Praying in Anger: The Cursing Psalms

When it comes to reading and interpreting the Psalms, some of the most problematic verses are those in which the psalmist prays that God would curse his enemies. The technical term for these curses is imprecation, and so psalms that contain a good number of these curses are called imprecatory psalms. “Psalms of anger” or “psalms of wrath” may be a better description, but the term imprecatory is standard in psalms studies. There are at least seven psalms that fit into this category, although portions of other psalms contain imprecations as well. Psalms 35, 55, 59, 69, 79, 109, 137 are classified by most as imprecatory psalms with 35, 69, and 109 being the most intense.

The problem that these psalms present to the interpreter is two-fold. First, the psalmist describes the nature of his enemies in stark terms such as “lions”, “snarling dogs”, “blood-thirsty men”, and “drawn swords”. The effect of these metaphoric descriptions of his enemies is to dehumanize them. One of the ways historically that people have rationalized the mistreatment of others is by using euphemisms and language that diminishes their humanity. After all, it’s easier to rationalize the killing of an animal than murdering another human being. However, the very first chapter of the Bible declares that every person is made in the imago dei, the image of God, and thus has inherent worth. Furthermore, the New Testament (particularly the gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus) emphasizes that everyone is “redeemable”, so how can the psalmist speak so harshly of his enemies?

Second, not only does the psalmist dehumanize his enemies with his language, but he prays that God would bring the worst imaginable fates upon them. The modern reader cringes at some of the language in the psalms, and the texts are scrupulously avoided in liturgical settings for this reason. These curses raise legitimate and troubling questions to the faithful. Specifically, where is the love of God in these deprecations of other human beings? This is a particularly troubling issue in light of Jesus’ teaching on loving one’s enemies (Matthew 5:43-45a). How can a person love one’s enemies and pray compassionately for them while simultaneously praying that tragedy would suddenly strike? These are certainly not the kind of prayers that Jesus had in mind when he commanded us to pray for our enemies. This second question also goes to the issue of theology: What is the nature of the God whom the psalmist assumes would side with him to do such terrible things?

Perspectives on Interpreting the Psalms of Anger

The following approaches assist the interpreter in understanding and praying these psalms of cursing. Taken individually, each of these perspectives may not fully answer the questions raised by the imprecatory psalms, but together, they provide a framework for understanding them and even applying them to the contemporary context.

1. Consider the nature of poetry. By the very nature of poetry, statements are often metaphoric and not meant to be understood literally. When the psalmist says, “I am a worm and not a man” (22:6), this is not counter to the biblical teaching of man’s inherent worth as made in the image of God. Rather it reflects how the psalmist feels at that particular moment (i.e. more like a worm than a man, the lowest form of animal life). Likewise, the strong statements that the psalmist makes about his enemies are not meant to be acted upon as commands, but rather as an expression of how he feels in the heat of the moment. The poet employs the use of metaphor and hyperbole to communicate the extreme nature of his feelings, so his words are not meant to be taken literally.

2. Consider the old and new covenants. In the old covenant, the law required retribution for wrongs, i.e. “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, (lex talionis). Jesus notes this teaching and elaborates upon it in his Sermon on the Mount where he says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.” The old covenant was in effect during composition of the psalms, but the new covenant that Jesus introduces is a fulfillment and a completion of that covenant. The psalmist is living in the time of the old covenant, and so his prayers reflect the justice of God and his divine law of retribution. Thus, his prayers of cursing were appropriate in this context.

It is also significant to note that the psalmist is not taking revenge into his own hands, rather he calls upon God to do justice. This is consistent with the Old Testament law as well as New Testament teaching on revenge. In this passage from Romans, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:35 demonstrating that the teaching on revenge has not changed from the old to the new covenant.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

3. These curses are not personal but reflect the role of the king as an agent of God’s justice. In many of these psalms, David is speaking as the anointed king of Israel. He has divine authority to punish wrong-doers and execute the judgment of God upon them. These principles are clearly stated in his coronation psalm, (Psalm 2:8-12). This authority is granted to the king by God for the security and safety of society, and it is meant to be administered by a wise and benevolent king. Of course, some of these psalms are intensely personal as David confronts men who’ve betrayed him personally. However, this view sees David as having a right to be angry because he is acting as God’s authorized representative. He reflects the anger of God toward those that would resist his rule (Psalm 2:1-5).

This view is echoed in the New Testament in Paul’s argument in Romans 13 that governments are ordained by God to maintain order for human flourishing. The king is “God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4). As God’s anointed king and author of the majority of the imprecatory psalms, David is justified in his anger and wrath on those who oppose the rule of God.

4. The curses are a prediction of future judgment.  Some have suggested that these imprecations are prophetic. Speaking prophetically, the psalmist is not desiring revenge, rather he is predicting that his enemies will experience “the law of the harvest” -- in other words, that they will reap what they have sown. Psalm 7:14-16 is one of many passages that describe how the guilty suffer at their own hands.

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head and on his own skull his violence descends. (Psalm 7:14-16)

Thus, when the psalmist prays curses upon his enemies, he is simply stating what God has already said about those who do not live according to the Torah. The harm that they intend for others will come back upon them. There is an inherent self-inflicted wound upon the person who selfishly harms others. In this perspective, the cursing prayers of the psalmist function as implied “warnings" to the wicked: “Repent, or a terrible fate awaits you as a direct consequence of acting against the moral order.”

5. The psalmist is unknowingly writing about things that will later be fulfilled in the life of the messiah. It is not a coincidence that the imprecatory psalms are frequently quoted by Jesus and the apostles (e.g. Psalms 35, 69, 109). Because Jesus was betrayed by his close friend Judas, he and the apostles made the obvious connection between his experience and the way David, God’s anointed, was betrayed by his close friends, advisors, and even his own son Absalom. Thus, these psalms are often placed in the category of messianic psalms. In this perspective, the psalmist was writing about his own circumstances, but his words had future fulfillment as well as part of the great salvation story that God was writing. Peter alludes to this aspect of the writing of the scriptures when he writes:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. (I Peter 1:10-12; NIV 1984)

The cursing prayers of the psalmist came out of his own very real pain, but they served a greater purpose as predictions of the suffering of Jesus the Messiah. They became evidence of God’s anointing of Jesus as Messiah. In this sense, the psalmists were “not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of things that have now been told you”.

6. The awful words of the psalmist were human words, not divine. Another way to frame the terrible prayers of the psalmist is to attribute them to the expression of human emotions that are not necessarily reflective of God’s will and nature. One of the most extreme and troubling imprecations by modern standards is found in Psalm 137:

Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.“Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations! Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. (Psalm 137:7-9; NIV 1984)

These verses must be placed in the context in which they were originally uttered. They are the words spoken in the immediacy of the unspeakable horror of the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BC. It is likely that the psalmist was an eyewitness to those events, and he saw unbelievable cruelty that is part of the nature of warfare, what would rightly be considered war crimes today. Examples of this included the Babylonian army’s slaughter of pregnant women and infants. Add to that the incredible insensitivity of the Edomite spectators who stood by, cheering the Babylonians on and mocking those who were suffering. In understanding this curse, then, the reader must try to get inside the head of the psalmist and attempt to experience his pain and anger in its original context.

Horrific crimes against humanity occur every day on this planet, but most of us are fairly removed from them. One of the most traumatic experiences in American history occurred on September 11, 2001 when terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people in the attacks on New York City and Washington DC. Anyone alive at that time will remember the visceral reaction to the images flooding our TV screens and computer screens that day. The mass slaughter of innocent human beings played out before our eyes, and the immediate and natural response was horror and anger. The video of a mob of Palestinians celebrating in the streets of Gaza was as maddening to Americans as the joy of the Edomites was to the psalmist. It was difficult to be human and not call for revenge when presented with such a willful act of violence and the celebration of the destruction of human life. Indeed, America began to pursue her revenge less than a month later in Afghanistan and the following year in Iraq. [For a glimpse into America’s psyche in that moment, take a listen to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American), released in 2002.]

It is this sense of justice that is an aspect of the imago dei, the image of God in us, that cries out for fairness and rightness in the face of such wanton disregard for life and humanity. The psalmist gives a voice to that very basic need for justice. Over time, those feelings of anger may be tempered with understanding as one moves through the grieving process, but that doesn’t make them any less real or necessary to express.

Some interpreters go even further and compare these words of the psalmist to those of Job and his friends. The words of frustration that Job and his friends spoke were merely a record of emotions and attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible. They are recorded for us to demonstrate that God can withstand our complaints and curses, and that he will have the final word and ultimately see that justice is done. These curses give language to express the outrage at the injustice that exists in a world in rebellion against the divine moral order.

7. They are representative of human injustice in all times. While the psalmist was writing about his own pain and response to it, his experience can represent the broader human experience with injustice. Every day the headlines are filled with examples of injustice - kidnappings, child abuse, rape, human-trafficking, exploitation of workers, political corruption -- there is no shortage of injustice in the world. These psalms represent this universal reality of injustice in a fallen world. They are included in the Psalter to teach us the appropriate response to injustice. Injustice should prompt us to righteous anger. Indeed, God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day (Psalm 7:11). But the psalmist also says, “in your anger, do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent” (Psalm 4:4). Entrust yourself to the God who judges justly. Leave vengeance to Him, but speak to Him about it nonetheless. It is noteworthy that the psalmist never takes vengeance into his hands, but rather he implores God to act for the sake of justice.

8. Some of the psalms of anger are in reference to national enemies, not personal ones. While some of the imprecatory psalms are certainly personal, some of them also reflect the prayers of God’s people when mistreated by foreign nations. In this case, the psalmist is also making an appeal to God to defend his own name. The defeat of God’s people by a foreign army would have been seen in the ancient world as a de facto defeat of YHWH himself, defaming his reputation before the gods of the nations. In these psalms, YHWH is called upon to rise up and defend his honor by restoring Israel’s honor as a nation, exhibited in retribution upon her enemies. The fact is that any nation in history that has been invaded by a foreign army can identify with these prayers of the psalmist. One can be confident that during World War 2 there were plenty of allied soldiers that could think about the Nazis and pray with the psalmist, “break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions!” (Psalm 58:6). This is true of any battlefield scenario. Men who actually have a great deal in common with one another find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield, praying for the defeat of one another, the enemy of their nation. 

9. Curse your real enemies, not the victims of the enemy.  A biblical ethic demands that one loves his enemy, even if they have committed a great wrong against you. Indeed, Jesus was known as a friend of sinners and in one his final acts, he forgave the very ones who crucified him. The law of love trumps human anger. This is the revolutionary teaching of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-48).

This is a very difficult teaching, but one of the ways this is accomplished is through directing one’s anger toward the true enemy. Both Christianity and Judaism teach the reality of a powerful being who is behind every temptation and evil. He is known as the Evil One, the Accuser, Satan. He is described as a deceiver, a roaring lion, and a thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. All of the cursing psalms are ultimately directed toward him. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:10-12, to

be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The psalmist may not have this insight into the spiritual realm, but we do, and it can’t help but flavor how we pray these psalms. Human beings are to some extent victims of these “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” although this does not release them from all responsibility. As free moral agents, men have the ability to resist or surrender to the temptation to evil. The role of the believer is to forgive when wronged and surrender the pursuit of vengeance to God’s hand alone. The believer may desire that divine justice be accomplished, but it must be divine justice, not personal revenge. When there has been repentance on the part of the perpetrator, the desire for divine justice must be relinquished. It may feel counterintuitive, but praying these violent prayers is the best path to non-violence as we release our need for vengeance to the One who judges justly, and we are freed from our anger and bitterness.

The ability to forgive the one who has deeply wronged us is only possible because God has forgiven the ones who have deeply wronged him. In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s insightful sermon on Psalm 58, he rightly concludes:

Whoever shrinks with horror at this joy over the vengeance of God and the blood of the godless does not yet know what happens at the cross of Christ. God’s righteous vengeance over the godless has already become clear to us. The blood of the godless has already been poured out. God’s judgment of death over the godless has already been spoken. God’s righteousness is fulfilled. That has happened in the cross of Jesus Christ. [italics mine] (Bonhoeffer, 64)

The wrath of God against all the ungodly and unjust actions of all of human history has already been poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross. This is a profound truth that solves the riddle of what to do with the imprecatory psalms. The wrath that we would pray to fall upon others has been laid upon God himself in Christ. And so we sing this popular contemporary hymn,

On the cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live.

(In Christ Alone, Keith Getty and Stuart Townend)

The wrath of God was satisfied. Both the guilty and the innocent find forgiveness and healing in the cross. Knowing this enables the one who has been victimized to release their need for vengeance while at the same time extend God’s forgiveness to the one they formerly cursed.

Works referenced:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich.  My Soul Finds Rest: Reflections on the Psalms. edited and translated by Edwin Robertson.  (Zondervan, 2002).

Tesh, S. Edward & Zorn, Walter D. The College Press NIV Commentary: Psalms Volume 1. (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1999)