In Psalms, chapter thirty-five, verses one through thirty-eight, is an imprecatory psalm, which means that the psalmist prays that God will bring judgment upon the enemies of His people and overthrow the wicked. Although believers are to forgive their enemies, as in Luke twenty-three, verse thirty-four, and to pray for their salvation, as in Matthew five, verses thirty-nine and forty-four, a time comes when we must pray for evil to cease and for justice to serve for the innocent. All saints should be vitally concerned for the victims of cruelty, oppression, and evil.
Imprecatory psalms are prayers for deliverance from injustice, crime, and oppression. Believers have a right to pray for God’s protection from evil people. They’re appeals for God to administer justice and send penalties upon the wicked corresponding to their crimes, as in Psalms twenty-eight, verse four. If just retribution is done by God or human government, violence and chaos will reign in society.
The psalmist does not take vengeance into their own hands but commits it to God, as in Deuteronomy thirty-two, verse thirty-five, Proverbs twenty, verse twenty-two, and Romans twelve, verse nineteen. The imprecatory psalms point to the truth that when the iniquity of the wicked reaches its full measure, the Lord, by His righteousness, judges and destroys, as in Revelation six, verses ten and seventeen. These prayers are inspired by the Holy Spirit, as in Second Timothy three, verses sixteen to seventeen, and Second Peter one, verses nineteen through twenty-one.
The ultimate goal of an imprecatory prayer is to see injustice and cruelty end, evil destroyed, Satan defeated, godliness exalted, righteousness established, and the kingdom of God realized. This goal is a dominant concern in the New Testament. Christ Himself states that true believers may pray for the vindication of the righteous. Believers must keep two Biblical principles in balance: the desire to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, as in Second Peter three, verse nine, and the desire to see evil destroyed and the kingdom of God victorious. We must earnestly pray for the salvation of the lost and weep for those who reject the gospel. Yet we must also know that righteousness, goodness, and love will never be established according to God’s purpose until evil is conquered and Satan and his followers are forever put down, as Revelation six, verses nineteen through twenty-one.