Can I curse my enemies?
Impreca-what?
“Imprecation” is a fancy way of saying “curse,” and an imprecatory psalm is a “cursing psalm.” We see imprecatory prayers regularly in the Bible, such as when Nehemiah utters a more refined version of “I’m rubber, and you’re glue”: “Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.” (Neh. 4:4–5).
‘Imprecation’ is a fancy way of saying ‘curse,’ and an imprecatory psalm is a ‘cursing psalm.’
Paul wasn’t averse to issuing curses either: “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed” (1 Cor. 16:22). And even Jesus gave “woes” upon the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23) and upon Judas (26:23–24).
Nehemiah prayed against Sanballat and Tobiah, infamous antagonists of God’s people in Jerusalem. Paul prayed against those who turned away from God, and Jesus aimed his woes at arguably the vilest people in the Gospels. If we’re inclined to think of a “curse” as a personal vendetta, the imprecatory psalms reorient our understanding. Imprecatory psalms aren’t little prayers. These “cursing psalms” are “justice psalms,” prayers that God would do what he’s promised: judge righteously on the earth.
Justice for the Vulnerable
Tucked into a long series of laws meant to govern the newly formed nation of Israel is a passage with critical insight into God’s concern for the weak and vulnerable.
You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. (Ex. 22:21–24)
The Lord doesn’t say he will rebuke the vulnerable for crying out against their enemies; instead, he says he’ll “surely hear their cry” and respond in judgment. Those are strong words from the Creator of the universe.
In the surrounding nations, the three groups of people the Lord mentions here—sojourners, widows, and the fatherless—would all have lacked a family head and a kinsman redeemer to protect them. They would have been utterly alone in societies where the “safety net” consisted exclusively of kinship ties. But by making this law, God established Israel as a different kind of society that protected the weak. And if his people failed to keep the law, God promised to defend the defenceless.
Justice Rooted in God’s Word
Other passages in Scripture likewise demonstrate God’s just character. We see his justice in Genesis 3 with the serpent, Adam, and Eve; in Genesis 6 with the flood; and in Genesis 11 with the scattering at Babel. In Genesis 18, Abraham appeals to God’s justice in his prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (v. 25). Psalm 58 concludes with the answer to Abraham’s question: “Surely there is a God who judges on earth” (v. 11).
Lest we think justice is only an Old Testament concept, the apostle Paul argues that God’s justice was at work on the cross, offering “grace as a gift . . . to show God’s righteousness [justice], because, in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins.” And why did he pass over former sins? “To show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:24–26).
Praying for justice is rooted in Scripture, where God demonstrates his righteousness in three ways. First, the Lord invites the weak and vulnerable to bring their complaints to him. Second, he’s proven he will judge evildoers. Third, he gloriously offers justice poured out at the cross for our salvation.
Praying for Justice So We Can Love Our Enemies
God’s justice on the cross brings us to the crux of the issue: Should we curse our enemies? Doesn’t Jesus say to love our enemies?
Even if we think of imprecatory psalms as justice psalms, the fact remains that they are prayers for recompense, for comeuppance, for God’s judgment—not often for his forgiveness. But in my experience, crying out for God’s justice when there was no one else to help me freed me to love and not hold a grudge against my stepdad. Rather than carrying around my anger, never allowing the wound to heal, Psalm 58 and Psalm 109 taught me to bring that injustice to the Lord and trust him to act justly (cf. Rom. 12:19).
To answer the question plainly, Christians today can and should pray imprecatory psalms.
These psalms, with their cries for vengeance and justice, show us, mere mortals, how to relinquish our right to vengeance and trust the Lord. They’re a model for raw, honest prayer that confesses an unyielding and unwavering trust that God is “just and the justifier” (Rom. 3:26). The Lord gladly hears these prayers and answers them in this life or the next. The wrongs done against us are put into perspective when we realize justice is just a matter of time.
