Imprecatory Prayers (Part 4) - The Psalms (Part C), Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations

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Imprecatory Prayers (Part 4) - The Psalms (Part C), Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations A. Psalm 109 i. Psalm 109 is probably the most imprecatory of the imprecatory prayers in scripture. ii. David prayed that God would judge the wicked who lied about him (Psa 109:1-2), spoke hateful words toward him and fought against him without a cause (Psa 109:3), and rewarded him evil for good and hatred for love (Psa 109:4-5). iii. David prayed that God would do the following to his enemies (and one enemy in particular)… a. Psa 109:6 - Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. b. Psa 109:7 - When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. c. Psa 109:8 - Let his days be few; and let another take his office. d. Psa 109:9 - Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. e. Psa 109:10 - Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. f. Psa 109:11- Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. g. Psa 109:12 - Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. h. Psa 109:13 - Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. i. Psa 109:14 - Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. j. Psa 109:15 - Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. k. Psa 109:16 - Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. l. Psa 109:17 - As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. m. Psa 109:18 - As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. n. Psa 109:19 - Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. o. Psa 109:20 - Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. iv. This imprecatory prayer is a prophecy of Judas Iscariot (Psa 109:8 c/w Act 1:20). a. Judas Iscariot was a reprobate child of the devil who betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ and went to hell (Joh 6:70; Mat 26:24; Joh 17:12).  b. This is likely the reason that David prayed such harsh words against his enemy. B. Psalm 129 i. In Psalm 129, the psalmist, speaking on behalf of the people of God, imprecated against the wicked who afflicted them (Psa 129:1-3). ii. He prayed that God would let those that hate Zion be confounded, turned back, and withered like grass (Psa 129:5-6). a. As was demonstrated earlier, it is in accord with the revealed will of God to desire that the persecutors of the church will be confounded. b. It is also in accord with the will of God to pray that the wicked will be cut down and wither as the grass (Psa 37:1-2). iii. Psalm 129 was a model prayer to pray against the governments which ordered churches to close during the Covid-19 scamdemic. C. Psalm 137 i. Psalm 137 is a lamentation written by a Jewish exile in Babylon. ii. He asked God to remember what the Babylonians said and did when they destroyed Jerusalem and repay them for it (Psa 137:7-9). a. He was asking for God to recompense Babylon for the cruelty they showed to Jerusalem and its inhabitants. b. God had already determined to destroy Babylon after He was done using them as a scourge to punish His people (Isa 13:1, 6-9). c. The psalmist was praying for the Lord to take vengeance on the wicked, which is a Biblical desire (Rom 12:19; Deut 32:35; Deut 7:10; Psa 94:1-2). d. God repays the wicked with the same affliction that they inflicted upon others (Jdg 1:6-7). e. This is what the psalmist was looking forward to. D. Psalm 140 i. In Psalm 140, David prayed to God to preserve him from evil, violent men who plotted to overthrow him and laid snares for him (Psa 140:1-5). ii. He prayed that God would not grant their desires, nor further their wicked devices, lest they would exalt themselves (Psa 140:8). iii. He then imprecates against them and asks God to judge them using their own wickedness (Psa 140:9). a. He prays that they will be cast into deep pits of fire (hell) (Psa 140:10). b. As has been shown earlier in this study, these prayers are according to the will of God. iv. He lastly prays that God will not let an evil speaker be established in the earth and states that the violent man will be hunted by evil and overthrown (Psa 140:11). v. This prayer is likewise in accord with the scripture which states that evil pursues sinners (Pro 13:21; Deut 28:15).  E. Psalm 141 i. David prayed that the wicked would fall into their own nets (Psa 141:10). ii. As has been already shown, this prayer is according to the will of God. F. Psalm 143 i. While feeling overwhelmed and sorely depressed, David prayed that the Lord would deliver him from his enemies (Psa 143:9). ii. He prayed that God would, in mercy toward him, cut off his enemies and destroy them (Psa 143:12). iii. This prayer is in accord with the word of God which declares that God will cut off and destroy evildoers (Psa 37:9, 28, 34, 38). 2. Nehemiah cursed his countrymen who had married foreign women and had children who couldn’t speak the Jews’ language (Neh 13:23-27). A. This was an imprecatory statement rather than a prayer. B. It was nevertheless spoken by a prophet of God, showing that imprecations are not necessarily evil. C. Nehemiah’s actions were in keeping with the will of God. i. The people of Israel were forbidden to marry people from the Canaanite nations (Deut 7:2-4). ii. Those who kept not the law were cursed (Deut 27:26). iii. Nehemiah was enforcing the law of God while cursing his own people for breaking it. iv. He therefore acted in accordance with the word of God. 3. Jeremiah 18:18-23 A. After Jeremiah repeatedly warned the nation of Judah of the impending judgment of God, they rejected his reproofs and spoke against him (Jer 18:18). B. Having finally had enough, Jeremiah then imprecated against them, praying that God would destroy them, not hear their prayers, and not forgive them (Jer 18:19- 23). C. Jeremiah was doing exactly what God told him to do (Jer 14:11), and he was asking God to do to them what He declared that He would (Jer 14:12). D. There comes a time when God’s longsuffering with sinners runs out (Pro 1:22-32; Pro 29:1; 2Ch 36:14-21). E. Therefore, it’s not wrong for our longsuffering to run out after a sufficient amount of provocation as well (Luk 13:6-9). 4. Lamentations 3:64-66 A. Jeremiah prayed that God would recompense his persecutors according to their works, give them sorrow of heart, curse them, and persecute and them (Lam 3:64- 66). B. He was praying for God to do to the wicked what He has declared that He will (see previous section for supporting verses). C. His imprecatory prayer was therefore according to the will of God.