I Googled ‘imprecatory Psalms’ and noted the links that provided a thumbnail of the contents stated primarily negative comments regarding the general consensus of the imprecatory Psalms. One stated that C.S. Lewis hated the Psalms, period. One link contained a warning about the disturbing content of the imprecatory Psalms. One link (which intrigued me) was regarding the debate of whether the imprecatory Psalms should be contained in the Canon of Scripture. The following was copied off the internet – it is an excerpt from "The Springfielder” July 1975 – Volume 39, Number 3 from the “ctsfw.net” website.
[A LISTING OF THOSE PASSAGES IN THE PSALMS THAT CONTAIN MALEDICTIONS AND CURSES
In the passages that will be listed it should be noted that all five books of the Psalter:
1-41
42-72
73-89
107-150 contain imprecations, maledictions and curses.
5 -10
6 – 10
7 - 9-16
10 – 15
17 -13
18 - 40-42
18 – 47
26 - 4-5
28 – 4
31 – 17-18
35 - 3-8
40 – 14
54
55 – 9-19
56 – 7
58 - 6-10
59 - ll-15
68 – 2
69 (most of the psalm)
70 - 2-3
71 – 13
79 – 6-12
83 - 9-17
104 -35
109 -6-20
129
137 - 7-9
140 - 8-11
141- 10
143 – 12
149 - 6-9
The Psalms that are singled out for special censure by the critics of the Imprecatory Psalms are the fifty-fifth, sixty-ninth, one hundred and ninth, and one hundred and thirty-seventh. These psalms have been under such fire that many have revised the Psalter and removed these passages, which, in their reasoning, are unfit to be read by Christian eyes, much less uttered by Christian lips.]
Interesting. I know I struggled with the nature of the imprecatory Psalms when I began my study in earnest last week. However, I strongly believe in the power of God. I therefore believe that those in the power of authority regarding the Canon of Scripture may have believed that they were making the decision regarding which books and letters and scriptures to include in the Canon, but I believe that the final outcome was according to the will of God. I cannot believe that He would allow something to have been included that would have been contrary to His will or harmful to us; not in a book to be delivered to the world as His Holy Word!
Therefore, my conclusion stands as previously stated. I believe that God allowed the imprecatory Psalms to be included in His Holy Word because of what we can learn from them. An excerpt from my blog post, “Straining Toward Conclusion”;
I conclude that imprecatory prayers were, in fact, acts of obedience to God that vengeance was His, He would repay. Since David was the primary author of the imprecatory Psalms, I conclude that David emptied the vengeance from his heart, turned it over to God and left it in His hands. I believe that David did not concern himself with whether God answered such prayers in the manner that David requested or if He elected to show mercy. Perhaps David remembered the words that God spoke to Moses; “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Perhaps imprecatory prayers served the same purpose as forgiveness – benefiting the one uttering the prayer by emptying out that one’s heart of the desire for vengeance as forgiveness empties the heart of the forgiver of the same thing, the desire for vengeance or justice or even the acknowledgment of wrong-doing by the offender.
Personally, I see no reason to exclude the imprecatory Psalms from Scripture or even the imprecatory verses from an otherwise praise Psalm. I feel they serve as a wonderful and encouraging example that not only does God desire us to pour out our hearts to Him but He provides a way to help us in our desire to please Him and refrain from sinning – even in the midst of our anger, pain, anguish or urge to seek revenge. To have the kind of relationship with God that I see depicted by the Psalmists of imprecatory Psalms is still a desire of mine.
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