Prodigal Psalms

• Posted on sdgale
• in 'CHOP Talk' Blog
• on August 27, 2012
• No Comments.

The Psalms provide a wonderful resource for our prayer, a divinely-inspired one.  In the 150-psalm Psalter God gives us songs for all seasons and prayers for all reasons.

The words of Psalm 9 lead us in praise to our God.

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:1–2

When was the last time you addressed God as “O Most High”?  The psalms not only enlist our voices in prayer to God, they enrich our vocabulary about God, enlarging our view of Him.

Psalm 32 helps us confess our transgressions.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:5

Psalm 86 lends us words of thanks to take before our God.

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Psalm 86:12–13

Many psalms beseech God to teach us and make us teachable.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! Psalm 143:10

But there are those black sheep of the Psalter, what we might call “prodigal psalms.”  Prodigal psalms are extravagant in malediction, wayward in woe rather than weal. Benediction pronounces good words.  Malediction expresses words of hurt and ill will.

We’re not quite sure what to make of these psalms of malediction.  How can the words like these from Psalm 109 be useful to us for prayer?

May his days be few; may another take his office! May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children! Psalm 109:8–12 (ESV)

Yet these imprecatory psalms are God’s Word, included in His prayer book.  In conjunction with their peers, they enlarge our view of God.  They provide direction for us in addressing an important dimension of life in this fallen world.  They bring Christ to us in a unique way.

The key is for us to properly orient ourselves to these prodigal psalms.   We need to learn to employ them in keeping with the framework given us by God in His Word.

To gain this orientation and instruction, I commend to you an article from the Resource page of the Community Houses of Prayer website.  It’s entitled “Praying the Imprecatory Psalms.”