Tuesday, February 8

Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.

When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him.

May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.

May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.

May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.

May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children…

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

May their sins always remain before the Lord…

May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.

Psalm 109:6-20 (selected)

All of us can remember playing the childhood game of “tag.” The game was simple; someone was “it” – and they were “it” until they tagged you – then you became “it” – and so forth. And when you got tagged, the easiest way to escape being “it” was to quickly tag the person who had just tagged you. If you were fast you could then get away saying “Tagged you back!” or “Got you back.” That always worked until someone inevitably would come up with the rule, “No tag backs!”

This part of David’s prayer addresses the natural desire of anger to tag someone back – the desire for retribution. David has been mistreated by those he once considered friends and he is both hurt and angry over the injustice. Here he records a series of “curses” against those who have done evil against him. Notice three things about these curses (read them again slowly).

I’m serious – go back and read the Psalm!

First, notice that David is not expressing a desire for personal revenge. Rather, he is wishing that God would do his job and deliver swift and serious punishment on those who deserve it. Second, notice that anger, pain, and the desire for retribution are dripping from every line. Third, notice that these curses are part of a prayer!

Most of us have heard about the “Hatfields and McCoys” – even if we don’t know the actual story of these two feuding families. The whole story began in 1878 when one of the Randolph McCoy accused one of the Hatfields of stealing one of his hogs. The tensions escalated until Ellison Hatfield was murdered by a McCoy in 1882. Then began a series of “tag-back” that resulted in 11 murders in 10 years – as each family felt the need to “pay back” the other.

While most of us avoid getting into such dramatic and violent quarrels, we do find ourselves far too often in a cycle of “pay-backs” in our own marriages, family relationships and friendships.

Why does David pray such awful things about and toward his enemies? Because he knows that it is much safer and healthier to bring those ugly thoughts to God – and to trust God’s judgment rather than his own – than it is to get into a “pay-back” cycle with his enemies.

Is there someone right now in your life that, if you were honest, you would really like to “tag back”? Can you turn that desire for retribution into a prayer? Can you turn that person and what they have done over to the God who can be trusted to judge perfectly? Make Psalm 109 your own prayer and turn over your hurt and anger to God.

Brian Coffey