Imprecatory Prayers (Part 3) – The Psalms (Part B)

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Imprecatory Prayers (Part 3) – The Psalms (Part B)

Psalm 59

1. David imprecated against his enemies who rose up against him, being workers of iniquity and bloody men (Psa 59:1-2).
   1. He prayed that God would not be merciful to any wicked transgressors (Psa 59:5).
      • God has declared that He only has mercy on whom He will have mercy (Rom 9:15, 18).
      • God did not have mercy on the wicked transgressor Pharoah (Rom 9:17).
      • God sometimes chooses to not have mercy on transgressors (Isa 9:17; Isa 27:11; Jer 13:13-14; Hos 1:6).
      • Therefore, this prayer is not against the declared will of God.
   2. David prayed that God would scatter them and bring them down (Psa 59:11).
      • God scatters the enemies of His people (Psa 18:14; Psa 53:4-5; Psa 92:9).
      • God brings down His enemies (Psa 20:8).
      • This imprecatory prayer is in keeping with the word of God.
   3. David prayed that God would consume them in wrath so that they will know that God rules in all the earth (Psa 59:13; see also Psa 71:13).
      • God will consume the wicked (Psa 37:20; 2Th 2:8).
      • God judges the wicked so that power will be known in all the earth (Rom 9:17).
      • This imprecatory prayer is in keeping with the word of God.
   4. David’s motivation for seeing the wicked consumed is that God’s sovereignty will be magnified in the earth.
      • David would sing and praise God when He judged the wicked (Psa 59:16).
      • He was not praying that God would judge the wicked simply to get personal vengeance on them, but rather to see God and His word vindicated.

Psalm 69

1. 1. David prayed that God would judge the wicked who hated him without a cause, wanted to destroy him (Psa 69:4), and persecuted him (Psa 69:26).
      1. He prayed that God would make their table a snare and a trap (Psa 69:22).
         • These are reprobate Jews (Rom 11:7-10; Psa 69:28 c/w Rev 20:15).
         • Their “table” refers to their corrupt banking activities (Joh 2:15).
      2. He prayed that…
         • God would pour out His indignation on them and take hold of them with His wrathful anger (Psa 69:24).
         • their habitation would be desolate (Psa 69:25).
         • God would add sin to their sin and let them not come into His righteousness (Psa 69:27).
         • they would be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous (Psa 69:28).
      3. David was praying that God would do to reprobates what He has promised in His word (Psa 11:5-6; Rom 2:5-9).
   2. Psalm 69 is a prophecy of the Messiah (Psa 69:4 c/w Joh 15:25; Psa 69:9 c/w Joh 2:17; Psa 69:21 c/w Mat 27:34).
   3. David’s imprecations against the wicked in Psalm 69 are how Jesus Christ feels about the reprobates who oppose Him and persecute His people (Mat 25:41-46; 2Th 1:4-9).

Psalm 79

1. 1. The psalmist Asaph imprecated against the wicked who persecuted God’s people (Psa 79:6-7).
      1. As has been shown previously, God promises to judge those who persecute His people.
      2. This prayer is therefore according to the will of God.
   2. He prayed that God would render unto them sevenfold of the reproach that they reproached God with (Psa 79:12).
      1. God promised to chastise sinners seven times for their sins (Lev 26:18, 21, 24, 28).
      2. This prayer is therefore according to the will of God.

Psalm 83

1. 1. In Psalm 83, the psalmist Asaph made an imprecation against the wicked who were enemies of God (v. 2) and His people (v. 3).
      1. They were trying to destroy the nation of Israel (Psa 83:4-8), which was God’s church at that time (Act 7:38).
      2. Asaph prayed that the nations that had gathered together against the people of God would suffer the same fate as other wicked nations and kings who had persecuted Israel in the past (Psa 83:9-11).
   2. They tried to take the houses of God in possession (Psa 83:12).
   3. Asaph prayed that they would be as stubble before the wind (Psa 83:13), that God would burn them up and persecute them (Psa 83:14-15), and that God would bring them to shame, confound them, trouble them, and cause them to perish (Psa 83:16-17).
   4. He wanted God to do so that men would know that Jehovah was the most high over all the earth (Psa 83:18).
   5. As has been shown previously, the evil that Asaph prayed that God will bring upon their enemies was in accordance with what God has promised to do the wicked in His word.
   6. Asaph ultimately wanted God to judge the wicked so that God would be magnified in the earth, not just to get revenge on his enemies.