Post by arete on Jun 30, 2014 19:38:45 GMT
Introduction:
If you have not felt the pain of harsh words then you have not been around for very long. Whoever said that, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, was so very deluded. This morning we come to a Psalm in which the words of a man have deeply wounded King David. David has felt these evil barbs and in his pain and his need for justice, David brings his pain before God. David does not fall into a 21st Century Self-Help Christian pattern of making himself a victim and then wallowing in his pain. He turns over everything to God, fully expecting God to heal him and avenge him and ends not in victimhood, but in adoration and praise of the Most High God…
Context:
Psalm 7 is a Psalm of David written at a time when he was the victim of unjust accusations. Because of this, the psalm has been called the Song of the Slandered Saint. The exact time in his life cannot be pinned down. There is a theme of God’s righteous judgment running throughout. David is confident that God will make truth known and will punish evil and wicked men. Psalm 7 has elements of both lament and imprecatory. Imprecatory calls for God’s judgment against God’s enemies &/or his people’s enemies. Laments express grief of one’s condition including the lament, a statement of trust in God and an affirmation of praise to him. Let’s join David as he offers this song and prayer before God…
Body – Psalm 7:1-17 – ESV
In You Do I Take Refuge: A Shiggaion of David, Which He Sang to the LORD Concerning the Words of Cush, A Benjaminite.
1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Appeal for Justice vv. 1-5
David knows he has no plea except that he is God’s (v. 1). David’s refuge is his hope in God, that’s what his wording means. He has certain hope in the true God. He calls out for God to save him knowing that God will because God always has before. He prays to be snatched away from his enemies. God is David’s only hope and that is a good thing, because God alone never fails.
Apart from God, David has no true hope (v. 2). If God does not save him, David knows he will look like the lambs he shepherded after a lion got hold of them. Spiritually, emotionally, perhaps even physically, David fears the destruction at the hand of evil men. Only God can truly save him.
David protests the charges others have made against him (vv. 3-4). The “if” David uses here acknowledges a hypothetical situation. If he was guilty before God & before man, then he must repent or be judged. He isn’t claiming to be sinless. He is pleading his innocence of slanderous charges.
David admits that if he is wrong, he deserves judgment (v. 5). If he has come before God and lied about sin and refused to repent and falsely claimed himself innocent when he knows he is guilty, then David admits that he deserves whatever men or God may require for justice. He also allows himself no excuse to sin even against his enemies. Unfortunately, Christians can permit ungodly behavior in themselves when directed against their enemies.
Illustration:
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
Application:
There are consequences for both righteousness and evil. David focuses on the just consequences for evil in this passage. We dare not plead innocence before God if we have sinned against friends or enemies, because all sin is sin against God. For the lost, sin leads straight to hell. For those saved by God, sin leads to discipline if it is left to fester and is not confessed. Cry out to God for refuge but also be certain you have taken care of your sin and accepted the consequences. He will save us from the penalty of sin. Often he uses the temporary consequences to teach us to hate sin as he hates sin.
Arising Judge vv. 6-9
David appeals to God to rise up in anger (v. 6). Why or when would we ever ask God to be angry? Because anger is the godly response to unrighteousness and unholiness. Anger means knowing that a change must be made. David asks God to stand up and take action to work righteous judgment. God’s anger is just. The fury of men is so often unjust as in the case of David’s enemies. David asks that God take his right place as the perfect judge concerning the sin of anyone involved, including David.
David also appeals to God as the highest court and authority (v. 7). David asks that the whole assembly of people gather to see God work justice even as he delights that God is the highest court and the absolute sovereign authority over all his creation. God is above; he is superior; He reigns.
David places his fate in the hands of the perfect judge (v. 8). David isn’t just calling for the judge of men to sit over his enemies. David also wants to be under God’s authority. David wants God to consider how right or inline he is with God’s character and law. He wants God to determine how mature his faith – does he have integrity? Doe he act in godliness even when no one is around. David has the hope that any crookedness or sin on his part will be judged by God and God himself will work wholeness in David.
David pleads for God to punish evil in righteousness (v. 9). These are the people who revel in their evil. They do not belong to God or obey God’s law. David asks for God to do what God has said he will do; justly punish evil. David also pleads with God to establish the righteous – to place them on the sue foundation which is God’s character and his word. God alone can see the heart and mind laid bare. David trusts God to be fair when David knows that as a mere man he can never judge in perfection
Illustrations:
And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” (Numbers 10:35)
In the Psalms, judging is more often than not a saving action, God intervening on behalf of the innocent and oppressed. (In English the word “judge” tends to focus more on condemning than on rescuing.) The particular deliverance, then, is part of God’s larger project of putting the whole world back to its right order (ESV SB)
Application:
The Lord will judge all men perfectly. He will be perfect in holiness, justice, righteousness, mercy, and grace (and every other way in accord with his nature). We need to be careful to repent for our sin and tend our righteousness before God so that we can appeal to justice and stand by our integrity. Where our righteousness and integrity are weak, we trust God’s judgment to rescue us from our sin and his Holy Spirit to continue maturing our life of faith.
Avenging God vv. 10-17
What do I mean by vengeance? When we use the word of men, it is the idea of getting even. But we also know that such vengeance is not usually just and is based in an almost might makes right mentality. The words used in the Bible for God’s vengeance focus on the giving of perfect justice. God’s vengeance is the perfect penalty applied to sin and sinners based in God’s perfect righteousness as well as his mercy and grace.
David’s security is his relationship with God based in God’s person (not in David’s righteousness)(v. 10).
1. God is a righteous judge (v. 11). God is not a corrupt judge who takes bribes. He is not a flawed judge who can make mistakes. He delivers perfect justice every time.
2. God is an avenger (v. 12-13). The language used here is very war like. A whetted sword is an instrument of war and of final justice. When God passes final judgment on evil, then it is terrible and swift and it is forever. This portion of the Psalm also points out the mercy and grace that are available if only evil men repent. God’s justice will be satisfied by either punishing the sinner or by the atonement Christ provided when he took in his flesh the punishment that we earned.
David gives an example of man’s evil and God’s righteous response (vv. 14-16). Those who are steeped in wickedness give constant birth to evil and mischief and lies. They cannot contain their evil any more than a woman in labor can decided now is not a good time and postpone delivery. The wicked plot evil. The wicked take steps to ensnare others in sin and death. God acts in justice and the punishment for evil is often to permit evil to continue. More sin and more death is a just punishment for evil. Wickedness always traps those who wallow in it. They either fall prey to their own devices or they finally receive the penalty due – death and hell
David concludes in thanks to God for who God is (v. 17). God is righteous. He defines right belief, right action, and everything good and true. His name is great and worthy of praise. His name is a way for David to praise every aspect of God’s nature. David concludes with a very special name for God – the Most High, El-Elyon. He is the loftiest one. He is the supreme and sovereign God. He is the final court and final authority. He is the one and only one who can deliver us from wickedness. He is the Most High God.
Illustration:
For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” Hebrews 10:30
Application:
God is the safe haven from all evil. This applies both to his shielding us from evil and being our cure from our own sin. When we belong to God and he is our refuge then we do not fear his judgment the way evil men do. God’s role as judge for us is to consider our integrity and correct us and mature us further in faith. His discipline can be unpleasant, but it is always toward making us Christ-like. For God’s work in us and for the justice he alone can provide – we too should be driven to praise him for who he is…and also for all that he has done, is doing and will do to perfect our souls.
So What Now?
Being a child of God does not mean we will suffer no hurts and no slander. The reverse is actually true. Because evil men hate God, they will lash out at God’s children. It is truly sad though that God’s children can tear one another with hateful words. In times of such hurt, turn freely to God for deliverance and for justice.
As God’s child, go before him to weigh your heart too. Keep short accounts of sin. Repent often. Go before him to find any sinful thing in you and for his power and mercy and grace to put such sin to death. Be a willing part of his discipline and escape the harsher discipline that comes from wallowing in sin.
God alone is truly just. He can judge evil men and either extend his mercy and grace and save them from their evil or deal just vengeance against them for their wickedness. When your enemy receives grace, praise God. You too have been an enemy to others and have enjoyed his grace. Trust in him to do what is right.
Follow the example of David. Turn over every sin and hurt to him. He will hear you and heal you of both pain and of your sin. Don’t be a perpetual victim. Turn to God for justice and know that justice will be served. Then when God moves to mature your faith, to judge evil men, or to turn their hearts to him – praise God for his glorious name. Give thanks to him that he is our refuge, our deliverer, our judge, our shield, the Most High God.
Benediction:
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)
If you have not felt the pain of harsh words then you have not been around for very long. Whoever said that, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, was so very deluded. This morning we come to a Psalm in which the words of a man have deeply wounded King David. David has felt these evil barbs and in his pain and his need for justice, David brings his pain before God. David does not fall into a 21st Century Self-Help Christian pattern of making himself a victim and then wallowing in his pain. He turns over everything to God, fully expecting God to heal him and avenge him and ends not in victimhood, but in adoration and praise of the Most High God…
Context:
Psalm 7 is a Psalm of David written at a time when he was the victim of unjust accusations. Because of this, the psalm has been called the Song of the Slandered Saint. The exact time in his life cannot be pinned down. There is a theme of God’s righteous judgment running throughout. David is confident that God will make truth known and will punish evil and wicked men. Psalm 7 has elements of both lament and imprecatory. Imprecatory calls for God’s judgment against God’s enemies &/or his people’s enemies. Laments express grief of one’s condition including the lament, a statement of trust in God and an affirmation of praise to him. Let’s join David as he offers this song and prayer before God…
Body – Psalm 7:1-17 – ESV
In You Do I Take Refuge: A Shiggaion of David, Which He Sang to the LORD Concerning the Words of Cush, A Benjaminite.
1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Appeal for Justice vv. 1-5
David knows he has no plea except that he is God’s (v. 1). David’s refuge is his hope in God, that’s what his wording means. He has certain hope in the true God. He calls out for God to save him knowing that God will because God always has before. He prays to be snatched away from his enemies. God is David’s only hope and that is a good thing, because God alone never fails.
Apart from God, David has no true hope (v. 2). If God does not save him, David knows he will look like the lambs he shepherded after a lion got hold of them. Spiritually, emotionally, perhaps even physically, David fears the destruction at the hand of evil men. Only God can truly save him.
David protests the charges others have made against him (vv. 3-4). The “if” David uses here acknowledges a hypothetical situation. If he was guilty before God & before man, then he must repent or be judged. He isn’t claiming to be sinless. He is pleading his innocence of slanderous charges.
David admits that if he is wrong, he deserves judgment (v. 5). If he has come before God and lied about sin and refused to repent and falsely claimed himself innocent when he knows he is guilty, then David admits that he deserves whatever men or God may require for justice. He also allows himself no excuse to sin even against his enemies. Unfortunately, Christians can permit ungodly behavior in themselves when directed against their enemies.
Illustration:
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
Application:
There are consequences for both righteousness and evil. David focuses on the just consequences for evil in this passage. We dare not plead innocence before God if we have sinned against friends or enemies, because all sin is sin against God. For the lost, sin leads straight to hell. For those saved by God, sin leads to discipline if it is left to fester and is not confessed. Cry out to God for refuge but also be certain you have taken care of your sin and accepted the consequences. He will save us from the penalty of sin. Often he uses the temporary consequences to teach us to hate sin as he hates sin.
Arising Judge vv. 6-9
David appeals to God to rise up in anger (v. 6). Why or when would we ever ask God to be angry? Because anger is the godly response to unrighteousness and unholiness. Anger means knowing that a change must be made. David asks God to stand up and take action to work righteous judgment. God’s anger is just. The fury of men is so often unjust as in the case of David’s enemies. David asks that God take his right place as the perfect judge concerning the sin of anyone involved, including David.
David also appeals to God as the highest court and authority (v. 7). David asks that the whole assembly of people gather to see God work justice even as he delights that God is the highest court and the absolute sovereign authority over all his creation. God is above; he is superior; He reigns.
David places his fate in the hands of the perfect judge (v. 8). David isn’t just calling for the judge of men to sit over his enemies. David also wants to be under God’s authority. David wants God to consider how right or inline he is with God’s character and law. He wants God to determine how mature his faith – does he have integrity? Doe he act in godliness even when no one is around. David has the hope that any crookedness or sin on his part will be judged by God and God himself will work wholeness in David.
David pleads for God to punish evil in righteousness (v. 9). These are the people who revel in their evil. They do not belong to God or obey God’s law. David asks for God to do what God has said he will do; justly punish evil. David also pleads with God to establish the righteous – to place them on the sue foundation which is God’s character and his word. God alone can see the heart and mind laid bare. David trusts God to be fair when David knows that as a mere man he can never judge in perfection
Illustrations:
And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” (Numbers 10:35)
In the Psalms, judging is more often than not a saving action, God intervening on behalf of the innocent and oppressed. (In English the word “judge” tends to focus more on condemning than on rescuing.) The particular deliverance, then, is part of God’s larger project of putting the whole world back to its right order (ESV SB)
Application:
The Lord will judge all men perfectly. He will be perfect in holiness, justice, righteousness, mercy, and grace (and every other way in accord with his nature). We need to be careful to repent for our sin and tend our righteousness before God so that we can appeal to justice and stand by our integrity. Where our righteousness and integrity are weak, we trust God’s judgment to rescue us from our sin and his Holy Spirit to continue maturing our life of faith.
Avenging God vv. 10-17
What do I mean by vengeance? When we use the word of men, it is the idea of getting even. But we also know that such vengeance is not usually just and is based in an almost might makes right mentality. The words used in the Bible for God’s vengeance focus on the giving of perfect justice. God’s vengeance is the perfect penalty applied to sin and sinners based in God’s perfect righteousness as well as his mercy and grace.
David’s security is his relationship with God based in God’s person (not in David’s righteousness)(v. 10).
1. God is a righteous judge (v. 11). God is not a corrupt judge who takes bribes. He is not a flawed judge who can make mistakes. He delivers perfect justice every time.
2. God is an avenger (v. 12-13). The language used here is very war like. A whetted sword is an instrument of war and of final justice. When God passes final judgment on evil, then it is terrible and swift and it is forever. This portion of the Psalm also points out the mercy and grace that are available if only evil men repent. God’s justice will be satisfied by either punishing the sinner or by the atonement Christ provided when he took in his flesh the punishment that we earned.
David gives an example of man’s evil and God’s righteous response (vv. 14-16). Those who are steeped in wickedness give constant birth to evil and mischief and lies. They cannot contain their evil any more than a woman in labor can decided now is not a good time and postpone delivery. The wicked plot evil. The wicked take steps to ensnare others in sin and death. God acts in justice and the punishment for evil is often to permit evil to continue. More sin and more death is a just punishment for evil. Wickedness always traps those who wallow in it. They either fall prey to their own devices or they finally receive the penalty due – death and hell
David concludes in thanks to God for who God is (v. 17). God is righteous. He defines right belief, right action, and everything good and true. His name is great and worthy of praise. His name is a way for David to praise every aspect of God’s nature. David concludes with a very special name for God – the Most High, El-Elyon. He is the loftiest one. He is the supreme and sovereign God. He is the final court and final authority. He is the one and only one who can deliver us from wickedness. He is the Most High God.
Illustration:
For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” Hebrews 10:30
Application:
God is the safe haven from all evil. This applies both to his shielding us from evil and being our cure from our own sin. When we belong to God and he is our refuge then we do not fear his judgment the way evil men do. God’s role as judge for us is to consider our integrity and correct us and mature us further in faith. His discipline can be unpleasant, but it is always toward making us Christ-like. For God’s work in us and for the justice he alone can provide – we too should be driven to praise him for who he is…and also for all that he has done, is doing and will do to perfect our souls.
So What Now?
Being a child of God does not mean we will suffer no hurts and no slander. The reverse is actually true. Because evil men hate God, they will lash out at God’s children. It is truly sad though that God’s children can tear one another with hateful words. In times of such hurt, turn freely to God for deliverance and for justice.
As God’s child, go before him to weigh your heart too. Keep short accounts of sin. Repent often. Go before him to find any sinful thing in you and for his power and mercy and grace to put such sin to death. Be a willing part of his discipline and escape the harsher discipline that comes from wallowing in sin.
God alone is truly just. He can judge evil men and either extend his mercy and grace and save them from their evil or deal just vengeance against them for their wickedness. When your enemy receives grace, praise God. You too have been an enemy to others and have enjoyed his grace. Trust in him to do what is right.
Follow the example of David. Turn over every sin and hurt to him. He will hear you and heal you of both pain and of your sin. Don’t be a perpetual victim. Turn to God for justice and know that justice will be served. Then when God moves to mature your faith, to judge evil men, or to turn their hearts to him – praise God for his glorious name. Give thanks to him that he is our refuge, our deliverer, our judge, our shield, the Most High God.
Benediction:
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)