Psalm 109:18

Psalm 109:18

Wearing curses

This whole business of pronouncing curses is one that most of us would shy away from, in our modern culture curses are the stuff of witches, wizards and sorcerers or they are attributed to the dark incantations of tribal shamans with their trinkets and weird superstitions. No, we are sophisticated and educated 21st century intellectuals who pay our money and sit at the feet of psychologists and counsellors who delve deep into our past and tell us that “it’s all in the mind.” 

It comes as a shock to some people that curses and blessings are very much part of the Bible narrative, and they are genuine pronouncements that have a significant effect, especially when they are sanctioned by the Lord God! Israel, of course, was subject to the curses and blessings that were given to them from Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim at the time of Moses.

David’s antagonist was a man of curses, wherever he went he pronounced them over others. In fact, the verses before us suggest that curses were his food and drink and he wore them in the same way that he wore clothes, he put them on every day, they were who he was! In this way his behaviour had a negative effect on everyone, he exuded evil, and his mouth proclaimed it, anyone who stood against him was cursed and their day was darkened.

I don’t suppose that many people realise that most swear words, apart from blasphemies, are curses? These words, that are part of the daily language of many people, become a curse as soon as they are attributed to another person, and whilst many of these curses are spoken in jest or without forethought, some will have venom behind them, and they will stick. It is not appropriate for a believer in God and Jesus Christ to speak His name in vain because that is using Him as a curse. Nor is it appropriate to use other swear words in daily conversation. Some people wear these words like a cloak, they are food and drink to them, they are unable to complete a sentence without using them. God help us to have clean hearts and pure lips.

 

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