Dear Saints of Valley Church,
One of my Christian heroes is C.S. Lewis. From being handed a copy of Mere Christianity as a young believer to reading his later reflections on suffering and pain, to my reading of The Chronicles of Narnia to my children, I believe that the writings of Lewis are among God’s great blessings to the church. However, I do disagree with Lewis when it comes to some of the Psalms that are often called “Imprecatory Psalms.” Lewis wrote that the prayers in these Psalms “are indeed devilish,” as are the Psalmists “who made them so,” and that anyone who would approve of what is written in these portions of the Bible would be simple-minded or wicked.
However, the New Testament does not share Lewis’s view on these Psalms. Imprecatory Psalms 35 and 109 are cited as God’s Word in John 15:25 and Acts 1:20. Another one, Psalm 69, is also cited as Scripture throughout the New Testament (Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:36; John 2:17; 19:29; Romans 15:3). As Bible commentator James Montgomery Boice points out, the same Jesus who said “Father, forgive them” also pronounced the terrible woes upon the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in Matthew 23. We also see the fulfillment of so much of these Psalms recorded in the worship of Revelation 18-19 at the fall of Babylon.
Furthermore, these Psalms are not only divinely inspired but also immensely important for us. They are part of Scripture that is “profitable” for us for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that we may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). How are these Psalms profitable? Because they address what it is like living in a sin-cursed world full of injustice. As we walk through the pilgrimage of life, we not only lament because of suffering; we also lament as we encounter the injustice, and evil, and wickedness of this fallen world. We live in a world where friends are betrayed, where employees are exploited, where the elderly are scammed, where people are maligned because of their ethnic heritage, and where Christians are sued because of their biblical convictions. This is why we should not and cannot ignore or discount these parts of Scripture as devilish.
I hope you will join us for our gathering this Sunday as we study Psalm 35 to consider how the Psalmist helps us think biblically about the injustice and wickedness of this world, as he guides our hearts to wrestle with lamenting prayer to a holy and just God. Let us follow David’s gaze up from the pain and sorrow of an unjust world to the hope of knowing that the Judge of all the Earth will certainly do what is right as we sing to one another (His Mercy is More, Firm Foundation, and Be Thou My Vision), encourage one another, and let God’s Word richly dwell within us as we listen to God’s Word together.
By His strength and for His glory,
Craig Shigyo