NO PROBABLE CAUSE! ~ Psalm 35

What are imprecatory prayers? How common are they? Should we pray them today?

What do the following verses have in common besides the fact that they are all found in the New Testament? Luke 10:10-16; Galatians 1:8, 5:12; 1 Corinthians 16:21-22; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2 Timothy 4:14; and Revelation 6:10, 19:1-2. All these New Testament verses involved certain judgment that is coming spoken in language, at times, in the form of a prayer.

When we pray: Thy Kingdom come…what are we praying for? To pray that the Lord’s Kingdom would come is to pray that all other kingdoms and those who oppose God’s reign would incur divine judgment. It is a prayer of blessing for the church but for curses upon the kingdom of the evil one. Jesus also used imprecatory language in Matthew 23 in His diatribe against the scribes and Pharisees. Speaking of Judas, Jesus said in Matthew 26:23-24—And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” How do I apply that to my own trial? While part of God’s perfect plan for me, which had been ordained from the foundation of the world, was to be falsely accused, convicted and sent to prison, the ones who were responsible for the evil incurred will still be held responsible for their part in bringing it to pass. Incidentally, the Matthew 26 passage takes language from Psalm 41 which is also a psalm of lament using imprecatory language.

Imprecatory prayers are human prayers based upon divine promises. It is asking God to do what He has already said He would do. The motivation is zeal for God’s righteousness, honor, and reputation. It is a prayer that God would bring judgment if the wicked persist in their rebellion. While we are praying that God would judge, we are also praying that the wicked would turn in repentance. We are to return good for evil. I think the believers who have a hard time with the imprecatory prayers also have difficulty understanding the beauty of the two-fold purpose of church discipline.

I don’t know who it was, but someone once said: To return evil for evil is demonic.

                                                                        To return good for good is human.

                                                                        To return good for evil is divine!

We are not to seek vengeance because God says He will take care of it (Romans 12:19). Because He has said that vengeance is His, we can cry out for His will to be done. Only He can repay evil perfectly and according to His perfect will. The punishment will always fit the crime with God as Judge.

In the last blog post, we saw that David had prayed to the Lord to:

          Let his enemies…be ashamed and dishonored………………..who had sought his life

                                   be turned back and humiliated…………...who had devised evil against him

                                   be like chaff before the wind

                                                        with the angel of the LORD driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them. (Psalm 35:6)

(See also Psalm 73:18 and Jeremiah 23:12) Dark is darkness or obscurity. Slippery is a treacherous place or can mean flattery, slipperiness, fine promises, smoothness. David’s prayer is that the Lord would cause them not to be able to see where they were going on this dark, slippery slope upon which they are traveling. The picture is one of which horror films are made. You know the fear just watching the heroin as she runs through a wooded area on a dark stormy night having no idea where she is going as a killer pursues her. David is praying that the tables be turned upon his enemies. His prayer is that being pursued by the destroying angel seeking vengeance, these enemies would be scattered by the wind, driven in the dark on a slippery slope.

Why did David pray that the Lord would deal with his enemies in this way? For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my soul. (vs. 7)

The wicked pursue the righteous with no probable cause!

Job 2:3—The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” Psalm 69:4—Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies. What I did not steal, I then have to restore. Psalm 109:3—They have also surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without cause. John 15:25—But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

There are so many instances where this phrase is used throughout Scripture when the wicked persecute the righteous. There are also commands against it. Proverbs 24:28—Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Proverbs 3:30—Do not contend with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

Lest you think David wishes to be held to another standard than God’s standard of righteousness and justice for all: Psalm 7:3-5—O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it. And let him trample my life down to the ground and lay my glory in the dust.

Without cause David’s enemies had hid their net for him and dug a pit for his soul. Another psalm where David uses this language is Psalm 140:5—The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords. They have spread a net by the wayside. They have set snares for me. These are hunting words. The main idea is that they secretly devised their schemes to trap him by catching him in their nets. The enemies have laid plans to entrap and ruin David. They have concocted plots to secure destruction before he is aware of it. The net is for catching, of judgment, of leaders leading people to sin as a trap for man. The net is so concealed or hidden that the animal of prey cannot see it. The purpose is to entrap by deceit. The net suddenly is drawn over the animal and secures him before he knew what happened. The word hid means secretly laying under cover of darkness to hide oneself. Interestingly, the net has a purpose of taking or seizing something.

They hid a net and dug a pit for him. They dig—to pry into, by implication, to delve, to explore, to paw, search out, seek. It can also mean to plot! Pit—a pit (especially as a trap to fall into), corruption, destruction, ditch, or grave. A pit is also used to describe an underground prison and Hell. Legal nuances here, to one who has been through “jurisprudence”, is surreal!

Let destruction come upon him unawares; and let the net which he hid catch himself. Into that very destruction let him fall. (vs. 8) David is praying that the very destruction that his enemy designed for him, would fall on him, that this judgment would come when he least expected it, and that it would be for his destruction—devastation, ruin or waste. Let him fall—to be cast down, violent death, to prostrate oneself before, cause to fail.

Behold, the promises for the wicked! (These aren’t threats, they are promises.) Psalm 7:12-16—If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword. He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons. He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, and he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, and his violence will descend upon his own pate. Daniel 6:24—The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children and their wives into the lions’ den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Psalm 9:15-16—The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. The LORD has made Himself known. He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared.

Versus the promises for the righteous! Psalm 25:15—My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
for He will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 66:10-12—For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. Lamentations 3:52-66—My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird. They have silenced me in the pit and have placed a stone on me. Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off!” I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice, “Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, from my cry for help.” You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not fear!” O LORD, You have pleaded my soul’s cause. You have redeemed my life. O LORD, You have seen my oppression. Judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all their schemes against me. You have heard their reproach, O LORD, all their schemes against me. The lips of my assailants and their whispering are against me all day long. Look on their sitting and their rising. I am their mocking song. You will recompense them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. You will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD!