Leaving vengeance to God

When someone throws all decency—all humanity—aside and subjects helpless victims to cruel, egotistical whims, you may want to pray this shockingly honest prayer, reserved for the worst offenders.

A David psalm.

¹ You’re the God I praise—
don’t stay mute on me, unresponsive.
² Liars bent on evil denounce me
their lying tongues maligning me.
³ They engulf me with hateful words
vilifying me for no reason.
⁴ In return for my love and kindness
they accuse me
despite all my prayers.
⁵ They repay my good with evil
my love with hatred.

⁶ Put a scoundrel on their case
accusing them—framing charges
that upend their life.
⁷ Let them be found guilty
and all their prayers fall flat.
⁸ Cut their life short
and have someone else take their position.
⁹ Make their children orphans
their wife a widow.
¹⁰ Make their children vagrant beggars
driven from the hovels they squat in.
¹¹ May creditors seize all they have
strangers plunder all they’ve worked for.
¹² Let no one be kind to them
or care for their orphaned kids.
¹³ May their descendants be eliminated
their family name blotted out
within a single generation.
¹⁴ Don’t overlook any of their ancestors’ crimes
or forget any of their mother’s sins, Yahveh.
¹⁵ Remember all their wrongs
till you’ve blotted all memory of them
from the earth, Yahveh.
¹⁶ For being kind never crossed their mind
as they hounded the poor and vulnerable
and drove the heartsick to their graves.
¹⁷ Since they loved cursing so much
may nothing but curses come to them.
And since they couldn’t stand blessing
make sure no blessing comes their way.
¹⁸ Because they wore cursing like a uniform
let curses soak them to the core
and drench them like an oily slick.
¹⁹ Make curses envelop them like a cloak
tied tight with a belt they can’t undo.[1]
²⁰ May this be how Yahveh repays my accusers
who blacken my name.

²¹ But you, Sovereign Yahveh
defend me for the honor of your name—
rescue me out of the goodness
of your unfailing love.
²² Because I’m poor and needy
and my heart is pierced within me.
²³ I fade away like a shadow at dusk
I’m shaken off like a grasshopper.
²⁴ I’ve fasted so long I’m weak-kneed—
my body skin and bones.
²⁵ I’ve become the butt of my accusers’ jokes.
They shake their heads on seeing me.
²⁶ Help me, Yahveh, my God!
Save me in keeping with your unfailing love.
²⁷ Save me so decisively
that they all know you’ve done it—
you and you alone, Yahveh.
²⁸ Let them go on cursing
so long as you bless.
May they be disgraced
while your servant goes on rejoicing.
²⁹ Humiliate my accusers—
wrap them in a cloak of shame.

³⁰ I’ll thank Yahveh fervently
praising him when God’s people assemble
³¹ because he stands up to defend the poor
from those who condemn them.

This psalm is David’s response to false accusations and other attacks meant to bring about his death. The Psalms compiler doubtless place it here in Book V because Jerusalem’s post-exilic Jews dealt with similar threats.[2]

The harshness of this most imprecatory of psalms shocks us, as it should. But the theology behind it affirms that God unequivocally takes the side of victims of abuse and oppression. His unfailing love makes him so opposed to injustice that he’s determined to rid the world of it, which is why we pray, “Your will be done.”

When God’s love fills us, such abuse angers us, as it angers him—whether we or others are the victims. One way to respond to such abuse may be by praying this psalm, which is really an act of non-violence, of turning vengeance over to God—not taking vengeance ourselves.[3]

We’re shocked to learn how cruel David’s enemies only through his requests. His love repaid with hatred, he’s viciously accused, hounded, threatened. He asks only that his attackers’ punishment fit their crime. No more. They curse other—never bless them—destroying lives, wiping out whole families. So he asks God to do the same to them. And David takes refuge in God, whose blessing totally counteracts all his enemies’ curses.

Lord, thank you that, being a God of justice, you’ll bring all thuggery to a swift and sudden end, that you want me to take such evil seriously and address it honestly. Release its victims from terror, make its perpetrators reap the whirlwind they’ve sown, and make me more like you, I pray. Amen.

During your free moments today, meditate on these words:

I’ll thank Yahveh fervently
praising him when God’s people assemble
because he stands up to defend the poor
from those who condemn them.

[1] Commentators have long debated whether vv. 6-19 give the psalmist’s prayer or quote his evil accusers’ prayer. Verses 12 and 16 ask God to judge based on his “unfailing love,” which seems like something David would say (cf. vv. 21, 26). Either way, he’s asking God to return to his enemies only what they’ve done to him.

[2] For example, under Nehemiah (Neh. 6:5-7).

[3] As I write, the Russian army is raining down terror and destruction on the innocent citizens of Mariupol and a number of other Ukrainian cities, with President Putin justifying his aggression by falsely accusing the Ukrainian government of being Nazis. This makes Putin and his military thugs very appropriate targets of the psalm. The New Testament similarly applies the psalm’s imprecation to Judas, whose betrayal of Jesus was never forgiven (Acts 1:20; cf. Matt. 26:24).

Impossible possibility

The coming of God’s kingdom has always been impossible, humanly speaking. Knowing how we’re to participate in it sometimes seems impossible too. This psalm tackles that problem head-on.

¹ My heart is set, God—
I won’t be stopped.
I’m going to sing and make music.
² Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, harp and lyre!
Help me waken the dawn.
³ I’ll celebrate you among the nations, my Lord
sing your praises to everyone everywhere.
⁴ For your unfailing love is so vast
it reaches the heavens
and your faithfulness so big
it scrapes up against the clouds.

⁵ Rise up high above the heavens, O God!
Reign in glory over all the earth!
⁶ Stretch out your right hand and help us
so your beloved children are rescued. 

⁷ God has spoken in his holiness:
“In triumph I’ll parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
⁸ Gilead is mine and Manasseh mine too.
Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter!
⁹ Moab is my washbasin
onto Edom I toss my shoes
and over Philistia shout triumphant!” 

¹⁰ Who will take me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom
¹¹ if not you who have abandoned us, God?
For you no longer lead our armies into battle. 

¹² Help us fight against our foes
since human help is worthless.
¹³ With God’s help we’ll fight courageously.
Yes, he’s the one
who will crush our oppressors!

This psalm is comprised of selections from two David psalms, seamlessly joined.[1] Far from being unoriginal, the psalm gives both passages new meaning by combining them in their now postexilic context.

Restored to their land, the Israelites joyfully celebrate God’s lovingkindness before the nations. But now they’re starting from scratch—with Jerusalem’s destruction in living memory. (Recalling the Edomites’ part in that catastrophe really pains them since the Edomites are their relatives through Esau.) This makes them reflect on their situation, what brought them to this point, and where they’re to go from here.

So God assures them he’s still committed to Israel—Ephraim and Judah—and still sovereign over the surrounding nations. But while they ruled over the nations named here in Israel’s heyday and believe God’s kingdom will yet cover the earth, they’ve neither Joshua nor David to lead them and don’t know how to proceed.

Despite God’s having brought them back “home,” their extreme vulnerability and other hardships in the land seemingly call his restoration of them into question. They know their challenges far exceed the realm of human help—that only God can establish his kingdom on earth. So they ask for his help and commit to partnering courageously with him, believing he’s the one who will win the victory.

Thank you, God, that you’ve begun restoring me, but the way ahead is often unclear and I’m very vulnerable to attack. Lead me against my foes, grant me your help, and make me courageous. I know human help is worthless in such a fight as this. May your kingdom come, I pray. Amen.

In your free moments today, pray this prayer:

Stretch out your right hand and help us
so your beloved children are rescued.

[1] Psalms 57:7-11 (vv. 1-5) and 60:5-12 (vv. 6-13). See further the commentary on those passages above.

Live gratefully, live wisely

When we feel overwhelmed, we easily blame God for not helping—for letting us flail. This psalm stresses how gracious God is to the weak and the undeserving. It calls us to live life gratefully and wisely.

¹ Give thanks to Yahveh
for he’s so good
and his outrageous love endures forever!
² Let those Yahveh has redeemed say that—
those he’s freed from their foes’ grasp
³ and brought back from foreign lands.
From east and west
from north and south.[1]

⁴ People wandered in trackless wastelands
finding no way to a city they could live in.
⁵ Hungry and thirsty
they’d given up all hope.
⁶ Then they cried out to Yahveh in desperation
and he rescued them from their distress.
⁷ He put them on a road
leading right to a city they could live in.
⁸ Let them thank Yahveh for the unfailing love
that moves him to save his beloved children.
⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good food.

¹⁰ Some were confined in darkness and gloom
prisoners bound by miserable iron chains
¹¹ for rebelling against God Most High
refusing to follow his word.
¹² So he broke them with hard labor
and when they stumbled and fell
nobody helped them up.
¹³ Then they cried out to Yahveh in desperation
and God saved them from their distress.
¹⁴ Breaking their chains off them
he brought them out their dark despair.
¹⁵ Let them thank Yahveh for the unfailing love
that moves him to save his beloved children.
¹⁶ He bursts through doors of bronze
and breaks through bars of iron.

¹⁷ Some who foolishly rebelled against God
suffered for their waywardness.
¹⁸ They retched at the very taste of food
till they ended up at death’s door.
¹⁹ Then they cried to Yahveh in desperation
and he rescued them from their ordeal.
²⁰ God gave the word and healed them
rescuing them from certain death.
²¹ Let them thank Yahveh for the unfailing love
that moves him to save his beloved children.
²² Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
recounting what he’s done with joyful shouts!

²³ Some people set sail in seafaring ships
plying their trade on the high seas.
²⁴ They, too, witnessed what Yahveh can do
his powerful acts on the briny deep.
²⁵ His command whipped up gale-winds
that raised up mountainous waves
²⁶ tossing their ships sky-high
only then to plunge them into the depths—
taking everyone’s courage down with them.
²⁷ They staggered and reeled like drunkards—
all their sailors’ skill made useless by the gale.
²⁸ Then they cried out to Yahveh in desperation
and he saved them from their peril.
²⁹ He silenced the storm
and calmed the sea’s waves.
³⁰ They were overjoyed
when he stilled the waves
and guided them safely
into the harbor they were heading for.
³¹ Let them thank Yahveh for the unfailing love
that moves him to save his beloved children.
³² Let them exalt him when the people assemble
praising him when the leaders meet.

³³ He turns rivers into desert
babbling springs into parched land
³⁴ and fertile fields into a salt waste
because the people living there are so evil.
³⁵ He also turns desert into lake country
arid wasteland into gushing springs.
³⁶ He settles the hungry there
where they build themselves a city.
³⁷ They sow fields and plant vineyards there
harvesting the crops they produce.
³⁸ They become numerous under his blessing
and their livestock never decreases.
⁴⁰ He pours contempt on potentates
making them wander a trackless waste
³⁹ where they’re impoverished, beaten down
crippled by oppression and sorrow.[2]
⁴¹ But he lifts the poor out of their misery
and makes their families flourish like flocks.
⁴² Seeing this, the upright rejoice
while the wicked are left speechless.

⁴³ Let those who are wise
take all these things to heart
and ponder Yahveh’s acts of unfailing love.

Written after Cyrus’s release of the Jews from exile, this psalm begins the Psalms’ final book. Books III and IV respectively questioned and reaffirmed God’s faithfulness to Israel. Book V begins with a resounding call to give thanks to the God who has gathered Israel from the four corners of the world.  He rules the nations and faithfully hears the helpless who cry to him.

The psalm’s body presents four groups of people desperate for God’s help before he rescues them from their plight. The first and last groups—the homeless and those facing shipwreck—are engulfed by the world’s chaos. The suffering of the two central groups—those in bondage and deathly ill—is due to their sins. But God rescues all four groups when they simply cry to him in desperation. So the psalmist calls those God has rescued to thank him before the faith community and offer sacrifices.

Then the psalmist celebrates God’s magisterial power to reverse peoples’ condition, whether they’re oppressors or victims of oppression. Yahveh thus maintains creation’s moral order, leaving God-seekers ecstatic and self-seekers dumbfounded. The psalmist concludes with an admonition that all who are wise live in the light of God’s perfect justice, relentless love, and unlimited power to save all who cry to him.

You showed us God’s love, Jesus, by restoring lepers to community, setting captives free, healing the sick, stilling the storm. Thank you for lavishing your grace on me too, unworthy as I am, and for being a God of justice and power. Help me live gratefully in the light of all that you are. Amen.

During your free moments today, meditate on these words:

Let them thank Yahveh for the unfailing love
that moves him to save his beloved children.

[1] All Hebrew manuscripts say “sea,” which may refer to Israel’s first deliverance through the Sea of Reeds. But “south” appears in early translations, and a scribal error could easily have changed “south” (yamin) to “sea” (yam).

[2] A mark in the manuscript margin says vv. 39-40 should be read in reverse order.

Comprised of Psalms 107-50, the Psalter’s final book appears to have been compiled after Israel’s return from exile. Beginning by affirming God’s unfailing love and faithfulness and calling Israel to thank and praise God for his greatness and love, this book covers a whole range of topics related to the life of faith. It contains a majesterial A-to-Z prayer of someone focused on hearing and obeying God’s word in Psalm 119, plus 15 psalms of ascent, sung by pilgrims to Jerusalem. It includes lament, imprecation, royal, and Zion psalms. However, worship predominates, as the book closes with five psalms of praise that build to a crescendo.

Its compiler(s) organized the Psalter into five books, making it correspond to the five books of Moses’ law. Among other things, this was meant to give the Psalms the same sort of gravity in ancient Israel that the Torah held.