Psalm 137, By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willowsthere we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs,and our tormentors, mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion! How shall we sing theLord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let mytongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Remember, OLord, against theEdomites the day of Jerusalem,how they said,Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations! O daughter of Babylon,doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be whorepays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones anddashes them against the rock!

Why is this a tough text? Psalm 137 is included in our list of tough text because of how it ends. While it begins in hard terms, full of suffering and sorrow depicting Israel as in misery remembering the promise land while off on exile, the Psalm ends with words of imprecation, or words of intense desired judgment and death to fall on their enemies. Words of imprecation are present in many Psalms. Psalm 137 is an example of one, and Psalm 69, 104, 109, and 139 are other examples of these kinds of Psalms. They are called imprecatory Psalms, coming from the Latin word imprecare which means to invoke harm or to curse someone.

The question many have on reading Psalms like this is, What do make of these words? Did the Psalmist really mean them? Was it right for them to speak such words of judgment? Is it right for us to speak words of judgment like this about the people in our lives we would count as enemies? And perhaps the most pressing question of them all is, How do imprecatory Psalms mesh with, not contradict, Jesus command to love our enemies, forgive the sins of others, and the command to bless those who persecute us?

All those questions and more are before us tonight. Throughout the history of the Church there have been a few ways Christians have approached and interpreted Psalms like this. Tonight, here is what Id like to do. First, Ill give you three reminders. Second, Ill go through some interpretive options, comment on each. Third, Ill commend one option to you over the others. And fourth, Ill offer some closing comments on imprecatory Psalms for our practical use today.

Three Reminders
Before diving into how to handle imprecatory Psalms, let me remind you of three realities we believe as Christians.

First, all Scripture is inspired by God, inerrant, and infallible. We believe this all Scripture is of divine origin. That means we believe the imprecatory Psalms, are divinely inspired. Thus, these Psalms are not merely expressions of personal rage, revenge, or cruelty but are God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness as 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us. To dismiss them, ignore them, or deny them would be to question the nature of the biblical text.

Second, covenantal realities work both ways. We believe God is a God who works through covenant. For those who come to the Lord, through repentance and faith, covenantal blessing is the result. But, while we affirm this we often ignore the opposite. For those who deny, refuse, or reject the Lord covenant curse is the result. God will indeed bless and save be merciful to all who come to Him, but He will also curse and judge and condemn all who dont. We believe this.

Third, God is a God of wrath and judgment. We believe God is the God of all grace and the Savior of sinners, truly! Without this we are lost. But lets not forget that God is also a God is justice, a God of wrath, and a God who has enemies. Just as God will not let any law breaker go free in His justice, He also will defend His people from all their enemies in His vengeance. We believe this.

The Options
With those reminders in view, here are a smattering of interpretive options for imprecatory Psalms that Christians have held throughout the ages. Broadly speaking, four categories come into view.

First, Literal Interpretations

Some interpreters take the imprecations literally, viewing them as legitimate prayers for God's judgment upon the wicked. Yet there are nuances within this view. One view suggests that the imprecations are not expressions of human passion but prophetic utterances, foretelling the ultimate doom of those who hate and persecute Gods children. In this manner the psalmists are interpreted as speaking on behalf of God, warning of the consequences of unrepentant sin. Another view is that the enemies targeted in the Psalms are enemies of God rather than merely personal enemies of the psalmist. This would mean the psalmist would have interpreted opposition to himself as really opposition to Yahweh. Another way these Psalms are interpreted literally is that theyre seen as prayers for Gods justice to prevail, rather than for personal spite. Thus, the psalmists commits the matter to God's hands, trusting Him to avenge all injustices.

Second, Critical Interpretations

Historically, some scholars and theologians have viewed the imprecatory Psalms critically. This is to say, that they interpreted them as problematic at best, and at worst they see these Psalms representing a lower stage of ethics in the OT, which was later replaced by the NT emphasis on love for ones enemies. Examples of this are many. A Roman Catholic cardinal (Mercier of Belgium) in 1916 once commented on the imprecatory Psalms saying Christians are not to be of the OT, giving room to retaliation and that our lips are to demonstrate Christian charity by uttering no words of hate. Another more famous example is C.S. Lewis. In his work Reflections on the Psalms he said these curses reveal human qualities in their raw material, that these are nave and contain error. Also, Alexander Maclaren said there is a discordance between the temper of the psalmist and that enjoined by Christ which shows he believed the psalmist's temper was distinctly inferior to NT teachings.

Third, Figurative or Hyperbolic Interpretations

Some interpretations believe that the cursing language in the imprecatory Psalms should not be taken literally but understood as figurative or hyperbolic expressions of intense emotion and moral outrage. Meaning that the psalmists, who was experiencing deep suffering and injustice, expressed their raw emotions to God. These are interpreted, then, to be honest and passionate prayers rather than literal requests for specific acts of violence. This view usually cites Jeremiahs curses against the day he was born (Jer. 20:14-18) as an example of emotional hyperbole, which is certainly not meant to be taken literally. Those that interpret the imprecatory Psalms like this also argue that harsh-sounding prayers were common in the ancient Near Eastern world and that we, modern Western interpreters, should not impose our own views of politeness and decency on these ancient texts. And to their credit, there are plenty of examples from ancient Babylonian and Assyrian texts which show very similar expressions of curses.

Fourth, Christological Interpretations

This last approach interprets the imprecatory Psalms through the lens of Christ, viewing them as ultimately fulfilled in Him. Some interpret these Psalms as seeing the psalmists own suffering and cries for justice as a foreshadow of Christs own suffering and His ultimate victory over evil. Which means the judgment called out for is ultimately Gods judgment executed through Christ. This view also points out that while Jesus taught love for enemies (Matthew 5:44-48), the NT also contains imprecatory language. Acts 1:20 cites Psalms 69:25 and 109:8; Pauls anathemas in 1 Corinthians 16:22 and Galatians 1:8-9 come to mind as well. For those minded to interpret these imprecatory Psalms in this manner, this all suggests that the principle of divine justice remains, though its application for believers shifts from personal vengeance to trusting Gods ultimate justice at the end and praying for the advancement of His kingdom.

Where am I on these four interpretive options? While there are many things to learn in each of these perspectives, I would never commend the critical interpretation, but in each of the rest (the literal, the figurative, and the Christological options) I do think there are good things to learn and lean into. If I were forced to pick one of these over the others I would choose the Christological option, because of how central the cross is in redemptive history, and because I believe all the cries present in the Psalms are ultimately answered by God in the Person and Work of Christ.

Use for Christians Today

Lastly, how can we use these Psalms today? Well, we certainly dont want to fall into the traps of ignoring or avoiding these Psalms because they seem so harsh or cruel. We dont want to drive a wedge between the OT and NT saying these things are a lower form of primitive religion. We must remember these Psalms are a part of the whole book of Psalms, and thus for us and for the Church in all ages.

We can use these Psalms and go to them often in our own lives. How so? By learning from them. Very simply these are prayers, not curses. They are prayers asking God to do what He has promised to do in His covenantal dealing with mankind. They are prayers against Gods enemies, who are hardened sinners, who can only be redeemed by the gospel. But Jesus Christ the Lamb of God slain for us is also the Lion who will crush the ungodly and wicked in the end. In that way these prayers remind us of the reality of sin, injustice, and God's righteous judgment. And they can fuel our own prayers for God's justice to prevail when we see true injustice occurring.

Three final encouragements.

First, lets own and acknowledge our mixed motives in praying such prayers ourselves. Only Christ can utter these words and mean them in the way theyre intended t