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by
Doug Ward |
Today we have unprecedented access to information about world
events. As a result, we are reminded continually of the problems and suffering
that abound in many parts of the globe. We read about the ravages of war,
senseless murders, and the trials of persecuted Christians. With so much that
is wrong in the world, we can easily become discouraged.
In
his parable of the persistent widow (Lk 18:1-8), Jesus instructs his disciples
to pray for justice as they await his return rather than to succumb to
discouragement. In the Bible, a widow is someone who is weak and vulnerable, a
person who might easily be exploited. That seems to be the case here, where the
widow doggedly seeks justice from an unjust judge. The parable makes clear that
this judge is nothing like the God of Israel, who "executes justice for
the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and
clothing" (Dt 10:18).
Jesus
makes a "how much more" argument in the parable. If even the unjust
judge is worn down by the widow's entreaties, how much more will God, whose
will it is to bring justice to the widow, answer her prayers. He urges his
disciples to pray faithfully like the widow and not give up. As he says in the
Beatitudes, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied" (Mt 5:6).
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Imprecations
Old and New |
The Psalms give us several examples in which David and other
servants of God seek justice and vindication. The psalmists ask God to deal
with enemies who oppose his plan to bless all peoples through the descendants
of Abraham (Ge 12:3). These enemies are among the "seed of the
serpent" mentioned in Genesis 3:15 (Ps 58:4-5; 140:3), and the psalmists
are performing their duty as God's representatives by praying that they be
stopped.1
God's
servants today continue to participate in the ultimate defeat of the Serpent.
Paul wrote to early Christians in Rome, "The God of peace will soon crush
Satan under your feet," referring to a final fulfillment of Genesis 3:15
when Christ judges the wicked at his return. But as we follow the example of
the persistent widow, to what extent can we be guided by the imprecatory
psalms, with their stern calls for the judgment of the enemy?
Here
some examples from the book of Revelation are instructive. In Revelation 6:10,
faithful martyrs cry out, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long
before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the
earth?" Their prayers echo those, for instance, in Psalm 35:17, 74:10,
79:10, and 94:3. In Revelation 8 the prayers of the saints lead to judgment on
the earth, suggesting that these prayers are similar to those of the martyrs.
Then in Revelation 18:6-7, a heavenly voice calls for the punishment of
Babylon. "Pay her back as she herself has paid back others," the
voice proclaims. "As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give
her a like measure of torment and mourning." These words remind us of
prayers for measure-for-measure justice in the Psalms (28:4; 94:2; 137:8).
Another
indicator of the continuing relevance of the imprecatory psalms is the
important role that they play in the New Testament. In particular, Jesus is
portrayed in the Gospels as the ultimate righteous sufferer of whom the
psalmist is a type. Like the petitioner in Psalm 69, Jesus is motivated by a
zeal for the Temple and suffers for following God (v 9; Jn 2:17; Ro 15:3). He
is hated without a cause (v 4; Jn 15:25) and is given "sour wine to
drink" on the Cross (v 21; Mk 15:36). Like the petitioner in other psalms,
he is the victim of false testimony (35:11; Mk 14:57), and is subject to
derision and mockery (109:25; Mk 15:29-30).
The
New Testament sometimes sees Judas as an antitype of the enemy in the
imprecatory psalms, betraying one with whom he breaks bread (41:9; Jn 13:18)
and being replaced among the apostles (69:25; 109:8; Ac 1:20). More broadly,
though, we all have been enemies of God. (Paul quotes a string of psalms in
Romans 3:10-18 to make this point.) On the cross Jesus took on the punishment
due to us as enemies.
The
prayers in these psalms are directed to God, the righteous Judge. In the New
Testament, Jesus is the eschatological Judge who answers these prayers (compare
Ps 94:1 with 1 Th 4:6; Ps 35:8 with 1 Th 5:3; and Ps 137:8 and 79:6 with 2 Th
1:6,8). In a sense, all of the roles in the imprecatory psalms-innocent
sufferer, enemy, and judge-find fulfillment in the Messiah.
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Praying
These Psalms Today |
The prominence of the imprecatory psalms in the New Testament
implies that they should not be ignored in our prayers and worship. A study of
the biblical data suggests some guidelines for their use.2
First,
to make this kind of prayer, we should be innocent in the matter at hand, as
the psalmist was. We should be ready to accept God's correction, as in Psalm
7:3-5, to help us see where we might fall short of innocence. The enemies about
which we pray include evil spiritual forces (Eph 6:10-12) and anything that
opposes God, his people, and his plan-including our own sins.
At
this time in salvation history, God is showing patience with the world, so that
as many as possible will be saved (2 Pe 3:9). It is appropriate, then, for us
to prioritize the repentance of the enemy in our prayers, as in Psalm 83:16.
For the good of everyone, including the enemy, we can pray that the enemy's
violence be stopped, and that ultimately those who refuse to repent be judged.
We
should pray with the right motivations, including love of God, his people, his
creation, and the enemy. We pray for God to be exalted, his Name to be praised,
and his plan to come to fruition. Such prayers increase our faith and align our
thoughts with God's will, ensuring that when Jesus returns, he will indeed
"find faith on earth" (Lk 18:8).
1See my previous
article, "The Imprecatory Psalms in God's Story."
2See
Trevor Laurence, Cursing with God: The Imprecatory Psalms and the Ethics of
Christian Prayer, Baylor University Press, 2022. chapter 4.
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