The Complete Collection of Biblical Curses, Abridged

Psalms to enhance your prayers

As a Christian minister, I want you to have a rich and creative prayer life. God hears the prayers of the faithful, and we don’t want to bore God by praying the same uninteresting prayers over and over. We can try to be at least as interesting as the Psalmists. They knew trouble of both the personal and the political type. Faced with attacks on their well-being and on the common good, they used strong language, especially for oppressors and evildoers.

And not just strong language, but creative! The ancients were imaginative in their scorn and in their longing for justice. I’m reminded, reading the Psalms, of the Black teens I worked with for so many years. They could entertain one another for hours with increasingly colorful insults–they called it “working” or “clowning” someone. Their linguistic innovation was usually hysterical; sometimes a source of awe.

This may not seem like a timely post, since there are not currently any prominent examples of authoritarians or unrepentant evildoers or fascists, nor any known Nazi-sympathizers with a thing for upholstery. Perhaps you can bookmark this post for a later date, should such a situation ever arise.

When it does, you’ll be ready to pray from the Psalms:

“You strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.” (3:7)

“Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels.” (5:10)

“The enemy’s mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.” (7:16)

“Let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.” (10:2)

“Break the arm of the evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none.” (10:15)

“Let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.” (31:17)

“Let ruin come on them unawares; let the net that they hid ensnare them.” (35:8)

“The wicked’s sword shall enter their own heart; and their bows shall be broken,” (37:15)

“God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.” (53:5)

“You, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days.” (55:23)

“Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime.” (58:8)

“Make them totter by your power, God, and bring them down.” (59:10)

“Because of their tongue God will bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake with horror.” (64:8)

“As wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God.” (68:2)

“God said, ‘I will bring [the enemies] back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, so that you may bathe your feet in blood, so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’” (68:22-23)

“Make their loins tremble continuously. Pour out your indignation upon them…, may their camp be a desolation…. Add guilt to their guilt, Let them be blotted out from the book of the living.” (69:23-28)

“Let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.” (71:13)

“O my God, make [your enemies] like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane. Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O Lord.” (83:13-16)

“God pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes.” (107:40)

Psalm 109:6-19
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty;
   let his prayer be counted as sin.
8 May his days be few;
   may another seize his position.
9 May his children be orphans,
   and his wife a widow.
10 May his children wander about and beg;
   may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
   may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
12 May there be no one to do him a kindness,
   nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.
13 May his posterity be cut off;
   may his name be blotted out in the second generation.
14 May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord,
   and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the Lord continually,
   and may his memory be cut off from the earth.
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
   but pursued the poor and needy
   and the broken-hearted to their death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come on him.
   He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,
   may it soak into his body like water,
   like oil into his bones.
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,
   like a belt that he wears every day.’

“Let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise! Do not let the slanderer be established in the land; let evil speedily hunt down the violent!” (140:9-11)

And then, the poet confesses, “I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor.” (140:12)

Take heart, beloveds. God hears your indignity; She Who Hears is moved by your cries.

Upcoming Speaking Dates:

Friday, April 4: Historical Society of North Carolina Spring Meeting, Salisbury, NC

Wednesday, April 9: First Presbyterian Church, Concord, NC

Sunday, April 13: Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church, Charlotte (in Sunday School and worship)

Tues-Wed, April 15-16: Hampton Roads Social Justice Conference, Newport News, VA

Tuesday, May 6: Levine Museum of the New South Community Forum

AND: My popular Thursday Jazz at Rhino starts back April 10. 6-8:30 on the patio at Rhino Market, 1500 W. Morehead Street in Charlotte. It’s the best hang in town. (Also April 24, May 1 and 15, June 5 and 19)

One Last Note: One of the elders of American music is drummer Billy Hart. His long-standing quartet has a new record out, and it has been on consistent repeat for me. Here’s the lovely first track. Pianist Ethan Iverson is also an insightful writer. Find him here.