Do you ever struggle during family worship reading through the Psalms of judgment, otherwise known as imprecatory Psalms or prayers?
Have you ever wondered how to pray these imprecatory Psalms (e.g. Psalms 5:10, 6:10; 7:6; 9:19-20;10:2,15; 17:13; 25:19; 28:4; 31:17; 31:18; 35:1, 4, 5, 6, 8,,19, 24, 25, 26; 40:14-15; 41:10; 54:5, 55:9, etc., etc.)?
If you happened to be in the home of the great preacher, pastor and father, Charles Spurgeon, you may have learned a wonderful and important lesson during family worship.
Preacher, Pastor and Father: Charles Spurgeon
Spurgeon writes about how to understand the many imprecatory Psalms:
I cannot forbear the following little incident that occurred the other morning at family worship. I happened to be reading one of the imprecatory psalms, and as I paused to remark, my little boy, a lad of ten years, asked with some earnestness: “Father, do you think it right for a good man to pray for the destruction of his enemies like that?” and at the same time referred me to Christ as praying for his enemies. I paused a moment to know how to shape the reply so as to fully meet and satisfy his enquiry, and then said, “My son, If an assassin should enter the house by night, and murder your mother, and then escape, and the sheriff and citizens were all out in pursuit, trying to catch him, would you not pray to God that they might succeed and arrest him, and that he might be brought to justice?” “Oh, yes!” said he, “but I never saw it so before. I did not know that that was the meaning of these psalms.” “Yes,” said I, “my son, the men against whom David prays were bloody men, men of falsehood and crime, enemies to the peace of society, seeking his own life, and unless they were arrested and their wicked devices defeated, many innocent persons must suffer.” The explanation perfectly satisfied his mind. [as found in War Psalms of the Prince of Peace: Lessons From the Imprecatory Psalms, 90; James E. Adams]
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