Psalm 7 - Confidence in God's Deliverance

[Music] today we look at psalm seven and this is another Psalm with a title in the original Hebrew the title of Psalm seven reads like this a meditation of David which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of cush a Benjamin ight now the New King James Version translates the Hebrew word she gayen as meditation that's a word that's difficult to translate it's used elsewhere only one other place in the Old Testament that's in Hagia Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 1 and so we really don't know exactly what that word meditation mean but it's probably as good as anything there now the specific occasion of this Benjamin I named cush is not easily connected with any other instance in the historical books of the Old Testament this might be a veiled reference to shimmy eyes accusations against David in 2nd Samuel chapter 16 verse 5 or 2 Saul's slanders against David Morse frequently found in 1st Samuel most likely though this cush a Benjamin ight was just another partisan of Saul against David and so this psalm gives us david's cry of anguish because of the slander that came against him on the part of this cush the benjamin ight and it also expresses the great confidence that david had in god's deliverance so let's take a look at the first two verses now of psalm 7 here we read Oh Lord my God in you I put my trust save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me lest they tear me like a lion rending me in pieces while there is none to deliver well you have to admit that this Psalm starts out really trust in God that's exactly what David says in the first line Oh Lord my God in you I put my trust David was under attack from the slander of cush the Benjamin I again that's what the title of the psalm tells us and when he was in that situation all he could do was trust God every other support was gone but he needed no other support as long as his trust was in the Lord his God God would protect him and preserve him again we don't know anything about this man named cush when Absalom rebelled against David there were several from Saul's tribe who revealed to have a bitter animosity against David maybe it came up in that point in 2nd Samuel chapter 16 we don't really know but this kind of slander that came against David came against someone who was came from someone I should say who was a Benjamin Knight who was from the tribe that the previous king Saul was from and again some people believe that this cush was really Saul or shimmy I but we really don't know that in any regard whatever we see that David's cry was something like this in you I put my trust save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me listen it is not wrong to pray when we are in the admits of a trial deliver me sometimes God's strength is shown to us in a trial by helping us to endure in the midst of the trial in other words sometimes God wants to deliver us through a trial sometimes God wants to deliver us from a trial just take us out of the difficult situation altogether but David was persuaded that God wanted to deliver him from this trial and he said Lord deliver me and so here David is being slandered he asked that God would protect him that God would deliver him why because the danger was so great look at what David says in verse 2 lest they tear me like a lion David believed that there would be terrible consequences if he was not delivered from these lion-like enemies now David here is using a bit of poetic exaggeration we have to admit but his poetic exaggeration is accurate malicious lies and slanders can often be like the claws in the teeth of a mighty lion and David knew what it was like to fight a lion and that's why he says Lord would you please deliver me in this lest they tear me like a lion but you see David knowing how urgent the situation was gave him a real urgency in prayer sometimes God allows difficult circumstances in our life so that those difficult circumstances will awaken a true urgency within us and that urgency was certainly awakened within David so he continues on his prayer now now starting at verse three David says Oh Lord my God if I have done this if there is iniquity in my hands if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me or have plundered my enemy without cause let the enemy pursue me and overtake me yes let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust Salaam now these three verses verses three four and five are a very dramatic declaration on David's part of his innocence before God basically what he's saying is he's saying lord I haven't done anything to deserve this now it's important to say that David did not claim to be sinlessly perfect in other words he didn't hold his hands before guns I've never sinned with these hands but what David did was he rejected the idea of a moral equivalence between himself and his enemies anybody who would say that David was just as bad as cush the Benjamin ight and other people who were slandering David would have none of that he would say no Lord if there's iniquity on my part if I've repaid evil to him who was at peace 20 if I've plundered my enemy without cause then Lord bring judgment upon me I think what's kind of interesting here again not only to note that David is not claiming to be sinlessly perfect just innocent in comparison to his accusers we probably also find out what the nature of the accusations were maybe cush the Benjamite was accusing David of just these sins having iniquity in his hands of having repaid evil to someone who was at peace with David if David plundered his enemy without cause maybe those were exactly the slanders being brought against David so what David does is he comes before God he pleads his innocence on those particular points these seem to be the natures of the charge and David is simply coming before God and saying Lord I am innocent of what these slanderers say against me and would you please see my innocence and defend my cause matter of fact David goes so far did you see this here in verse 5 where David says if it's the case that I am guilty of these things verse 5 let the enemy pursue me and overtake me David knew that his enemies were thirsty for his defeat and David was so confident in his righteousness in comparison to his enemies that he was willing to be given over to their desire if they were in the right Lord if they're right and I'm wrong then let them defeat me this really shows how strongly David believed that at the point he was being accused by his enemies he was in fact innocent now this idea continues on into verse 6 where David pleas for God to intervene in his situation he says this verse 6 arise O Lord in your anger lift yourself up of the rage of my enemies rise up for me to the judgement you have commanded so the congregation of the peoples shall surround you for their sakes therefore return on high I think that's a very interesting phrase that begins verse six don't you think where David says arise O Lord in your anger David believed that God was a being of human-like passions such as anger now we need to make it very clear here God's anger and our anger are not exactly the same at all but David believed that they were similar enough that he could say Lord arise in your anger and David also believed that the passions of God were on his side David believed that God was or would be angry for him instead of being angry against him now it's a mistake to believe that God is without passions and because he's God we can say that these passions are not exactly like their human counterparts yet they are certainly some what like them God is not cold he's not distant he's not dispassionate God is a God who cares God is a God of passions and God has anger that's why David says arise O Lord in your anger so it is a mistake to believe that God has no passions but it is also a mistake to assume that the passions of God are always with us or that the passions of God always support our opinion listen through the centuries many dangerous fanatics have been wrongly inspired by the mistaken assurance that God was for them when God was not for them I mean isn't this how it is everybody that goes to war believes God is on their side everybody involved in some great battles trunka believes that God is on their side friends let me tell you something they're not all right and we need to be carry very careful that we don't just think that whatever our cause is God is on our side brother and sisters it's far more important for us to concern ourselves with being on God's side than for us to try to convince ourself that God is on our side now David knew no doubt somewhat through the inspiration the holy spirit that the Lord was for him that's why he says in verse 6 lift yourself up rise up for me David believed that God was for him that God was for his cause yet he did not hold this belief passively he prayed actively for the accomplishing of what he believed God's will to be so that I believe you want to lift yourself so Lord I ask you to do it and he continues on in verse 7 so the congregation of the people shall surround you for their sakes therefore return on high you see David's prayer for protection and his prayer for vindication it was not fundamentally selfish David knew that his fate was vitally connected to the welfare of God's people it was in large measure for their sakes for the sake of he uses this word in verse 7 for the congregation of the people's Lord for their sake justify the king over the people known verse 8 David continues on to proclaim his defense he says this the Lord shall judge the people's judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end but establish the just for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds my defense is of God who saves the up in heart did you notice what tape it says there at the beginning of verse eight the Lord shall judge the people's judge me O Lord now this was the attitude that protected David from presumption he honestly invited God's judgment and correction brother says I want you to see what a beautiful thing this is for anybody to pray now it's one thing for to pray the Lord shall judge the people's and then your next thought is get them Lord no but what David said is the Lord shall judge the people's Lord would you please begin with me judge me Oh Lord you see David asked for God's blessing according to his righteousness judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me in effect David prayed this Lord to the extent that I am righteous before you then bless me and protect me from my enemies I think this is wonderful that David in fact longed for God's justice and it wasn't just that he wanted ultimate and perfect judgment before God David looked for justice on an earthly level he wanted justice between himself and his false accuser and so he said the Lord shall judge the people's he goes on in verse 9 let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end but establish the just this is more of the heart of David's prayer you see more than anything David prayed for God to be just to be righteous and in this sense David not pray for special favoritism with God he prayed for God to be just and he searched his own heart to help put him in the right before God David when he prayed here seemed pray beyond his own personal needs as Derek Kidner says a commentator David seems that's a very broad vision here revealing a concern for universal justice which was always the motive behind David's personal Appeals for vindication that's why he says verse 10 my defense is of God now in the present moment David knew that he was at a significant disadvantage before his enemies David knew that cush the Benjamin ight the man who's mentioned in the title of the psalm and any of his associates the one who were slandering David and doing the best they could to destroy him he knew that at least at the moment it seemed like they had the upper hand David had to rely on the defense that was of God and trusting in God David did just that he went forward now David's continuing on on this theme in verse 11 on God being the just judge let's take a look at that together he says this God is a just judge and God is angry with the wicked every day if he does not turn back he will sharpen his sword he bends his bow and makes it ready he also prepares himself instruments of death he makes his arrows into fiery shafts Wow those are strong verses some of the strongest that you're gonna find in the Book of Psalms here David envisions God as a verse 11 a just judge ready to bring this judgment you see David's prior appeal to God's testing of man that's in verse 9 made him think of the Justice of God and he declared a fundamental principle I don't know if we can say it often enough look at what begins verse 11 their God is a just judge now I have to say this is a commonly and dangerously rejected truth about God many people anticipate that will one day stand before a god of great love great mercy great warmth great generosity they never imagined that they will also stand before a God who is perfectly just and who cannot ignore the crime of sin now let me tell you something God is a God of great love he is a God of great mercy he's a God of great warmth he's a God of great generosity all of those things are true about God but God is also just you see we can say that sin is a crime that it breaks the good and holy law of God and it's true that not all sins are equally sinful I think we can make a case that some sins are worse than others Matthew chapter 23 verse 14 indicates that some sins will receive a greater condemnation yet there are no small sins against a great God and every sin we commit has enough weight in and of itself to drag us down to hell and God is a just judge now the Justice of God is easy to understand if we simply think of what we expect from an earthly judge so imagine it there's an earthly judge he or she is in the courtroom that there they say and there's the accused there's the the the prosecution and let's just pretend for the sake of this illustration that the accused is guilty but whatever it is they're accused of they are guilty they actually did it now we don't think it is right we don't think it is good if a human judge excuses crime in the name of compassion we expect human judges to be just well mr. so-and-so I know that murdered that person the prosecution has proved it you've even confessed that we know that you murdered this one but I'm feeling pretty nice today not guilty you're free to go what would we think of such a judge you would think that's a horrible judge now there are many many people today who are absolutely confident that on the day of judgement God will be an unjust judge they are so confident of this that they rely on this mistaken idea for their salvation brothers and sisters David in Psalm 7 verse 11 knew the truth God is a just judge and if you notice how verse 11 continues it says he is angry with the wicked every day do you get this idea that there are daily instances in the world of gods a judgment against sin we can find instances all over the place God shows his displeasure against the ungodly there is evidence of God's judgment of sin around us every day now before I move on to verse 12 I need to say something about that line in verse 11 he is wicked with the he is angry with the wicked every day the commentator Adam Clarke believed that a more accurate translation of this line was he is not angry every day this is what Adam Clarke wrote he said the mass of evidence supports the latter reading the Calvi first corrupted this text by making the addition with the wicked which our translators have followed the idea is simply in Adam Clark's mind that that God is just but he's not angry every day in other words God is just but he's not a hothead God is just but he doesn't neglect his mercy and compassion it's still there they don't cancel each other out they exist side by side now I'd probably have to do more research and maybe you would too to find out which reading is more accurate but that's a very interesting suggestion by Adam Clark there now on to verse 12 where we read this he will sharpen his sword he bends his bow and makes it ready here David considered the readiness of God to judge the sinner David saw the sword sharpened David saw the bow bent with a sharp sword and a bent bow God is ready to judge now let me say this with God so ready to judge the sinner should never presume that God will delay his judgment isn't this a fatal error made by many many people in the world and I say in the world today but it's been for centuries upon centuries that people have made this error they see God delaying deserved judgment out of mercy and they mistake it for the idea that God isn't concerned with justice God is showing his mercy again and again by delaying his judgment and they just say ah well God's not concerned with justice instead the wise man or the wise woman asks a question they ask this simple question why does God hold back the immediate application of justice does God hold back the immediate application of his justice because the sinner isn't really guilty no that's not it is it because the law is not really clear no the law is clear enough is it because mankind in fact really deserves mercy no mercy is never deserved is it because God is not powerful enough to bring justice no never God is powerful enough is it because God is not really just god forbid that somebody would think that as verse 11 says God is a just judge you see none of those things are true instead the sword is sharpened and the bow is bent the only thing that holds back the immediate judgment of God against the sinner is the undeserved mercy of God this gives the sinner an unknown period of time to repent and such mercy should never be presumed upon you of course as I record this I have no idea who and when and under what circumstances someone may listen to this how am I to know but but it's entirely possible that someone would listen to this and you are presuming upon the mercy of God you you're not right with God you've rejected Jesus Christ you've distanced yourself from him you've turned your back on God you're going your own way and you just kind of think that God will give me time I can get it right with him later God will give me time to repent what's the big deal dear friend in Jesus name I tell you do not presume upon the mercy of God when a person is under the judgment of God that judgment can come at any time and if God gives you another hour another day another month another year it's out of his mercy so that you'll get things right with him David saw this so clearly that in verse 13 he speaks about God preparing for himself instruments of death making arrows into fiery shafts and again this is powerful poetic imagery communicating the severity of God's judgment hopefully the idea is to provide another incentive to repentance that the unrepentant man or woman would look at this would read this would understand this and say the judgment of God upon my life may be so much more near than I have ever thought I should get right with God today now starting at verse 14 I would make this the last section of the psalm and I'd call this the resolution of the matter first verse 14 behold the wicked brings forth iniquity yes he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood now that's seemingly an obvious statement the wicked brings forth iniquity of course that's what wicked people do but it's important it shows that a wicked heart will show itself in wicked deeds now those wicked deeds may have the cover of respectability but they will nevertheless and nonetheless be filled with iniquity as was the case with the Pharisees in Jesus's day you know the Pharisees the religious leaders against Jesus in his own day they put on a pretty good show of being holy and righteous but they were filled with iniquity in their heart a matter of fact did you see what David said about the wicked in the second line or verse 14 he says he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood this shows the source of sin the source of sin comes from within the sinner the sinner conceives and gives birth to sin just like a mother would give birth to children it happens from within he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood now God is gonna deal with the wicked here in verses 15 and 16 it says he has made a pit and dug it out and has fallen into the ditch which he made his trouble shall return upon his own head and his Vai dealings shall come down on his own crown now this is a common method that God sends forth his justice he will often bring the same calamity on the wicked that they had planned for the righteous don't you love the phrasing of that there in verse 15 he has made a pit and dug it out and has fallen into the ditch which he has made the idea there is that the wicked person dug a ditch a trap a snare for David to fall into and he falls into it instead under the judgment of God the pit dug down that that becomes the grave of the man who digs it matter of fact verse 16 says his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown there's many examples of this in the Bible - that come to my mind immediately in the book of Esther do you remember the fate of Haman the enemy of Mordecai and the Jewish people Haman had constructed a huge gallows upon which to hang Mordecai the Jew and Haman ended up hanging on that very same gallows do you remember in the book of Daniel were the enemies of Daniel conspired to have him falsely arrested and thrown into the lion den lion's den Daniel was preserved in the lion's den but the enemies of Daniel were thrown into the den and they perished in there this is the pattern again and again and again and I'll tell you something this informs the way that I pray many times when I can discern a strategy of Satan you know the Bible says that we should not be ignorant of the devices or the strategies of Satan when I can discern a strategy of Satan I will often pray Lord whatever trap the devil has laid for me or someone I know and love Lord let the devil himself fall into that same trap that he has dug for me this is something David prayed for regarding his natural enemies we should pray for it regarding our spiritual enemies let him fall into the ditch which he has made let his violent dealing come down on his own crown now we finished the psalm with verse 17 where we read I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High what a wonderful way for the psalm to end david is praising the lord he is singing at the end of the psalm he's sighing at the beginning of the psalm he's singing at the end of the psalm and he's singing praise to the name of the Lord Most High now notice david was wise enough to praise God according to his righteousness in other words God's righteousness not his own I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness again I want to remind you david appealed to god in this song on the basis of his comparative goodness we saw this back in verses 3 4 & 5 nevertheless this is not a self-righteous prayer david knew that the difference between his relative righteousness that is among the people that were accusing him and against him this cush the benjamin i mentioned in the title and whoever else was with him that there was a difference between the relative righteousness that he had in comparison to his enemies and god's perfect righteousness which david praises right here i will praise the lord according to his righteousness and i will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High this Psalm started out pretty gloomy but it ended on a high note of praise David could praise because he took his cause to God and in viii he left it there I think about that just for a moment would you when David was being slandered maligned spoken against he took his cause primarily to God and said God will you be the one who defends me God will you be the one who shows yourself mighty on my behalf and God did God was faithful to David he'll be faithful to you now we've been concluding the psalms after we go through a psalm by just asking a simple question where can we see jesus in this psalm it's a fair question isn't it how does psalm 7 point to Jesus well let me suggest to you three ways I'm not saying that there's only three ways that the psalm points of Jesus I suppose if we took the time we could find many many more ways but I'm gonna give you three ways that this Psalm points to Jesus first of all Jesus is the truly innocent one do you remember what David said in verses three four and five in verse three he says if I have done this if there is iniquity in my hands that then lord I bring judgment to me now do you understand that Jesus is the truly innocent one David was innocent on a relative basis he was innocent compared to his enemies but Jesus Jesus was perfectly innocent he never sinned once against either God or man Jesus was completely innocent he was God's holy one and therefore when Jesus went to the cross he did not have to pay for his own sin in the smallest regard he went there as a sinless human being purely to pay for our sins now Jesus is the truly innocent one we see a foreshadowing of this in Jesus's ancestor David the one who wrote this Psalm oh but what David shows us in a all way Jesus perfectly fulfills Jesus is the truly innocent one that's the first way we can also see Psalm 7 pointing to Jesus in seeing Jesus as the judge of the peoples did you see that in verse 8 verse 8 he says simply the Lord shall judge the people's brother and sisters God will judge the people's and it will be done through Jesus Christ jesus said in the Gospels that the father has committed all judgment to the son matter of fact when we see in the book of Revelation God returning in judgment to the earth it is Jesus Christ Himself who returns as the the embodiment of God's judgment Jesus is the judge of the peoples when Yahweh does it he does it in the person of Jesus Christ Jesus is the judge that the world has to reckon with but might I say this as well Jesus is the judge of the peoples also of his own people Paul spoke in his letter to the Corinthians of the idea of the judgment seat of Christ that every believer will have to stand before an answer for for for how he has lived their life how he or she has honored God or dishonored God even within their own Christian walk Jesus is the judge of the peoples both for a world that is rejecting God he is the judge of all the earth but also at the judgment seat of Christ before which every believer will stand no Jesus is the judge and might I say he is the righteous judge as he says in verse 11 God is a just judge so first Jesus is the truly innocent one secondly Jesus is the judge of the peoples thirdly Jesus saw Satan fall into the pit that Satan himself had prepared for Jesus did you remember that from verse 15 where David proclaims he has fallen he's speaking of his enemy he has fallen into the ditch which he made and then later on he says there in verse 16 his violent dealings shall come down on his own crown on his own head listen don't you believe that when Satan manipulated an engineered and filled Judas prompting him to betray Jesus to the religious authorities when Satan orchestrated all that Satan believed I got him now I've got the Messiah God the Son to be rejected and put upon a cross oh he thought that he had won something he dug a pit for Jesus the Messiah but you know what whatever Satan intended for his own victory it became a ditch that he himself fell into yes it was true of any effort that Satan made against Jesus he has fallen into the ditch which he made Satan never won a single victory over Jesus though it looked like it for a short time at the cross but when Jesus rose from the dead after having perfectly paid our penalty of sin it really could be said that the violent dealing of Satan came down on his own crown on his own head he bruised the heel of the seed of the woman the Son of God but Jesus Christ crushed his head crushed his crown it's a beautiful picture isn't it well we love Psalm 7 don't we we love it because it proclaims Jesus to us but because it shows us also the Justice of God and the care of God for his people let me pray in light of those great truths and conclude our time together here today father in heaven we thank you that you are a just judge and we thank you that you have as far as the believer in Jesus Christ is concerned you have satisfied that justice by pouring out the wrath pouring out the judgment but pouring out the guilt our sin deserves and carries with it upon Jesus Christ at the cross thank you Lord for satisfying your justice towards the believer in Jesus Christ in Jesus as he paid that price on the cross Lord we pray that you would help us to take seriously you as a God of justice and that we even as believers would prepare ourself to stand before the judgment seat of Christ knowing that everything we do in this life has significance it will pass before your watchful gaze and it does so even now Lord also we pray that you would help us to find refuge when we feel that we are unjustly slandered and accused let us find the same refuge that David did in this Psalm we love you and we praise you in Jesus wonderful name a men [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Length: 41min 29sec (2489 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 23 2020