God with us - Week 21: Psalm 139:19-22
In Psalm 139, David gives us a glimpse of his intimate relationship with God. He was comfortable with God reading his heart like an open book (v3) and was strengthened by God’s detailed knowledge of his thoughts and feelings (v6). David knew that there was nowhere he could escape from God’s presence (v7) and was reassured God would always guide him (v10). He marvelled at God’s knowledge about him before he was born (v13) and knew that the days ahead were taken care of.
We’re carried away with the beauty of this Psalm, and then we read this:
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Psalm 139:19-22
Hold on! Where did that come from?
We were having a lovely time marvelling at God’s greatness, and then David spoiled it all with all this nastiness! Numerous songs depict Psalm 139, but I’m yet to find one that incorporates verses 19-22.
No surprise really!
In verses 19-22, we have an example of imprecation (stay with me) where David is praying for the destruction of his enemies and expressing his intense hatred for those oppose to God. I don’t know about you, but I find examples of imprecation quite jarring, particularly when they appear in the middle of a beautiful poem like Psalm 139.
How do we reconcile the command of Jesus to love our enemies with David’s pleas for God to destroy them?
Can you imagine words like this being used as part of a Sunday service?
Should Christians pray imprecations like this today?
I’m right in the middle of writing an essay that aims to address the final question, and I hate to disappoint, but I still don’t have a clear answer. I do know that I started out as a definite, “no, are you kidding? These are awful and definitely not for Christians today.” I was firmly in the camp of C.S. Lewis, who thought that imprecations were devilish. As you can imagine, there is a range of views regarding the psalms of imprecation. Some, like Lewis, dismiss them altogether, while others believe they should be used extensively to pray against those with differing viewpoints (probably best not to google it!) So, what many of us do, understandably, is pretend they don’t exist. That’s what I’ve done up to now. I’ve skimmed over sections of Scripture like this, believing that when Jesus turned up, he put a stop to all this nonsense. The only problem is that Jesus used these kinds of imprecatory phrases, and there are examples in the Old and New Testaments.
I’ve discovered more about the context and purpose of these imprecations and encourage you to do the same. We tend to read David’s words and place them in our own context. In our world of comfort and safety, they sound abhorrent, and it is clear that they are open to abuse. However, I have to wonder, would I feel differently about imprecations if I was facing extreme persecution?
David prays these words in desperation as he understands God is the only one who can rescue him from his situation. Read in isolation, they sound appalling, but within the wider context of the psalms, they provide David with an opportunity to express his anger and pain directly to God. He never acts on his anger or takes revenge. Instead, he calls on God to do what is best in the situation.
There is still much about imprecation that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable, but I think it’s important to explore areas of the Bible that make us feel like this. I’ve barely scratched the surface on this topic and would encourage you to dig deeper, but as we read Psalm 139:19-22, let’s remember David’s motivation for praying. David found a way to manage his negative emotions, hand over any feelings of vengeance to God, and trust him to deal with the injustice he faced.
Immediately after expressing the deep feelings of anger David placed his heart in God’s hands said these words:
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
Kay Moorby
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