Ben,
Imprecatory Psalms have presented difficulty to me for years. Is it right to pray for God to smite my enemies? Should we not pray for their salvation? Does there appear to be inconsistency with God in these areas? A few thoughts...
In the Psalm you referenced (Psalm 69), David was asking God to judge those who acted against His anointed. In the now God's anointed was David. Prophetically it was Messiah. David understood the holiness of God's anointed:
Quote:
|
1 Samuel 24:10 10 "Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.'
|
Paul often had to defend his apostleship from those who worked against him:
Quote:
|
1 Corinthians 9:1-2 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
|
At their core imprecatory Psalms are not about the wrong done to the author but about the injustice done to God. They are about God's holiness. Consider this imprecatory passage in Galatians:
Quote:
|
Galatians 1:8-9 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
|
Paul was consumed with the purity of the gospel, which is the word of God. By extension the gospel message is representative of Christ. Therefore, it is a matter of God's holiness and those that trample underfoot God's holiness or distort his word are subject to eternal anathema.
I believe your study of the imprecatory Psalms will be worthwhile if you focus on God's holiness and that the call for God's judgment is because his holiness is disrespected by the ungodly.