“He led out His people with jubilation;

With a shout of triumph His chosen ones.”

(Psalm 105:43)

Arguably, what comes to mind with these words is the worship of God’s people at the bank of the Red Sea and as they continue through the wilderness toward the promised land. One of the things that is striking is that not only do the people worship as the Egyptians are destroyed by the waters of the Red Sea, the people of Israel worship again with the fall of Jericho. It may seem logical to see the worship of God’s people on the way out of Egypt and again on the way into Canaan, but what is striking is that in both cases, the people celebrate in worship at the destruction of God’s enemies.

Sadly, this is something that tends to be lacking within our churches today. We often fear praying for God’s wrath against the wicked who oppress us. And, then, when he brings His wrath against them, we shudder and we do not celebrate. While it is right to shudder at the hand of God against His enemies, it is also right to sing praise to Him for their downfall. This is a part of the purpose of the imprecatory psalms. Yes, these psalms were prayed by God’s people in private and dark places, but they were also sung by God’s people in public and communal contexts. We should too.

It is bad enough that many churches would never dream of singing God’s words back to him, but the majority of those who do shy away from what one commentator calls “the war psalms of God.” Yet, the scriptural testimony (which must always be the standard toward which we strive) is that these were sung and sung boldly.

There is one additional element that comes out from the text. Historically, we recognize the worship of God’s people did take place as this verse describes, but grammatically, these words also seem to point us back to God, that God brought His people out and shouted in triumph over His enemies. The simple point is that God is not apologetic about destroying the wicked. He is not apologetic in the here and now and He will not be apologetic in final judgment. His wrath will be poured out on His enemies as He casts them into the fiery pit and the elect that He has redeemed will sing praises in joy at this time as well. As a dear friend once said to a family member, “If you don’t repent, there will come a day when you will find yourself being cast into the pits of Hell and in that day I will praise Jesus for doing it.” It is strong language, but it is the Biblical witness. Jesus’ death was meant to save God’s chosen ones without exception, not all people without exception. And God’s will will be done.