The Cursing Psalms

One of my favorite authors is Philip Yancey - time and time again I read his books and am reminded of how similar his questions and thoughts reflect my own. I'm currently rereading a book of his called The Bible Jesus Read, which looks at the Old Testament. Right now I'm reading through his chapter that talks about the Psalms, and I included a part of what he wrote in my devotional thought on Sunday morning in church. Like Yancey, I have struggled at times with Psalms, because although I love some of the worship and praise parts of the book and appreciate the lament psalms, it's hard to understand what Yancey calls the "Cursing Psalms", where statements such as "Happy are those who take your infants and dash them on the rocks" happen.

However, Yancey reminds us that the Psalms are essentially flawed humans' prayer journals, and oftentimes these journals reflect my own journals. Lately I have struggled to write in my prayer journal; when I was leaving Colorado in a wave of confusion and heartache, I wrote in my journal much more frequently. I may deplore the words and attitudes of the cursing psalms; yet I guarantee you there are some sections of my journal I would be ashamed to show anyone, because they contain angry words (even some cursing), frustrations, lashings out at God, and more. It just happens that the writers of Psalms had their curses published and are read by billions of people. Thank goodness it's not the case for me.