O Lord, Please Smite My Enemy: Should Christians Pray Imprecatory Prayers?

David petitioned God to destroy his enemies, but his appeals are not as harsh as those found in Psalm 137:

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:8–9)

These passages that invoke curses or plead for judgment upon one’s enemies are known as imprecatory psalms.

Given the biblical teachings on loving one’s enemies and forgiving those who have wronged us, what are we to make of these imprecations? Why would the Holy Spirit include them in Scripture? Is it appropriate for Christians to call down such curses on their enemies?

Inspired by God, Written by Men

We frequently highlight the divine source of the Bible, rightly identifying it as the Word of God since the writing was inspired by the Holy Spirit. But the Bible was also penned by men who sometimes expressed raw emotion as they poured out their hearts to God. One psalmist expressed these strong feelings when he asked God, “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?” (Psalm 44:23–24).

Obviously, God does not sleep; and being omniscient, he does not forget. The psalmist is expressing how he feels, and we can understand because most of us have felt the same way at times. Imprecatory psalms show us that we can take our emotions to God.

Seeking Justice

The psalmists longed for justice on those who had blasphemed God or had severely wronged them or their people. After the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, the writer of Psalm 137 likely knew that the Babylonians had starved the people; blinded King Zedekiah immediately after killing his sons in front of him; slaughtered men, women, and children; carried others into exile; and burned their palaces and temple (2 Kings 25:1–17; 2 Chronicles 36:17–21). Their cry for vengeance is understandable, and some of it is consistent with what God said he would do to Babylon: “‘And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 51:24).

We are right to want justice. If evildoers are never justly punished, then they will have more opportunities to perform additional wickedness, harming more innocent people. Ignoring evil also means that we are not truly loving and wanting what’s best for our neighbors.

Our sense of justice comes from being made in God’s image, for God is just (Deuteronomy 32:4). Therefore, when we see people being abused, something within us yearns to see the abuser receive his or her just punishment. The problem is that our sense of vengeance is often twisted by our sinful hearts, and we are tempted toward vindictiveness instead of a just punishment or even mercy.

Psalm 137 seems to illustrate this: The psalmist rightly longed for justice to be carried out upon those who slaughtered his people, but he wrongly desired the brutal destruction of his enemies’ children. After all, the law explicitly stated that the children should not be put to death on account of their fathers (Deuteronomy 24:16).

God has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked,” and he wants them to turn from their evil ways (Ezekiel 33:11). So even if a person has committed an atrocity that we believe to be deserving of death, we should still be concerned about their eternal destiny and hope they will believe the gospel, which will rescue them from God’s perfect final judgment.

Vengeance Is the Lord’s

Jesus told his listeners to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Paul instructed the Christians in Rome, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Repay no one evil for evil. . . . If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:14, 17–18).

Paul practiced what he preached, telling the Corinthian church, “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat” (1 Corinthians 4:12–13). Perhaps Paul often recalled hearing Stephen’s final words as he was stoned: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

Rather than longing for revenge on the wicked, we should pray for their salvation so that they will ultimately receive mercy in place of judgment. Paul gave his readers the following instructions regarding their attitudes toward enemies:

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19–21)

We can yearn to see justice done, but we should also desire to have hearts marked by love and forgiveness. Ironically, acts of compassion toward an enemy may be the very thing God uses to provoke his or her conscience to see the need for Jesus’ forgiveness.

We Also Deserve Justice

When we read imprecatory psalms, we should examine our own emotions and motives. Are we loving our enemies? Are we praying for those who persecute us, remembering that only God has the right to carry out vengeance? And while we may rightly desire to see God bring justice on someone who has wronged us or harmed others, we should balance that desire with the truth that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).