“When We Wish Bad Things Would
Happen to Bad People”
- Psalm 109
April 20, 2008
Dr. Michael C. Yarbrough

          These days, it is all-too-common for Kansas Citians to get up, go to work and be greeted by an inner office memo that said, “Due to a weak sales performance for the third straight year, it is necessary to cut the staff in your department by ½.”  What if you received a message like that?  What would you think of the corporate management?  What pestilence or hardship would you wish would happen to any of them?

          What if you were on the way home and got sideswiped by a young man who has no car insurance?  How would you feel about him?  What if you got home at the end of the day to find that your house has been burglarized – your household valuables stolen or broken?  What punishment would you wish for the burglars – when and if they were ever caught?

          I sincerely hope that not all of these things have ever happened to any of us in one day.  But surely some of these things have happened to some of us – and these things are happening to someone everyday!  We live in a world that we cannot control.  We are victims of circumstances and other people who hurt our bodies, ruin our property, or put us in danger.  What do you wish would happen to the people who do these things to you?

          There are a lot of things in this world that make me angry: drive-by shootings, child abuse and rape make me mad.  Reckless drivers and uninsured drivers make me mad.  Racial bigotry and discrimination – selfishness and gossip – make me mad.  War, terrorists, systematic oppression, poverty and greed make me mad.  Situations out of my control make me mad.  Sometimes – people make me mad.

          When I am feeling used by someone – or devalued as a human being – or suffer at the hands of another – or experience injustice – I get angry! – and then I feel guilty about getting angry!

          My parents taught me that I’m not a “good” Christian if I get angry.  That’s what they said – but then sometimes they got angry.  They got angry at each other – or at my siblings – (or at me).  They got angry at life’s circumstances – and many of the other things that rightfully can trigger anyone’s anger.  What’s a Christian to do?

          What went through your mind as I read part of the 109^th Psalm to you this morning?  Were you surprised?  Did you know that there is this passion and anger in this songbook of the early church?  What would you think if there was a hymn in the Chalice Hymnal with phrases like: “Let his days be few – may another seize his position – may his children be orphans and his wife a widow – may his children wander about and beg; may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit?”  Could you sing that hymn with gusto on Sunday morning?

          These words are an angry prayer to God!  And they’re in my Bible!  The 109^th Psalm implies that there is a place for anger in the religious life.  It is an admission of anger in a difficult and dangerous world.  It puts anger at the heart of the spiritual life and is recognized as a part of the human condition.

          Anger comes from the need to defend ourselves.  When we are in a situation that threatens life, or health, or livelihood, or family, or something we care about, our bodies begin to react.  When that woman swerved in front of me on I-435, my breathing became shallow and quicker.  My blood pressure rose.  My heart beat faster.  Adrenalin dumped into my bloodstream.  I had a sudden surge of strength, preparing me to face adversity, and to have adequate resources to confront the dangerous obstacle that threatened me.  God built us to be survivors!  Anger is a survival tool – and is as natural as life itself.

          Getting angry is what God created us to do.  But, what shall we do with this biological reaction?  Jesus didn’t tell us to not get mad.  In fact, when he became aware of injustices, his own anger was evident.  Jesus got angry, all right – but he got angry at the right things.  To follow Christ doesn’t mean that we have to suppress our anger – but it does mean that we use it creatively and appropriately.

          Do you remember a guy by the name of Lee Iacocca?  In 1983, he addressed the graduating class of the University of Michigan.  In his speech, he said this: “I want you to get mad about the current state of affairs.  I want you to get so mad that you kick your elders in their figurative posteriors and move America off dead center.  Our nation was born when 56 patriots got mad enough to sign the Declaration of Independence.  We put a man on the moon because Sputnik made us mad at being No. 2 in space.  Getting mad in a constructive way is good for the soul.”  Indeed it is, Mr. Iacocca.

          The Psalmist was being accused, threatened, and mistreated – and he got mad about it.  His plea to God is the healthy way – the spiritual way – to use his anger.  Did you notice what he did?  He lifted his anger up to God.

          Have you ever prayed an “angry prayer?”  I have.  I don’t do it very often – and I feel a little uncomfortable about it when I do – but I think it’s the right way to address my anger and what is making me angry.

          The People of God do not suppress their anger.  Instead, they confess that anger and surrender it to God.  The Psalms teach us that God not only cares for us, but also is big enough to hear every passionate word – every heart-felt emotion – every humble confession rooted in our strong feelings.

          Did the author of this psalm go out and commit the violent actions described here on his enemies?  No!  The angry prayer of Psalm 109 takes the place of the violent action because the writer firmly believes that God is the judge of sinful action.  God is the executioner of divine justice.  The psalmist poured out his startlingly hateful words.  He let God know, in graphic terms, what he thinks the judgment should be – but whatever action is to be visited on those who persecute him is left up to the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator!

          Come on!  Let’s admit it!  There are times when you and I wish bad things would happen to bad people.  Our job is to lift our anger up to God in confession.  God’s job is to decide and issue the justice.

          Jesus talked about seeking revenge in the face of threat or harm.  What he said is hard for us to hear – and even harder to do.  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus was very specific: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.  But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:38-39)

          Jesus also said that we will be judged for how we handle our anger.  Psalm 109 is a model for a spiritual response to that deep and passionate, heartfelt anger when no loving resolution seems possible.  Acknowledge the feelings.  Confess the feelings – openly and honestly – to God.  Surrender the desire for revenge to the One who has made us all.  Leave the judging – and the punishing – to God.  This is what Jesus asks of us.  This is how he wants us to respond when we wish bad things would happen to bad people.  Follow him.

          Let us pray:

          Generous and merciful Creator; too often our anger makes us want to be judges and the executioners of our own sense of justice.  This morning, you have reminded us that what we want is not our place in creation, but yours.  Take our angry thoughts.  Hear our angry prayers.  Use them as you will.  In Jesus’ name we pray it.

Amen.