This last category, the so called "imprecatory" Psalms, is perhaps the most problematic for Christians today, and to make matters even worse these Psalms occur with shocking frequency: 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 21, 28, 31, 35, 36, 40, 41, 44, 52, 54, 58, 59, 68, 69, 70, 71, 137, etc. How is it that we are to pray for the destruction, disease, disaster, and death of our enemies when Christ both prays for and commands us to pray for the good of our enemies?
Here are a couple of interpretive hypotheses that may be helpful in at least framing some of your own reflections:
Option 1: The Pluralistic-Liberal Throw-the-Bible-Under-the-Bus Answer
One hermeneutical strategy is to basically throw the Biblical authors under the bus. The modern pluralistic liberal proponents of this interpretive strategy argue that the inclusion of these Psalms in the cannon of Holy Scripture simply goes to show that the Bible was written by flawed sinful humans, that Christianity is no better than any other religion, and finally that these Psalms merely display the far-to-common phenomena of imperialism and self-righteousness that accompanies any religion that dares to presumptuously think it has "the truth."
This hypothesis, if true, does give a persuasive and thorough account of why there are such Psalms in Holy writ, and also highlights the true fact that the Bible was written by humans, does contain their cultural, linguistic, and narrating finger prints, and often has human errors of fact, history, and science.
However, the severe weaknesses of this interpretation far outweigh its limited and presumed strengths. One of the major flaws is that the inevitable and logical conclusion is that Christians should abandon these Scriptures and tear them out of their book, or at least sharpie out the offensive verses in permanent ink because these Psalms are in fact NOT scripture for the Church.
This is simply an unacceptable theological conclusion and therefore interpretive option for the Church. The Scriptures are always the Scriptures, always the Word of God, and are always "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (1 Tim 3:16). One of the things my OT professor, Ellen Davis, hammered into our freshman seminary minds was that if we ever got to a point in our Biblical interpretation where we saw that the text had no life for us in it, then it was we and our interpretation that had failed and not the text. Every text has the Gospel in it, every text has life; even these imprecatory Psalms, but we must find a better reading strategy then this first option if we are going to indeed remain disciples of Jesus Christ and affirm that all of the Scriptures are in fact Holy.
Option 2: The Post-Liberal Duke-School Psychological Answer
A second interpretive option, and the hands down favorite among good ole Duke Divinity School students, is to read these Psalms as spiritual cathartic moments of deep intimacy with a God who is big enough for us to pray anything we need to into His ear. The Psalms express every conceivable human emotion, from euphoric elation to lowest lament and everything in between, and so anger is of course among them. The Psalms are our prayers about everything in our life offered before God, and even if we are angry at our fellows we can tell God that in prayer too.
This reading strategy is pretty solid in my estimation, although it's not perfect. Besides being slightly patronizing, this approach seems to append an invisible "jk" disclaimer to all our prayers, and to reduce our prayers to the spiritual equivalent of hitting the proverbial pillow; but praying should be about more than just pouring out our hearts and minds to God (which the heart can do with or without God's help and is therefore not an essential part of proper prayer) for subjective relief. While this approach does offer an adequate answer as to why these Psalms are included in the canon, and offers a reason and venue for us to pray them now, it doesn't seem to be a fully satisfactory account for what it means for us to pray these prayers theologically.
If these Psalms are catharsis for the sinful feelings we have towards our neighbors, then how is it that Christ also prayed these Psalms? To posit that Christ also experienced these thoughts and feelings would introduce significant Chistological issues in to one's theology, and therefore I think this strategy can only take us so far. If we are to unlock up the full meaning of these difficult Psalms a third way is needed.
Option 3: The Christo-Centric Theological Interpretation
A final hermeneutical hypothesis is to view these difficult Psalms through the lens of what they might mean theologically and specifically what they mean in relation to the work of Christ.
The first thing to notice in these Psalms is that the enemies referred to are the enemies of the cause of God and who are doing harm to God's people because of their faithfulness to God's cause in the world. The imprecations therefore have nothing to do with personal conflict, and furthermore they intentionally disarm the accuser of any personal physical or temporal vengeance.
The Psalmist gives over his own recourse to personal revenge into God's hands, and the prayer for the vengeance of God becomes the prayer for the execution of His righteousness in the judgment of sin. But of course the accuser also stands under this judgment and is saved from this judgment by the same one whom God's wrath was poured out on, Jesus Christ, and who prayed on the cross for the forgiveness of God's enemies. The one whom God's wrath is poured out on, is the very same one who asks for the forgiveness of God's enemies, and therefore in this way, and this way only, God's judgment becomes good news.
Bonhoeffer, one of those lucky saints in the church whose favorite book in the Bible was the Psalms, draws out these theological tortuous twists and turns well:
"Thus the imprecatory psalm leads to the cross of Jesus and to the love of God which forgives enemies...Thus the carrying out of vengeance becomes grace for all men in Jesus Christ...I leave the vengeance to God and ask him to execute his righteousness to all his enemies, knowing that God has remained true to himself and has himself secured justice in his wrathful judgment on the cross, and that this wrath has become grace and joy for us. Jesus Christ himself requests the execution of the wrath of God on his body, and thus leads me back daily to the gravity and the grace of his cross for me and all enemies of God."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (Minneapolis MN: Augsburg Publishing, 1970), 57-58.
In sum, the prayer against enemies, the prayer for God's judgement to be passed on God's enemies, becomes, in Jesus Christ, the prayer for transforming grace to be extended to those and all God's enemies.
Although perhaps cryptic and seemingly impregnable, this final option seems the most theologically satisfying because it upholds the Psalms as Scripture, invites us to pray the prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, and also offers a solid soteriological account of the theological meaning of these Psalms.
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