The Complete Appropriateness of a Downright Nasty Little Prayer

PREVIEW: If you are going to enjoy the Psalms, sooner or later, you’ll have to deal with a psalm like Psalm 137. This is a downright nasty little psalm that calls for the violent destruction of the Babylonian people—akin to the call for a Jewish Jihad against this mighty empire that had leveled Jerusalem, including its temple, and hauled off most of Judah’s inhabitants 1,000 miles to the east. This outburst is what we call an imprecatory psalm—the calling down of a divine curse, a prayer for violent vengeance. But his is not a call to take vengeance into human hands. The psalmist sees God as judge, jury, and executioner and, upon that basis, makes his plea for the proper execution of Divine justice. Moreover, though it isn’t acknowledged within this psalm, other Scripture shows that before the Jews had called down judgment on their captors, they had first thoroughly repented before God for the very things that had brought them under the iron fist of judgment in the first place. So, if you are going to pray this way, make sure you put judgment in God’s hand and make sure your own sin is covered under Christ’s blood.

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 137:7-8

If you are going to enjoy the Psalms, sooner or later, you’ll have to deal with a psalm like this. This is a downright nasty little psalm that calls for the violent destruction of the Babylonian people—akin to the call for a Jewish Jihad against this mighty empire that had leveled Jerusalem, including its temple, and hauled off most of Judah’s inhabitants 1,000 miles to the east. This outburst is what we call an imprecatory psalm—the calling down of a divine curse, a prayer for violent vengeance.

So, the question is, what place does such an angry psalm have in a loving God’s songbook?

First, this isn’t simply a religious rant. Psalm 137 should not be isolated from the other psalms—or the rest of Scripture, for that matter. It makes sense only in the context of both theological and historical settings. The writer wasn’t just calling down vengeance because he didn’t like someone. The Babylonians had perpetrated great violence against God’s people, so the psalmist was only calling on God to do what God had promised to do.

Second, this is not a call to take vengeance into human hands. The psalmist sees God as judge, jury, and executioner and, upon that basis, makes his plea for the proper execution of Divine justice.

Third, though it isn’t acknowledged within this psalm, other Scripture shows that before the Jews had called down judgment on their captors, they had first thoroughly repented before God for the very things that had brought them under the iron fist of Babylon in the first place. (Daniel 9:1-19) As Jesus later called us to do, they had taken the beam out of their own eye before they bothered with judgment for their tormentors. (Matthew 7:1-5)

Finally, this prayer, and others like it, is aligned with God’s prophetic indictment of Israel’s enemies. The writer is praying what the Scripture has already declared, calling into fulfillment God’s judgment against some extremely evil people.

Now, for the most part, our prayers should be along the lines that Jesus taught: “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.” (Luke 6:27-28 NLT) But when evil goes beyond the pale, it is certainly appropriate to pray for what is at the core of God’s being: Justice.

However, I need to offer a caveat: If you are going to unleash an imprecatory prayer, just remember that Divine justice is blind; it cuts both ways. So, make sure your own evil has been covered by the blood of Christ, which comes by grace through faith through the acknowledgment and repentance of sin.