"Pray for Obama."

A kind and generous statement.

Or is it?

A crop of bumper stickers and T-shirts emblazoned with that call to prayer for the president have appeared for sale recently online through make-it-yourself outlets such as Zazzle.com and CafePress.com. And most of the "Pray for Obama" slogans are accompanied by a scripture reference: "Psalm 109:8."

In the New International Version translations, that verse reads;

May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.

Aha! So, they're praying for Obama's tenure to be a short one. Fair enough. But what does that really mean?

A clue may be in the verses of the 109th Psalm that follow verse 8:

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. May their sins always remain before the Lord, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

In that context, are these folks actually urging us to pray for Obama's death?

(The crashing sound you just heard may have been Jesus hurling his stapler across the office in frustration.)

The Christian Science Monitor examined the latest anti-Obama sloganeering and asked, "Use of Psalm 109:8 funny or sinister?"

The Monitor piece continued:

The slogan comes at a time of heightened concern about anti-government anger. Earlier this year, the president's senior adviser, David Axelrod, said that Tea Parties could lead to something unhealthy. In September, authorities shut down a poll on Facebook asking if President Obama should be killed.

Still, that doesn't push the Psalms citation into the realm of hate speech, says Chris Hansen, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The use of Psalm 109:8 is ambiguous as to whether its users are calling for the President to serve "only one term, or less than one term," he says.

Whether it's clever, funny or downright dangerous is a matter of opinion. Clearly, though, it's certainly not very nice.

There are "Pray for Obama" slogan products that bear an alternative scripture reference: 1 Timothy 2:1-2, which reads in the NIV:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone For kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Do you pray for Obama? If so, what do you pray, and how?

-- By Cathleen Falsani, Special for USA TODAY