Imprecatory Psalms

Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay. The Lord’s wrath is grace to His people. It is not unchristian of us to desire God to fight our enemies. In fact, it is particularly Christian. We must be willing to lay down our weapons so that the Lord gets the glory. This is why the Scriptures say that our weapons of warfare are not carnal but they are mighty for pulling down strongholds.

         I wonder how David felt at such a time when Saul was pursuing him to kill him? We don’t have to wonder. He wrote it down for us in Psalm 59. He called upon God to fight his enemies and to show no mercy to them if they continued as enemies. He reminds God that the evildoers run around like dogs barking at their enemies because they think they can do so without anyone paying attention, without accountability. But God sees.

         David reminds God, himself, and us, that God hears. God watches and like Psalm 2, God laughs at them. God will let us get the last laugh with Him as He avenges us against our enemies. We have to laugh with God for what is in store for those who think they have immunity from God's judgment seat.

         They are taken in their pride. They assume that their view of the world is the real one but they are self-deceived. David says, Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. To us modern Christians, this sounds vindictive or mean spirited. But we must pay closer attention. David is not taking revenge on his enemies. He is calling upon God to do so. David knows that God acts righteously and will judge as the matter deserves. It seems that David does not trust himself to do this with any level of objectivity, so he leaves it up to God. Far from being haughty or wicked in any way, David shows himself humbly willing to submit to the Lord’s will.