When I was a very young Christian, I was full of the promises of my God who was a mighty warrior. His arm was strong and he was omnipotent. My dad could whip any other make-believe god on the planet: or the universe as far as that goes. I loved the Psalms; however, it was the IMPRECATORY Psalms that I loved the most.
I had all of the violent warrior-like Psalms highlighted in my King James Bible. There you go, the KJV that I used as my main translation should tell you something about how far I had progressed in the spirit- or not!
My main man, David, was one of the best at taking down the enemies. You do remember who nailed Goliath with just a rock from his slingshot don't you? But, that was small stuff. When David couldn't kill and lion or a bear with his own hands, he would call down the wrath of God. Talk about a powerful 911 call.
In Psalms 35 as an example, the first three verses in the NLT read as follows.
O Lord, oppose those who oppose me.
Fight those who fight against me.
2 Put on your armor, and take up your shield.
Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.
3 Lift up your spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Let me hear you say,
"I will give you victory!"
Do it dad- take it to them!, but maybe we should ask ourselves- does God answer prayers to do someone in as the Old Testament indicates? Let's get a modern-day version of what I'm talking about.
Pastor Wiley Drake declared not once, but three times, on national radio that he was praying for the death of President Obama. Is that a hate crime? He really does want God to smite Obama, and no, it's not a partisan prayer. Yes, it's in the Bible, he says, and no, he wasn't kidding. He's deadly serious.
The former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention said he's merely practicing the age-old art of "imprecatory prayer"—a theological term. Imprecatory prayers can turn a verse into curse through reciting Scripture aimed at one's foes. Rather than asking for, say, healing or a win in the big game, these prayers request that God smite one's enemies with—among other things—plagues, death and eternal damnation.
Is this really something that Jesus taught, something that Christians should embrace?
Me thinks not! In fact, Jesus taught just the opposite. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.
