Page 84 - Psalms Ebook

“Cast them out, for they are rebellious against You.”

So my first observation is that they are God’s enemies as well as David’s
enemies. I know it is possible not to violate the spirit of “Turn the other
cheek,” and “Love your enemies” and still pray imprecatory prayers.

Here is the second observation. Some of these prayers are therapeutic
and redemptive. Let me illustrate. Psalm 83:13,

“O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the
wind. Like fire that burns the forest and like a flame that sets the
mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them
with Your storm.”

But now look at verse 16:

“Fill their faces with dishonor, that they may seek Your name O Lord”
See, that is redemptive. Do not just wipe them out, but:

“That they may seek Your name, O LORD, let them be ashamed and
dismayed forever, and let them be humiliated and perish.”

“That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD,
Are the Most High over all the earth.”

It is not prayer for personal vengeance. It is prayer that they would come
to know the Lord. Is it right to pray that God would bring somebody
low? Would you be willing to pray for somebody you loved: Lord, do
whatever it takes that they might know You. Bring them as low as they
have to go in order that they might know You. That is imprecatory
praying, and I think it is missing in so many Christian lives. We need to
pray according to the Scripture. I know it can be abused, and I do not
know how it all balances, but ask God to guide you because this is a
powerful aspect of prayer. Let me make my third observation and then
make one or two applications and then we will be done.

At first it puzzled me because I read this and I just said: “How could
David pray that?” I was thinking, David the shepherd, David the
Christian, David the person, David the man. But I forgot that he was
also David the king, and that makes a difference. It makes a difference
because he was a magistrate.

Is it right for every Christian to pray that they do well in their
employment? I think it is. I think we can pray, Lord, help me do my
best at my job today. What if you are a cop? How would you pray?