Imprational psalms (Psalms 7, 12, 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 83, 109, 137, 140) have strong language: “Oh God, do you break your teeth in your mouth?(Salt 58. 6); will you consume them with indignation, so that they never exist?(Salt 59:13); Daughter of Babylon, who will be destroyed, happy he who will pay you for the evil you have done to us. Blessed is he who takes your children and crushes them against the stone. ?(Salt 137. 8-9); “On them fall live coals, throw themselves into the fire?(Salt 140,10). These words raise a question: do these psalms not respond to the New Testament ethic of loving our enemies (Mt 5:22, 44)?
First, we must understand what imprational psalms are. In this video, drawn from the faithful leadership course: Old Testament Biblical Theology, Franklin Ferreira makes three preliminary observations on the imprecational psalms:
- Second.
- We need to understand the context of the psalms of imprecation.
- In this other video.
- Taken from a class at the Charles Spurgeon school.
- Ferreira talks about the importance of the psalms of imprecation in the face of calamities.
Heber Campos Jr. writes, in his book Triunfo da FĂŠ, about the relationship
Some think that they are sinful expressions of the Psalmists, others think that they belong to a sub-Christian ethic of the Old Testament and therefore have no application in the New Testament, yet Jesus himself expresses an imperative language in relation to his enemies (Mt 23:14, 29-36). Some might object by saying that Jesus would have the divine prerogative to proclaim a curse because God is above His law; However, Jesus put himself under the law and even by pronouncing curses, he did not sin. In addition, unforeseen psalms are quoted in the New Testament, thus highlighting the status of a true word and relevant to all ages. Therefore, we cannot classify the imprecation of imprecational expressions in the Book of Psalms as sinful or irrelevant to today.
To answer the ethical dilemma and find the value of curses, it is necessary to consider certain elements of these psalms. Extremely explicit language? which for some scholars is hyperbolic? expresses the degree of emotional disturbance experienced by the psalmist. Expressing them to the Lord is not necessarily a sin. It is true that they could result from sinful motives (see David’s concern in Psalm 139: 19-24). However, they are inserted into sentences, requests. These are not reports of vengeful and angry actions.
The demand of these Psalmists is not to do justice to themselves, especially because personal vengeance has been condemned since the Pentatheal (Lev 19:18), but to leave vengeance to the Lord (Dt 32:35; Prov 25. 21-22; Rom 12. 9 ), 20-21) . Their outrage is legal because it is the result of unfair oppression; more than that, it comes not only from self-interest, but from zeal for God’s honor; After all, it was God’s people who were oppressed, and the Lord is very jealous of his people (Zechariah 2:8-9). That is why curses are not contrary to Jesus’ teaching. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart distinguish between practicing love and feeling love. That’s what you do for someone, not how you feel about someone who determines your love. Christ urged us to practice love, not to feel love. It is permissible to express our anger before God and continue to practice love for our enemies.
One of the best evidences that imprecational psalms are not the expression of a bitter and sinful heart is that even the saints in heaven, where holiness cannot fail (He 12:15), shout “until when”. In Revelation 6: 9-11, it says:
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw, under the altar, the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God and by their testimony, and cried loudly, saying, How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, do you not judge or avenge our blood upon those who live on earth?Then each of them received a white garment, and they were told to rest for a while, until their companions and brothers arrived. they were going to be killed was finished, as they were.
Keep in mind that who prays?they are souls who are already sanctified and who are in the presence of the Lord. There is nothing of sin in his prayer.
Therefore, unresolved sin in the church and in the world must provoke the same cry in us. We must be saddened by the divisions among God’s people, just as Habakkuk deplored conflicts and disputes in Judah (see 1:10-17; 3. 1-23). ; 11,17-22), we must mourn the violence and recurrent injustices in our country, and such regret must be accompanied by a desire for correction, punishment, in fact, the absence of the desire for curses is a sign of indifference to sin and divine justice. ?Until when?? this should not be understood as despair, but as a prayer of hope that comes from those who trust that God will resolve the situation, as Habakkuk expected. Therefore, Habacuc’s assertion is correct. If zeal for divine justice grows as we sanctify ourselves, then we must show the desire for the Lord Jesus to return not only to take us with him, but also to manifest his righteousness.
John Piper, in his preaching Pour his indignation upon them, shows how psalms should shape our thoughts and feelings, even toward anger. Piper illustrates his point with Psalm 69.
The key: the use of the New Testament
The key will be how New Testament authors use this psalm, how they understand it. And we have a lot of help in this regard because 7 of the verses in this psalm are explicitly quoted in the New Testament, including parts that are imprecations. New Testament writers were not bothered by the psalms of imprecation. In fact, they found them particularly useful in explaining Jesus’ work and what it means to us.
So let’s quickly examine the psalm and then see how the New Testament uses it.
An overview of Psalm 69
The situation is that David feels oppressed by his enemies, they don’t look like military enemies, they look like personal enemies, and they’re ruthless and petty.
David doesn’t pretend to be perfect. In fact, in verse 5 he admits that he made mistakes and that God knows it, but hostilities against him are not due to these mistakes, they hate him for no reason. And they attack you with lies. Verse 4: “Those who hate me for no reason are more than the hairs on my head; those who seek to destroy me, being my enemies unjustly, are powerful; then I gave back what I didn’t say steal. ?
Zeal for the glory of God
The fact is that David was jealous of God’s glory, and his opponents reproach him. Verse 7 đ For for you I have been insulted; The confusion covered my face. Verse 9: “For the zeal of thy house has devoured me, and the affronts of those who insult you have fallen upon me. In other words, his suffering is not only undeserved, but he receives it precisely as a representative of God. “The affronts of those who insult you have fallen upon me. When God receives an affront, the Psalmist receives an affront. “It’s the people who hate you, God, who make my life difficult because I represent you.
Asking for a ransom
He asks God to save him from his miserable situation. Verse 14: Get me out of the mud and don’t let it jam me; let me be free from those who hate me, and from the depths of the waters. Verse 18: Come to my soul and buy it; release me because of my enemies. ?
Then come verses 22-28, which are completely curses or curses for your enemies. Do you pray to God that these enemies are enemies and those of God?Experience the full force of God’s judgment and do not be acquitted. He does not pray for his salvation; Pray for their condemnation Verses 22-24: Put your table before them in a trap, and prosperity in a trap; darken their eyes so that they do not see, and their kidneys will constantly tremble; pour out your indignation upon them, and let the warmth of your wrath take hold of them. ?
Crying for help
Then close the psalm with another cry for help and a promise of praise. Verses 29-30 đ But I am poor and sad; O God, put your salvation in high retreat; I will praise god’s name with canticle and magnify it with thanks.
In short, here we have King David, an imperfect man (v. 5), but correct (v. 28), a man who loves the glory of God, a man who trusts in God’s mercy for atonement and redemption (v. 18)), who rises for the good of the humble (v. 32-33) and who suffers the undeserved persecution of his enemies and enemies; and in the midst of this lament and this call for help, he devotes 7 verses to shouting to God to punish such enemies.
Psalm 69 in the New Testament
So how does the New Testament treat this psalm?
First, we must say that the New Testament in quoting the psalm is never ashamed of the psalm, nor is it critical; never treats psalm as something we must reject or leave behind; never treats psalm as a sinful personal vengeance. , can we learn from the New Testament (how can we expect once Jesus has honored the psalms as inspired by God?Mark 12:36; John 10:35; 13:18) may this psalm be revered and honored as a sacred truth.
The New Testament cites Psalm 69 in at least two important ways: quote the psalm as David’s words and cite the psalm as the words of Jesus. Let’s examine each one at a time, and then we end up asking how we should read the psalm. today and how we should think and feel David’s prayer for the punishment of violent and evil men.
1) Like David’s words
First, Romans 11: 9-11 quotes Psalm 69: 22-23. This is what the psalm says: “Put your table in a trap before them, and your prosperity in a trap; darken their eyes so they don’t see. and that his kidneys are constantly shaking.
This is the beginning of David’s prayer for God to spread his indignation upon his adversaries (v. 24). Pray that just as they gave him poison (v. 21), his table will become a disgrace to them. The same abundance that they believe they have would turn out to be their pain, and he prays that they become blind and cannot find their way and that the tremor will grip them forever.
In other words, this prayer is a prayer for your condemnation, destruction, and curse. Verses 27-28: Add wickedness to your wickedness, and do not enter into your righteousness. Be erased from the book of the living, and don’t be inscribed. with the righteous David commands them to lose, hell.
This is not a sinful personal vendetta
Now you might think that if this psalm were a sinful personal vendetta, the Apostle Paul would at least have avoided it and perhaps repaired it, but he is doing the exact opposite. He goes directly to this text to support his teaching in Romans 11, he was not even disturbed by this psalm. In Romans 11, Paul teaches that most of Israel had rejected Jesus as his Messiah and placed himself under God’s judgment. The trial is that hardening had occurred in most of Israel to prevent them from believing.
Romans 11: 7 đ What Israel was looking for did not succeed; but the chosen ones have triumphed and the others have hardened. Verse 25 đ For I do not want, brethren, to ignore this secret (whatever you assume of yourselves): that hardening came in part to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles entered. Thus, one of Paul’s main teachings in Romans 11 is that God condemns Israel with this hardening until the fulness of God’s Gentiles is saved.
Speaking for God’s sake
In this context, Paul returns to the supposed imprecation of Psalm 69 (of all the Old Testament texts he might have quoted) to support his point and quotes verses 22-23 from Romans 11:9-11:?And David says, the table be caught, caught, and stumbled upon for its punishment; May his eyes darken so that they cannot see and that their backs are continually bent.
In other words, Paul’s way of interpreting David’s words is not a sinful personal vengeance, but a faithful expression of what happens to adversaries of God’s anointedness. David is the anointed king of God, and is rejected, repudiated, and insulted. David is very patient in his life (Psalm 109:4). But there comes a time when David speaks as a anointed, inspired by God, and through his prayer, gives his opponents to darkness and hardening. You will know this phrase because David speaks in the name of God.
Prophetic and sober words of judgment
Paul not only hears emotional words of retaliation in David’s voice, but hears words of prophetic and sober judgment that the ation of God wants to carry to his adversaries, so he quotes these words in Romans 11 where he makes this point: Christ’s adversaries, God’s Messiah, will be plunged into darkness and hardened as part of God’s judgment.
This is the first way the New Testament specifically cites Psalm 69 as the prophetic words of the judgment of the God-inspired spokesman about the adversaries of God’s anointedness.
2) Like the words of Jesus
The second way the New Testament quotes Psalm 69 is like the words of Jesus himself, the reason is that Jesus is the Son of David (Romans 1:3; Matthew 21:15; 22:42) and what happened to David as The Royal Anointed One of God is an omen of the last anointed, the Messiah, Jesus. Then Jesus read this psalm and saw his own mission being lived beforehand.
Four quick examples:
a) Jesus cleaning the temple
In John 2:13-17, we read how Jesus expelled the vendors from the temple. Verse 16 says, “And he said unto those who sell doves, ‘Get them out of here and make not make my Father’s house a place of The Bible-soaked disciples see this passion for the house of God, and hear Jesus call the temple “the house of my Father,” and remember the words of Psalm 69: 9, verse 17 :?And his disciples remembered what is written: The zeal of thy house shall devour me. In other words, they see David’s words and actions as a harbinger of Christ’s words and actions.
b) Jesus hated for his
In John 15:24-25, Jesus is hated by Jewish leaders just as David was hated by his own people (verse 8). This time it is Jesus himself who explicitly cites Psalm 69 as part of God’s law or instruction to Dieu. I said, “If I had not done the works that no one else had done among them, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated the Father and me. But the word that is written in your Law must be fulfilled. They definitely hated me. ? This is a quote from Psalm 69: 4: “Those who hate me for no reason are more than the hair on my head.
Therefore, Jesus himself is aware of David’s experiences and sees them as an omen of his own experiences and says, when David is hated by his opponents, he indicates my experience and must be fulfilled in me.
c) Jesus on the cross
On the cross, at the most important moment in history, Jesus ended his life, again intentionally interpreting Psalm 69 in his own experience. In verse 21, David had said, “They gave me money to eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. “
Obviously, Jesus had lived in this psalm and absorbed this psalm and made this psalm a part of his own being; otherwise, I don’t know how we could explain John 19:28-30, here he is clinging to the cross in horrible agony and we read:
Then, knowing Jesus that everything was finished, that the scriptures would be fulfilled, he said (To fulfill the scriptures): “Am I thirsty. ?Then there was a glass full of vinegar. And they filled a sponge with vinegar, and they put it in a swab, they took it to their mouths. And when Jesus took the vinegar, he said, “It’s over. “And, bowing his head, he abandoned the spirit.
According to the Apostle John, Jesus died while singing Psalm 69 What most glorious tribute could be paid to a psalm?It was the psalm, which we usually regard as a problem because of his curses, that Jesus lived and the one who brought him to the cross and through the cross.
d) Jesus enduring outrage
2. 4 Another illustration in Psalm 69 such as the words of Jesus: In verse 9, David said to God, “and the affronts of those who insult you have fallen upon me. “In Romans 15, Paul calls Christians to be patient with the weak. , deny themselves and receive others humbly.
Wonderfully at this point he returns to Psalm 69:9 and says, “So each of us pleases our neighbor in what is good to build. For neither did Christ please himself, but, as it is written: Have the insults of those who insult you fallen upon me?In other words, he takes David’s words and sees them fulfilled in Christ. And what is specific about what he is focusing on is that Christ willingly endured the insults of men.
Therefore, it seems that Psalm 69 has two purposes in the New Testament: one point is judgment: curses are not sinful personal retaliation, but a prophetic approval of God’s righteous punishment for sin.
The other extreme is the suffering of God’s anointedness. This suffering comes from dieu’s love. Suffering is either the means by which opponents are brought to repentance and saved, or the means by which they are confirmed in their hardening and condemned.
How should Psalm 69 affect us?
So we go back and conclude with the question: how should we think and feel when we read Psalm 69 today?Three answers:
1) Approval of God’s judgment
We must hear the divinely inspired voice of David, the Lord’s anointed one, suffering for the glory of God, and expressing his desire and approval by God’s judgment of the Lord’s unrepentant adversaries; It clearly shows that God’s judgment comes, and that it is just and even desirable, and that it must come when adversaries are beyond repentance. There is a divine judgment on the way, and on that day Christians will approve of what God does. This is what David’s curses clearly show. That’s what we have to think about, and feel.
2) Announce the Ministry of Jesus
We must listen to David as the omen of Jesus’ ministry. What David experiences as the Anointed Lord, Jesus will complement him more in his own suffering and death. Their suffering will be a suffering of salvation and condemnation. For those who accept him as his glory, he will save; because the hardened will condemn.
Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, patience, and longevity, not knowing that God’s goodness leads you to repentance?But according to your hardness and your unrepentant heart, you will harbor anger against you on the day of anger and the manifestation of God’s Judgment (Romans 2:4-5).
3) Encouraging forgiveness
What about us? When we read these words, what should we think, feel, and do?
The main thing we must say is that we should not take curses as a stimulus or incitement to curse our enemies. In fact, in Paul’s mind, psalm takes us exactly in the opposite direction. Paul quotes the psalm in Romans 15:3 to encourage us, to renounce ourselves rather than satisfy the desire for vengeance. “Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: “The affronts of those who offended me have fallen upon me. “In other words, hold on, forgive me.
But it is not because there is no anger, punishment or judgment in Psalm 69, it is precisely because there is judgment. And it is not for us to execute Him, the fact that God does, and it is right that He does so, is why we are able to follow Jesus in suffering for those who have offended us:
Beloved, do not aerge, but yield to anger, for it is written: Mine is vengeance; I will reward you, said the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he’s thirsty, give him a drink. because by doing this, you will be piling embers on his head (Romans 12:19-21).
The embers will purify if there is repentance and punish if there is no; God will decide. We’ll approve. But until the day of judgment, we follow the words of the anointed king: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who slander you. and you will be the children of the Most High? (Luke 6:27-29, 35)