Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
Before I post the below quotation, allow me to say that I really enjoyed Professor Horton's book (notwithstanding some obvious doctrinal differences); but I would be intrigued to see how PB members respond to his comments on the cursing psalms:
The imprecatory Psalms, invoking God's judgment on enemies, are appropriate on the lips of David and the martyrs in heaven. However, they are entirely out of place on the lips of Christians today, guided as we are not by the ethics of intrusion but by the ethics of common grace. Therefore, moderns are wrong for dismissing such episodes as immoral, and fundamentalists are wrong for invoking them as if they were in effect during this intermission between Christ's two advents.
Michael Horton, The Christian faith: a systematic theology for pilgrims on the way (Grand Rapids, 2011), pp 961-2.
What do you make of this quote? If the cursing psalms should never be on a Christians lips, does that also mean that we should never read or sing them? Moreover, are you aware of any critiques of Professor Horton on this point?
The imprecatory Psalms, invoking God's judgment on enemies, are appropriate on the lips of David and the martyrs in heaven. However, they are entirely out of place on the lips of Christians today, guided as we are not by the ethics of intrusion but by the ethics of common grace. Therefore, moderns are wrong for dismissing such episodes as immoral, and fundamentalists are wrong for invoking them as if they were in effect during this intermission between Christ's two advents.
Michael Horton, The Christian faith: a systematic theology for pilgrims on the way (Grand Rapids, 2011), pp 961-2.
What do you make of this quote? If the cursing psalms should never be on a Christians lips, does that also mean that we should never read or sing them? Moreover, are you aware of any critiques of Professor Horton on this point?