Psalms 109:6-15 (ESV)
6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the LORD continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
There is some dispute about the above text. The struggle is about who is saying it. Is this David (Psalms 109 was written by him) praying this over his enemies? Or, is this the enemy saying it to David and David is just quoting the person in his prayer? There is some evidence that David is quoting here and not actually asking for these things to happen to his enemies. After all, in verses 12-14 there is a request for the person to not receive forgiveness from God. That seems out of character for the rest of Scripture if this is David praying it over his enemies. However, if you read the other verses it certainly seems from the context that David is indeed praying this. Theologically we would love this to just be a quote from someone else toward David rather than the reverse of that, making it an imprecatory prayer. An imprecatory prayer is a prayer to call down judgment on one’s enemies. These are not unheard of in the Bible. A quick internet search will give you this:
Psalms 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 79, 83, 94, 137, 139 and 143 are also considered imprecatory. As an example, Psalm 69:24 states toward God, "Pour out Your indignation on them, and let Your burning anger overtake them."
Within an imprecatory prayer we have the struggle of the person praying as they give his/her hurt to God, while asking God to be the judge over such matters. They are not taking matters into their own hands, but rather trusting it all to God. We are instructed to love our enemies and to do good to those who hurt us. An imprecatory prayer does not seem to fit that calling, if it were the action of the person. Perhaps what we read in these type of prayers is the honest heart of a hurting believer who gives it all to God. Our prayer lives out to be giving to God what we feel but trusting Him to change our actions. The prophet Habakkuk’s entire prophecy is a prayer to God as he pours out his contempt on those who would injure and inflict pain on Israel. He could not understand why God would use a wicked nation to judge the wickedness of his nation. His entire prophecy is a prayer to God to straighten this out. He ends the book with the resolve that no matter what, he still trusts God (Habakkuk 3:17-19). It was an entire imprecatory prayer conversation with God. But in the end the prophet’s heart is changed. It might be wise to know this type of prayer is possible, but also pray to God that He would make the final judgment in our request. It might be wise to read how David ends this prayer, imprecatory or not:
Psalms 109:30-31 (ESV)
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
David wants God to be the judge and not him. He might pray it in his heart but he wants God to work it out in real time.
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