Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
    with their tongues they tell lies.
Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

• Psalm 5:8-12

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

• Psalm 13:1-6

Those who hate me without reason
    outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
    those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
    what I did not steal.
You, God, know my folly;
    my guilt is not hidden from you.
Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    may those who hope in you
    not be disgraced because of me;
God of Israel,
    may those who seek you
    not be put to shame because of me.

• Psalm 69:4-6

May those who want to take my life
    be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
    be turned back in disgrace.
May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.
But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
    “The Lord is great!”
But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    Lord, do not delay.

• Psalm 70:2-5

“No section of the Psalter causes us greater difficulty today than the so-called imprecatory psalms. With shocking frequency their thoughts penetrate the entire Psalter. … Every attempt to pray these psalms seems doomed to failure. They seem to be an example of what people think of as the religious first stage toward the New Testament. Christ on the cross prays for his enemies and teaches us to do the same. How can we still, with these Psalms, call for the wrath of God against our enemies? The question is, therefore, this: Can the imprecatory psalms be understood as God’s word for us and as the prayer of Jesus Christ? Can we as Christians pray these psalms?  Note carefully again that we do not ask about possible motives, which we can never fathom anyway, but rather about the content of the prayer.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible

Dietrich Bonhoeffer states that our attempts to pray the psalms against our enemies is “doomed to failure.”  I have heard many people today say that the imprecatory psalms are psalms that Jesus would never have used in His ministry and we should remove them from the Bible.

Bonhoeffer, at some point in Nazi controlled Germany, had to ask himself who the enemy really was.  He eventually joined those who felt that Hitler was the world’s enemy, and with him gone, Germany could plead for peace.

But notice Psalm 69:6, David pleads that God will not put to shame those who love Him.  In other psalms, the imprecatory verses tell God to put enemies to shame.

In other words, in many cases, these imprecatory verses that some wish to remove from the Bible are pleas that basically say, “Turn our enemies into friends.  Then they can share in God’s blessings.”

It would be ludicrous, even in today’s unrealistic peace at all cost society, for us to pray that God bless our enemies so that our enemies can continue to oppress us.

And even though we love God, knowing that He gives us mercy, we all wish that God deals justly with those of unrepentant hearts.

Does anything more need to be said?

Lord, guide us as we pray.  We should pray our confessions to You.  We have enemies, oh Lord. “You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.” (Psalm 69:5)  Lord, we pray for our enemies so that they can know You.  If they do not repent, as Your Law states, they should be brought down.  We praise You in Your justice, while the righteous and repentant cling to Your mercy.  In the name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.