Prayers for the Wicked
One of the most challenging topics to pray about is our enemies, or those who do wicked and perpetrate evil in the world. Thanks to our modern information highway, there is no shortage of information about the evil and injustice happening in the world. Our emotions get stirred up by injustice and wrong-doing and if we are honest with ourselves, praying for the people responsible is about the last thing we want to do. For followers of Jesus, this becomes even more difficult because we are familiar with the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:43-45, NIV)
Sometimes our thoughts and emotions identify more closely with the prayers in some of the imprecatory psalms. An imprecatory psalm is one that prays for divine judgement or calamity upon someone. That sounds intense and it is, but there are several such prayers in the Psalter: (Psalms 35, 69, 109, 137 and 140, just to list a few).
In this post I want to look into Psalm 140 and explore how we as Christians can connect to this prayer.
King David is the identified author of Psalm 140 and while we do not know the exact time in his life when he wrote this prayer, we know that there were multiple times in his life where he may have written this prayer. David gives voice to the way he views his enemies and repeatedly prays for God’s divine protection and deliverance from them:
"Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s” (v. 1-3)
The ‘imprecatory’ part of Psalm 140 is found primarily in v. 10-11:
“May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.”
One the surface, as followers of Jesus, it may seem hard to know what to do with these portions of Scripture.
Here are a few thoughts to consider related to how to interact with the imprecatory prayers within the psalms and how to follow Jesus’ instruction to pray for our enemies.
1. Our emotions about injustice and pain need healthy expression
When we ignore or suppress our emotions related to the pain of injustice and evil in the world, we are only creating problems for ourselves down the road. Pain and frustration need to be expressed in healthy ways, and God invites us to do just that through prayers that are honest and genuine. We can’t hide our thoughts or emotions from God, so we are free to talk with Him about them. Doing this helps us to process what we are experiencing and it lessens the grip those feelings have on our hearts.
2. Our longing for divine justice is actually given by God
What Jesus calls us to is not to deny our longing for justice in the world but to trust God for that justice, knowing that His timing and His ways are greater than ours. It is also important to let go of what we think that ‘justice’ should look like. We do not want the emotions of hatred to take root in us, because they are toxic to our soul and work against what God is doing in our hearts.
3. We are invited to be raw and honest in our prayers
Reading through the imprecatory psalms helps us learn from the example of people like King David and the examples of genuine and raw prayer. Too often we shy away from expressing how we really are feeling to God, perhaps because what we feel and think seems contrary to the teachings of the New Testament; and perhaps it is, but the psalms invite use to come to God in prayer rather than try to hide and pretend that we don’t feel what we feel.
4. Learning to pray for our enemies
We may not be able to immediately start praying for those who are enemies and causing injustice and evil and we need to acknowledge where we are at with our emotions and thoughts. The imprecatory psalms are an important place to start and as we express genuine prayers to God, we are more able to sense and respond to the Holy Spirit who will lead us toward being able to pray for these people and situations. We can use the language that Jesus used, “not my will but yours be done”, and begin to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what to pray for.
Learning to pray for our enemies is a very real challenge and oftentimes is a journey that God takes us on. The imprecatory psalms are a helpful starting place, and allow God to soften and mold our hearts into the likeness of Jesus. This process can be a long one, but when we come to God with honesty and authenticity, Jesus will meet us and help us through the work of His Spirit.
(Photo by Samuel Martins on Unsplash)
