Recently, at the time of writing, Charlie Kirk was tragically gunned down at a university. In the aftermath, there has been shock, sadness, anger, and many other feelings throughout Americans and even some overseas. In response, fellow Christians have seemingly thrown down the gauntlet in a way not previously seen in interactions with ideological opponents. Thousands have reportedly lost their jobs due to their comments or reactions to the news of Kirk’s assassination. The exhortation I am penning here is to ensure that we biblically hate. I get that the previous sentence sounds inflammatory, but I humbly ask for patience. I am not attempting, as provocateur Joel Webbon stated, to “Make America Hate Again”1 What I’m hoping to propose here is a renewed vigor for the under-utilized practice of the Imprecatory Psalms.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 139 that:
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
Many would point to this passage and say clearly that it’s okay to hate the enemies of God. “David hates Gods enemies because they are wicked, and we are called to hate the wicked too;” some might say. But the truth is not so black and white. This text is not a mere hating of sin in abstract notions, but a holy zeal aligned with God against His enemies. As John Calvin said regarding this passage, “David is not carried away with the violence of carnal passion, but zealously desires that God’s kingdom be rightly constituted … It is a pious and holy hatred, for nothing is more precious to us than God’s honor.”2 There is a difference between sinful hatred (one that is selfish, revengeful, or envious) and this holy hatred, which is a hatred of sin and its opposition to God – “hatred… directed to the sins rather than the persons of the wicked.”3
There seems to be two ditches on the road, one where we crawl into the muck to hate God’s enemies mercilessly with vindictiveness, and the modern ambivalence of “love the sinner, hate the sin” that vaguely tolerates the wicked by separating them from their sinfulness, as though sin is not connected to their covenantal standing before God.4 So how do we hate? Well, Calvin says “It is a proof of our having a fervent zeal for God when we have the magnanimity to declare irreconcilable war with the wicked, rather than court their favor at the expense of alienating divine favor.”5 Yes, we should acknowledge that the wicked are part of the Imago Dei, corrupted as they are. However, we need to have a level of enmity towards the sinner as they are God’s enemy.6
But how does one do that? Due to my own concupiscence7 I find it all too easy to violate the 6th commandment in my heart when it yearns to see the wicked fall. Westminster Standards say in the Larger Catechism that the sins of the sixth commandment are “all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice, lawful war, or necessary defense; the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life; sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions, distracting cares; immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding, and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any.“8
When we wish, as an example, for someone to lose their job because we relish their harm, that’s a violation of the Sixth Commandment. However, if we are glad because we see wickedness being restrained, harm to others prevented, & justice upheld, then this is not sinful. Proverbs says “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.”9 As I alluded earlier, the best way for us to hate wickedness is not by our own passions, but by the Imprecatory Psalms. When we pray, read, and hopefully sing these Psalms we are removing our passions out of the equation. We are proclaiming through God’s perfect word his judgment.
Imprecatory Psalms anchor hatred in God’s cause, not ours. When we are left to our own devices, particularly when doomscrolling on social media, our anger easily becomes petty, personal, or even vengeful. But these Psalms give us words that are God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16). They teach us not to hold the wicked to our own private grudges, but to God’s honor. As Calvin said, the Psalms are “an anatomy of all parts of the soul” and that includes our anger. Through proclaiming God’s Word our fiercest anger is taken up, purified, and directed not in our vengeance, but to God’s glory.
These Psalms remind us that God is the Judge, not us. When we pray the words of Psalm 58 to “Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!” we’re not telling God that we’re going to be the one breaking teeth like an ordained pugilist but rather we’re handing that judgment over to God. So often we are quick to get our hands dirty, but Paul teaches us that:
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but [rather] give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance [is] Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. - Romans 12:17-19
The Psalms keep us from taking revenge by teaching us to lament and entrust justice to God, rather than indulge in bitterness ourselves, lest our appetite for wrath make our bellies our god. It is no coincidence that many imprecatory psalms contain calls to repentance or expressions of trust in God’s salvation.10 This trains us to pray with both a longing for repentance and a willingness for judgment if repentance does not come. What better way to pray for God’s will to be done than to pray for His mercy & justice in His own words?
It’s here in the narrow path that we can pray for the wicked’s conversion and also denounce their wickedness and oppose them. Here we do the hardest thing in our anger by humbly submitting to God’s providence. You never know when the one who holds the coats of the wicked while they martyr Christians will find forgiveness as they turn from their wicked way and follow Christ.
The following are widely recognized as imprecatory Psalms
- Psalm 5 – Prayer for God’s justice against the wicked.
- Psalm 6 – Calls for deliverance and expresses anguish toward enemies.
- Psalm 7 – Plea for God to judge the wicked.
- Psalm 10 – Calls for God to rise up against the wicked.
- Psalm 17 – Prayer for protection from evildoers.
- Psalm 18 – Partially imprecatory, calling on God to defeat enemies.
- Psalm 35 – Explicit imprecatory sections against David’s enemies.
- Psalm 37 – Mainly a wisdom psalm, but includes imprecatory “break the arm of the wicked” passages.
- Psalm 55 – Calls for God to deal with treacherous enemies.
- Psalm 58 – Strongly imprecatory against unjust rulers.
- Psalm 59 – Prayer for deliverance from violent enemies.
- Psalm 69 – Contains curses and pleas for God’s vindication.
- Psalm 70 – Short but includes calls for God to defeat enemies.
- Psalm 79 – Laments national destruction and calls for God’s vengeance.
- Psalm 83 – Explicit prayer against neighboring nations conspiring against Israel.
- Psalm 109 – One of the most extreme imprecatory Psalms, with detailed curses.
- Psalm 137 – Mourning Babylon and calling for retribution.
- Psalm 140 – Prayer for protection and for God to punish the wicked.
- Psalm 141 – Includes pleas against the violence of enemies.
- Psalm 143 – Ends with a request for God’s justice.
- https://x.com/rightresponsem/status/1966578748825751610 ↩︎
- Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol 12: Psalms, Part V ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Isaiah 24:5 ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Romans 8:7 ↩︎
- Theologically speaking, concupiscence is humanity’s natural inclination towards sin, as a direct result of Original Sin ↩︎
- WLC 136 ↩︎
- Proverbs 11:10 ↩︎
- Psalm 7, 35, 37, 58, and 109 are clear examples of this. ↩︎
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