WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.760 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:13.240 --> 00:01:19.480 Well, it's good to be with you all. It's been a while since I preached in a theater, but good to be 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:26.300 back. I love this sort of a setting. And I think of Paul at Ephesus when he was also meeting at a 00:01:26.300 --> 00:01:32.180 theater and introducing people to the gospel for three years there. So may the Lord bless your 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:40.439 ministry and give great opportunities for the gospel here in Ottawa. I'm going to be speaking about the 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:49.120 topic, Dashing Babies Against the Rocks. We'll look at this Psalm 137. And more generally, 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:58.580 at what a set of Psalms called the imprecatory Psalms. And imprecation is a prayer curse, 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:08.599 a call for judgment. So as we read this, you know, and go through this passage, the imprecations are 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:15.300 staggering. So let's unpack this. And before I get into that, I don't know if you're familiar with 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:22.360 that cartoon called Gary Larson's The Far Side cartoon strip. Well, there's one cartoon strip 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:29.380 where you have the proverbial kind of caricatured version of God, long hair, white hair, beard, 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:36.720 white robe. And he's in this case sitting at a computer. And there is on the screen on the monitor 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:44.400 there. There's a piano being lowered and or lifted up, hard to tell. But there's a hapless guy just 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:51.520 walking aimlessly underneath this piano that has this rope attached to it. And God has his finger 00:02:51.520 --> 00:03:00.439 at the computer poised, ready to hit the smite key. God is about to smite this guy who's just walking, 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:04.079 minding his own business, but not paying attention to the piano right over his head. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:11.540 And so when people look at this, they think, oh yeah, maybe some of those imprecatory psalms, 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:19.040 they're praying for God to hit the smite key to rescue the psalmist perhaps and to bring judgment 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:26.920 upon the enemies of the psalmist. What I'd like to do in this morning's message is to, first of all, 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:33.959 look at the very setting of Psalm 137. It's important to understand that to have a context. 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:42.259 And then that troubling portion at the end of Psalm 137, what does it mean to dash babies 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:49.659 or little ones against the rocks? What is that referring to? And then what we want to do is kind 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:54.639 of broaden out a little bit to understanding more of the theology behind the imprecatory psalms. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:03.539 And then finally, what do the imprecatory psalms have to do with us? Should we pray them? Should we avoid them? 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:10.239 Should they be, as some prayer books have, just basically just removed? There's a, you know, 00:04:10.299 --> 00:04:18.360 some editors perform these psalmectomies, removing certain passages of Scripture because it just looks 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:25.439 too harsh. It just sounds too, perhaps even traumatizing. If you're interested in getting a bit more 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:29.500 background on this, there's the book that was mentioned, Is God a Moral Monster? And specifically, 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:36.740 I'm referring to material from my book, Is God a Vindictive Bully, that seeks to reconcile portrayals 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:42.980 of God in the Old Testament and the New, and to say that these are one and the same God, that the God of the 00:04:42.980 --> 00:04:50.900 Old Testament is the God whom Jesus represents, who is, you know, this is, Jesus is God incarnate, 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:58.000 the Old Testament God incarnate who comes to reveal Himself in the Word became flesh and dwelling among us. 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:06.340 My wife and I were in Oxford for a sabbatical at Oxford University, and so from January through 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:13.979 June, we were there in Oxford, and it was a real privilege to be able to give tours at the home of C.S. 00:05:13.979 --> 00:05:23.279 Lewis, at his home, the Kilns, in Oxford, so it was a real thrill to be there. And I'm a big fan of C.S. 00:05:23.359 --> 00:05:31.219 Lewis, he's so quotable, he has a remarkable story, he's had such a great impact on so many, you know, not only in the 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:37.620 20th century, but also continuing into the 21st. But C.S. Lewis was troubled by some of these psalms, 00:05:37.700 --> 00:05:45.060 and he writes these things about the imprecatory psalms. He writes, these psalms, which strike us 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:51.820 in the face like the heat from a furnace mouth, are terrible, or dare we say contemptible prayers, 00:05:52.280 --> 00:05:58.480 with the one we just read, Psalm 137, being more devilish, though, and he refers to another 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:07.060 imprecatory psalm, with Psalm 109 being perhaps the worst. That's C.S. Lewis there. And he says that 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:13.240 these harsh-sounding psalms are part of an undeveloped antiquity, but he admits that from 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:19.520 these same fanatic and homicidal Hebrews may for brief moments reach a Christian level of spirituality, 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:26.420 such as loving your enemy, mentioned in Proverbs 25 that Paul quotes in Romans chapter 12. 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:34.400 So that's C.S. Lewis's strong reaction to the imprecatory psalms. Can we make sense of these 00:06:34.400 --> 00:06:38.680 things? Should we agree with C.S. Lewis on these things? And I think that there is something important 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:47.780 about letting the Word of God speak to us, even in its harshness and severity, that there may be some 00:06:47.780 --> 00:06:54.500 things that may strike us as harsh, but people, followers of Jesus Christ in other parts of the world 00:06:54.500 --> 00:07:04.879 may say, thank you. This is a portion of Scripture that gives me courage, that helps me to cry out to 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:15.660 God, to rescue me, to help me against my enemies. So what may for us in a Western setting seem harsh and 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:23.279 ruthless, for Christians, for believers in other parts of the world, it may actually be a source of strength 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:31.979 and giving courage. But before we go in that direction, let's examine the setting of Psalm 137. 00:07:32.619 --> 00:07:41.859 And we get a sense of oppression here as we walk through the psalm. Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem in 587, 586 B.C. 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:48.639 Many of the exiles earlier on had been taken on in waves to Babylon, in three waves basically. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:55.800 And they were by the Euphrates River here, as the psalmist is writing, or one of its tributaries or 00:07:55.800 --> 00:08:02.939 irrigation canals. The Babylonian captors were now mocking the exiles to sing a song of their beloved or 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:12.579 destroyed Jerusalem. And as we read the psalms, we do see these songs of praising, elevating, exalting 00:08:12.579 --> 00:08:21.579 Jerusalem. Psalm 46, God is in the midst of Jerusalem. She will not be moved. 482, beautiful 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:27.620 in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:35.360 Psalm 76, God is known in Judah. His name is great in Israel. His tabernacle is in Salem. His dwelling 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:42.940 place also is in Zion. You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains, rich with game. So all 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:50.419 these songs of praise, loving the place where God dwells, the city of Jerusalem. But now it's been 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:59.340 raised to the ground. And to add insult to injury, Edom, the nation coming from Esau, Jacob's brother, 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:08.060 is acting treacherously against Judah. The Edomites aided the Babylonians, cheering them on against 00:09:08.060 --> 00:09:14.840 Jerusalem by pillaging Jerusalem with them and even blocking their own cousins from escaping Babylon, 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:21.840 as the book of Obadiah tells us. And so the prayer is also saying, not just against Babylon, but saying, 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:28.580 remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, who said, raise it, raise it to its 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:38.540 very foundation. Interestingly, the Babylonians were so brutal that when the Medo-Persian ruler Cyrus 00:09:38.540 --> 00:09:46.240 invaded Babylon, he actually brought an end to Babylonian tyranny, not just outside of the walls 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:51.960 of Babylon, as it were, not outside the borders of Babylon alone, but even within Babylon itself, 00:09:51.960 --> 00:10:02.040 the Babylonians saw their rulers as tyrants. And so the Babylonians actually cheered Cyrus, not as a conqueror, 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:07.800 but as a liberator. And they were spreading green branches before him. They were so enthusiastic that 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:15.680 finally the tyranny was removed. That's the kind of nation we're speaking about, the brutality of Babylon. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:25.099 Babylon. This brings us to directly addressing the question of the dashing babies reference, 00:10:25.319 --> 00:10:34.859 to what is the psalmist referring when he says these little ones? Well, as you read the various scholars 00:10:34.859 --> 00:10:42.979 and commentators, there are a number of different ways of looking at this text, actually. It's not as 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:47.560 though it's just some sort of straightforward reading, you know, taking little children or something like 00:10:47.560 --> 00:10:55.279 that. No, it's actually something much more nuanced than that, that takes into account just the language 00:10:55.279 --> 00:11:00.500 of the scriptures themselves. One option that commentators note is that the little ones are 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:06.720 actually Babylon's royal house. That the, when you're talking about the daughter of Babylon, you're not 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:13.500 just talking about some woman in Babylon or the women of Babylon. You're talking about Babylon's rulers. 00:11:14.420 --> 00:11:17.340 For example, in Isaiah 47, it says, 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:23.200 Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:29.000 O daughter of the Chaldeans. So there's this connection with the daughter of Babylon to throne. 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.100 And the psalmist is basically saying here in Psalm 137, 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:39.379 bring an end to the line of oppressors and tyrants, those royal oppressors. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:49.840 There's another alternative, that the little ones of Babylon are Babylon's soldiers commissioned by 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:57.580 the king. So for example, we read in Jeremiah 51, the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:02.820 the time it is stamped firm. Yet in a little while, the time of harvest will come for her, 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:08.920 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has devoured me and crushed me. So there's this imagery of 00:12:08.920 --> 00:12:15.480 Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler, sending soldiers to crush anyone in their way. So there is that connection to 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:23.460 soldiers who are bringing forth their tyranny from, again, under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar and 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:29.300 other rulers. And so in this case, the psalmist would be praying, bring an end to those armies 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:35.279 that tyrannize and destroy. So in one case, the daughter of Babylon, those little ones are the 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:41.279 royal house, those who continue to perpetuate tyranny. Or it could be the soldiers who are 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:48.279 commissioned, the instruments, the arm of oppression coming from the royal house. 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:54.679 Another option is simply this, and we've talked a lot about this at the Dig and Delve conference, 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:59.279 how the Old Testament scriptures are filled with hyperbole or exaggeration. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:08.379 And so the Hebrews were very good at using hyperbole, speaking in black and white terms, 00:13:08.579 --> 00:13:14.259 speaking in extremes. It's like there's no middle ground at all. And so this would be an example of 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:20.319 that, taking this heightened imagery that is not intended to be taken literally. So this psalmist, 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:26.159 when he's speaking in these strong terms, speaking emotionally, he is assuming that he's not going 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.220 to be taken literally. This is just the extreme language that is common, not just amongst the 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:38.759 Hebrews, but also throughout the ancient Near East. Another option is this that commentators see, 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:47.019 that the psalmist is simply calling for God's just recompense, calling for God to do to them, 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:53.100 and we get a hint of that just before the last verse in Psalm 137, basically saying, 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:59.559 Lord, as they have treated others, may you treat them. Just as they have done this to others, 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:05.379 Lord, may it be done to them. There's yet another option. 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:15.299 Another alternative is simply this, that emotions in many passages of the Old Testament Scriptures, 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:20.240 the Psalms, the prophets, and so forth, sometimes they'll express something without, 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:25.720 you know, a moral or theological clarity. They're just, in a sense, venting. They're just getting 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:32.460 their emotions out there without any sort of concern for theological precision. So in their deep 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:39.600 emotion and trauma, the psalmist are going to use this extreme language. So we can expect some 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:45.360 perhaps theologically imprecise language at times. For example, when the psalmist is saying, 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:53.740 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Or Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 20 verse 7, he is crying out 00:14:53.740 --> 00:15:00.160 to God saying, Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived. Now, is that theologically accurate? No, 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:04.360 but that's how Jeremiah felt. He had been commissioned, and the Lord told him it was going 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:10.360 to be rough from the very beginning of chapter 1 of Jeremiah, but he is actually feeling it. He's 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:15.579 actually facing it. And so he is calling out to God saying, this is not what I thought it would be. 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:22.039 This is not what I signed up for. And so he speaks in this way that is theologically imprecise. 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:30.319 So those are a few considerations as we look at this passage, that it's not all a straightforward, 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.339 just, you know, just kill babies. There's a lot more. 00:15:52.039 --> 00:16:04.639 Well, what's going on here? And as we'll see in the next portion, does this have carryover into 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:11.120 the New Testament? First of all, we see the principle of retribution, that what is behind 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:19.000 these imprecatory psalms is calling on a just God, a just Redeemer, to take vengeance against 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:26.120 the tyrants and oppressors. This is a theme repeated throughout the song of Moses from Exodus 15, 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:31.220 where the Israelites have just come through the Red Sea, and the tyrants have been cast down and 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:37.320 drowned and so forth. And we see this echoed even later on in the New Testament, in the book of 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:44.879 Revelation, where the people of God are calling on God to bring justice, to bring down Babylon, 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:50.879 this oppressive system that has been persecuting the people of God. There's something very fitting 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:58.759 about that. Retribution is that first principle. There's also a second principle, and that is the 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:06.319 principle of proportionality. And we've touched on this already. God, render to everyone according to 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:13.240 what He has done. Even in the Old Testament, there is this principle of justice, of proportionality. 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:19.440 Some people think it's brutal. It's called, you know, this lex talionis, the eye for an eye 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:24.440 principle. Some people say that's really nasty. And we were just talking with someone, we were just 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:30.559 talking about something with someone about this yesterday, that there is this concern, actually, 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:36.079 even this morning, you know, talking about how in many parts of the world, there was, you know, 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:42.279 if you steal my sheep, I'm going to burn down your village. And what this principle is calling for 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:46.899 is a proportionality. And it wasn't as though it was literally gouging out eyes or knocking out 00:17:46.899 --> 00:17:51.920 teeth or anything like that, as we talked about at the Dig and Delve conference. But it's actually, 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:56.359 it usually takes the form of monetary payment when you're to pay eye for an eye and a tooth for a 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:01.519 tooth. It's just monetary payment that is called for. But it reflects that proportionality, that you 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:07.980 don't overextend the response to wrongs that have been done to you. You don't multiply the harm 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:13.460 that has come to you. But again, there is that proportionality principle in the Mosaic law 00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:23.039 that Jesus is not repudiating. Rather, He's repudiating a misuse of that law, that judicial law 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:32.839 of retaliation, that law of justice. Thirdly, not just, not just retribution, not just proportionality, 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:40.519 but also the language of covenant is behind these imprecatory psalms. That the covenant-making God 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:47.299 who tells Abraham, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, this is something 00:18:47.299 --> 00:18:53.480 that is behind those imprecatory psalms. Lord, you said that if people would stand against us 00:18:53.480 --> 00:19:00.879 when we are living righteously, that you will intervene on our behalf, that you will stand up for us. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:07.160 And so God is one who is going to stand against those who are in opposition to His kingdom and to 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:12.200 the outworking of His purposes in this world. And so the psalmists are calling on God to act 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:21.880 on behalf of His people. Now, the question then comes, how do we treat these imprecatory psalms for 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.840 our own day? Aren't we supposed to live in light of the gospel, of loving our enemies, praying for those 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:33.619 who persecute us and so forth? Well, I would say that the imprecatory psalms have value for us in 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:39.419 our day and all the more in certain contexts in the world where what is going on with the psalmists 00:19:39.419 --> 00:19:45.220 and even those who are being persecuted in the New Testament, that these psalms are very much a part of 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:53.079 the Christian liturgy. A lot of Western Christians are embarrassed by these psalms, but we are often 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:57.359 embarrassed by them because we're coming from a position of privilege rather than a position 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:05.299 of oppression. And so as we unpack this, we need to understand what is going on behind the New 00:20:05.299 --> 00:20:09.899 Testament's use of the psalms because indeed, the New Testament doesn't ignore these psalms, doesn't 00:20:09.899 --> 00:20:15.960 say, oh, those psalms shouldn't use them anymore. But actually, the New Testament quotes the imprecatory 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:22.159 psalms. So as we unpack that, let's remember, first of all, the New Testament is utilizing those psalms. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:28.060 For example, Psalm 69 is quoted in Romans 11, where Paul says, 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:32.540 let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.940 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:47.880 Paul is drawing on that language. Jesus, in several places, cites imprecatory psalms in John 2 and John 15. 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:57.880 Also, Peter quotes two imprecatory psalms in Acts 1, verse 20. And he's quoting from Psalm 69, the same 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:04.200 psalm that Paul is quoting from in Romans 11. And also Psalm 109, which C.S. Lewis calls the worst of 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:13.040 the psalms. So again, this is the replacement of Judas. They're praying to the Lord to replace 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:19.259 Judas. And in the psalms that are being quoted, it says, you know, let his place be made desolate 00:21:19.259 --> 00:21:27.399 and let another take his office. So the New Testament refers to these imprecatory psalms. 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:33.379 The New Testament, we also need to remember, contains severe texts as well. So not just 00:21:33.379 --> 00:21:37.139 imprecatory psalms, but just there's a language of severity that is here. 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:46.320 Keep in mind what Paul says in Romans 11, 22. He says, behold then the kindness and severity of God. 00:21:48.520 --> 00:21:54.259 A lot of times people want to emphasize the kindness, but they ignore that severity of God, 00:21:54.440 --> 00:22:01.060 the judgment of God, the wrath of God. And this is even true of, you know, when we look at the New 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:08.720 Testament, Jesus himself is severe. In Jude 5, our best New Testament manuscripts have this reading. 00:22:09.139 --> 00:22:15.559 It says, Jesus, after he had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, destroyed those who did 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:20.319 not believe. Jesus destroyed those who did not believe. Just like Jesus was the rock, Christ was 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:26.079 the rock that led the Israelites, 1 Corinthians 10, 4. Here in Jude, Jesus is the one who brings judgment 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:34.279 upon these unbelieving Israelites. In Revelation 2, 20 to 23, in red letters in the book of Revelation, 00:22:34.939 --> 00:22:40.519 Jesus is speaking against this false prophetess Jezebel, and it says that he is going to strike 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:48.319 dead her followers. That's Jesus. In Revelation 6, verse 10, these redeemed martyrs under the, 00:22:48.399 --> 00:22:52.939 their souls were under the altar in this vision that John has, and they're calling, they're saying, 00:22:52.940 --> 00:23:00.059 Lord, how long until you avenge our blood that has been shed by those who dwell upon the earth? 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:07.519 And in Revelation 18, 20, there is rejoicing when Babylon, that oppressive system, has finally fallen. 00:23:09.120 --> 00:23:14.759 Rejoicing that finally God has brought justice, that cosmic justice is being done. 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.880 We also see further that cursing, even, the language of cursing does not disappear in the New 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:26.580 Testament, but doesn't Jesus say, bless and curse not, and so forth? Doesn't He say, you know, don't, 00:23:26.620 --> 00:23:32.440 don't, don't, don't respond to, you know, curses with curses, but blessing instead of cursing, 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:39.280 and Paul picks up on that theme in Romans chapter 12. Yes, there is that response of love, of loving 00:23:39.280 --> 00:23:44.840 your enemies, and so forth, but it doesn't mean that curse is altogether obliterated in the New 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:51.419 Testament. Paul speaks with curse, you know, language, severe language, in Galatians chapter 00:23:51.419 --> 00:23:57.339 1, where people are preaching a false gospel. Let that person be condemned for twisting the gospel, 00:23:57.459 --> 00:24:03.159 for distorting it, and so forth. And Paul even said, wished that he could be cursed for the sake of his 00:24:03.159 --> 00:24:09.939 unbelieving Jewish brothers and sisters. But along with, you know, pronouncing or, you know, saying that 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:14.860 those who preach a false gospel should be cursed. Paul is also one who is deeply concerned about 00:24:14.860 --> 00:24:20.820 those who, whose God is their belly, and so forth, in Philippians 3, that Paul says so. He speaks of 00:24:20.820 --> 00:24:25.820 this even with tears of those who are distorting the gospel, those who are undermining the cross of 00:24:25.820 --> 00:24:31.799 Christ. There are other voices in the New Testament that use that very strong, that very severe language. 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:36.420 It is there. And a lot of people want to say, well, Jesus is just kind and loving, and the New Testament 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:41.620 is just all about kindness and love. They're often, they're just cherry-picking. There are plenty of 00:24:41.620 --> 00:24:45.960 verses that talk about the severity of God. Look at the parables of Jesus and the judgment that comes 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:53.560 for those who reject the Son of God. And Jesus Himself prophesies the coming destruction of Jerusalem 00:24:53.560 --> 00:25:00.660 in the year 70 by the Romans, that judgment will also fall. Judgment is going to fall on some of the 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:05.380 cities that Jesus is preaching and where people refuse to believe in Him. In Matthew 11, where Jesus says, 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:10.560 I'm gentle and humble in heart, that same chapter, Jesus says, woe to you, Bethsaida, 00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:16.500 woe to you, Chorazin. You know, if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:23.740 Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. So when we compare the Old Testament to the 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:29.320 New Testament, one scholar, John Day, says that the spirit of the imprecatory Psalms in the face of 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:36.700 sustained injustice, hardened enmity, and gross oppression is consistent with the ethics both of 00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:41.519 the Old Testament and the New Testament, while at the same time recognizing the New Testament 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.740 evidences a certain progress in the outworking of that essentially equivalent ethic. So even though 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:52.980 you see more emphasis on blessing than curse and so forth, the curse has not gone away. 00:25:52.980 --> 00:26:00.480 So this brings us to the very practical question, how should we pray these imprecatory Psalms? 00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:08.839 And I would say very carefully, but we get some clues from Psalm 139, and we have a very practical 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:13.240 application here from the psalmist who, at the very beginning of this psalm, of course, you know, 00:26:13.259 --> 00:26:17.920 he talks about being fearfully and wonderfully made, about where can I go from your presence and so 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:26.580 forth. So really glorying in the knowledge that God has for him, that this is an amazing knowledge. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:31.720 Some people, sometimes you'll read about atheists who don't like, like Christopher Hitchens, he said 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:39.840 he didn't want to believe in God because it would be like living in this celestial North Korea, 00:26:40.100 --> 00:26:45.019 where God is watching every move, He sees everything that I'm doing. Well, that's one perspective. Yeah, 00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:50.400 if you're living like a sinner, of course that's going to be troubling. But if you love God, if you 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:55.500 love the presence of God, you know, for Him to know everything about you is just so precious. It's 00:26:55.500 --> 00:27:00.599 wonderful. Yes, it can be convicting too, don't get me wrong, but there is that marvelous knowledge 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:07.740 that, you know, even when maybe things that we do go perhaps, you know, maybe certain sacrifices we 00:27:07.740 --> 00:27:12.220 make and people kind of just walk off and don't acknowledge or anything like that, you know, and 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:17.480 that's okay. But the Lord sees, He knows that when you're praying in secret, when you're giving in 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:21.819 secret and so forth, the Lord knows and the Lord, you know, what you do in secret will be rewarded 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:28.960 openly by your Father. So there's a good thing about that knowledge. But then it goes to all of a sudden 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:34.799 breaking out into this language of, do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:40.440 who rise up against you? I hate them with the utmost hatred. They have become my enemies. Where did that 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:49.080 come from? We'll unpack that in a moment. But then there is a switch. Search me, O God, and know my 00:27:49.080 --> 00:27:55.259 heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the 00:27:55.259 --> 00:28:00.820 everlasting way. So you have this glorious language and then this sudden shift again and then a sudden 00:28:00.820 --> 00:28:07.160 shift again. Well, how do we put all of this together? Well, a few things to say as we unpack Psalm 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:13.000 139 as a kind of guide for us about the imprecatory Psalms. First of all, the hatred is not personal, 00:28:13.100 --> 00:28:17.720 and this is very important. Even when you read the imprecatory Psalms, it's not as though there is this, 00:28:17.860 --> 00:28:24.040 you know, personal animosity. It is something that is actually, you know, basically calling on God 00:28:24.040 --> 00:28:28.420 for one thing to do the work. And even these psalmists have tried to often try to show kindness to their 00:28:28.420 --> 00:28:32.759 enemies and so forth, and they simply have refused. So it's not as though it's a personal thing. 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:39.819 But when people continue to oppress, to tyrannize and so forth, you say, okay, Lord, bring justice. 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:46.700 Do what you, you know, do what you promise to do. You know, and so it's kind of like the persistent 00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:52.980 widow in Luke chapter 18 where she is crying out, give me justice against my enemy. So she is persistent. 00:28:53.099 --> 00:28:58.559 She's calling on this unjust judge in this parable to do something. And how much more will God bring 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:05.940 justice for His people who are oppressed? So this hatred is not personal. And it sometimes could 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:10.740 even be comparative, like Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. It doesn't mean that God didn't love 00:29:10.740 --> 00:29:17.960 Edom. In fact, Jesus in Mark chapter 8 verse 3 is preaching to the descendants of Edom, you know, 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:25.539 in Edomia. He's preaching there to those who are, you know, again, the relatives of the people of 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:32.420 Israel. Also, this hatred simply in this case is expressing a kind of zero tolerance stance against 00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:38.200 those who oppose or hate God. And as the psalmist is saying, if people oppose you, then I'm opposed 00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:43.099 to them, Lord. I want to take your side in these things. I don't want to be a compromiser, compromising 00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:50.740 with the world. And we also keep in mind too that even though God loves sinners, as we read in John 3, 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:58.480 16, God so loved the world, at the same time, 20 verses later in John 3, 36, it says that His wrath 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:05.480 remains on those who love darkness rather than light and so forth. And even in the book of Proverbs, 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:12.579 we read there's the command to love our enemies, to do good to those who are persecuting us. 00:30:12.900 --> 00:30:16.299 So this is not a new ethic that Jesus came up with. It's rooted in the Old Testament. 00:30:16.299 --> 00:30:20.399 But it says, you know, if your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he's thirsty, give 00:30:20.399 --> 00:30:26.019 him something to drink and so forth. But in the previous chapter, there is also a call for those 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:32.779 to use coercive force when people are being oppressed and led away to the slaughter. It says, hold them 00:30:32.779 --> 00:30:37.740 back, you know, help those people who are being led away to slaughter. So there's, you know, even though 00:30:37.740 --> 00:30:44.839 we're called to love our enemies, there's also a place for using just coercive force to stop them from 00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:49.599 harming others. And this is a way of expressing love for neighbor. We love our neighbor by stopping 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:57.099 those who are going to be, who want to brutalize them and harm them. The imprecatory psalmist furthermore 00:30:57.099 --> 00:31:02.079 don't take matters into their own hands. This isn't personal vengeance for them. They're calling on God 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:09.079 to intervene and help them. And so when we are praying, you know, maybe using these psalms, we recognize 00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:14.099 that this is not a matter that we take into our own hands, but rather we leave it in the hands of God. 00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:19.219 As Psalm 9 says, arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. 00:31:19.619 --> 00:31:26.500 Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men. But we also need to acknowledge, 00:31:26.639 --> 00:31:31.500 as the psalmist does in Psalm 139, that there is the potential danger of vengefulness that lurks in 00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:37.179 every human heart that cries out for justice. There may be a good impulse, but that can turn to 00:31:37.179 --> 00:31:43.519 bitterness, that can turn to rage, that can suddenly dominate our lives, and we eventually create a 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:50.220 prison cell for ourselves that we can't get out of. Furthermore, we should always be open to and 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:56.859 rejoice in God's mercy to people, repentant sinners, people who come. Like, remember, think about the 00:31:56.859 --> 00:32:04.099 relatives of those whom Saul had been oppressing in the book of Acts, taking people, putting them in 00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:09.279 prison, seeking to put them to death. And you can imagine the fear that came to people when they're 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:16.660 saying, do you know what that guy Saul did to my family? He had them all put in prison. But there's 00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:23.460 also a cause for rejoicing. When Jesus had confronted Saul on the road to Damascus, he repented and now 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:29.039 became a proclaimer of the good news of Jesus Christ. So we ought to be people who pray for those who are 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:35.059 terrorists, people who are doing evil things, that they might come to know the reality of God's presence, 00:32:35.059 --> 00:32:40.559 the reality of the gospel, and forgiveness in their own lives. This should be our first impulse, 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:47.539 to pray for them, that they might know the salvation of God. So we should always be open to God's mercy, 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:53.200 but it doesn't mean that there is no, you know, that there is no room for praying for judgment upon 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:58.879 the unrepentant as well. And so if we had to kind of summarize where things come from, where the 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:06.560 psalmists are coming from, we could perhaps give this dictum. We could say, God, work in the heart of 00:33:06.560 --> 00:33:15.860 those who tyrannize and oppress. Work in their hearts, or stop their hearts, or maybe just neutralize 00:33:15.860 --> 00:33:23.240 the impact of the harm that they're bringing. Work in their heart, stop their heart, but examine my heart. 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:30.220 So we always need to search our hearts and have God search us in this case. And as I said before, 00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:35.440 these imprecatory psalms are often in places where Christians are persecuted in other parts of the 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:40.859 world. It says, John Golden Gay, the Old Testament scholar, says that many people throughout the world 00:33:40.859 --> 00:33:47.380 who are believers may not find such psalms incongenial in places like Africa, where Christians face 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:55.000 pernicious accusations of witchcraft, which bring them harm, devastation, and shame, to pray for the 00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.440 Lord to bring judgment. Or it says, in places where enemies will use spiritual forces to bring harm to 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:05.940 others through charms and recitations, Christians have come to see the imprecatory psalms as psalms of 00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:14.400 protection and defense. The New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says, if there is injustice, if the poor are 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:19.280 being oppressed, then it is right to pray that God will rid the world of that. Part of our reaction to 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:24.559 the so-called cursing psalms is that we think that the modern world has basically the problem of evil 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:31.480 solved. The psalms bring us up short and say, no, evil is real. And some people are so wicked that we 00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:43.400 simply must wish judgment upon them. As we bring this to a close, we must remember that both 00:34:43.400 --> 00:34:52.440 Old and New Testament refer to God as both kind and severe, that God prefers to be gracious over 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:58.579 bringing wrath and judgment, but He will not leave the guilty unpunished. God, as 1 John says, is both 00:34:58.579 --> 00:35:05.980 light and love, that God is holy and righteous, but also loving, and we can't go to one extreme or the 00:35:05.980 --> 00:35:12.280 other. We see this is true of Jesus Himself, who is gentle and humble, but also, as Revelation 12 says, 00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:19.620 He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. And also in this world, Jesus said, you'll face hardship. 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:23.880 This world will bring trouble to you, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. So, 00:35:24.240 --> 00:35:30.800 we will face that, and we may find more and more the need to bring those imprecatory psalms closer to 00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:37.200 our vision, but praying them in the right kind of way. As Paul said in Acts 14, we must go through 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:43.759 many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God. So, as we, as gospel people, think through these psalms, 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:48.319 we don't get rid of them. We don't say, oh, those are terrible, those are anti-gospel. We put them in 00:35:48.319 --> 00:35:53.899 the proper perspective of the New Testament, although we see the trajectory of the greater emphasis on 00:35:53.899 --> 00:36:00.139 blessing and love over against cursing and so forth. So, this is the kind of context that we need 00:36:00.139 --> 00:36:05.500 to understand, and I trust that some of this unpacking of Psalm 137 has been helpful to you. 00:36:05.799 --> 00:36:07.379 Thank you so much for listening. God bless you.