Wow

 For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship. Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. May a creditor seize all he has; m ay strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. May their sins always remain  before the Lord, that he may blot out their name from the earth.

 For he never thought of doing a kindness, hut hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted. He loved to pronounce a curse— may it come back on him.  He found no pleasure in blessing—  may it be far from him. He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.

But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your unfailing love.

Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it. While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice. May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them. (Psalm 109)

Wow. Just, wow. You have probably never heard a sermon about Psalm 109. Technically, it is an imprecatory psalm. Translation: it’s a cursing psalm. It’s what I call a “shatter their teeth” psalm, and I’ve said before that I love imprecatory psalms, not because I like the cursing of others. I like it because is God can survive hearing that from David, He won’t be overwhelmed by my anger. If God didn’t punish David for his anger, He won’t punish me for mine. We’ll come back to that because there is a sense in which He does, but it needs closer examination.

I just listened to a Become New podcast about this psalm, in which it was pointed out that this psalm brings the singer, the singer’s anger, the person the singer is angry with, and God together. Our natural (sinful) tendency is to leave God out of it, and act against the person we’re angry with in some way (often attack, withdrawal, or redirection).

That’s not what this psalm does. He complains to God about his enemies and what he wants done to them, at length. He vents to God. He rants to God. He raves at God. He throws a world-class temper tantrum at God. But, he leaves the decision about what to do up to God. We aren’t told the name of the subject of this song. We aren’t told what God did in response. That doesn’t seem to be what the song is about. It’s not a revenge song. It’s an anger psalm. The point isn’t what happened to the person David was angry with. It’s what happened to David and his relationship with God, and there’s no indication that it suffered.

I should note that there are times when I have prayed a variation of this sort of psalm. Perhaps it’s more of a tattling psalm, but I figuratively walked into the throne room of heaven without knocking and said, “We need to talk about Your daughter…” Of course, “your daughter” is me.

Being open with God about your anger is simply wise. He knows you’re angry whether you tell Him or not. He’s going to work in your life, and that’s generally easier for you if you are open and honest. It might not even hurt as much.