Cursing back to life? From psalms to imprecatory prayers: An intercultural reading

Abstract

Imprecatory prayer is becoming a common phenomenon in Ghana. This plea seeks the complete annihilation of human enemies believed to be the cause of the woes the petitioners face. However, ecclesiastic authorities and academic world find it difficult to dialogue with the practice and reject imprecatory prayers as ‘unchristian.’ Interestingly enough, the same attitude is manifested towards portions of the Bible which contain ‘imprecatory prayers’: The Psalter. As a consequence, while the Historic Mission Churches forbid imprecatory prayers, their members flock to the Charismatic and Prophetic Churches. Against this background, the article analyses Ps 58, one of the ‘imprecatory psalms’ excluded by the official prayers of Historic Mission Churches, to understand its call to action and the perlocutory effect on the reader. The article concludes that the ‘imprecatory prayers’ can be a powerful educational tool to see the world with the eyes of the victims: it offers them a model of prayer of “cursing back to life;” a painful way to reconciliation and to rediscovering justice.