There are some tough things prayed for in the psalms. Psalm 10 has one of those lines: "Break the arm of the wicked, evil person."
A lot of these petitions make us wince. More, for many progressive Christians such imprecatory petitions cause outright problems with the Bible. Too violent!
I sympathize. But when you think about those people who "kill the innocent in secret places"--to say nothing of those who beat, rape, hurt, abuse, torture, and traffic the innocent in secret places--do you not empathize with the anger of the poet? Does your voice not join this cry on behalf of victims? Do your tears not burn hot upon your cheek? Is there not some raging and weeping part within you that wishes to "break their arm"?
Have you become so emotionally clueless that you can no longer embrace the Bible's deep humanity and concern for those who suffer unjustly?
And yet, if we have these feelings, admittedly very dangerous feelings, what are we supposed to do with them?
Well, the psalms channel this violent rage into art. Revenge is poured into aesthetic expression. Violence becomes a poem and a song. And more than that, into prayer. We take our hate to God.
I can't think of two better ways of handling our darkest impulses.
