The term “imprecatory prayer” refers to a prayer that asks God to bring judgment on an enemy. These types of prayers are more common in the Bible than we often realize and can be challenging to interpret. (MK)
Day #19: The Power and Purpose of Imprecatory Prayers – Psalm 69 (Luke Kephart)
Psalm 69 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
- Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
- I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
- I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
- More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
- O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
- Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
- For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face.
- I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons.
- For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
- When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.
- When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.
- I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.
- But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
- Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
- Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.
- Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
- Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
- Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!
- You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.
- Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
- They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
- 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.
- May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.
- For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
- Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you.
- Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
- But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
- I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
- This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
- When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
- For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
- Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
- For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it;
- the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
When was the last time frustration led you to fervently invoke God’s judgment upon your adversaries? Chances are, not recently or frequently. After all, as believers, we are admonished to pray for our enemies. Imprecatory prayers, like those found in Psalm 69, may perplex us due to their stark language and apparent desire for retribution. Yet, beyond the surface, these prayers are not pleas for personal vengeance but rather calls for God’s justice in a world marked by brokenness. Let’s delve into Psalm 69 for a deeper understanding and guidance on how we should approach such prayers:
The Person Praying: -Almost all the imprecatory Psalms are attributed to David. This is particularly important since David is more than just an individual. He is God’s anointed and represents God’s actions on behalf of his people.
- David recognizes his helplessness in the face of the world’s brokenness. He needs a savior. vs 1-3
- David is being unjustly persecuted. He acknowledges his sin, but the persecution in view is for God’s sake as David represents God’s people, nonetheless, he feels it personally. vs 4-12
- David puts his trust in God and wants what God wants. Vs 13
The Enemies – While the enemies that the psalm talks about are David’s enemies, the primary view is that these are enemies of God. After all, twice in 1 Samuel we see that David could kill Saul but does not because he recognizes any action against Saul is in God’s hands, not his. This is not a call for personal vengeance, but for God’s justice, as He determines, and in His time.* It does, however, ask for God to fulfill all that justice demands as justice roots out all evil. (vs 13-25)
God’s response – David trusted God for the outcome, and the reality is clear that God’s justice will prevail, and the enemies of God will finally be dealt with. Through the lens of the New Testament, we have insight that David didn’t have. Jesus quoted this psalm in relation to himself in John 2:17 (vs 9) and John 15:25 (vs 4), and when Jesus is on the cross, they give him sour wine as in verse 21. Paul also states in Romans 11: 7-9 that the people who crucified Jesus were in view in Psalm 69:22,23. You see that in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the prayers of David were fulfilled. Christ is victorious over the enemies of God. For the elect, Jesus flips the script and God’s justice is fulfilled in the death of Jesus and we are saved through his conquering of death and the grave. Yet there are those still who will reject God’s grace and be condemned. The New Testament calls us to pray for our enemies that they might become converted enemies just as we are.
Psalm 69 ends praising God because “the Lord hears the needy” and “God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it. In this light we can approach God through the imprecatory psalms, expressing our helplessness and need in the face of the reality of persecution for God’s people, specifically for what they represent as His children. and the godlessness in the world. We ask for God in His love and mercy on us to move on the promise of His salvation. This has already happened through Jesus, as His salvation redeems the chosen, but also condemns those who reject Him. Yet its final and total fulfillment is yet to come. It also lets us recognize our own need for salvation from our own sin, but also from those who would see God diminished by our sin, and to ask God to act for us in defense of His Holiness.
Here is some guidance on how to pray:
- Acknowledge God’s ability and promise to save His chosen, and to eliminate wickedness.
- Confess our own sinfulness and need for salvation, not just from our own sin, but from forces that defy God.
- Pray specifically for the ways in which God’s people are being persecuted and we personally are seeing persecution as representatives of the Kingdom. Ask God to act on our behalf in the current moment.
- Pray for God to come and act as ultimate judge and savior, redeeming all of creation.
- Thank and praise God for Jesus Christ whose life death and resurrection both saves those who follow Him and enacts justice on the those who reject His reign.
* [Editor’s note on the NT connections.] In Romans 12, Paul calls believers to forego personal vengeance. This command is grounded in the certainty of God’s complete vengeance. Far from justifying our own violence, the promise of God’s vengeance leads us to respond to evil with love.
Romans 12:19-21 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.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.