August 14, 2023 — Psalm 109 

“Do not be silent, O God of my praise. For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love. They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand on his right. When he is tried, let him be found guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few; may another seize his position. May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. May his children wander about and beg; may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit. May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. May there be no one to do him a kindness, nor anyone to pity his orphaned children. May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation. May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the LORD, and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, and may his memory be cut off from the earth.” (Verses 1-15) 

This psalm constitutes the most vivid example of an imprecatory prayer found in the Psalms. What is an “imprecatory prayer”? This type of prayer is a prayer of “retribution” — these Psalms are those that invoke judgment, calamity, or curses, upon one’s enemies or those perceived as the enemies of G-d. Such petitions for justice have posed a theological problem, not to our surprise. Questions people have raised over the years include: How can a man who claims to trust in the Lord (verses 21-31), pray such curses on his enemies as those found in verses 6-20?  

Let me provide several possible answers for this problem. First, there is a legitimate righteous indignation against sin. Jesus indirectly commands something similar when he tells the woman caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) Jesus is trying to point the woman, and those who might still be lingering, toward a new life. Second, the curses used here are actually a prayer that places the matter into the hands of a G-d. The Psalmist does not judge — he prays that G-d will be G-d and will judge rightly. Third, the psalmist is so identified with G-d that he turns to the only place he knows he will be heard — where we are always heard — he turns to G-d.  

Prayer 

God of steadfast love, on the cross your Son forgave his enemies. Turn us from hatred and evil, that we may forgive the offenses of others as we have been forgiven by you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. 

Amen. Pastor Dave