Living Under Threat of Violence with the Imprecatory Psalms

People with a history of living under violence often remain sensitized to the possibility of bad things happening long after the time of danger. Psalms of lament give faithful expression to this experience of the threat (and reality) of violence, and several of them include calls for God to intervene with force. Many believers find these texts difficult to interpret, but they speak powerfully of God’s heart for the sufferer who is in the presence of enemies. This workshop will offer an interpretive framework for these psalms, a reflection on traumatic experiences, and an introductory application to circumstances such as abuse, bullying, and loss.