A Cry for Justice and a Song of Praise (Psalm 7)
Notes
Transcript
Who here has been slandered before?
How did that make you feel?
That’s the ache that David is facing in Psalm 7.
Some wounds bruise the body.
Others bruise the name.
David is facing both.
He is hunted and he is slandered. inPsalm 7
And in his hurt and frustration,
he appeals to the only court that sees every motive and weighs every heart.
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.
Where does David start in this Psalm?
With his fear?
No. He starts with his foundation - which is God.
Instead of putting his confidence in his immediate future, he places it in God.
Instead of placing his confidence in the courts of men, he has placed his case inside the will of God.
And that’s because that’s only place where peace can be found.
David doesn’t pretend the danger is small.
He doesn’t downplay it with spiritual platitudes.
In fact, he uses the image of a lion that can tear a soul to pieces.
And yet, despite the great danger he faces, what does he do?
He remembers the faithful Shepherd of his soul who can slay the lions.
He remembers that the Lord is his mighty refuge and his strong tower.
And so practically here,
we need to ask ourselves if we are praying like this.
Do our prayers begin with our fears,
or do they begin with a focus on the foundation that is stronger than our fears?
Question:
When we begin our prayers with our fears and not our foundation, what lies have we believed?
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
David gives three if statements here in these verses.
But first off, what’s with David’s defense of himself?
Is David claiming to be sinless here?
He is not claiming to be sinless.
He is answering a specific charge.
And it’s the slanderous charges that have been made against him.
He knows his enemies charges aren’t legitimate,
and so he invites the Lord to examine himself.
Saying that if he has repaid evil to a friend (which actually means ally),
or plundered an opponent without cause,
then yes, let the enemy overtake him.
This is bold and humble at the same time.
On one hand, he is ready for God to expose him if he is guilty.
But on the other hand, he knows he is innocent of their slanderous charges.
And so he hangs his case on the God who knows his motives better than even he does.
Which means, David is confident,
but he’s also cautious…
He believes he’s innocent,
but he knows his own judgment is impartial and tainted,
and so he invites the Lord’s correction.
So here’s something to think about:
Before we ask God to vindicate us,
do we stop first and honestly ask the Lord to examine us?
Are you even open to the idea that we might have sin or fault?
Question:
Why do we so quickly rush to our own defense instead of looking to the Lord to examine us and be our defense?
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
When it comes to accusations made against us,
we need to be quick to hear and slow to speak as James 1 says.
If you are in the wrong, even partially… confess it quickly and make it right.
If you are in the right, stay calm, gentle, and humble.
Do not let the lie about you become the excuse for sin in you.
Because vindication without remaining holy is not a win.
It’s a loss.
And so we need to remember that God is our refuge,
and it is before Him and Him alone that we stand or fall.
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.
Here David’s lens widens from the private case to the public court.
He calls on God to take His seat as Judge of all the earth.
David knows that God has fixed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
This means there is a throne above every human throne.
Their a court above every human court,
and their is ONE weighty opinion above every other opinion - which is God’s.
The Hebrew word used here pictures God returning to the bench,
taking His seat over the assembly,
and then responding as Judge.
But also as Victor, and as Lawgiver.
He tests minds and hearts.
10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
This means that our God is not indifferent.
In fact, as verse 11 says,
He isa righteous judge WhoHe feels indignation toward’s evil and evil doers every single day…
Human zeal cools or compromises.
But God’s zeal does not.
He is not a tired official who shrugs at evil.
He is the Holy One who sees, weighs, and acts righteously.
Which is both a terrific but terrible thought!
And this is where our New Testaments shows us just how terrific and terrible this is.
In the Gospels,
we find that Jesus, God’s Son who will one day judge even the idle words of man,
Is lifted up on the cross to be judged the sins of man…
At the cross, the righteous Judge of all the earth who feels hot indignation towards sin,
steps down and bears the judgment His people deserve.
Which is wild, because the Lion becomes the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.
And this shows us that grace is the holy way that God saves the guilty and stays just.
Refuge is found in Him, which is why David’s opening line is the only safe place to stand when the court convenes.
Question:
Why is the cross of Christ so crucial for understanding the nature of God’s justice and how should this understanding impact our own desires for justice?
Question:
How does the promise of final judgment comfort you, and how does it challenge you?
Question:
Where do you need to transfer a case from your hands to God’s bench?
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.
Here we find a picture of God that is terrifying.
David is painting a picture here of a God Who is ready for the hunt.
He’s prepared and ready to go after the wicked man like a blood hound.
But as David points out in verse 14,
The wicked man is like a pregnant woman,
The sinner is pregnant with mischief, conceives trouble, and gives birth to falsehood.
Which shows us that sin grows.
It never stays small.
Desire matures into sin and sin into death.
Just like pregnancy results in the inevitable birth of a child.
This is often called the boomerang effect of evil.
The wicked digs a pit and falls into the hole he made.
Sometimes that happens in visible ways.
But it always it happens in the soul and will eventually be seen loudly and clearly on the Day of judgment.
Question:
How do we hold together these truths, that God is slow to anger and that His indignation is daily and how should this impact the way we live?
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.
The psalm ends where faith always wants to end, with gratitude and praise.
The title Most High is an old name for the God of Abraham, and it fits the last word of this psalm.
The Judge truly is on high and so David thanks God before he even sees the public verdict.
And he does this because he knows the court of heaven is not asleep.
When God takes His seat,
the oppressed are rescued,
the slandered are vindicated,
and the wicked are exposed.
And this future day is GUARANTEED.
Which means, that in the meantime,
praise is how we put boots to the ground in our faith.
Praise is a public vote of confidence in the character of God and shows we trust His character.
As this Psalm shows us:
We must take refuge in our God of refuge.
Which means:
If you are hunted, take refuge in the Lord.
If you are slandered, invite His searchlight into our life, keep your integrity, and trust Him as the judge Who will surely do what is right!
But it also means,
if you are engaging in deliberate, willful, unrepentant sin,
turn and trust while there is time.
And warn others of the Day of the Lord which a day of dark clouds,
and terrifying judgment,
When God goes hunting for evil doers.
And as you do all of this,
sing.
Worship.
Praise God in confident faith knowing that justice and salvation are guaranteed.
The cross proves it.
The empty tomb confirms it.
and one day soon, the throne pf Christ will display it for all to see.
So place your confidence there,
not in the decaying and imperfect thrones of this earth.
