What Are the Imprecatory Psalms?
Anyone who spends time in the Psalms will eventually encounter prayers that feel incredibly harsh. In fact, some of them feel so intense they may, at least at first glance, seem almost unchristian. For instance, consider Psalm 35:
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
Psalm 35:1-2
Fight against those who fight against me!…
Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers!
Or Psalm 58:
O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
Psalm 58:6
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
These are examples of what scholars call the imprecatory psalms. To simply say that they call on God to destroy the wicked may be an understatement. Some of them can be extremely harsh, such as Psalm 109, which even calls for his enemies’ children to “wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!” And Psalm 137 contains one of the most brutal images in the whole Bible:
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
Psalm 137:9
and dashes them against the rock!
Interpretations of these psalms vary widely. Some attempt to quietly sideline these prayers as embarrassing relics of a more violent pre-Christian era. Others lean on these psalms to justify their own harshness, hostility, or even hatred toward those whom they deem deserving.
But faithful Christians should not simply look for whatever interpretation fits their personal or political agenda. Instead, we must allow Scripture to shape our understanding, even when it challenges our assumptions.
Common Interpretive Errors to Avoid
To begin, a few popular interpretations of these psalms need to be ruled out. While some of these positions seem to have some explanatory power, they ultimately introduce more problems than they solve.
1. Denying the Unity of Scripture
Scripture must be read as a unified whole. Because God is the ultimate author of all inspired Scripture, we must not accept any interpretation that plainly contradicts other Scriptures. If an apparent contradiction is found, it is not allowable to say “the author of this passage was mistaken” or “God really did not mean what this passage says.” Instead, we must seek for the understanding that harmonizes all of Scripture. In fact, this basic error is one that lies beneath nearly every other interpretive error.
2. Using the Psalms to Justify Personal Vengeance
One example of how interpreters deny the unity of Scripture is by treating the imprecatory psalms as God-given permission to hate or take vengeance on enemies. Every now and then you will hear someone point to the imprecatory psalms as giving license to pronounce judgment or even hate some of their enemies.
Yet the New Testament speaks with clarity and consistency about how Christians should think about and treat their enemies. They are commanded to love them (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35; 1 John 3:16), bless them (Luke 6:28, Romans 12:14), forgive them (Luke 6:37, 11:4, 23:34), do good to them (Luke 6:27, 34-35), refuse retaliation (Matthew 5:38-39), and overcome their evil with good (Romans 12:17-21). Any interpretation of the imprecatory psalms that directly clashes with these teachings must be rejected. The psalms may express an appeal to God for justice, but they never authorize personal vengeance or hatred.
3. Treating the Old Testament as Morally Inferior
Another error is to treat the Old Testament as a morally inferior stage of revelation. While it is true that God’s character is most perfectly revealed in Christ (cf. John 14:9; Colossians. 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3), the psalms remain fully inspired Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus never rejected any part of the Old Testament Scriptures. He fulfilled them (Matthew 5:17) and corrected their misuse (Matthew 5:38-41), but he never dismissed them.
In fact, Jesus Himself quoted from imprecatory psalms (e.g., Psalm 69:9). Peter even makes it a point to emphasize that as Jesus hung on the cross, he “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Hebrews describes him offering up prayers “with loud cries and tears” for salvation (Hebrews 5:7). In Christ, we not only see love for enemies, but we also see a heartfelt appeal to God for judgment. In other words, Jesus himself embodied the ethic we see expressed in the imprecatory psalms.
4. Treating Imprecation and Enemy-Love as Competing Options
A more subtle, yet dangerous, example of how Scripture is sometimes pitted against Scripture is when imprecation and enemy-love are treated as two conflicting approaches, and we must exercise wise discernment to determine which ethic is most appropriate for the moment. On the surface, this interpretation may appear to uphold the validity of both enemy-love and imprecation. But it quietly assumes a contradiction between Scriptures that does not exist.
Arguably the most challenging thing the New Testament says about how Christians should treat their enemies is what it doesn’t say. That is, when it comes to loving enemies, there is not a single exception clause. There is no verse I can quote that says “Love your enemies, except for the really nasty ones that threaten your family” or “do good to your enemies, except for those who are genuinely wicked to the core” or “bless your enemies, except for those who are at enmity with God himself.” It’s always just “love them” period. “Overcome their evil with good,” period.
It’s not as if the imprecatory psalms didn’t exist when Jesus and his apostles made these commandments. These commands to love our enemies were given with full knowledge of these psalms. Yet their existence never served to soften, qualify, or limit Christ’s call to love our enemies. Nowhere does the New Testament teach us to distinguish between those enemies we are to love, and those we are to hate.
The imprecatory psalms do not teach a separate ethic from what was taught by Christ. Nor do they permit Christians to set aside the enemy-love commands in those times when we think it would be wiser to follow the Psalms. Rather, they must be understood in a way that fully coheres with the unqualified commands of Christ and His apostles.
How Imprecatory Prayers Help Us Love Our Enemies
The imprecatory psalms and the gospel work together to teach one united ethic. We love our enemies by entrusting judgment to God. Imprecatory prayers are not opposed to love. They are an essential part of how love becomes possible in a world filled with real evil.
Romans 12:14-21 illustrates this clearly. Not only are we commanded to bless those who persecute us, to refuse vengeance, and to overcome evil with good, but we are told why this is so important. “For it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). We love our enemies precisely because vengeance belongs to God alone.
Love for enemies is not grounded in a denial of justice, but in confidence that God will execute it rightly. For this reason, praying for God’s justice allows us to cooperate with His work rather than trying to compete with it.
The imprecatory psalms give us the language to face evil honestly without being consumed by bitterness and desires for personal retaliation. They acknowledge the seriousness of evil, and the desperate need for judgment, but they entrust that judgment to God. By praying the imprecatory psalms, we are freed from the impossible and destructive task of carrying the burden of justice for ourselves.
The Psalms assume that grief, frustration, and the longing for justice are real. These feelings and desires are not sinful. Sometimes the faithful response is to cry out “How long, O LORD?” (Psalm 13:1). When we are hurt, it is important to “pour out your heart before him” because “God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).
Faith includes casting our burdens on the Lord, trusting that he will sustain us (Psalm 55:22). Prayers like “Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!” (Psalm 17:13) are a practical way to do this very thing. Rather than seeking personal vengeance, these prayers surrender justice entirely into God’s hands. Such prayers should not be rebuked, ignored, or apologized for. They are part of the faithful response to evil and oppression.
We can, without hesitation, follow Jesus’s example, who Himself prayed in this way. He quoted from Psalm 22, Psalm 69, and Psalm 110, all of which include lament, judgment, and trust in God’s ultimate victory over evil. The early Christians saw these psalms as central to understanding His ongoing reign and final judgment over his enemies (Acts 2:24-25; Hebrews 1:13; 10:12-13).
Jesus loved his enemies because he “continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23). The imprecatory psalms remind us that God’s justice is both real and good. We can count on him.
Conclusion
Evil is serious. The need for justice is real. The desire for justice is not sinful. But vengeance belongs to God alone. Christians are commanded to love their enemies, and prayer – not violence or retaliation – is how we do that.
The Bible does not present us with a choice between a soft, enemy-loving ethic, and a harsh, judgment-loving ethic. It consistently gives us the Christian ethic – one that embraces both love and justice through the cross, where Jesus bore the judgment his enemies deserved, and taught us to trust in the Father who judges justly.
The Christian Exile 