Imprecatory Psalms

How can we as Christians understand and use the fiery imprecations that we find in the Psalms?

First of all, we need to understand the imprecatory psalms as a plea for justice to be done and for wrongs to be righted. This is certainly a sentiment that even the New Testament expresses (Luke 18:1-8), where not only is there a concern for clearing one’s name but a call for retribution within the context of the legal system. It must be emphasized that the imprecations in the psalms are not expressions of personal vindictiveness but a sincere, heartfelt cry for justice.

Second, we need to realize that the New Testament has a much fuller revelation than what was available to the psalmists. The cross brings in a whole new dynamic in the way that we relate to those who wrong us as well as an assurance that evil will ultimately be dealt with.

Third, we find that the imprecations range all the way from plaintive to ferocious. The intensity of the imprecation reflects the intensity of the evil that has been suffered. The psalmists were responding to having their friends respond to their love with brutality (109:4) or their enemies brutally take advantage of their weakness (137). The greater the offense the more intense the cry for vengeance.

Fourth, imprecations must be interpreted in accordance with the rules of rhetoric that govern this genre. Just as proverbs, parables, epistles, apocalyptic and gospels are separate genres with unique attributes that need to be understood properly in order to interpret them correctly, so too imprecations are a separate genre with peculiar attributes that need special attention when being interpreted. An imprecation is a form of hyperbole, a poetic device that crosses over the line of cautious literalism. Imprecations are designed to elicit an intense emotional response from the reader, not impart cold, rational facts. It seeks to kindle in the reader the same emotional response to injustice as the one suffering it experienced. Thus, it is indirect yet very intimate. There are times when we can calmly discuss evil and injustice, but there are also times when we need to experience the full force of evil and injustice as if it were happening to us. Imprecations can do that while calm discourse cannot.

Fifth, other biblical figures, such as Jeremiah and Job, wrestled with deep emotional responses to severe pain, suffering and injustice. In response to their intense expressions of pain and despair, God listens to the whole man and the whole message, acknowledging both the content and the emotion, rebuking when the line is crossed while agreeing with what is true in their complaints (see Jeremiah 12:5; 11:20-23; 12:7ff; Job 38:2; 42:7). God, then, is able to handle the complaints of his saints and is compassionate enough to listen to our hearts and not simply our words.

Sixth, the New Testament focuses on grace and forgiveness, where the Gospel is preached to all, especially to sinners. However, in championing God’s love it doesn’t eliminate God’s wrath, but both are held in balance by the cross. While some quotations of the psalms in the New Testament stop short of the imprecations, those who reject Christ and his message are said to have earned a fate worse than Sodom’s. In fact, God’s wrath and the iron rod of the Messiah of Psalm 2 are clearly prominent in Revelation, “the day of his wrath” (110:5) is found in Romans 2:5, and the anger called down on those “who do not know” God (79:6) is confirmed in 2 Thessalonians 1:8. In fact, often the punishment meted out in the New Testament is much more severe than the vindication called for in the quoted psalm (compare Matthew 7:23 with Psalm 6:8). Therefore, it is too simplistic to say that the God of the Old Testament is a wrathful God while the God of the New Testament is a God of love. God is loving, merciful and forgiving in both testaments just as he is just, righteous and an avenger of evil in both testaments. Therefore, while the call for forgiveness is much stronger in the New Testament, God’s wrath is still evident for those who reject that forgiveness and persist in their evil.

Seventh, pleas for vindication can sometimes be viewed as the fact of innocent blood “crying” like Abel’s “from the ground to God.” Injustice and bloodshed are evil and must be vindicated. Any moral system that does not call evil “evil” is self-destructive and harmful. Calls for vindication in this sense are never expressions of personal vindictiveness or vigilante justice, but the cry of justice and righteousness to prevail against the forces of evil. Anyone who would deny this cry is on the wrong side.

Eighth, the Christian today can still profit from the imprecatory psalms in several ways. Because we have a fuller revelation we cannot cry out for vindication in the same way as the psalmists, but we can express our pain and suffering to God while at the same time blessing those who persecute us and praying for those who are treating us unjustly. We can also profit from the imprecations if we allow them to hit us with their full emotional force, deepening our appreciation for the pain and suffering of those who are being treated unjustly, moving our hearts to act with compassion to seek justice in our own world. The imprecatory psalms can also remind us that God’s judgment on sin and evil is real and there will be a day when all the evil in the world will be dealt with and all the wrongs will be righted, so that justice and righteousness will reign like the noon-day sun.


While the imprecatory psalms may make us feel uneasy and not seem relevant to our modern world and the age of grace, it should remind us that we must remain on the side of justice and righteousness and not use the weapons of evil to inflict pain and suffering on those around us. While we need to patiently endure injustice, love our enemies, and trust God to right the wrongs done to us, we also need to be reminded that if we are not careful, we may find ourselves on the wrong side of justice as the perpetrators of injustice and the subjects of someone else’s imprecations.


Much of this material was adapted from Derek Kidner’s commentary, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, pages 25-32.