So what shall we do with Imprecatory Psalms such as Psalm 69?[1] I have chosen this Psalm as an exhibit, because it is quoted 7 times in the New Testament. The NT is going to help us to see how NT authors use and apply this Psalm, especially vv. 22-28, the part which contain the imprecations.
Overview of Psalm 69
Psalm 69 is a Psalm of David. But it is also a Psalm about the greater Son of David! It is one of the most cited Psalms in the New Testament. We begin with a simple exposition of the text.
Vv. 1-4: David feels overwhelmed by the situation at hand. We do not know what the exact situation is, but we know that David encountered many anxious situations in his life. We know that he is being attacked without just cause. He is badmouthed with lies. "What I did not steal must I now restore?” (v.4)
Vv.5 -6: It is not that David claims to be perfect..."O God you know my folly…" and he prays that whatever he has done wrong will not become a stumbling block to other believers.
Vv 7-12: It appears that his suffering is not due to personal sin. It is for the sake of God that he suffers! “It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonour has covered my face.” (v.7) Again, in v.9 we read: “Zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” Even his physical brothers have begun to resent him (v.8). When he started praying and fasting about this (v.10) he even began to reproach himself. Following this the mockery became from others became severe: “I became a byword to them” (v.11). He was being talked about in the public places. They made rude songs about him (v.12).
Vv. 13 – 21: He now pleads with God in prayer to rescue him from this miserable situation.
V.14 says, “Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.”
And again in …v.18: “Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!”
He knows that God knows how his enemies have dealt with him (v.19). All these reproaches have broken his heart, and the worst thing was that he felt so alone. He despaired. There was no one to comfort. In his hour of greatest need they gave him poison for food and sour wine to drink (cf. Jesus in Jn 19:28-30). He thus became like his greater Son.
Vv. 22–28: Here follows a string of imprecations or curses upon his enemies.
"Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them."
He asks God that these enemies would experience the full wrath of God. (Notice: Let… let… let…). He essentially prays, "remove them Lord … wipe them out!"
David is not praying for mercy. He prays for their destruction – their damnation!
In Vv.29-36 David closes this Psalm with a repeated reminder of his pain and suffering:
“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!” (v.29), but after this he ends this Psalm of suffering and despair on a high note with words of praise and assurance that God will redeem this difficult situation: “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” etc.
Summary
David is unfairly attacked without a just cause. He knows that he is not a perfect man. But he knows that what he does is for the zeal of His God. The persecution which he experiences is therefore unjust, and THIS leads him to utter this imprecatory prayer in vv. 22-28 in which he calls upon God to blot out his (or God’s) enemies!
Psalm 69 in the New Testament
Now let us seehow the New Testament deals with Psalm 69. We take particular note in which Jesus quotes this Psalm [2]
1. Rom 11:9-11 cf. Psalm 69:22-23: Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
Here is the beginning of David’s imprecatory prayer in which he asks that God would pour out His anger upon his enemies (v. 24).
He prays that just as they gave him poison for food and sour wine to drink (v. 21), so he prays in v.22 that their own table would become a snare to them. He prays that they would be blinded (v.23).
This is a prayer for their condemnation, their destruction, their damnation. Vv. 27–28: “May they have no acquittal from you, O God. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.” David literally consigns them to hell.
Now let us consider the quote of this by Paul in Rom. 11:9-11.
Here Paul teaches that Israel has rejected Jesus as her Messiah, and for this reason she has come under God’s judgment. God has hardened the hearts of the Jews (Rom. 11:8) so that they will not believe. This will continue until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom11:25). So, this is the context against which Paul quotes Ps. 69:22-23 “And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.’”
Please note! Paul interprets the words of David here not in terms of personal anger but as an expression of what really deserves to happen to the enemies of God’s anointed Son.
Remember that David is also God’s anointed king, and here he is being rejected and reproached! And whilst David manifests a lot of patience in his life there comes a point when David speaks as God’s inspired prophet, and by this imprecatory prayer he consigns his adversaries to darkness and hardness. They will experience this judgment because David is speaking on God’s behalf.
Paul does not hear merely emotional words of retaliation in David’s voice. He hears sober, prophetic words of judgment that God’s anointed wills to bring on his adversaries. This is God’s measured and patient, sure wrath!
2. Psalm 69:25 is also quoted by Peter in Acts 1:20 concerning Judas. Again, it is not difficult to see the point here. Judas betrayed the greater Son of David, and for this he has inherited the eternal, unretractable wrath of God.
3. Jn. 2:13-17: Again this Psalm is quoted when Jesus cleanses the temple: V.16 says, “And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’” When the disciples heard this, (v.17 - His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” ) they immediately connected this with the words of Ps 69:9 David’s words and actions typify Christ’s words and actions.
4. Jn. 15:24-25. Here we see that Jesus is hated by the Jewish leaders just the way David was hated by his own people (cf. v. 8). Jesus quotes Ps. 69:4 “If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
5. Jn. 19:28-30 J: On the cross, Jesus quotes Ps. 69:21 where David had said, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” In response to Jesus word on the cross, “I thirst” , they offer him sour wine. This, John says that this "was to fulfil the Scripture".
6. In Rom.15:3 Paul quotes this verse in support when he calls Christians to be patient with those who may reproach us: “Let each of us please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’” He sees these words fulfilled in Christ. Christ endured the reproaches of men willingly, and Paul calls us to imitate Christ in this regard.
So then – we find that there are two emphases in the way which the NT uses this Psalm.
(i) One emphasis is judgment - God’s just retribution for sin.
(ii) The other emphasis relates to the suffering of God’s anointed king (King!) who endures this suffering for God’s sake, knowing that it is God who will be the final Judge in terms of those who abuse His servants.
How then do we understand and apply the Imprecatory Psalms?
1. We need to understand that authentic Christian living, and particularly being a zealous Christian leader brings with it challenging circumstances, such as the irrational hate of people. We need to understand that such suffering is a typical accompaniment of living a godly life in a fallen world.
2. We need to understand that God owns His church and His chosen leaders. Continual abuse of the church and her leaders will result in God’s certain judgements (temporal and eternal).
3. We must be careful not take the imprecations as incentives to curse our enemies. In fact, Paul quotes this Psalm in Rom 15:3 to encourage us not to seek for revenge, but to know that Christ has already borne the reproach that any Christian leader may now be bearing.
This does not mean that there is no wrath, no punishment, or no judgment in Psalm 69. There is a certain judgement here, BUT it is not our duty to execute that judgement.
It is God’s terrible and just wrath that will finally take care of this abuse of His faithful servants. Rom. 12:19-21 says this: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
So, until that day of judgment, we must follow the words of our anointed King: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. . . . You will be sons of the Most High” (Lk. 6:27-29;35).
[1] John N. Day in his book “Crying for Justice” (IVP 2005) says that three of the harshest Psalms are Psalm 58, Psalm 137 & Psalm 109
[2] Jesus regards the Psalms as inspired by God: see Mk 12:36 ; Jn 10:35;13:18 .
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