Let me answer that question with some other questions. I think the basic ones are: On whose behalf is the Psalmist calling out to God for vengeance? How do we expect God to treat those who perversely injure the innocent and righteous? Is a time of vengeful punishment ever warranted?
I believe that, as beings made in the image of God, all of our human emotions are rooted in the Divine. That means that they have a proper place and time to be exercised. For instance, Jesus shows that it is possible to be both holy and angry. He was consumed with righteous indignation when He saw how corrupt the Temple had become. We are often told to "fear not" in the Bible, except when it comes to practicing the "fear of the Lord," which is the appropriate manifestation for the emotion of fear.
How about vengeance? While we must be extremely cautious with such a powerful emotion prone to negative destruction, God is portrayed in this psalm as being able to avenge the righteous. Verse 6 says, "They kill the widow and the stranger, they murder the orphan." Elsewhere we hear that "they band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death" (vs. 21). God may be the punisher of the wicked, but He is the champion of the godly.
For those in the position of the psalmist, that is good news. He asks, "Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?" (vs. 16). The answer to these rhetorical questions is the Lord God. Because of God's character of righteousness, He does not abandon His people, but sees that they get justice. Like the psalmist, when our "foot is slipping" (vs. 18), we can count on the Lord to hold us up!
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