How to Think about Curses in the Psalms

From Justin Taylor's blog:

How to Think about Curses in the Psalms

Many psalms call on God for help as the faithful are threatened with harm from enemies (often called “the wicked”—frequently the unfaithful who persecute the godly, and sometimes Gentile oppressors). In a number of places, the requested help is that God would punish these enemies. Christians, with the teaching and example of Jesus (in passages like Matt. 5:38-48; Luke 23:34; 1 Pet. 2:19-23; cf. Acts 7:6), may wonder what to make of such curses:

From Jack Collins’s “Introduction to the Psalms” in the ESV Study Bible:

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How can it possibly be right for God’s people to pray in this way?
Many have supposed that this is an area in which the ethics of the NT improve upon and supersede the OT.
Others suggest that these only apply to the church’s warfare with its ultimate enemy, Satan, and his demons.
Neither of these is fully satisfying, both because the NT authors portray themselves as heirs of OT ethics (cf. Matt. 22:34-40) and because the NT has some curses of its own (e.g., 1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8-9; Rev. 6:9-10), even finding instruction in some of the Psalms’ curses (e.g., Acts 1:20 and Rom. 11:9-10, using Psalms 69 and 109).

Each of the psalm passages must be taken on its own, and the notes address these questions (e.g., see notes on 5:10; 35:4-8; 58:6-9; 59:11-17; 69:22-28; 109:6-20; and the note on Psalm 137, which contains the most striking curse of all). At the same time, some general principles will help in understanding these passages.

First, one must be clear that the people being cursed are not enemies over trivial matters; they are people who hate the faithful precisely for their faith; they mock God and use ruthless and deceitful means to suppress the godly (cf. 5:4-6, 9-10; 10:15; 42:3; 94:2-7).

Second, it is worth remembering that these curses are in poetic form and can employ extravagant and vigorous expressions. (The exact fulfillment is left to God.)

Third, these curses are expressions of moral indignation, not of personal vengeance. For someone who knows God, it is unbearably wrong that those who persecute the faithful and turn people away from God should get away with it, and even seem to prosper. Zion is the city of God, the focus of his affection (cf. Psalms 48; 122); it is unthinkable that God could tolerate cruel men taking delight in destroying it. These psalms are prayers for God to vindicate himself, displaying his righteousness for all the world to see (cf. 10:17-18). Further, these are prayers that God will do what he said he will do: 35:5 looks back to 1:4, and even 137:9 has Isaiah 13:16 as its backdrop. Most of these prayers assume that the persecutors will not repent; however, in one place (Ps. 83:17), the prayer actually looks to the punishment as leading to their conversion.

Fourth, the OT ethical system forbids personal revenge (e.g., Lev. 19:17-18; Prov. 24:17; 25:21-22), a prohibition that the NT inherits (cf. Rom. 12:19-21).

Thus, when the NT writers employ these curses or formulate their own (as above), they are following the OT guidelines. Any prayer for the Lord to hasten his coming must mean disaster for the impenitent (2 Thess. 1:5-10). Yet Christians must keep as their deepest desire, even for those who mean harm to the church, that others would come to trust in Christ and love his people (cf. Luke 23:34; Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). Hence, when they pray for God to protect his people against their persecutors, they should be explicit about asking God to lead such people to repentance.

With these things in mind, then, it is still possible that the faithful today might sing or read aloud even these sections of the Psalms, if it takes place in a service of worship, under wise leadership, for the good of the whole people of God.

The Social Network and loving this world

My wife and I-sans kids thanks to their aunt and uncle-sat down and watched The Social Network last night. It was OK. Some good acting and a current connection made it more interesting than it might have been otherwise.

However, I like a good ending. What would have made me happy is if the two friends had of reconciled in the end, thus not allowing money and pride to come between them. Oh well.

Along with the disappointment of broken friendship, by the end of the movie I was also left with a bad taste in my mouth; the lingering flavours of love of this world left on my palate. All the talk of the millions and billions of dollars left me pining for possession and thirsting for things. It left me with a passion for personal possessions which so often deadens our desire for delight in our Deity.

The residue of relish for real estate and wistful wishing for wealth was washed away this morning.

I read in Psalm 73 the following:

Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
(Psalm 73:1-17 ESV, emphasis mine)

Being jealous of the wealthy wicked is quickly exposed as futile and foolish when their end is considered. These worldly enjoyments are but trinkets and baubles; they pale and fail in light of and in the light of God's glory. As I read some more of God's word I came across Proverbs 11:4 which confirms and reinforces the idea from the Psalms of keeping the end of all things in view:

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
(Proverbs 11:4 ESV)

My hope is found, and should remain, in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And the wrath of God should not be allowed to stray far from our thoughts. Thoughts of the afterlife are a ground for our thinking and a ballast for our affections.

These passages helped restore the "exile orientation" that John Piper's book, A Godward Life, also reminded me of this morning as I read a chapter as part of my devotions.

Finally, Kevin DeYoung's review of Rob Bell's book Love Wins put the final nails in the coffin where the mortified musing on fleshly fixtures that I had been fixated on now lay. In exposing the problems with Bell's book, DeYoung reiterated the importance of the orthodox belief in heaven. hell, and God's wrath; the very tonic for the toxic taunting I had exposed myself to in The Social Network.

King David, King Solomon, John Piper, and Kevin DeYoung played a secondary role to God and His Word in rinsing the residue of love of this world from my heart and mind. A great start to the day!

The forgiver and the avenger

God is both the forgiver of our sin and the avenger of that sin. Again, we see that God's justice and His love must be expressed. In this Psalm from the English Standard Version the emphasis is mine:

Psalm 99

The Lord Our God Is Holy

99:1 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
4 The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.

8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!

Some good thoughts to start the morning

Psalm 95:1-6
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!