The Storm God

May their table before them become a trap, and their allies a snare.  May their eyes grow too dark to see, make their loins perpetually shake.  Pour out upon them Your wrath, and Your blazing fury overtake them.  Psalm 69:23-25 [Hebrew Bible]  Robert Alter

Wrath – Here are your choices: wrath, fury, indignation, anger, judgment, rage.  In thirty different translations, one of these words is used for the Hebrew zāʿam.  As you can see, all communicate drastic measures.  But perhaps none of them captures one of the nuances of zāʿam.  “zāʿam is used in parallel with the verbs ʾārar, nāqab, and qābab, each meaning ‘to curse.’”^[1]

David isn’t just describing God’s vengeance toward his foes.  He’s cursing them.  He wants God’s “burning anger” (“blazing fury”) to exterminate these people.  Even that phrase is expressed bodily.  In Hebrew, ḥārôn ʾap, literally, “burning nostrils.”  The first verses here (vv. 23-24) set the stage.  Verse 25 concludes the curse.  Perhaps we should think of this as molten lava.  “Pour out” (šāpak) helps us realize the seriousness of this exclamation.  It is often used for the ”pouring out” of blood, that is, for extinguishing life.  Austel’s comment clarifies the application to God: “In the category of metaphoric uses, that of the outpouring of God’s wrath is most frequent. Thus in Isa 42:25 God is depicted as pouring out on Israel the heat of his anger. The symbolism is certainly obvious but nonetheless intensely sobering, and underlies the imagery of the bowls or vials of wrath in Revelation.”^[2]  If God acts as David wishes, David’s enemies will be no more—literally.

“Okay,” you say, “so much for David.  But what does this have to do with me?  I’m no king and my foes aren’t so obvious.”  But curses are trans-cultural.  Oh, that sounds so harsh, maybe even offensive.  It’s time to get over the Santa Claus God of Pollyanna Christianity.  Our modern religious training is going to destroy civilization because we have completely ignored the Storm God.  Somehow we’ve been convinced that true religion means never being upset, never saying a “bad” word, and certainly never wishing woe on your enemies.  Can’t we all just love each other and get along? No, I don’t think so.  The history of God’s people is a history filled with violence, pogroms, hatred, and schism.  That’s not the intention, but it is the reality—and because it is the reality, there are times when the wrath of God needs to come into play.  We might be inclined to pray that everyone will seek righteousness and be written in the book of life, but the reality is that Judgment Day will happen.  Curses and wrath are biblical.  Sparingly!

Let’s try an experiment.  Pray David’s words over your enemies.  Mean it!  Does that make you uncomfortable?  Do you feel “unholy” when you pray, “Lord, pour out Your wrath on them”?  This isn’t the only place where David lets loose. The “imprecatory psalms” are full of curses.  Maybe we need a few anger prayers.

Oh, yes, and here’s a little technical note about the first of these verses: “The meaning of the Hebrew shelomim is disputed.  This translation construes it as an ellipsis for ‘anshey shelomim, ‘allies’; others read it, because of the proximity of ‘table,’ as sheleimim, ‘sacrificial feasts.’”[3]

David wants everything about these people to turn back on them.  Don’t these words give you permission to feel the same way?

Topical Index: ḥārôn ʾap, “burning nostrils,” zāʿam, wrath, anger, indignation, Psalm 69:23-25

^[1] Wood, L. J. (1999). 568 זָעַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 247). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Austel, H. J. (1999). 2444 שָׁפַך. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 950). Chicago: Moody Press.

[3] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: Volume 3 The Writings, p. 168, fn. 23.