learning to read imprecatory psalms in the bible by randal rauser

8/2/2019 Learning to Read Imprecatory Psalms in the Bible by Randal Rauser

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Do I not hatethose who hateyou O Lord?Learning to read the

imprecatory psalms

By Randal Rauser

www.randalrauser.com


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Christians have long loved and

Hymns/Praise

Royal Psalms

Thanksgiving Psalms Wisdom Psalms

Mixed types

Lament/Complaint


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Christians have long loved and

Hymns/Praise

Royal Psalms

Thanksgiving Psalms Wisdom Psalms

Mixed types

Lament/Complaint


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1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lacknothing.

2 He makes me lie down in greenpastures,

he leads me beside quiet

waters,3 he refreshes my soul.He guides me along the right

pathsfor his name's sake.

4 Even though I walkthrough the darkest valley,I will fear no evil,for you are with me;your rod and your staff,they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.6 Surely your goodness and love will

follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the

LORD forever.


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my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love willfollow me



LORD forever.

Wait a minute. What is the psalmistasking in verse 5?


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my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love willfollow me



LORD forever.

Many scholars see in this passage a

vindictive wish to be honored over-against

oppressed, but is it a praiseworthy one?


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1 You have searched me, LORD,and you know me.

2 You know when I sit andwhen I rise;

you perceive my thoughtsfrom afar.

3 You discern my going out andmy lying down;

you are familiar with allmy ways.

4 Before a word is on mytongue

you, LORD, know itcompletely.

13 For you created my inmostbeing;

you knit me together in my

mother's womb.14 I praise you because I am

fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

Some of the better known


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1 You have searched me, LORD,and you know me.

2 You know when I sit andwhen I rise;

you perceive my thoughtsfrom afar.

3 You discern my going out andmy lying down;

you are familiar with allmy ways.

4 Before a word is on mytongue

you, LORD, know itcompletely.

13 For you created my inmostbeing;

you knit me together in my

mother's womb.14 I praise you because I am

fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

21 Do I not hate those who hateyou, LORD,

and abhor those who are inrebellion against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for

them; I count them my enemies.

Some of the better known

But how many Christians fail to read verses21 and 22?


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11:5

37:13

52:6

58:10

they are avenged, when they dip their

69:23-24, 28

so they cannot see, and their backs be

bent forever. Pour out your wrath on

them; let your fierce anger overtake

them. May they be blotted out of the

book of life and not be listed with the

79:6

nations that do not acknowledge

83:16-17 Cover their faces with

shame, LORD, so that they will

seek your name. May they ever be

ashamed and dismayed; may they

109:9-10 May his children be

fatherless and his wife a widow.

May his children be wanderingbeggars; may they be driven from

And more including Psalms 5, 6, 12,


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Many liberal Christians view theBible not as a divinely inspiredbook but rather as a collection of

merely human texts. To the extent that we find a

portion of scripture inspiring wecan learn from it.

But texts like the imprecatory

psalms are not inspiring. They aresimply wicked and cannot beredeemed. Thus they should berejected.


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But banishment is not an option

for those who accept the

inspiration of all scripture

2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17All Scripture is God-breathed and is

useful for teaching,rebuking, correctingand training inrighteousness, so

that all God's peoplemay be thoroughlyequipped for everygood work.


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Conservative Christiansaccept in principle that all ofscripture is God-breathed.

know what to do with theimprecatory psalms.

So, alas, these psalms tend to

get ignored. Although we are-death of neglect.


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for those who accept the

inspiration of scripture the

brushoff is no better thanbanishment


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According to the straightforwardembrace, we need to accept thesetexts as God-breathed scripture.

Since scripture is inerrant, thismeans that we accept the moralassertions, even when he expresseshatred of enemies.

Thus, these texts teach us thatsometimes it is appropriate to hateour enemies and even long fortheir destruction.


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John Piper

Pastor and theologian John Piper hasprovided a vigorous defence of thestraightforward embrace view.

Piper avers that the psalmist only hates

his enemy after his love has beenspurned. Piper also proposes that thehatred is notpersonalbut rather is aevil actions.

Piper adds that eventually mercy must be replaced bywrath and judgment

Piper also points out that Jesus and Paul repudiate the imprecatory psalms. In fact, they prayed

portions of them.


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For instance, when should we move from lovingour enemies to hating them?

When is it appropriate to hope that the namesof our enemies are blotted out of the book oflife (i.e. that they go to hell)?How can it be right to wish destruction on thechildren of our enemies?

of our enemies when Ezekiel 18:23 declares thathe takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked?


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According to the qualifiedembrace, we accept these texts asGod-breathed scripture, but thatdoes not mean the human author

is morally inerrant. In fact, other texts most

importantly those recounting thelife and teachings of Jesus are

perspective. Thus, we should recognize the

psalmist is in error and that Godincluded his voice for otherreasons.


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is oneof the greatest novels of all time.Within the book you meet thecharacter of Ivan Karamazov, an

atheist, who gives one of themost eloquent arguments foratheism ever written.

that of his brother Alyosha, the

devout Christian. So why are they both in the

book?


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In fact, the author FyodorDostoevsky (who was a devoutChristian) included both perspective and that of

Ivan to make a stronger novel. So the suggestion is that the

the Bible just like Ivan belongs inThe Brothers Karamazov: not

because those curses arethemselves inerrant, but ratherbecause they play a pivotal rolein the whole book.


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C.S. Lewis held a view like this. He

wrote on the cursing psalms:

explain them away or to yield for

one moment to the idea that,

because it comes in the Bible, allthis vindictive hatred must

Reflections on thePsalms, 22
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Later in his book Reflections on thePsalms Lewis adds:

show through. Naivety, error,contradiction, even (as in the cursingPsalms) wickedness are not removed.

the sense that every passage, in itself,gives impeccable science or history [or,presumably, morality]. It carries the Word

it not by using it as an encyclopedia or anencyclical but by steeping ourselves in itstone or temper and so learning its overall

message.

Reflections onthe Psalms, 112
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We all know that texts can havedifferent levels of meaning. Allegory isa great example.Animal Farm is, on

But it also a profound narrative of thecommunist revolution.

When it comes to scripture we canidentify two basic levels of meaning.

The sensus litteralis refers to the

intentions of the human authors inwriting the text. And then there is thesensus plenior. This is the meaningthat Godgives to a text.


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between senses of scripture further

It is important to see that the sensus litteralis can oftendiffer from the sensus plenior.

Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called

Israel being called out of Egypt. That is the sensuslitteralis of the text.

fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Matthew is identifying here the sensus plenior as he

not referring to Israel but to Jesus.


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Does this work? After all, we are not simply goingbeyond what the psalmist says as Matthew orPaul go beyond what the Old Testament says.

Rather, in the present case we are saying thatwhat the psalmist wrote was, in certain respects,wrong, immoral, evil.

And what does this mean for the doctrine ofinerrancy, the doctrine that says scripture does

not affirm anything contrary to fact?

and thus the Bible is errant?


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So the sun stoodstill,

and the moon

stopped,till the nationavenged itself onits enemies,

as it is written

in the Book ofJashar.

The sunstopped in themiddle of the sky

and delayed goingdown about a fullday.

In response, we can note

that it is a simple fact that

there are some errors in the

sensus litteralis. Considerthe narration of Joshua in

10:13:


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So the sun stoodstill,

and the moon

stopped,till the nationavenged itself onits enemies,

as it is written

in the Book ofJashar.

The sunstopped in themiddle of the sky

and delayed goingdown about a fullday.

In response, we can note

that it is a simple fact that

there are some errors in the

sensus litteralis. Considerthe narration of Joshua in

10:13:

The writer of Joshua

believed that the sun

revolved around the earth

and so he described the sun

stopping. But that is anerrorof science and history:

if anything stopped on that

day it was the earth.


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No. God knew full well that geocentrism was false. Soeven if the sensus litteralis might have some errors inrecording science and history, the fuller sensus pleniordoes not.

With that in mind, is it possible that the human sensuslitteralis might also have moral errors and that Godincluded them to make a greater point, just likeDostoevsky included the voice of Ivan?


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That proposal leads us toask how we decide wherethe errors lie. In responsewe should remember


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so learn its overallmessage.

That proposal leads us toask how we decide wherethe errors lie. In responsewe should remember


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Matthew 5:43-7

"You have heard that it was said,'Love your neighbor and hate yourenemy.' 44 But I tell you, love yourenemies and pray for those whopersecute you, 45 that you may be

children of your Father in heaven.He causes his sun to rise on theevil and the good, and sends rainon the righteous and theunrighteous.

46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greetonly your own people, what are you doing more than others?


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Matthew 5:43-7

"You have heard that it was said,'Love your neighbor and hate yourenemy.' 44 But I tell you, love yourenemies and pray for those whopersecute you, 45 that you may be

children of your Father in heaven.He causes his sun to rise on theevil and the good, and sends rainon the righteous and theunrighteous.

46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greetonly your own people, what are you doing more than others?It seems that Jesus speaks against the imprecatory

psalmist in his words and in his death on the cross.


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So where do we go from here?

If the cursing psalmist was wrong in

expressing his judgment on his enemies, then

why was his voice included at all?


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So where do we go from here?

If the cursing psalmist was wrong in

expressing his judgment on his enemies, then

why was his voice included at all?

Good question. One possible reason for God

to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its


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What does irony look like?

A classic example of irony isproposed that the Irish could

slaughter and sell their childrento use irony to condemn theway that the English were

abusing the Irish, treating themas if they were mere animals.He made the point effectivelywith irony.

Th R d


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The Red

Badge of Courage which tells the story of how

Henry Fleming became a man in the civil war:

nonassertive but ofsturdy and strong blood.He knew that he would no

more quail before hisguides wherever theyshould point. He had beento touch the great death,and found that, after

all, it was but the great

Th R d


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The Red

Badge of Courage which tells the story of how

Henry Fleming became a man in the civil war:

nonassertive but ofsturdy and strong blood.He knew that he would no

more quail before hisguides wherever theyshould point. He had beento touch the great death,and found that, after

all, it was but the great

However, most critics agree that Crane intended the

an anti-hero and remains in the end a mental child.


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So the idea is that just as

Crane includes the

greater ironic point, Godmight have included the

voice to make a greaterironic point.


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understood as authoritative when themeaning of the text is located not in what it

says but in the shadowy, sharp-edged realm of

Irony andMeaning in theHebrew Bible(IndianaUniversityPress, 2009), 8.


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understood as authoritative when themeaning of the text is located not in what itsays but in the shadowy, sharp-edged realm of

cases the inspiration and authority of scripturelies in something contrary to what the humanauthor asserts.Irony andMeaning in the

Hebrew Bible(IndianaUniversityPress, 2009), 8.


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But what is irony doing in the Bible?

Sharp suggests that

serves as a many-edged tool for the

destabilization of the overconfident

Irony andMeaning in theHebrew Bible(IndianaUniversityPress, 2009), 8.


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What would that destabilization look


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2 Samuel 12

David has committed adultery and murder but has notyet admitted his sin, so Nathan tells David a story...

4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man

refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle toprepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him.Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poorman and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to

Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who didthis must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over,because he did such a thing and had no pity."

7


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7


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This is a great illustration of the power of irony. Nathan set Davidup by placing him in an ironic situation where he wascondemning another for the very crimes he had committed.

-edged tool

In other words, David is caught off guard by the irony of thesituation in which he finds himself, and this leads to his

repentance.


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So it could be that God incorporated the

imprecatory psalms into the canon in order to

illustrate through the psalmist the ironic

situation of one who, though shown grace,refuses to extend it to others. Through the

lens of Jesus we can look at the psalmist and

to turn the text back on ourselves, for the


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By the rivers of Babylon we sat and weptwhen we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplarswe hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us forsongs,

our tormentors demanded songsof joy;they said, "Sing us one of the

songs of Zion!"4 How can we sing the songs of the

LORDwhile in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget its

skill.

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of mymouth

if I do not remember you,if I do not consider Jerusalemmy highest joy.

7 Remember, LORD, what the Edomitesdid

on the day Jerusalem fell."Tear it down," they cried,"tear it down to its foundations!"

8 Daughter Babylon, doomed todestruction,

happy are those who repay youaccording to what you have done

to us.9 Happy are those who seize your infants

and dash them against the rocks.


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5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget itsskill.










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5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget itsskill.










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5

If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget itsskill.










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5

If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget itsskill.









Remember again the words of Jesus


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Remember again the words of Jesus

"You have heard that it

was said, 'Love your

neighbor and hate

your enemy.' But I tell

you, love your enemiesand pray for those

who persecute you,

that you may be

children of your

Father in

learning to read imprecatory psalms in the bible by randal rauser

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