NOTE: The following post on Psalm 58 is an excerpt from the book How to Pray Like David, Volume 2.
As I write this, the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with great vigor.
I read news reports every day of war crimes and other atrocities that demonstrate man’s inhumanity to man.
The deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, along with the economic devastation, paint a monster-like picture of Vladimir Putin and his comrades.
What can we, as Christians, do about it? In a physical sense, not much. But in a spiritual sense, there is much we can do. We can pray. And I do pray for peace often and will continue to do so.
How do we pray for peace when a man like Vladimir Putin is on the loose? What do we say to God about this situation? I believe that 1 Timothy 2:1-4 helps to answer these questions.
1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
We bring our petitions and prayers to God and ask him to intervene in the lives of those who are responsible for this war. We pray for “all those in authority” (including Vladimir Putin), that God would change their hearts and bring them to their senses. We ask God to grant Mr. Putin the gifts of repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ because God “wants all people (including Putin) to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
We can do this because Jesus told us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
But then we come to a passage like Psalm 58:6-8.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
What about this prayer? Should we pray this prayer, too?
Who is David talking about here? Who are “those lions?”
These lions are “rulers” (v. 1) who “devise injustice” and “mete out violence on the earth” (v. 2). David describes them in verses 3-5:
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.
David did pray the imprecatory prayer of verses 6-8, and he was “a man after (God’s) own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).
If I pray for Putin’s defeat, am I disobeying Jesus’ command to love my enemies?
I also wonder, does Matthew 5:44 even apply to the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Wasn’t Jesus telling us how to handle our personal relationships rather than the military might of a political super-power?
This is a difficult, complex issue and one which Christians have debated for centuries.
I do think that Psalm 58 offers a wise reminder through the words of David in verses 9-11.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
We can trust God to fulfill his promises regarding the ultimate destiny of the wicked.
As long as this war continues, we can pray for Putin to come to Christ for salvation, embrace righteousness, withdraw his troops, stop the bombing, and do the right thing. If that doesn’t happen, we can take comfort in knowing that if Putin does not repent, he will face Jesus on Judgment Day, be held accountable for his actions, and receive God’s just punishment for what he has done.
But what about the question above, “Like David, should we pray the imprecatory prayer of Psalm 58:6-8?” Let’s take a closer look at this issue in the questions below.
Questions for Further Study, Reflection, and Discussion
1. I have been wrestling with the imprecatory psalms for several months and have found it beneficial to get help from others who have weighed in on this topic. In February 2022, I published Volume 1 of the Psalms Bible Study Guides (How to Pray Like David: A Bible Study on Psalms 1-41). In the chapter on Psalm 28, I asked this question of Psalm 28:4, “Do you think it is appropriate for Christians to pray this kind of prayer today?” Here is David’s prayer: “Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve.” In the chapter on Psalm 35, another of David’s imprecatory psalms, I also included a quote from James Boice’s commentary on Psalms, published in 1994. Here is a portion of that quote:
“I also suggest that there is a place for private citizens, especially Christians, to oppose evil vigorously. We can pray for the conversion of the very wicked, but if they are not going to be converted (and many are not), we can certainly pray for their overthrow and destruction. It was right for all good people to pray for and rejoice at the fall of Adolf Hitler. It is right to pray for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
“We must pray, however, with awareness of our own sins and with confession and requests for forgiveness for the sins of the United States of America. That is what I mean by a balanced view. On the one hand, it recognizes evil for what it is and prays for its defeat. On the other hand, it acknowledges the sin that is always also in us and prays for forgiveness.”
What do you think of these comments? Should we take this approach? If Mr. Putin is not going to be converted, is it “right” for “all good people to pray for and rejoice at the fall” of Vladimir Putin?
2. Here is another resource that advocates a similar interpretation and application of the imprecatory psalms.
Go Ahead. Pray for Putin’s Demise, by Tish Harrison Warren.
This is an article in the March 8, 2022 issue of Christianity Today magazine. I highly recommend it. Here are some excerpts. (To access this article in its entirely, you must be a subscriber to Christianity Today.)
“The violence in Ukraine makes me, like many of us, feel powerless. I watch helplessly as tanks roll into cities, as civilian targets are shelled, as the lives of whole families are viciously snuffed out. What do I do with this anger and heartbreak?
“I find myself turning again and again to the imprecatory psalms. Each morning I’m praying Psalm 7:14–16 with Vladimir Putin in mind: “Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends” (ESV).
“An imprecation is a curse. The imprecatory psalms are those that call down destruction, calamity, and God’s judgment on enemies. Honestly, I don’t usually know what to do with them. I pray them simply as a rote practice. But I gravitate toward more even-keeled promises of God’s presence and mercy. I am often uncomfortable with the violence and self-assured righteousness found in these kinds of psalms.
“But they were made for moments like these.”
The article concludes with these words:
“Very often in the imprecatory psalms, we are asking that people’s evil actions would ricochet back on themselves. We are not praying that violence begets more violence or that evil starts a cycle of vengeance or retaliation. But we are praying that people would be destroyed by their own schemes and . . . that bombs would explode in bombers’ faces.
“If you’re like me and you gravitate to the seemingly more compassionate, less violent parts of Scripture, these kinds of prayers can be jarring. But we who are privileged, who live far from war and violence, risk failing to take evil and brutality seriously enough.
“I still pray, daily and earnestly, for Putin’s repentance. I pray that Russian soldiers would lay down their arms and defy their leaders. But this is the moment to take up imprecatory prayers as well. This is a moment when I’m trusting in God’s mercy but also in his righteous, loving, and protective rage.”
How do you respond to these comments?
3. Another resource that I recommend is an article by Rhys Laverty, Why Lewis and Keller Are Wrong About The Imprecatory Psalms, from the January 28, 2022 issue of Pulpit & Pew.
This article presents three interpretations of the imprecatory psalms. The first is that of C.S. Lewis, who believed that “the imprecatory psalms should not be a part of a New Testament Christian’s prayer life.” The second is that of Timothy Keller, who proposes that “such psalms are things we can pray, but are they the ‘best’ thing we can pray? Apparently not, for us New Testament Christians. We have been shown a better way by the Gospel, something beyond the ken of David, who lived under the Mosaic law.”
Mr. Laverty disagrees with both Lewis and Keller. He answers the question, “Can we pray these prayers?” with these words: “My response is, with fairly few qualifications: yes, Christians should very much pray these prayers.”
You would do well to read this article to understand better why Mr. Laverty finds fault with both C.S. Lewis and Timothy Keller on this issue. Please know that he shows respect for both of them as possessors of “great Christian minds.”
I, too, have much respect for C.S. Lewis and Timothy Keller. Through his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis led me to Christ! You can read about that here. And Keller’s book The Reason for God is one of my favorites.
What do you think of C.S. Lewis’ view?
What do you think of Timothy Keller’s view?
What is your response to Rhys Laverty’s analysis of the views of Lewis and Keller? And what do you think of Laverty’s view?
Mr. Laverty wrote a second article on the imprecatory psalms that is I also find worthwhile:
Don’t Keep the Imprecatory Psalms at Arm’s Length
(Feel free to email me your thoughts on any of the above questions, or leave a comment below.)
