Robert Godfrey: It seems to me there’s a lot of confusion on this in part because Jesus
has told us to love our enemies, to pray for them, and what we’re being reminded
there is we are, we are not to call down imprecations on people for personal reasons out of individual
spite.
We need to be careful about that.
We need to be very conscious of trying, that part of what we’re called to be as
the light of the world is people who love our enemies. But, you know, Paul talks
about how loving your enemies will further increase their punishment, setting love of
enemy radically over against judgment is not biblical.
And so, to use the, the imprecations of the psalter to pray for judgment on God’s enemies
I think is not illegitimate.
Every time we pray, “Come quickly Lord Jesus,” we’re praying an imprecation on God’s
enemies.
When Jesus comes again there’ll be judgment for God’s enemies.
And so we have to be careful with them, we have to be sensitive with them.
But it is legitimate to pray for the return of Christ and therefore to pray for final
judgment.
Now I think, when you read the psalter carefully, what you find is, not in every psalm, but
in every section of the psalter, there is first a recall to the ungodly to repent and,
only then, prayers for judgment on the ungodly.
Our longing for Christ’s return and final judgment is always preceded by our longing
for the elect to be gathered, for the wicked to be converted.
So it seems to me there’s no absolute tension there.
And so, in light of the great glory of the final judgment to come, I think we can sing
the imprecatory psalms.
Albert Mohler: I agree with that emphatically and like the way Bob explained it.
You know, when I speak of this — I have students ask about this, you know, because
it’s very tempting to pray imprecatory prayers and to think imprecatory thoughts or, as I
suggested, to send imprecatory greeting cards.
We all know people to whom we would be tempting to send one.
But, if we believe in the full authority, truthfulness, trustworthiness of Scripture,
then God, in His sovereignty, not only inspired the psalmist to express this, but for us.
For us.
We need to read this.
We need to read them in worship.
We need to read them in our daily Bible study.
We need to receive it.
But when Jesus was asked by His disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” He didn’t
teach His disciples to pray like that.
But Bob said something else I want to come back to.
When you pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” that
includes everything uttered in the Psalms and anywhere else in Scripture.
And there is a judgment coming.
And I just, I just think we follow the example how Christ told us to pray and we know that
everything we need to say is in those words.
William VanDoodewaard: I think as well, you know, there are times just when we realize
as believers, as we’re pilgrims in this world, that our hearts just cry out for that.
You know, we’re driving down the freeway through Georgia into Florida, and just the
billboards along the way and, you know, four young children in the car.
And your heart just cries out, “Lord Jesus, come quickly!
How defacing, how distorting this is to Your good creation.
How this destroys all that is good and holy.”
And so there’s a longing there.
“Your kingdom come.”
At the same time, praying, as we do, as our family, for dictators, “Oh Lord, please
convert this man but, if he’s not going to repent, please remove him.”