Is It Biblical to Pray for Vengeance?

The last couple of wees we have been studying the Psalms in my Old Testament Survey class.  One type of psal we have looked at are "imprecatory psalms," or the psalms in which the author is praying for a God's curse on an enemy.

The subject of our latest discussion board is:

In view of the New Testament teaching of “loving our enemy/neighbor,” discuss the role of imprecatory prayers (psalms) for today?  Can we pray “against” people or things today?  Take a view and defend your position (with love!) and use scripture.  Discuss.

As promised, I am posting my responses here. (Feel free to comment, as it is a discussion question.)

Though I have spent several hours studying this matter, I am still undecided. I have read not only outside of this board, but all of the responses and discussions within it. I believe there are strong arguments both for and against these imprecatory prayers.

Aside from all of the thoughts and information described within the discussion board, I have found another source which has some interesting and important points to consider.

In his sermon, “A Christian Manifesto – A Study of Luke 6,” Alistair Begg challenges us to the agape love Christ commands in both Luke 6 and Matthew 5.  He describes agape love thus:

 “Agape is the ONLY form of love that is not drawn out of the attractiveness of the merit of the one we love.  Jesus is calling for a love of people that is in no way related to the lovability of those whom we are to love.  That is precisely how God in Christ loved us. It was a self-engendered love for those who were His enemies.

“Agape love is not blind to their offenses against us. We see them exactly as they are in all of their ugliness, in all of their spitefulness, in all of their cursing.

“Seeing all that, Jesus says, ‘I want you to love your enemies.’

“This love is intelligent. It is a love that is marked by comprehension and it is a love that is purposeful in its application.”

Further, Begg reminds us:

“This kind of love will not go unrewarded, but the essence of this kind of love is that it must never be the motive for practicing it… because it is an expression of the character of God, who is our Father and kids ought to be like their dads.

“Indeed it is completely incongruous, if not impossible, for those of us who declare ourselves to be the Father’s children not to manifest the mercy of a merciful God and not to display a love for our enemies which is akin to the approach of Jesus that when He was reviled, He did not revile in return, but committed His cause to Him who judges.”

Finally, he makes the point the Jews of the Old Testament had taken out of context Leviticus 19:18 (“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people but love your neighbor as yourself for I am the Lord.”).  “They took the phrase ‘one of your people’ and diminished it to define a group who they had to love and if it fell outside of that defined group, it was ok to curse them.”

And so, taken together, a complete picture emerges wherein we are to love as Christ loved us, not because we deserved it when we also were enemies of God, but rather because He loved us enough to suffer and die for us. We are to forgive because we are forgiven.

Yet also, we do see in holy writ examples of godly men praying imprecatory prayers, not only in the Old Testament, but in the New as well.  In addition to the many examples cited throughout this discussion board, we see a prime example in the final book, Revelation. In chapter 6 verses 10 and 11 we read, “¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ^{11 ” (NKJV)}Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

These tribulation martyrs were not chastised for their cry to the throne for vengeance; rather, they were given a white robe and told to wait patiently until the time was right for God to carry out the retribution they desperately sought.

Consequently, I feel it necessary to conclude there are certainly occasions in which the Lord does not condemn imprecation. However, one must call upon the name and the power of God wisely and with great humility. It is wisdom to err on the side of love and forgiveness, for with the measure one uses to judge, one in turn will be judged.  Yet, let each man walk out his own salvation in fear and trembling.

Through Ignorance

What an interesting venture through the Word I have had this evening.  If you have never had this experience, might I suggest it?  Ask the Lord to open your eyes to His word, and ask Him to lead you to see scripture in a new way.  Then ask Him to lead you to the scripture through which He would like to reveal more of Himself.

Tonight, He led me to Acts 3:17. An obscure verse to be sure. “And, now brethren, I wot (understand) that through ignorance ye did it (crucified the Savior), as did also your rulers.” Read in context, Peter is using the healing of a lame man as an opportunity to preach the gospel. Time and place put him before the very people who only a few short months prior likely cried out, “Crucify Him!”

Can you imagine? It is painful when someone points out our errors, but what if the error was killing the Son of God? And yet Peter says to them, I understand that you did not know what you were doing; you did it so that scripture would be fulfilled. But repent, he tells them in verse 19, it was still sin. Then you can enjoy “a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.”

What an interesting concept, but what could the Lord be trying to show me? And so I followed the cross-references in the margin to 1 Timothy 1:13. Here Paul is describing to Timothy the condition of his life before the Lord called him. “…BUT,” he says, “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”

What a beautiful message. How sublime to know that the Lord of glory shows us clearly by biblical precedent that we can obtain mercy for our sins committed in ignorance.

It seems a bit basic, yet have we truly accepted His forgiveness for all of our past sins?  Have you committed sin more heinous than calling out for the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory? And yet, Jesus said regarding them, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Or have you, like Paul ordered and observed the deaths of the saints? And yet, the Lord forgave Paul and then called him to ministry to be used mightily for the Kingdom.

“But what of my sins that were not committed in ignorance?” you may ask.  Remember, the prodigal son? Do not overlook the fact that he already knew the father.  He knew that asking for his inheritance while his father was living was a supreme insult.  He knew he had behaved so badly he had no right to even ask for forgiveness.  He knew he deserved nothing and would have been satisfied to be a servant in his Father’s house.

And yet… all the time his son was wandering further away with his back to him, the father yearned to show mercy and have his son back.  And yet, not only did he lower himself to the degradation of running, he ran to him, embraced him, and then had a party for him.  The son had not acted in ignorance, but rather in full knowledge. And yet, he received full pardon by the loving mercy of the father.

Thank You Lord for mercy beyond our understanding. Thank You for forgiveness for even the most egregious, willful acts of rebellion. We are not worthy of love so divine!