Imprecatory Psalms
From Theopedia
Imprecatory psalms are those which invoke curses upon enemies. Examples include Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 - considered the most relevant - while 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 58,69, 79, 83, 137, 139, and 143 are also imprecatory.
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[edit] Paul's quotation of Psalm 69
- Psalm 69:22-23 in Romans 11:9-10
- Psalm 69:9 in Romans 15:3
[edit] Jesus' quotation of imprecatory psalms
- Matthew 27:24, John 15:25, John 2:17
[edit] Imprecatory Psalms and Christian Ethics
Various difficulties arise as attempts are made to harmonize the imprecatory attitude of the psalms with Jesus’ teaching that one should love our enemies (Matt 5:44). Several explanations have been proposed:
[edit] They can reflect a godly way of thinking
"There is a kind of hate for the sinner (viewed as morally corrupt and hostile to God) that may coexist with pity and even a desire for their salvation... [T]hat there comes a point of such extended, hardened, high-handed lovelessness toward God that it may be appropriate to call down anathema on it." [1]
"...it is appropriate that we pray that Christ would vindicate his holy name and program by destroying the enemies of righteousness, just as he preserves those who love his name." [2]
[edit] They are merely explanatory of what would happen
"...they merely were stating what would happen to the wicked; they were not actually asking God to destroy the wicked." [3]
[edit] They were appropriate in the former dispensation(s), but not in this one
Some hold that Jesus introduced a "new" law appropriate for this dispensation. The floodgates of mercy have been opened up to the Gentiles, which were once generally excluded to the Israelites. Now we are to love our enemies and pray for the welfare of our persecutors (Matthew 5:44), which is incompatible with imprecatory Psalms of the Old Testament.
- "... whilst we need not suppose that the indignation which burns so hotly is other than a righteous indignation, yet that we are to regard it as permitted under the Old Testament rather than justifiable under the New. Surely there is nothing in such an explanation which in the smallest degree impugns the Divine authority of the earlier Scriptures. In how many respects have the harsher outlines of the legal economy been softened down by 'the mind that was in Christ Jesus.' ... As in the Sermon on the Mount He substitutes the moral principle for the legal enactment, so here He substitutes the spirit of gentleness, meekness, endurance of wrongs, for the spirit of fiery though righteous indignation. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, but it is inferior to it.” [4]
[edit] Notes
- ↑ Do I Not Hate Those Who Hate You, O Lord?, by John Piper
- ↑ The Living Word (Lesson 12)
- ↑ Do the Imprecatory Psalms and Christian Ethics Clash?, by Jason Jackson
- ↑ Perowne, I, p. 64, quoted in Psalm 109: A Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked, by Bob Deffinbaugh
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
- "Do the Imprecatory Psalms and Christian Ethics Clash?", by Jason Jackson
- "May We Pray the Imprecatory Psalms?", by James E. Adams
- Do I Not Hate Them With Complete Hatred?, by John Piper
- Vincent Cheung on the Imprecatory Psalms (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
