Imprecatory Psalms are psalms of cursing. They are the most militant prayers in scripture and are often alarming in their descriptive violence. An imprecatory prayer is when we ask God to deal with the wicked in judgment. Examples of Imprecatory Psalms include Psalm 35, 58, 109, and 137.
In order to build an adequate Theology of Prayer, we have to deal with Imprecatory psalms. It is almost universally agreed that the book of Psalms is meant to teach us to worship and to pray. The psalms teach us how to pray and what to pray. The Psalms tutor our emotions in worship.
But what about psalms of imprecation? Some scholars decide the emotions described in these psalms are sinful, human emotions and not sanctioned by a loving God. On what basis do we exclude imprecatory psalms and include psalms of praise, thanksgiving, and lament? My understanding of imspiration prohibits responding to these psalms in this way.
Others decide these psalms are not for this dispensation. They draw charts with broad brushes which put physical warfare on one side and spiritual warfare on the other, hate in the Old Testament and radical love in the New. However, the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments is a large and theologically complex issue that demands more care than the broad brush approach allows. Only if we saw no sign of cursing in the New Testament could we build a case against imprecatory prayer in our day.
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