The images coming out of Ukraine are nothing short of devastating. Homes, lives, and communities destroyed—pictures of it all appearing on our social media feeds between posts of celebrity news and complaints about gas prices.
It’s enough to make us want to scream. Or, if you’re Tish Harrison Warren, it’s enough to make you open the Psalms in search of imprecatory prayers.
“The imprecatory psalms are those that call down destruction, calamity, and God’s judgment on enemies,” writes Warren. “Honestly, I don’t usually know what to do with them… But they were made for moments like these.”
As we pray for peace in Ukraine, and even for Vladimir Putin to repent, Scripture gives us permission to pray for God to destroy the wicked as well. The psalms offer us a way to express our heartbreak and anger on behalf of the oppressed. They help us to call evil what it is and to remember that God hates injustice.
So when you don’t know what to pray in the face of the world’s pain, try the words of Psalm 7 or Psalm 35, and be reminded that longing for sorrows to cease reflects the heart of God.
