IMPRECATORY PRAYER
IMPRECATORY PRAYER What is Imprecatory Prayer? Those prayers in the Psalms and throughout the prophets breathe vengeance upon the enemy. My approach to these imprecatory Psalms is in the light of the Psalmist prophecies of the Passion of the Christ, His Resurrection, the Lord’s judgment, redemption of mankind from sin and the Glory of God. This should be the wider view of all imprecatory prayer. Jesus prayed an imprecatory prayer in agreement with the Psalmists when he spoke judgment to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Yet, he instructed us to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. He asked the Lord to forgive those who crucified him. Yet, the rejection of his righteousness brought judgment on all of those who did not receive him. (Ps. 69 & 109) Matthew 23: 37-39: 24:2 O Jerusalem , Jerusalem 24:2: And Jesus said unto them, See you not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. This refers to both the nation and the temple. Both were destroyed in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem Zion Jerusalem What does this mean for the Christian? This is not to be used for personal vindication and revenge. It is obvious that the psalmists took a wider view of the evil of their enemies. They say it as a challenge to the divine government of the world. The enemies of the psalmist and of Israel It is inconceivable to the Psalmist that the wicked should be allowed to continue in their rebellion against God. In the case of the wicked who are Israelites, the psalmists are implicitly appealing to God to carry out the threatened curses of the covenant ( Dt. 17:24; 28:15). For a Christian, we do not speak curses on anyone, nor are we under a curse for those who are under the blood. There were four reasons the Temple
In the Psalms, we hear the cry of a bold heart and clear conscience which is irritated by oppression. David was a warrior, a prophet and a King. The Psalms were Holy Spirit inspired by the Man of War ( Kg. 5: 1-5); The King of Kings who will return triumphant as the Commander and Chief of the armies of Heaven. David could not build the temple (House of Devotion) because he was a man of war, a fighter, a bloody man. (John 18:36). Jesus answered Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. That I would not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.” Only Solomon can build the House! He is a lover and a man of Peace. Romans 16:20: “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” What does this mean? Psalm 35: This is “A Psalm of David.” Let us believe that the Psalms were written under the influence of the Holy Spirit and are thus included in the Holy Writ. David as a Man of War, anointed by the Lord to defeat the enemies of Israel He was anointed to see the triumph of right and the retribution of the wicked. Above all, let us take note that neither the Psalmist, the Prophets, nor Jesus take matters in to their own hands. They recognize that vengeance belongs to God ( 1 Sam. 25:21; 39). Imprecatory prayers should not be applied to our lives unless the Holiness of God is violated. It may be the Lord is dealing with us using our enemies to humble us. We must never pray imprecatory prayers in our flesh, but only as the Holy Spirit moves upon us to war in the Spirit as David warred. We can apply these passages to the forces of evil in the world and to sinful desires of our own heart. We can pray in the Spirit doing spiritual warfare to overthrow all that resists the will of God. The Christian reads and sings the Psalms in the light of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, remembering that it is He who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. 1:10) The Psalmists starts his prayer from the pain of the soul then explodes with Praise that the Lord is God and He will redeem us. Read Psalm 35. The phrase “without cause” appears three times. (1) “Without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit.” As Christians, the Lord is calling us to a higher plane of no more pain, free from hate or responding to those who are hateful to us. READ PSALM 52: This is the psalm of the Trouble maker with a destructive tongue. This Psalm of the wicked tyrant and His destruction reveals the Man of Sin and the Son of Perdition of 11 Th. 2: 1-8. It shows David’s trust in God and the doom of the wicked. The mighty man who boasts himself in mischief is first put in striking contract to God whose mercy endures continually. Then follows a description of the mischief in which such a man makes his boat. Suddenly, the singer puts himself in contrast with the end of this man. Instead of being rooted up, he is like a tree in the House of the Lord. The key here is the difference of attitude! The offender was when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, :”David has come to the house of Ahimelich” This was the slaying of the priesthood by Saul with the help of the Edomite (flesh). The name “Doeg” means fearful, anxious, timid.” Psalms 58 & 59: These two Psalms are self-justification, cursing and vengeance. These Psalms are part of God’s Word. We can no more discard these passages than we can discard any Holy Scripture. We cannot make the excuse that the psalmists did not possess the teaching of Christ, because they did possess the law. They knew as well as we do that no man is perfect by God’s standards; and they were taught to behave in a loving way to others (Lev. 19: 17-18), even their enemies (Exodus 23: 4-5). The law did not license retaliation. It set limits (an eye for an eye and no more). (1) Self-justification: First the psalmist is claiming comparative, not absolute righteousness (i.e. in comparison with other people, not measured by God’s standards). “A good man may sin and yet be a good man. There is all the difference in the world between those who endeavor to do right and those who deliberately set aside the common laws of god and society. David, in particular was well aware of his shortcomings before God. Deep repentance features alongside self-justification in the psalms. The psalmist is very often picturing himself as “the indignant plaintiff’ putting his case before god the Judge. However you may dislike his self-righteous tone, from this point of view he is unquestionably in the right. (2) Cursing and Vengeance – We cannot condemn these passages as utterly “un-Christian These passages concern God’s holiness. In emphasizing God’s love we tend today to be over-sentimental about rank evil. But the psalmists knew God as One ‘whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil, who cannot countenance wrongdoing. And this is the motivation for their call for vengeance on the wicked. God’s own character-his good name-demands it. Also the psalmists are realistic in recognizing that right cannot triumph without the actual overthrow of evil and punishment of wrong. We pray, “Thy kingdom come’, but we are often horrified when the psalmists spell out what this means –perhaps because we are less in love with good, less opposed to evil than they were; or because many of us have never known real persecution for our faith; or because we value life more than right. If the psalmists are guilty of actually gloating over the fate of the wicked, if personal vindictiveness creeps in under the cloak of concern for God’s good name, we are right to condemn it—and beware. We can ourselves so easily be guilty of the same thing. But in the psalmist’s case the wrong thinking (if wrong thinking there is) does not carry over into wrong action. There is no question of him taking the law into his own hands; no inquisition. Vengeance is always seen as God’s province, and his alone. Psalm 69: This is one of the most outstanding Messianic Psalms, and is a Song of His suffering and His Cross. This reveals a Savior who is betrayed, rejected, and marked by suffering. It is a song of intense sorrow. There is first a cry or distress, piercing and passionate. He then declares that this suffering has come in the path of loyalty to God. The cry for help is repeated with new emphasis and passion. Then the Psalm becomes a passionate cry for the vengeance of God. The passion passes, and a prayer follows which merges into praise, and culminates in a great affirmation of the singer’s confidence in his God.
Psalm 109: This speaks prophetically of Judas Iscariot and is thus called the Judas Psalm. It is the most imprecatory of the Psalms.. The Judas principle and is first of all a “praise” that betrays Jesus. This is a praise that comes from the head and not the heart, from the mind not the belly. Psalm 109 and Psalm 110 go together. These are two messianic Psalms, with the first revealing Jesus in his humiliation and the second His exaltation and His Glory. All of our prayers of spiritual warfare should coincide with our Faith that evil cannot triumph over the Holiness of God. All that we say and do is for the exaltation and revelation of His Glory. Psalm 110: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit you at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion This is Jesus christ, the True David (Mt. 1:1). It is the Song of the Priest and King, and reveals truths of the Melchisedec order of ministry from the Most Holy Place This is the Psalm of the eternal dominion of Jesus. Chapter One is quoted in the New Testament for a total of seven quotes and eight times. It is the father (and none other) who will subdue all enemies under the feet of His son. David the king sings of another as Lord and therefore superior to Himself. (1) 110: 1-3 – The King This morning we heard the call from the throne. The Lord desires a corporate body to join him at the throne. Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
- Because of their sins.
- To take away all possibility of continuing Judaism.
- To prove conclusive that the law was abolished, the old Jewish economy was brought to an end and the Christian dispensation is introduced.
- 69: 1-5 – A sea of troubles
- 69: 6-12- The sting of insult
- 69: 13-18 – The cry
- 69: 19-21 – The cup
- 69: 22-28 The curse
- 69: 29-33 – Praise from the heart.
- 69: 34-36 – Praise from the host.
Scripture from K.J.V. Bibliography, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Kelly Varner, Principle of Present Truth; F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary, John W. Baigent and Leslie C. Allen