Imprecatory?
This next question deals with what is commonly called the imprecatory Psalms. Imprecatory Pslams are those Psalms wherein the author calls down curses upon his enemies. Take Psalm 69 for example. David explicitly prays, “Add guilt to their guilt; do not let them share in Your righteousness. Let them be erased from the book of life and not be recorded with the righteous.” (27-28) Psalm 109 is another example. What are we to do with these? Didn’t Jesus say to love our enemies? Is this what He meant when He said to pray for those who persecute us? How are we to understand these divinely inspired Psalms?
Here are some more: 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 58,69, 79, 83, 137, 139, and 143
October 14, 2007 at 8:43 am
Maybe David meant on judgement day, that they should be erased from the book of Life, if the don’t repent till then. And David is calling upon the LORD to do these things. So if the Lord does these things we can still love our enemies, all the while.
October 16, 2007 at 5:14 pm
good point. um, well, maybe because at that time God had commanded David to get rid of nations that opposed him… i’m not too sure.
December 27, 2007 at 8:52 am
You know, I think David might have been at a low point in his life, getting tired of everything his enemies were doing to him, and he was asking God to take revenge on his behalf, instead of David taking revenge himself.