The Sine Qua Non of Imprecatory Psalms
Despite the pan-church outcry against the "dark-side" psalms of David, there are numerous reasons why these songs must be embraced for the sake of Gospel grace.
Assumptions
In this brief piece, I won't try to make a case for having imprecatory psalms as part of the liturgical arsenal of the saints - nor will I try to defend the legitimacy of their use (see Christopher Ash, Psalms Volume 1): I will simply assume the fact that, since these items were including in the praise book of the Temple where Jesus worshipped, such prayers were sung, cited, and approved by Christ.
Furthermore, I will take as read that maledictory oaths included in the Psalter are intimately connected to the office of the Anointed King, the Covenant with David, the Progress of the Kingdom, the cause of the Gospel, the Glory of God, the happiness of the Church, and the Sufferings of Christ and the Glory that would follow: it should then, be obvious, that cries for justice to God are both fully-human, godly, expressions of prayed-out distress, and also infallible, inerrant, holy, divine utterances, inspired by the Spirit, through prophetic authors of Christian Scripture.
Assertion
My key assertion that I want to make is that if the above premises are true, as many have cogently shown, then imprecatory psalms were included in the Psalter, precisely because they are essential to the inauguration, establishment, and consummation of the Kingdom of God: these prayer are designed to defeat evil and destroy the work of the Devil.
A number of years ago it was Sinclair Ferguson who helped me understand that the "key" to penetrating the truth to every bible text in context, is, like "peripheral nerves traced back to the spinal cord", to discover how any passage in question arises from and grows out of the mother promise, or prototypical Gospel, in Genesis 3:15.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
In other words, in this piece, I am simply trying to give a few, suggestive, non-exhaustive, examples that demonstrate how the practice of imprecation for Christ, Christians & His Church is essential to their final triumph of evil, consummation of God's eternal purpose of redemption for creation, the destruction of Satan, and the ridding of the world of sin and its lamentable, tragic, wicked effects - this is, in other words, what I have called (in the title above), the Sine Qua Non (without which not) of Imprecation.
Examples
Kingdom Calmness
Without imprecation, it would have been impossible for David, Christ or His followers, in times of slander and scheming, to maintain a quiet trust in God, without trying to take matters into their own hands, and, in the case of believers, not to commit sin - they would have flown in the face of the biblical injunction: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay" says the LORD. It would have been to make wicked, fleshly, human intrusions into God's work of salvation, and the deliverance He along affords; it would have brought disgrace upon believers by tarnishing the witness and office of those called to suffer for the truth. The example I have chosen to illustrate this point is Psalm 4:1-8.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. 1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! 2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. 4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. 6 There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!" 7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
When you don't know what people are saying behind your back, it is impossible to frame a response without sounding paranoid or deluded (a point proved by our Lord, during his earthly life, though he, of course, was able to read all hearts [John 7:19-20]): all one can do is to remain confident in the covenant oath of God, and trust the Lord to rebut lies with acts of providence that expose what, for the moment, remain hidden "covert ops". To take the proactive route, and attempt to meet-fire-with-fire, is to distrust the Word of the LORD, start to panic, and spring to our own angry defence. Far better then, for King, Christ, and Church, to roll their burdens onto God, and let the LORD fight for us. It is surely for this reason that Psalm 4 is quoted in the New Testament.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:25-27)
Kingdom Progress
It is almost impossible to conceive of the damage that might have been done to the early Jerusalem Church, and the danger that was averted from it, by their use of Psalm 2:1-12 as the basis for their imprecation-protection.
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
It would have been tempting to heed the threats of the Sanhedrin, and let the Gospel be gagged, while the Great Commission was put on hold. Instead, the whole church met and poured out the hearts to the Exalted Christ. They quickly moved from the blind, mad, rage of the opponents of God's Flock, onto the implicit threat and warning of destruction of those who remained fixed in hostility to the Gospel of our Lord, in Acts 4:24-27:
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'– 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
All other things being equal, this prayer proved the means to the Spirit-filled encouragement and shaking of the Church, renewed boldness in their witness, resultant oneness of heart and unity of purpose in Gospel work, with unction poured out on apostolic testimony to the Truth: great grace was upon them all, with knock-on effect of gratitude stimulating outpoured generosity, exemplified by Barnabas. Once again, it seems, praying against threats became the way of conquering the work of the evil one in the early church - they simply left the matter in God's hands, to see how He would outwit, defeat, and neutralize virulent hostility and empty threats of the foe.
Kingdom Defence
The next example shows that, had the curse not been prayed, and the enemy been de-fanged, the beastly attacks that drove David out, would have ripped him apart, and brought dynasty defeat (which, of course, in divine providence, could never have actually been realized). Rather, Psalm 3 was given by the Spirit, to David, Jesus, and persecuted disciples, to blunt enemy attacks, by Yahweh's disarming providence.
1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; 2 many are saying of my soul, "There is no salvation for him in God." Selah 3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. 7 Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah (Ps. 3:1-8)
As it was, because all things work for good for the elect who love the Lord (Romans 8:28), by overruling all events, Jehovah permitted hateful assaults, and drove the sweet psalmist into the depths so that, moved by the Spirit, the son of Jesse would plead for God's defence, and smash his violent abuser's teeth. In a ultimate sense, this Psalm was finally fulfilled by Jesus on the Cross, and His resurrection from death - it ultimately brought about snake-crushing defeat of the devil, his demons, death and destruction, through His triumphant, glorious, resurrection.
Kingdom Return
A final example is taken from Book 5 of the Psalter - the much-maligned text, of Psalm 137. Apart from the fact (as I have tried to point out in a prior post) that, firstly, this Psalm is framed in the indicative rather than the imperative; secondly, this prayer reflects the desire of the Psalmist for the fulfillment of an earlier prophecy; thirdly, that its heartbeat is concerned with the affairs of the Kingdom of God, salvation of the Church, coming of Christ, glory of God, and maintenance of retributive justice against Babylonian overreach; this prayer proved the means of encouraging the saints in their long dark years of captivity, while holding out the prospect of return to Jerusalem to await the Coming Son of David, and redemption of the world - how could they possibly join in a riverbank sing-song while the cause and glory of God was mocked?
1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!" 8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! 9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Ps. 137:1-9)
In other words, without this Psalm, the cause of God would have been subject to more-prolonged, blasphemous, abuses of Babel's drunken, arrogant, overlord (Daniel 5:22-23), which was pulled-up short by this lament.
Conclusion
In a later post, I plan to add more examples of the sine qua non of imprecation: in this I have simply begun to show how important imprecation is to the calmness, advance, success and return of the Kingdom in both the Old Testament and New Testament periods. And, let us never forget, the exhortations of Christ, who urges us, at least twice, to imitate and imprecate:
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" 6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk. 18:1-8)
The point is not just that disciples should start to pray and refuse to stop: rather it is this - when the glory of God, cause of Christ, and hope of the Church, is at stake, imprecations for justice should be repeatedly offered up! And, our final reminder shows us that imprecation is part and parcel of our Lord's own instruction on how disciples should pray the Kingdom in:
9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matt. 6:9-13)
We might even call the advance of the Kingdom of Christ, growth of the Church, and smashing of snake, through songs of malediction, vital to the glory of God, and the second top priority in prayers of the saints.
...And if that is true, don't forget to imprecate. But more anon.
