One of the more difficult issues in the study of the Psalms
are the imprecations that are occur in various psalms (e.g., Pss 5:10; 10:15;
28:4; 31:17–18; 35:4–6, 8, 26; 40:14–15; 69:22–28; 70:2–3; 71:13; 109:6–20,
29; 139:19–22; 140:9–10). Although I prefer to think of psalms with
imprecations rather than imprecatory psalms, one still has to wrestle with how
these imprecations can fit within a Christian ethic. How does the invoking of
evil or misfortune upon someone or something fit within a context in which believers are called upon to
bless and not curse and to love and not hate one’s enemies? A number of answers
could be given, but I think Gordon Wenham provides a helpful perspective
in noting that, “These appeals for divine intervention, often called ‘imprecatory
psalms,’ are much more than curses parading as prayers. They are undergirded by
the conviction that God is both sovereign and just, indeed that he cares about
the injustice suffered by the poor and downtrodden. The psalmists cry out that
God will treat the wrongdoers as they have treated others. In situations where faith in God’s goodness seems to be
disproved, the psalmist reassert that faith and place their trust in God to
vindicate them rather than take revenge themselves."
Gordon J. Wenham, Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Songs Ethically, Studies in Theological Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012), 179.
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