and not making their condemnation and destruction inevitable.

David's experience of betrayal within the covenant community provides a model for interpreting Jesus' own experience.

In the opening verses of the Psalm David complains of the way he has been unjustly treated by those about him. He has done them only good and they have responded with hatred and harm. David here makes it plain that he did not seek to solve the problem by resorting to the same methods as used against him – the OT teaching was very clear that these things should be left to the LORD:

Deut 32:35-36 "Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free."

So David who has acted in love up till now responds only by prayer! v.4

Jesus too met with opposition from within the covenant community:

Jn.1:11 "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him."

Instead the Scribes and Pharisees surrounded Him with lies, deceit and hatred. And like David Jesus did not seek to deal with matters by Himself but took them to His Father: the description in vv.22-26 fits Jesus' experience so well:

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.

I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.

My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.

Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!

vv.6-20 contain a long series of curses that David pronounces. They are declared primarily against those members of the covenant community who have broken the terms of the covenant and fallen into apostasy.

In the mouth of Christ the expression of such curses would be declared against those members of the covenant community who stubbornly rejected Him. And of course there would be a particular reference to Judas for heinousness of His betrayal.

And v.8 "May his days be few; may another take his office!" is picked up and applied in just this way in the NT see Acts 1:20.

And the covenant curse does not end there .The Covenant curse is further seen in the NT on occasions when the very gospel is at stake (Gal.1:8); when apostasy is a real danger (Heb.6:1-8 and Heb.10:26-31); or when church discipline leads to excommunication (Mt.18:15-18; 1Cor.5). Thus we are helped to appreciate the great seriousness involved in breaking the covenant.

The imprecatory psalms remind us of the gravity of rejecting Christ and speak to us of how awful God's judgment will be.

And the Psalm ends on a note of triumph with a solemn vow of thanksgiving as resurrection comes into view!

The desire for personal revenge is never an option for the Christian and we should always have the mind and heart of God "not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2Pe.3:9). But at the same time we do not want the name and character of our God blasphemed. We long for and pray for the time when God's righteousness will be realized "on earth as it is in heaven." We pray these prayers knowing full well that in the final analysis the universal reign of righteousness by a holy God demands the eternal punishment of the wicked. The imprecatory psalms are the Old Testament expression of this godly attitude.

The imprecatory psalms will be fulfilled when Christ returns at His Second Coming – then He will not come to deliver but to judge and full covenant curse will be executed upon all who rejected Him.