Imprecatory prayers are found within a group of Psalms, also known as the Imprecatory Psalms. What am I talking about? The word imprecatory is an adjective that means “invoking evil or a curse.” Imprecatory Psalms are those which call for (pray for) judgment, death, curses, etc. upon one’s enemies or those who are the enemies of God. Psalms 69 and 109 are most known for their imprecatory material, but several other psalms contain these “judgment prayers” as well. For example, in Psalm 69:28 David prays this regarding his persecutors, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.” It appears David not only prays for their death, but possibly that they would be eternally lost as well.

Now there’s no getting around this point: these types of prayers are in the Bible! The question is: What is their role in our lives today? For at least two men, these prayers are to be practiced by believers today. In the July 14, 2009 edition of Western Recorder, page 10 carried this article: “Does God really answer prayers to do someone harm?” Of course, that question was not answered in that article! But the belief and practices of the two men cited were enough material to digest.

Wiley Drake, pastor of Buena Park Southern Baptist Church near Anaheim, CA and former 2nd vice president of the SBC, has openly prayed for the death of President Obama and in the past has prayed judgment upon Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Pastor Rick Warren, and separation of church and state activist Barry Lynn. In similar fashion, Gordon Klingenschmitt, former U.S. Navy chaplain, has prayed judgment upon Lynn and Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Klingenschmitt’s reason - Lynn and Weinstein chided him for not identifying himself as a former chaplain on his Web site. (All of this information is taken from the article in Western Recorder.)

So are these men correct in their praying? Are we today still to practice imprecatory prayers against our enemies and the enemies of God as David did in these psalms? I don’t believe we are to practice imprecatory praying today. I believe these men may have good intentions (in the matter of being biblical? maybe?), but I also believe a biblical theology approach to this matter will bring great clarity and hopefully correction.

First, there is the issue of the divine inspiration of Scripture, including these psalms. What that means is that when David prayed and wrote these psalms, he was under the care and direction of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). As part of Scripture, these prayers are literally “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The result being is that these prayers by David were in line with God’s will. God’s will was for the judgement of these individuals, and therefore, these prayers were guided by the Spirit, given by God, and recorded by David. Our prayers are not so! Our prayers are not divine revelation! Our prayers are often NOT in line with the will of God. Yes, it is true we have the Spirit guiding us in our prayers as well (Romans 8:26-27), but not in the sense of bestowing revelation as in the case of David. Rather, we are given the Spirit in our prayer life because we DON’T pray right, so the Spirit intercedes for us and prays according to the will of God. David was praying right because he was praying in the function of developing revelation. We are not functioning in that capacity and should use much caution in praying any type of judgmental retribution for actions taken against us. We are too prone to pray from the flesh and/or from a spirit of retaliation when God clearly says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” In saying that we are praying God’s will for judgement upon our enemies and God’s enemies, we are more likely to be praying in direct opposition to God’s will because He has directly commanded us NEVER to avenge ourselves!

Second, there is the matter of differentiating between descriptive revelation and prescriptive revelation. This error is committed over and over by well-meaning evangelicals who earnestly desire to follow the Bible. In other words, some of the Bible is merely describing events while other parts of the Bible prescribe behavior. Just because something is in the Bible, does not mean the Bible condones, commends, or commands that we imitate it. For example, David also had wives and concubines. Are we to follow that behavior? The Bible never condemns David for this as it does Solomon. Are we therefore to conclude that the Bible commends this model of the family? Of course not. Neither are we to assume that just because these prayers are recorded in the Bible are we to pray in this manner. In fact, the Bible actually calls us to pray in the opposite manner (as will be the next point). Here again is the matter of descriptive or prescriptive revelation.

Third, there is the matter of how Jesus taught us to pray in the NT. Some prayers are there as description while some are there for prescription, that is, imprecatory prayers and The Model Prayer. Jesus taught us to pray in this way, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). So we are to pray for forgiveness based upon how we have forgiven those who have done us wrong. In fact, Jesus goes on to command us “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). Not much room for imprecatory praying there!! Again, Jesus never commands us to pray for judgment upon our enemies, but He does over and over command us and teach us to pray for their good!

Fourth, imprecatory prayers against our leaders does not fit with the NT command to honor our leaders. (1 Peter 2:17) Now bear in mind, this is the same man who will be martyred by Nero!

Fifth, there is the issue of progressive revelation. With the coming of the New Covenant in Christ - everything changed! Indeed, all of the above reasons could fall under this category. The New Testament era, the beginning of the New Covenant era is the Gospel era! The Gospel is proclaimed, promoted, and expanded through sacrificial self-denial, not warlike revenge! President Obama does not need judgment, he needs a new heart! That should dominate our prayers for him. We will not advance Christianity through the death of our enemies but rather through their conversion!!!! That is not to say that we do not stand for righteousness, that is only to say we are to pray accurately.