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Transcript
Imprecatory Prayer Contents Imprecatory Prayer 1 Contents 1 Engaging the Covenant in our Prayer Life 2 Imprecatory Prayer is Enforcing the Covenant of God 3 The Covenantal Lawsuit 3 Who Files the Lawsuit? 4 Psalm 109: A Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked 4 Summary 8 1 their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. 8Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, 9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. 10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; 12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: 14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Engaging the Covenant in our Prayer Life There are many different types of prayer that we exercise and do: prayers of intercession, prayers of thanksgiving, and prayers of request. All are our communications with God, with different effects. As we start looking into this study of imprecatory prayer, we will see a new type of prayer that David prayed that was very effective. Of the 150 Psalms contained in the Bible's prayer book, i.e., the Psalms, 104 are imprecations. Imprecatory psalms: Psalm 5, 7, 9, 10, 17, 25, 28, 31, 35, 40, 41, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 63, 68, 69, 70, 71, 74, 79, 83, 94, 104, 109, 137, 140. Also, the psalms were to be sung and read unedited during the worship service. So what is imprecatory prayer? Let's look at a definition. Impre•ca•tion \im-pri-kā-shən\ noun CURSE, the act of imprecating, 1: a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one: IMPRECATION, 2: something that is cursed or accursed, 3: evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to imprecation or as retribution, 4: a cause of great harm or misfortune: TORMENT Psalm 59:1-5 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. 4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. 5 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. This is not the typical prayer. But out of all the Psalms, David prayed these types of prayers many times. Today God is taking intercession to a new level. He desires us to pray prayers of the imprecation against our enemies. This type of praying is not to be taken lightly nor is it to be done in haste. But this type of prayer is very effective bringing results because we have partnered with God concerning our enemies. This means that my enemies are God's enemies and Gods enemies are my enemies. Imprecation is applying the covenant of God into our prayer life in a new dimension. Let’s look at a few of the Psalms David prayed to start our study and give us some examples. Psalm 64:1-10 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: 4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. 5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? 6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. 7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. 9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. 10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. Psalm 17:1-15 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. 6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. 7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put 2 became threatened. We must know these sanctions and understand our role in the stewardship of them as well. Imprecatory prayers occur when there is no way to confront the evil, or it is out of your control and efforts. It is calling on God to enforce His covenant as the only one who can be a righteous judge and make the right decisions of what that judgment will be. A form of Imprecatory prayer is used every time we do deliverance. We are taking the role of the judge concerning the demonic activity. Jesus has given us this vested authority to “cast out demons”. He gave us the right to make a righteous judgment and then exercise its implementation. Imprecatory praying is a covenantal right God has given to the church as well. Joshua is the account of the conquest of the land; Acts is the story of the conquest of the world. Joshua and David took land and defeated enemies because of covenantal right and by the sword of steel. This was a God given authority they exercised. Today we are to defeat our enemies as well because of covenantal right and by the sword of the spirit. Psalm 69:24-28 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. 26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. 27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Job 31:30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. Even though Imprecatory means to curse, we are not cursing. We are asking God through prayer for Him to decide if the curse is needed to bring Godly repentance. The curse is not against the soul of man but against the situation that is occurring to change the heart of man. Psalm 18:48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. The Covenantal Lawsuit All wars are fought over covenantal issues, namely either a breach in covenant has occurred or a violation of it has happened. It is the same way in the spirit realm. Many are fighting with no understanding of covenant, and what has been violated. The more we understand our covenant, the more we will understand our rights. We need to understand our rights and to understand our authority as well. We cannot effectively pray if we do not understand the rights of our covenant. It is our right to bring testimony concerning the violation of our covenant. Our testimony becomes a covenantal lawsuit. As the Ekklesia, (the church, called out ones to rule and reign) we have a legal right to bring this lawsuit before God so that evil can be dealt with once and for all. That is why this lawsuit must be brought before the throne of God during a worship service. Because the Biblical covenant commands Christians to be lawful, we are not allowed to use violence. This is a spiritual battle and has to be fought in the spirit realm and the court of God. In a covenantal lawsuit, the blessings and curses found in Deuteronomy 28 are turned into accusations against lawless covenantbreakers and enemies of the Church, calling down God's sanctions on them. A covenant lawsuit asks God to remove the wicked and give retribution for not repenting. So God removes the wicked in one of two ways: by conversion or destruction. A covenantal lawsuit is not "unloving." It is a Biblical method for taking dominion when opposition is met! A Christian's greatest weapon in the face of opposition is not a When do we employ prayers of imprecation? When the following conditions are met. Imprecatory prayer is conducted situations are beyond your control Enemies of Christ are also our enemies and, in true covenant, our enemies become His as well. It is praying in agreement with what God says about his covenantal response to evil after repeated refusals to repent. The New Testament viewpoint is coming against the demonic (evil) force behind the actions of a person that they must go and as that force goes, either the person breaks from it, or they end up going with that force. Imprecatory prayers are to be conducted within the context of worship services as all the Psalms, which contain these, were in this context. when Praying out of right motive, right position, right attitude, and right understanding. Imprecatory Prayer Covenant of God is Enforcing the Imprecatory prayers occurred when the covenantal sanctions God had made with the earth and mankind 3 "carnal" weapon but a spiritual one. The covenant itself turned into a lawsuit before God. Jesus also uses the same pattern to conduct church discipline in Matt 18. This is showing how the Ekklesia governs itself when covenant violations occur. Today we are losing out on a powerful way of prayer because we do not apply the pattern in our current church life. Because of this, we do not have boldness outside the walls to enforce covenant. Just like Matt 18 was conducted in a church setting, so are covenantal lawsuits. They can only be brought in the context of a Church court, or worship service (also a Church court before God's throne), since the imprecatory (judgment) Psalms (Ps. 83, 94)came during worship services. This means that these prayers are offered as worship when people have entered the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. War = to lead soldiers into a battle, the same that Paul told Timothy he would do We have the legal right and heritage to not allow ourselves to be judged by those who are unrighteous! We do not do what our flesh desires to do but what the Spirit knows to do. For the weapon of our expedition or campaign has the power, might, authority, and divine nature of God residing within it, to destroy, demolition, castles, fortress, reasoning’s, opinions, a position of the mind holding ones self to external things, friendships, duties and the laying hold of things. Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. Weapon = From a Root word meaning: to consume, accomplish, determine, plotted Who Files the Lawsuit? There are only two classifications of people: covenant-keepers and covenant-breakers. Since the covenant breakers are not concerned about enforcement of the covenant, it is up to us as spiritual overseers to file the suit before the throne of God. In the Old Covenant, the prophet brought the covenant lawsuit on behalf of the people. He would bring it before the king and the king would make the final judgment. What was required in this was the testimony of a minimum of two witnesses . We see this example in 1 Kings 1.11-14 as Bathsheba and Nathan come before David with accusation of an overthrow. Jesus also sent the disciples out two by two, so a legal status was in place in case covenantal sanctions were violated. Formed = fashion by human or divine activity Now let us take a look at one of the greatest Psalms in the Bible. This will be our main study text. That is Ps. 109 It contains over 30 prayers towards the enemy all in one Psalm. Psalm 109: A Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked David’s Indictment of His Enemies: His Innocence and Their Iniquity Psalm 109:1-5 Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; 2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. 4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. 5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. The reference to "two or three" was a requirement used for legal testimony in the Old Testament. Deut. 17:6 On the evidence of two or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence [literally "mouth"] of one witness. As we start this examination, we see the first thing that is brought out is that David declares his innocence and the iniquity of his enemies. We all must be innocent of the charges brought against us. Without innocence, we have no legal right to enforce the covenant because 4 we are violators as well. This is why God sought David, a man after His own heart. He was looking for a man who would be perfect to enforce the covenant upon the earth. David also made that statement concerning his enemies. He states that they have an iniquity that has not been dealt with. David knows the charges against him is false. David has been good to his enemies while they have repaid with evil. David is requesting of God to have relief from his enemies and the actions that they are doing towards him associated with David. According to verse 5, they had been the recipients of David’s love, which they spurned and showed him hatred instead. This show the attempt David made to justify the wrong and move to “love your enemies”. David saw it was not just how they treated him but was an attitude towards God as well. In other psalms (Ps. 37:12; 139:19-20) it is shown how the wicked treat the righteous is symptomatic of their rebellion against God. As we all know, the primary instrument of evil is the tongue, in the mouth of the enemy, it is especially wicked. David shows this in verse 2. He speaks of them having “opened the wicked and deceitful mouth” and spoken with “a lying tongue.” They have surrounded the psalmist with “words” (v. 3). They have “accused” him of wrongdoing (v. 4). The focus of this evil is “The Character-Assassin.”. Yet David knows his character in this moment is right before God. In this situation, the type of imprecations that are effective are towards those who are truly wicked, those who are not just our enemies, but also God’s enemies. The most severe judgment is called down (and rightly so) upon the sin of character assassination of God’s appointed leaders. This is why the Bible says “touch not mine anointed”(1 Chron. 16:22). Every person will have flaws, but do not return evil but love when there is not unrighteousness in the person’s life. This is coming not just against a leader, but God who appointed the leader. Requirements of the person for Imprecation David knew innocence was required before God. He opens by making this bold statement. How many of us can say the same thing concerning our own attitudes towards others. If we cannot keep the right attitudes towards those who have done us no harm then how can we maintain that posture when confronting our true enemies? This type of prayer requires us to be in the right place and maintain the correct attitude. Part of keeping a good attitude was David was a worshipper of God. Being a true worshiper means our heart is in check. How can we approach God and not have our heart and soul checked? How can we approach God and not have a pure heart? David went before God seven times a day in worship. This enabled him to maintain a pure heart. It also allowed him to understand the depths of God's covenant. He was in relationship with God first and an enforcer of covenant second. Even when David was appointed king, he was appointed king for God first and the people second. Imprecations are effective only when we see sin as God does and when we ask Him to deal with sin as He has promised to deal with it in His Word. Imprecations are prayers for the punishment of the wicked. While the psalmist is innocent, his enemies are not. This is the basis for his petition for the punishment of the wicked. We can stand assured in a leadership role that a curse without basis has no effect: We also see that David is suffering not for his sin but for righteousness sake. David is seeing he as a leader being attacked for what he stands for. He is standing for righteousness. He is standing for what is true. He has endured suffering, hardships and disappointments. He looked at all of these things because they've come from the enemy. But David has kept his heart and motive right before God. He is dependent upon Him for his righteousness. ( Ps. 130:38; 143:2) He realizes that he is nothing without God and his love. He realizes that change will not occur unless God sovereignly steps into the situation and brings righteous judgment. Righteous judgment needs a righteous person to bring the lawsuit. This attitude makes his prayer have power. It is not bringing a list before God, but bringing covenant before Him. The imprecations, which God hears, are those, which are made by those who have clean hands and a pure heart. Proverbs 26:2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. David’s Imprecation Against His Enemies Psalm 109:6-20 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. 7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office. 9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. 11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. 12 Let there be none to Requirements of the situation dictating Imprecation The sin of David’s enemies is expressed almost entirely in terms of the wrongs they have committed against him. These enemies were at one time closely 5 extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. 13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with 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. 16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. 17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. Proverbs 3:33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Proverbs 17:13 He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. A man’s sins not only have dire consequences for him personally; they also adversely affect his family. It is what I call “guilty by association”. This is why we need to watch closely those we are in relationship with as we will be judged according to their actions. David also prayed for the financial ruin (vv. 10-11) to stop future empowerment. We have done this and seen a new age cult lose over 50 million dollars a year of support dwindle to almost nothing. By the world’s, system, money empowers and brings ungodly influences. David was desiring to take away the empowerment of the enemy. In praying for the financial ruin of his enemies and their family extinction, David was requesting God to act in accordance with the Mosaic covenant. (Deut. 28:15-68). David expanded this in V. 12-13 for the family extinction (vv. 12-13) of his enemy to stop future battles. David is covering all angles and allowing God to make the choice concerning which he will execute. How did they would approach this subject of his enemies? In this section of scripture, David moves from the general to the specific. David starts to make exact statements concerning his enemies. In the first verse, he describes his enemies as a group. But in verse six and following, the punishment is viewed towards an individual. David never attacked the individual's life but the situations around his life. In verses 14-20, David continued to seek the punishment of his foes, but his petition was based upon a slightly different argument. David requested retribution for his enemies. Retribution is simply getting what you give. It is demanding a payment be made to you for the suffering you have had to endure. This is showing to everyone the consequences for actions to stop others from desiring to go down this same path. In verse eight, David prayed to God to shorten the life of his enemy. He was not praying for his enemy to die but that the life be shortened so the people’s suffering would be shortened. In verse nine, David prayed and asked for the enemies’ children to be fatherless. He did not want the fathers’ influence passed on to the children. David looked into the future and prayed accordingly. Many of us today only looking at the moment and not to what the future holds. Even Esther went before the King and asked that the ten sons of Hamon would be killed as well. She was looking past the moment and into the future. She did not want to fight the same evil that was currently present. We need to learn to not only take care of the current situation but to look beyond and cut off evil’s inheritance as well. As we look at this, we see the imprecation was towards the circumstances of the person more than the soul of the person. Jesus reminded His hearers that this principle was never intended to encourage revenge, but was a principle governing judgment to be applied by the judges of Israel Matthew 5:38-42 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. David did the same in this prayer in verse thirteen. David was not upset at the children or offspring but wanted the evil cut off for the generations following. David desired the very memory of the evil to be removed from the face of the earth for the sake of those yet to come. David’s petition was based upon the principles and practices of the Old Testament. 6 We are to let God deal with them in the light of their own sins, we are not passing judgment. David wanted to see punished those who have shown no mercy to others, but have instead persecuted the afflicted and needy man, even putting him to death (v. 16). This is really the application of reaping and sowing. Since the wicked love to curse, let cursing come to them (v. 17a). They withheld blessing, so blessings should be withheld from them (v. 17b). Cursing was like a garment to the wicked (v. 18a), so let it become his only clothing (vv. 18b-19). Let all who would accuse David stand accused before God (v. 20). David asked no more than for God to do as He has promised and as the wicked deserve. they would be put to shame if God blessed him (v. 28). God’s blessing in David’s life would give him honor and make him glad, and release worship in his life, but it would also reveal that the wicked have covered themselves with shame for their treatment of him (v. 29). It would show that righteousness always prevails. Many of us today have become too passive and keep taking the abuse of the enemy. I have had several people coming out of new age practices actually tell me we are to love satan as well! Imagine that! The enemy knows the church is too passive to do anything else so he will beat on leaders until they quit their actions, or leave ministry in discouragement wondering why God did not step in. All along God was waiting for someone to bring covenantal lawsuit so he could bring justice and release from the suffering. David’s Request for Relief Psalm 109:21-29 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. 26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. 28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. David’s Promise of Praise Psalm 109:30-31 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. A final reason is given for God’s intervention on David’s behalf. Since God is the “God of David’s praise”, (v. 1), David responded with a promise of worship when deliverance came. This worship was not just a few songs but would come a from heart released from the struggles of evil. How much do you think God wants a heart fully engaged in worship and not divided with the struggle against enemies? David’s situation was affecting his heart to engaged in worship and he was stating he needed God to come in so he could worship him fully. David was appealing to God’s knowledge that the punishment of David’s enemies and the rescue of the psalmist would result in praise being demonstrated. David had come to the end of what he could endure concerning the evil he was fighting and the inability to get relief. David had seen and knew what God had promised. The imprecation was based upon the promises of God and upon the evil practices of those who opposed David. Not only did David ask justice for his foes, he now asked mercy for himself. David’s petition was for God’s grace. Not just to know it, but to see it manifest. David’s enemies had chosen to interpret David’s suffering as the evidence of his sin, so he prayed for a release from suffering to vindicate himself, because he was a reflection of the King. Verses 26-29 appeal to God for help on the basis of God’s loving kindness (v. 26) The deliverance of David would prove that God’s hand was on him to bless him, not to punish him (vv. 27-29). Verses 30 and 31 are David’s vow of praise. He would praise God for His deliverance in the midst of the congregation (v. 30). The basis for this praise is the psalmist’s experience of seeing God stand at his side to defend him. The accusers would finally be silenced when God revealed Himself as David’s defender. This is the manifestation of the covenant for all to see Extravagant Worship. When the enemy is silenced then the only “sound” remaining would be David’s worship filling the spirit realm. How many times are we so overcome that we cannot even worship? I was years ago when I did not understand what to do. Today with understanding I can continually praise the Lord like David learned. If we would just refuse the enemies If the enemies of David had pointed to his suffering as the proof of his guilt, then let God come to his rescue and lift him up. This would show them that God had acted on his behalf. Because they have cursed David, 7 accusations and bring them before the Lord, we could always offer praise. Realize every petition for justice and divine retribution is based upon biblical principles, precepts and practices. The psalmist pleaded with God to act on the basis of His character (just and righteous), and His covenant promises (Deut. 28) Summary Let me start by saying that prayers in imprecation are not for everyone and absolute innocence and right motive must be in place. It is not done when we have personality conflicts, doctrinal disagreements, or interpretation conflicts. Prayers of imprecation are when all other avenues are exhausted and the evil is affecting multitudes of people. Let us not be quick to criticize those who have tasted the kind of opposition and oppression that David did. Let us learn from the severity of the David’s imprecations the intensity and the cruelty of his adversaries. When we pray an imprecation, the matter is left entirely with God. Godly men and women prayed to God about their enemies, and they specified (on the basis of God’s word) what they felt should happen to them. Yet they committed the wicked to God to deal with according to His word, in His time and in His own way. While the prayers of David were severe, his personal actions toward his enemies were gracious and kind. David absolutely refused to take personal revenge, even when he had the opportunity. When he had the chance to kill Saul, he cut off a piece of his robe instead (1 Sam. 24:1-8)—later he was conscience-stricken for the spirit that had prompted this act (v. 5). David may have prayed fiercely, but his actions were absolutely gracious and kind. Jesus is returning as Bridegroom, King and Judge. In the current season, we are seeing and engaging in two of the three of these. Before he returns, we will see all three manifesting in our lives. Bridegroom (intimacy), king (authority), and judge (justice) making a complete redemption. We have seen Jesus as a babe (King) and a young man at the cross (Bridegroom) but have yet to see him as a mature man (Judge). Only the mature can bring this type of prayer. If you have had problems with the imprecations of the Old Testament, the tension between justice and mercy, love and hate, realize it is not a matter of law versus grace or Old Testament versus New Testament. Why are we so uneasy about imprecatory prayer? We have a distorted view of God, perverted by our own sin. We want to think of God only in terms of love and mercy, but not in terms of justice and judgment. We are soft on sin. Therefore we respond by going easy on others, hoping our laxity will make things easier on us. The New Testament has prayers of imprecation scattered throughout it as well. Just look at the things Jesus said to the religious leaders of the day. Paul spoke to those who did him evil and released imprecation against them and put them into Gods hands to deal with. Here are some examples. Paul cursed Elymas for resisting the Gospel (Acts 13:6-11) and damned any who would pervert it (Gal. 1:8-9). Peter pronounced sentence on Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). Paul delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20) as he did the man living with his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:5). I personally believe that the final step of church discipline involves turning the sinner over to Satan (under God’s sovereign control, cf. Matt. 18:1720) so that he may be severely chastened, with the goal of his repentance and restoration (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 2:5-11). This should not be done or taken lightly. In my 28+ years of walking with God, I have only done this one time and the outcome was the person ended in a mental hospital because of refusal to repent. This is the last thing you can do when all other avenues have failed. The removal of authority from a person’s life releases them to be placed fully under the authority of the devil and demonic influences unless the person comes back under the church’s authority structure. Our greatest problem with imprecatory psalms is that the psalmist takes sin much more seriously than we do. We need freedom form personal vengeance, enabling him to “love his enemies” We have not separated the sin from our attitudes and actions toward the sinner. Our problem is that we look at sin and sinners more from a human viewpoint than from the divine. By giving up vengeance we free ourselves to love and to forgive in a way that we cannot produce in and of ourselves. Remember, the psalm was written for public worship. To sing its words was to remind the saints how the Godly should respond to sin. In so doing each individual was reminded of the seriousness of sin and the dire consequences that accompany it 8