Using Imprecatory Psalms

A few thoughts on the use of the imprecatory Psalms-- there always seems to be hesitancy on their appropriateness for the church, whether in private or corporate worship.

I think any hesitancy is only because people aren't understanding that Christ and his Church are the central figures of the Psalms; everything in them must be embraced through that lens in order to understand and make full use of them.

The imprecatory Psalms solemnly proclaim God's just and righteous judgments upon the wicked. They sometimes pronounce those judgments, as in Psalm 109, where the judgment upon Judas the son of perdition is foretold (see Acts 2:15-20). God will judge in the same way all who have despised and persecuted Christ and his Church. The Church, united to her Lord, speaks with his mind in praying for and pronouncing these judgments. And like him, the Church takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).

The imprecatory Psalms sometimes describe the sad outcomes of those judgments, when man is left to his own cruelty and the innocent suffer as casualties of war, as in Psalm 137:8, 9. These verses are not the voice of the church praying that babies will suffer and die. They were prophecy in the sense that they warned of and foretold the terrible future ahead for the little ones of cruel Babylon, when the equally cruel Medes and Persians overran and conquered them. They are still prophecy, an overarching truth of the consequences of man's pride and hatred toward God. The church is to continue to recount these things for her own sobriety and for the good of a lost world.

There is no sinful desire for revenge expressed in the Psalms. The psalmists' expressions are all prophetic, all of Christ, and all speak to the coming of his glorious kingdom. We can and should make use of them because we are to pray for and speak of the righteous judgments of God.

The New Testament Teaches Us To See Christ In All The Psalms

In Luke 4:11, Satan tempts Christ by quoting to him Psalm 91:11-12, where God "will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." If this account had not been included in the Gospels, we might never have known that Psalm 91 is all about Christ.

In the book of Acts, Psalm 16:10 is twice quoted by the apostles, and by them it's revealed that Christ is the speaker in that Psalm. Again, if these statements by the apostles hadn't been recorded, we might never have known that Psalm 16 is all about Christ.

Psalms 91 and 16 are typical of the language of many other Psalms. There is no reason to assume that the words and prayers in many other Psalms are not the prayers of Christ, or words about him, I believe that this is what we are to infer from the many other New Testament references to Christ in the Psalms.

The resurrected Christ himself told his slow-to-understand disciples, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44).

So, the New Testament lets us know to look for our Good Shepherd in the Psalms; either for his voice in the "first person" or for words about him. 

One common argument against singing only the Psalms in the worship and praise of God is that in singing them we are not singing the name of Jesus. Yet, in singing the Psalms, we're singing both about him and with him. We are singing what he is singing, what he desires to sing in the congregation (Psalm 22:22-25; Hebrews 2:11-13). He will not sing our uninspired words, but will sing his own words, leading the churches in the praising, thanking, and petitioning the Father.

Bonar On The Solidarity Of Christ With His Church In The Psalms

Andrew Bonar, "Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms"

Now in the early ages men full of the thoughts of Christ could never read their Psalms without being reminded of their Lord. They probably had no system or fixed theory as to all the Psalms referring to Christ; but still, unthinkingly we might say, they found their thoughts would wander unto their Lord, as the one person in whom these breathings, these praises, these desires, these hopes, these deep feelings, found their only true and full realization.

Hence Augustine said to his hearers, as he expounded to them this book, that "the voice of Christ and his church was well nigh the only voice to be heard in the Psalms." And on another occasion, "Everywhere diffused throughout is that man whose Head is above, and whose members are below. We ought to recognize his voice in all the Psalms, either waking up the psaltery or ordering the deep groan; rejoicing in hope, or heaving sighs over present realities...We cannot err far, therefore, if we keep our left eye on David, while we have our right eye full on Christ."

In some instances, the Head exclusively speaks, or is spoken of; and in a few others the Members alone; but generally, the strain is such in feeling and matter, that the Head and Members together can use the harp and utter the song. And so important are these holy songs, that nearly 50 of them are referred to in the New Testament, and applied to Christ.

The Church In The Psalms

Just a bit of reflection: the more familiar I become with the Psalms through reading and dwelling on them, the more oriented I become to the realities of being the church in the world. This, as opposed to a merely individualistic reading of the Psalms.

What I mean is, that the Psalms, while absolutely meant to supply words for the cries to God of his individual members, are also meant for the prayers and praises and supplications of the church who is in Christ, the Christ of the Psalms.

He went through these travails of the flesh for us (for each individual member, absolutely; but he came to redeem a people, a royal priesthood, a nation, a bride). Those travails are given expression uniquely in the Psalms.

This morning, I read Psalm 120, the first of the Songs of Ascent:

In my trouble I cried to the LORD, and he answered me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. What more shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the warrior, with the burning coals of the broom tree. Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, for I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long has my soul had its dwelling with those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.

This brought me right up against the truth that these are the words of the sojourning, suffering church in the world. As an individual member of Christ's body, I am in union with the church universal through our union with Christ; there is a for real solidarity with the sufferings she experiences, and I am, right now, groaning in those sufferings, even if I feel relatively at ease for the moment: "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). What this Psalm and others like it teach through their expressions of joy and sorrow and difficulty (and of imprecation, verse 4) is that the ultimate realities are those expressed in all the Psalms.

I'm realizing that it is happiest to have my thinking transformed through God's word to think as he does about his church and about our experience in the world as a "lively stone" of it.  The Psalms are uniquely given for this purpose, giving us words that transform our thinking to see his church as God sees it in this world.

Christ Teaching Us How To Repent In The Psalms

Just as when Christ instructed his disciples on how to pray he mouthed words of repentance for them to say: "Forgive us our trespasses...;" so in the Psalms he gives his people and his church the words of repentance  to say: "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity..." (Psalm 51:2; and so many other places). Christ is in the Psalms in many ways, including, as High Priest, teaching his church the words and ways of repentance and faith in God.

A Helpful Article

Here's a link to a nice article by Nicholas T. Batzig at the website "Feeding On Christ." The article has some good information, including some reasoning on 'why the scarcity of modern christocentric Psalm commentaries?' (Calvin's reticence!). It also contains some helpful resources and links, including audio by Edmund Clowney on Christ in the Psalms (update: I have listened to some of this audio and found it helpful in some ways, but a bit vague or unclear in others. I may try to post a few thoughts on it later, for reasons I'll explain then.) Very thoughtful and informative! Go check it out.

The Songs of the Son (Seeing Christ in the Psalms)

I Don't Want To Sing Psalms, I Want To Sing About Christ!

"Martin Luther used to call the Book of Psalms "a little Bible." Bishop Horne describes it as "an epitome of the Bible." These terms are fully justified in the fact that in the Psalter we find concentrated all the truths which are elsewhere elaborated and enforced in all the divine Word. It thus possesses an internal completeness not found in any other single book in the inspired volume. Having, evidently, this thought in mind, Thomas Scott, the eminent commentator, says, "There is nothing in true religion -- doctrinal, experimental, and practical -- but will present itself to our attention whilst we meditate upon the Psalms. The Christian's use of them in the closet, and the minister's in the pulpit, will generally increase with the growing experience of the power of true religion in their own hearts."

"One essential reason for this internal completeness of the Psalter is that Christ is the central figure in it, as He is in the entire Word of God. Every book, indeed, of the Old Testament is intended to lead directly or indirectly to Jesus Christ. But in this respect the Book of Psalms stands preeminent among the entire thirty-nine." 

Read the entire article here. 

Links to Helpful Articles

A roundup of helpful links:

Christ in the Psalms:

"Every book, indeed, of the Old Testament is intended to lead directly or indirectly to Jesus Christ. But in this respect the Book of Psalms stands preeminent among the entire thirty-nine."



Calvin on the Psalms:

"Now what Saint Augustine says is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God unless he has received them from him. Wherefore, when we have looked thoroughly everywhere and searched high and low, we shall find no better songs nor more appropriate for the purpose than the Psalms of David, which the Holy Spirit made and spoke through him. And furthermore, when we sing them, we are certain that God puts the words in our mouths, as if he himself were singing in us to exalt his glory."

On whether the Psalms are really appropriate for New Testament worship:

"The quality of congregational praise when we sang from the Psalter, in my opinion, exceeded that of singing from the Hymnal. In fact, I began to studiously narrow down the particular hymns that I considered to be of equal quality with the Psalter selections. Through the weeks, that list of hymns became smaller and smaller. The day arrived when I had to confess that no hymn... measured up to the quality, inspiration, usefulness of a Psalm from the Psalter."

On the purity of our worship (really small print! but worth enlarging.): 

"No part of Christian worship is more plainly warranted by the Oracles of God, than the ordinance of the singing of psalms."

And one could go on about how the Psalms are necessary for the unity, comfort and joy of the church. More links to come, hopefuly.

Two Great Sermons

Two great sermons from G.I. Williamson on the Psalms and singing them:

"Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs"

"The Mind of Christ"

Very helpful.

The Inner Life of Christ In The Psalms

A quote from the Preface of "The True Psalmody," published in 1861:

...I believe there is one view of Christ—and that not the least important to the tired and troubled believer—that can only be discovered in the Book of Psalms. I mean His inward life. No eye-witness of the outward man, even though an inspired evangelist (i.e., one of Jesus' apostles), could penetrate the heart. But the Spirit who "searches the deep things of God" has, in the Psalms, laid open the innermost thoughts, sorrows, and conflicts of our Lord.The [writers of the gospels] faithfully and intelligently depict the sinless Man; the Psalms alone lay open the heart of "the Man of sorrows".

Understanding this view has been most meaningful in my enjoyment of the Psalms, and most enlarging of their edification to me. It has shown me Christ more in the Psalms and increased my love for him and my appreciation of all that he bore for his people, in life and in death. I've realized that in the Psalms, as the pre-incarnate Christ speaks of his sufferings to come, and speaks to the Father about them, and calls on Yahweh to save and rescue him, he is training us to do the same. What a tremendous Author of our salvation!

"The True Psalmody" is an old book that as far as I know, can only be accessed online, but it's a valuable addition to those looking to figure out this psalmody/worship question. Here's a link to it: "The True Psalmody". The quote above is from the first Preface of the book by Rev. Henry Cooke, and outlines his story of coming to see the worth of singing only the Psalms in the church.

Christ Sings in the Congregation

Since I last wrote, back in February, I've been gradually coming to a more convinced position that the gathered church, most wonderfully, is to sing only God's word. This conviction has been formed by Scripture. I've also been helped by church history, and the teachings of  many Reformers like Calvin, and by so many of the Puritans, especially, who had to deal with controversies over the singing of the church.

In the two main parallel texts looked to for the doctrine of New Testament singing (Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3), Paul says that our singing is to be in accord with being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, 19) and being richly indwelt by the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16). They are one and the same thing—to have hearts richly indwelt by the word of Christ is to be filled with the Spirit of Christ. We are to sing the word of Christ back to God and to each other.

Then consider these words from the author of Hebrews 2:10-12, 13b (quoting Psalm 22:22 and Isaiah 8:18):

For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation [Christ] perfect through suffering. For He who sanctifies [God] and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He [Christ] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, "I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise...behold, I and the children God has given Me.

Christ from of old decreed that he would tell in the assembly of his brothers of the Father's great name.Christ will do this praising of the Father's name in song, as he leads in singing the praise of the Father, in Christ's own words, not man's—from the great songbook of the church through the ages, the inspired psalter. This was the Trinitarian plan of Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Greek word for "sing" in Hebrews 2:12 is "hymnneō," which has no other meaning than "to sing". It's the same word used in Matthew 26:30 which basically reads, "And when they had hymned (hymnneō), they went out..."   It's well-accepted that the "hymn" sung by Christ and his disciples on this occasion was one of the Hallel psalms, which consisted of Psalms 113-118 and Psalm 136, sometimes referred to as "The Great Hallel."

If the singing of Hebrews 2:12 is the singing of Christ then the song consists of his words; if they are his words, then they are now the written Scripture. How could it be otherwise—how could we "put words in his mouth," so to speak, even if they are the very best songs man can produce?

There are many more things to say about this, but being limited by time and talent, I'll stop here, and finish with the thought that this is so wonderful to me. Many arguments against limiting our songs in the church to the Scripture, and specifically to the Psalms, may come to mind.

But these protests pale compared to the evidence from the Bible as well as church history that these are indeed the songs we're to sing. If singing the Psalms together is God's will for the church, then nothing but blessing can come from our obedience to do it. However, every local church must come to its own conviction of the rightness of this. Everyone who cares about the singing together of the church should seek to come to a conviction of conscience about it.

Here's a good place to begin reading, if you're interested and willing.This essay on the Ephesians and Colossians passages might help jump-start your thinking (and lead to some good questions) to help you in searching the Scriptures for yourself:

"Of Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs And The Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW)".  Be sure and click on the link provided to the PDF of the full article.

Also, read through the comments on the Heidelblog post as Dr. Clark responds there to some common questions.