An Uncomfortable But Honest Prayer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
    speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
    and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
    but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.

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!

16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
    may it soak into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
    like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
    of those who speak evil against my life!

21 But you, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.

26 Help me, O LORD my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
    you, O LORD, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
    They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
    to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. – Psalm 109:1-31 ESV

One word comes to mind when I read a psalm like this: Uncomfortable, or maybe even shocking. I read it and am surprised that these words came from the pen of David, the man after God's own heart. But here they are for all to see and read in all their black and white glory.

May his children become fatherless,
    and his wife a widow.
May his children wander as beggars
    and be driven from their ruined homes.
May creditors seize his entire estate,
    and strangers take all he has earned.
Let no one be kind to him;
    let no one pity his fatherless children.
May all his offspring die. – Psalm 109:9-13 NLT

To say that David is feeling vindictive would be a mild understatement. He is incensed, and his words are incendiary. Remember, this is a song, and is addressed to the choirmaster. It was meant to be sung and performed as an act of worship. Yet, it is filled with shockingly blunt and surprisingly hateful petitions aimed at an unnamed enemy of David. 

Psalm 109 is what is known as an imprecatory prayer. It is a prayer for evil or misfortune to come upon someone else, usually an enemy. In the Bible, an imprecatory prayer is the prayer of a righteous man asking God to carry out justice by bringing punishment or destruction on those who have done evil and mistreated or abused him. A first read of this Psalm can be a little disconcerting.

David's requests are severe and seem motivated by extreme hatred. He is obviously upset and has been suffering greatly at the hands of this enemy. David doesn't disclose the identity of his enemy, but he wishes nothing but ill will against them. He makes it painfully clear what he wants God to do to them. He basically wants him dead, leaving his wife a widow and his children little more than beggars.

Is David wrong for praying this prayer? Is he letting his anger get the best of him? If so, why does God include this psalm in the Bible?

While David's requests may make us uncomfortable, we can probably relate at some level. We have all had similar thoughts concerning someone in our lives. Perhaps we never put those ideas into the form of a prayer, but we definitely conjured up images of those individuals getting their just desserts. We may not have been quite as harsh as David, but we likely wanted to see some kind of harm come to the one who had harmed us.

This is a purely human reaction. We want revenge and desire vengeance to be done. This is not necessarily wrong, especially if what was done to us is truly evil and sinful. But David knew something we all need to know: Vengeance is God's business, not ours. That is why David took his issue to God. 

Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me because of your unfailing love.
Let them see that this is your doing,
    that you yourself have done it, LORD. – Psalm 109:26-27 NLT

I think there is a point at which David knew that what this person had done to him was in direct opposition to the will of God. David had shown them love, and their response had been evil.

I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations
    even as I am praying for them!
They repay evil for good,
    and hatred for my love. – Psalm 109:4-5 NLT

Their actions were sinful and ungodly, and David knew that God was opposed to everything they had done to him. So he took his case to the Lord, pleading for justice in the form of vengeance. He was familiar with God's declaration found in the Book of Deuteronomy.

“Is not this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up in my treasuries?
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.” – Deuteronomy 32:34-35 ESV

This passage is part of another song, written by Moses near the end of the Israelites' 40-year journey from Egypt to the promised land. The elderly liberator and leader of God's chosen people is nearing the end of his own earthly journey and preparing the people of Israel for their conquest of Canaan. He would not be going with them, and so he pens this epic poem to remind them of their need to leave behind their apostasy and idolatry and obey God. His record of God's promise of vengeance was directed at the people of Israel, not their enemies. Moses was warning them that God would not tolerate their infidelity and unfaithfulness. Their successful conquest of the land would require obedience and obeisance, their willing submission to God's will. 

But David had a different kind of vengeance in mind that was not self-directed but other-oriented. He was asking God to vindicate him by turning the tables on his enemy and giving him a taste of his own medicine. Basically, David was asking God to let this man reap what he sowed.

It gets really uncomfortable for most of us when David starts asking for bad things to happen to the guy's wife and kids. This seems a bit extreme. But this does not mean David had unbridled hatred for the man's family. It only reveals David's understanding of how things worked in their society. These were the natural consequences of life in the culture of David's day. A man and his offspring were inseparably linked. The actions of one directly influenced the other. This man's sins and punishment would be felt by his wife, children, and ancestors. That was the way things worked in their society. So David is praying for the natural consequences of this man's deserved punishment.

David knew God hated sin and injustice, so his prayer was not inappropriate or sinful. He was simply expressing a hatred for sin that mirrored that of God. He wanted to see God's will done. Sure, he was not shy in expressing his own opinion as to what that will should be, but at the end of the day, he wanted to see God mete out justice and vengeance on someone he believed to be an enemy of God.

But what balances this psalm out is David's request that God express His love and faithfulness to him.

But deal well with me, O Sovereign LORD,
    for the sake of your own reputation!
Rescue me
    because you are so faithful and good. – Psalm 109:21 NLT

David understood that God wanted to bless the righteous and punish the wicked. That is what this prayer is all about. It is a request for God to be God, and do what only God can do. Only God could rescue David and turn the evil that this person intended into a blessing. Only God could punish this individual justly and righteously, returning on him the kind of evil he had been dishing out.

Imprecations are effective only when we see sin from God's point of view and ask Him to deal with it according to His Word. David was simply praying back to God what he knew to be true about His character and His divine outlook on sin. David was praying for the kind of punishment for sin God had already expressed as proper and just.

The most crucial point is that David prayed with a pure, innocent heart. He had done nothing to deserve the treatment he had received. He was innocent, which is critical when praying an imprecatory prayer. Had David been guilty of mistreating this man, his prayers would have been improper and unheeded by God. But he stood guiltless before God and suffered unjustly, so he knew God would intervene. God protects His own. He defends His sheep.

David's prayer came from a firm understanding of who God was and what He stood for. This song is much more than an expression of hatred for his enemy. His prayer was driven by a desire to see justice done and for God to intervene.

I will give repeated thanks to the LORD,
    praising him to everyone.
For he stands beside the needy,
    ready to save them from those who condemn them. – Psalm 109:30-31 NLT

David wanted to see God's will done and His power manifested to all those around him. God's glory was David's foremost desire, and he was willing to wait on God to intercede on his behalf. He believed justice would be done, and he was ready to praise God even before the deliverance became a reality.

Father, give me a hatred for evil that is more powerful than my hatred for any particular individual and what they might do to me. May I learn to see any injustice done to me as an injustice done to You. This is more about You than me. May I learn to desire Your glory by seeing Your will be done – in my life and circumstances. Give me a greater understanding of Your hatred of evil and the manner in which You punish it, so that I might pray according to Your will and not mine. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Truth About False Words

1 And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right,

    and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3 as long as my breath is in me,
    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

7 “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
10 Will he take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

13 “This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
15 Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his widows do not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
17 he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a moth's,
    like a booth that a watchman makes.
19 He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind carries him off.
21 The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls at him without pity;
    he flees from its power in headlong flight.
23 It claps its hands at him
    and hisses at him from its place.” – Job 27:1-23 ESV

In this follow-up to his previous response to Bildad, Job takes all three of his friends to task. In Hebrew, his use of the word “you” is in the plural form and he repeats it several times.

“I will never concede that you are right;
    I will defend my integrity until I die.” – Job 27:5 NLT

“I will teach you about God’s power.
    I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.
But you have seen all this,
    yet you say all these useless things to me.” – Job 27:11-12 NLT

Job has reached the end of his patience and wants Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar to know that he will never give in to their demands that he confess his sin. In fact, the first six verses of this speech are his unequivocal claim of innocence, and he backs it up by a vow or oath that is based on the very existence of God.

“As surely as God lives,” Job begins. The existence of God is undeniable and irrefutable, and on that basis, Job declares that his innocence is just as sure and steadfast. His steadfast belief in his innocence was as firm as his belief in the existence of God. Even the life-altering nature of his fall had not shaken his belief in God. Yes, he had plenty of questions he wanted to direct to God, but he had never questioned God’s existence. And he was willing to take unwavering belief in his own righteousness to the grave. No amount of pressure from his three friends was going to change his mind or shatter his faith in his own integrity.

“I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.” – Job 27:5-6 BSB

Job was so insistent because he refused to place himself within the company of the wicked. For him, that was unthinkable because it would be a virtual death sentence. His view of the fate of the wicked was dark and hopeless. He flatly states, “what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?” (Job 27:8 NLT). Their fate is sealed because they will fall into the hands of the righteous Judge of the universe. No amount of regret or remorse will change their future because God will not listen to their cries or defer His judgment.

“Will God listen to their cry
    when trouble comes upon them?
Can they take delight in the Almighty?
    Can they call to God at any time?” – Job 27:9-10 NLT

Job’s questions are rhetorical and have only one answer.: “No!” One day, as they face their inevitable judgment, the wicked of this world will see the error of their ways and attempt to make things right with God, but it will be too little, too late. Job is not describing true repentance or what we might call “saving faith.” He is talking about those who live their entire lives in opposition to the will of God and then, at death, when facing their just and righteous judgment, try to escape their fate by a sudden death-bed display of godliness. It won’t work, asserts Job.

The most surprising aspect of Job’s assessment of the fate of the wicked is that he hopes his three friends will experience it.

“May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.” – Job 27:7 BSB

This statement appears harsh and unjustified to the modern reader but it was a common rhetorical device in Job’s day. This over-the-top denunciation of his three friends was meant to accentuate the unjust nature of their false accusations of him.

King David uses a similar style of imprecatation when dealing with his own false accusers.

O God, whom I praise,
    don’t stand silent and aloof
while the wicked slander me
    and tell lies about me.
They surround me with hateful words
    and fight against me for no reason.
I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations
    even as I am praying for them! – Psalm 109:1-4 NLT

These “friends” of David were not only guilty of slandering him but were going out of their way to ruin his reputation and life.

They say, “Get an evil person to turn against him.
    Send an accuser to bring him to trial.
When his case comes up for judgment,
    let him be pronounced guilty.
    Count his prayers as sins.” – Psalm 109:6-7 NLT

David provides a shocking list of their prayers for his downfall and they are unsparing in their desire to see him completely humiliated and ruined, not only for life, but for eternity.

“May all his offspring die.
    May his family name be blotted out in the next generation.
May the Lord never forget the sins of his fathers;
    may his mother’s sins never be erased from the record.” – Psalm 109:13-14 NLT

So, David responds with a prayer of his own.

May those curses become the Lord’s punishment
    for my accusers who speak evil of me. – Psalm 109:20 NLT

Again, those kinds of words seem out of place and unacceptable for a child of God to pray. But they are a common form of rhetorical argument among all the semitic people groups. In those days, a man’s name was considered sacred and an extension of his very nature. That is why false accusations were taken so seriously and dealt with so harshly. One of the commands in the Decalogue dealt with this very issue.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:18 ESV

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses outlines a further extension of this law, providing legal judgment concerning anyone who made a libelous accusation against another.

“If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you.” – Deuteronomy 19:18-19 NLT

In a sense, this is what Job was calling for. He wanted the slanderous accusations of his three friends to have consequences. In his mind, they were attempting to ruin his name and tarnish his reputation amongst his neighbors. In Job’s case, the integrity of his name was all he had left and the malicious words of his three accusers were robbing him of even that.

Job’s anger is understandable. He has been through a lot and the attacks of his three friends have been relentless. It’s likely that these discussions did not take place in private but were conducted in front of an audience of Job’s peers. Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar had put their friend on trial. They probably sought evidence against Job by interviewing his neighbors. To bolster their case, they would have conducted pre-trial research and found individuals willing to testify against Job. The meteoric fall of Job would have been known to all in Uz, but the presence of the three friends would have fired up the rumor mill and stirred up all kinds of speculation concerning Job’s fate.

So, weighed down by his pain and suffering and angered by the destruction of his reputation among his neighbors and friends, Job lashed out. He couldn’t help but wish that his three friends would have their own words turned against them. It was only just and right in his mind that his false accusers suffer some kind of consequences for their actions, and his assessment was right in line with the will of God.

“Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.” – Exodus 23:7 NLT

Job was convinced of his own innocence, so his friends must be guilty of slander. It was a simple as that. His friends had been adamant that God punishes the wicked, and Job fully agreed. But in Job’s mind, the roles were reversed. They were the guilty ones and fully liable to the wrath of God. Their righteous-sounding rhetoric would not save them. Their claims of godly wisdom wouldn’t protect them. They had ruined Job’s name and they would pay dearly for their crime.

“Terror overwhelms them like a flood,
    and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
The east wind carries them away, and they are gone.
    It sweeps them away.” – Job 27:20-21 NLT

These verses are difficult to read and reconcile. But Job was desperately trying to protect and preserve the only thing of value that remained: His name. Without a good name, he had nothing. His future was ruined and his legacy was utterly destroyed. But the only way he could restore his soiled reputation was by having God step in and declare him innocent. He knew that only God could provide a just and righteous verdict in this case and he longed for that day to come.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.