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Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 7. Psalm 7, I'll read beginning in verse 1 to the end, we'll pray and then we'll look at this in some detail. So Psalm 7 beginning in verse 1, a meditation of David which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush of Benjamite.

O 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. O 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. Selah. Arise, O Lord, in your anger. Lift yourself up because of the rage of my enemies. Rise up for me to the judgment you have commanded. So the congregation of the peoples shall surround you. For their sakes, therefore, return on high. The Lord shall judge the peoples.

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 upright in heart. 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 for himself instruments of death. He makes his arrows into fiery shafts. Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity. Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He 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 violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful day. Certainly the heavens declare your righteousness, your glory, your majesty.

We see your handiwork in the created order. We see that wisdom and that power and that goodness so clearly displayed. We bless you that you govern all your creatures and all their actions, and we bless you for so great a salvation. We're in that work of redemption. We see that grace and that mercy so vividly on display.

We thank you for the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for his perfect obedience to that law that was given him. We thank you for his death on our behalf as a substitute and sacrifice for his resurrection and for his current session now at your right hand. We ask that he would send the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit would guide and illumine our minds and hearts, that you would indeed help us to appreciate the glory of Christ revealed in the book of Psalms, and may it be a great encouragement to the Church of the Lord Jesus as we are engaged in various battles in this present evil age. Forgive us now for all sin and unrighteousness, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, in many respects, after the introduction in Psalms 1 and 2 concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, 3 to 7 have basically illustrated for us or displayed His earthly ministry. And Psalm 7 is not an exception to that. We've seen the Savior's prayer at night in Psalm 4, verse 8. the Savior's prayer in the morning, Psalm 5-3, and the Savior's prayer in the night while upon His bed in Psalm 6, 6 and 7. And in each of the Psalms up to this point, we've seen an emphasis on the judgment of God. In other words, God's judgment against His enemies. Well, here in Psalm 7, we see that in more of a developed sense. In fact, the Psalm kind of reads like a courtroom drama, a courtroom scene where the psalmist is seeking vindication for his own conduct or behavior and then calling upon God to bring judgment upon his enemies.

Now if you look specifically at verse 1, we do have a superscription. It says a meditation. That's the Hebrew word shigion. The only other place that we see it is in the prophet Habakkuk in chapter 3 at verse 1. It's probably a musical indicator Remember, the Psalms were meant to be sung, the Psalms were meant to be chanted, of course, read and prayed and celebrated from.

But it says, a meditation of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. Now, those following the Saptuagint will think or believe that this refers, this Cush, the Benjamite, refers to Hushai, the Archite, who was an advisor and friend of David at the time of Absalom's rebellion. And we see that Absalom's rebellion is not far afield because if you look at Psalm 3 in the superscription, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. But I'm not convinced of that particular translation and some others put these things at the time of David and his battles against Saul. specifically in 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 when David has the opportunity to actually bring the wrath of God down upon Saul, but he restrains himself because he doesn't want to harm the Lord's anointed.

So there's no way to be sure for sure with reference to the historical incident or the historical occasion, but in both situations David was accused by false accusation concerning his own conduct. He was hunted like an animal and he cried out to God for vindication and for judgment. And I think David functions typically, he points us forward to our Lord Jesus Christ, who was subjected to false accusations, hunted like an animal, and ultimately appealed to the Lord's judgment for resolution.

Now I'm going to quote from the church father Athanasius here and then later on when we conclude the message. And I want to commend to you a particular letter written by Athanasius to a young man named Marcellinus. And basically Athanasius commends Marcellinus for his godliness and his upright character. And then Athanasius is exhorting him and encouraging him to be a student of Scripture, to be sure, but a student of the Psalter specifically. Again, not to the neglect of the rest of the Bible, but he's commending to Marcellinus the value and the importance of the Psalms of David. And what Athanasius says is that he learned these things from an older studious saint, from an older studious man that had given himself to the study of the Book of Psalms. And so basically what Athanasius does is he rehearses what the old man gave him and communicates that to Marcellinus.

With reference to Psalm 7, Athanasius says, I think that's very valuable counsel. I think that's a very valuable exhortation because if, as I'm going to try to argue this focuses specifically upon our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, by virtue of God's salvation of us, we are in union with him. So whatever Psalms Jesus sang, prayed, composed, was the subject of and the author of and the very object of, then those Psalms are as much for us as being in union with him.

So there are probably a lot of ways to break down the psalm. We're going to focus on three things. That's not my favorite number, by the way. It just seems to fall out that way in sermons that three is a good way to hang our hats on a particular set of pegs.

But first, I want to look at the supplication of the psalmist in verses 1 and 2. That's his cry, or his petition, or his ask, if you will. Secondly, the assertion of the psalmist in verses 3 to 5. And then finally, the vindication of the psalmist in verses 6 to 17. But with reference to the supplication, notice it is very simple in verse 1. save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me.

Again, a prayer obviously rendered up by David when Saul had had persons falsely accuse him, when Saul was hunting him like an animal and when David cried out for God's intervention against those machinations of Saul. If we jump over to 2 Samuel, the same sorts of things with reference to Absalom and his attempted usurpation of the kingdom from David. David was falsely accused. Specifically in 2 Samuel 16, Shimei says some very vile and wretched things, accusing David of being a bloodthirsty man. but as well in the language of our Savior.

Oh Lord, my God, in you I put my trust. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me. We need to observe the absence of personal retaliation. He's gonna specify in verses three and four the false charges that have been made against him. Again, David and our Lord Jesus.

People said bad things about them. People predicated of them things that were not true. Remember when the Jews bring Jesus up to Pontius Pilate? What do they allege? He forbids the paying of taxes to Caesar. He is causing an uproar in society. With reference to David, he's a bloodthirsty man. He's not about the glory of God. He's about furthering his own interests in this present evil world.

So there is an absence of personal retaliation that I think should speak to the people of God. When we're falsely accused, when we're falsely maligned, when we have these sorts of allegations leveled against us, sing Psalm 7. and leave it with the God of heaven and earth.

That is precisely what we find here. So he says, O Lord my God, in you I put my trust. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me. This save me from all those, or rather the last part of the first section, in you I put my trust, or in you I seek refuge. Christopher Ashe says to take refuge is the language of faith, used frequently and vigorously in the Psalms.

Rather than seeking to counter the claims himself, David's first response is to take this to God. Jesus does the same, in the end standing in dignified silence before his false accusers because he has taken his plight to his Father in prayer. It's a good lesson for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a good lesson for us when we are maligned, when we are falsely charged, when those allegations are leveled against us. What is our first recourse? To run to the gun cabinet? I understand that temptation. I understand that particular tendency. But we need to run to the very throne of God and say, oh Lord, my God, in you I put my trust.

Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me. The various persons who persecuted David, he made this his petition. The various persons who persecuted our blessed Savior, he made this his petition. The various persons who persecute the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us make this our petition. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me. Under the petition, he gives the reason, or he gives the particular request.

He says in verse 2, Remember in Psalm 3 at verse 7, Several times in the Psalms of David, we see a reference to lions. And I'm not convinced that David thinks about those big furry things that have fangs that kill and claws that rip and shred. He's talking about men. He's talking about the adversaries. He's talking about those who surround him and want to destroy him.

Perhaps most vividly, one that you'll recall is in Psalm 22, verses 13 and 21. Those at the base of the cross. Those there saying, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Those there saying, he trusted in God, let's see if God will come and deliver him. How are they described? They're described as lions.

They're described as ravenous lions, and that's the petition and the request, or rather the particular request from the psalmist. 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. Again, references throughout the Psalter, the New Testament reference, remember Peter, 1 Peter chapter 5, specifically at verse 8, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Ephesians 6, 10 to 12, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against the powers of darkness. The powers of darkness certainly utilize flesh and blood. The powers of darkness are certainly behind Planned Parenthood. The powers of darkness are certainly behind the attempt to mutilate children. The powers of the dark one are behind those things fleshed out in this present evil age. But this is the reason for the petition, lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces while there is none to deliver.

The false accusations against David would destroy him. How do you maintain a kingdom? Not that I'm a king, but I have to think that the foundation is righteousness and justice. And if there's false allegations, if there's lies and deception, it threatens not just the king, and I don't think David was all about just King David, but about the kingdom of Israel, about the people that God had told him to shepherd and to serve and to labor for. Now, when it comes to the anti-type of the psalmist, the false accusations did stick.

The false accusations did rend him in pieces. The false accusations did bring that destruction upon him. Listen to Samuel Pierce, he says, None could deliver him out of this but the Lord, nor could he be delivered until they had fulfilled all the counsel of God concerning him.

Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done, say the apostles and others in their prayer to God in Acts 4, 27 and 28. So you see, this situation, where the false accusations have come, threatened David, threatened David's greater son, with reference to ruination, with reference to being pounced upon by the lion and destroyed and devastated.

So that brings us to the assertion of the psalmist in verses three to five. What is he doing here? Again, I think this, if not specifically, at least suggests a courtroom. It suggests a courtroom. Here's the problem, here's my condition, and here's how I'm going to turn it over unto you, Most High.

So what he does in verses 3 and 4 is he lists the false allegations. And what he does in verse 5 is to say this, if verses 3 and 4 are true, then let the lion catch me. If verses 3 and 4 are accurate, then my glory should be gone. If verses 3 and 4 are legit, then everything they're attempting to do is perfectly righteous and I should be torn in pieces. So notice in verses 3 and 4, this is sort of the if clause or if section. Verses 3 and 4, if this is the case, verse 5 is his implication, then let this happen to me. So his innocence, notice the innocence of the psalmist for instance in verses 3 and 4. Again if you go back to 1 Samuel chapter 24, David has the ability to kill Saul. David has the ability to finish him. David has the ability to rid himself of problems.

We don't always get that, do we? We don't always get that opportunity to solve a particular problem. Sometimes we just have to, not sometimes, most of the times, 98% of the times, we just have to live with that tension that there's problems. He's gotta know that there's a pebble in my shoe and I can't get it out. Well, in this instance, in 1 Samuel 24, and then again in chapter 26, David has the ability to get rid of the pebble in his shoe. David has the ability to finish Saul. David has the ability to end that once and for all. But notice what he says in verse 3. If these things are true of me, Lord God, then notice in verse 5.

Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me. Yes, let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust. Here's what I think he's doing. If verses 3 and 4 are accurate, if they're true, if I'm that bad of a person, then may verse 5 happen. If I am guilty, hold me responsible. But in verses 6 to 17, I'm not guilty. Therefore, hold them responsible. That's what David is saying here. So David supposes this sort of an idea that, yeah, he might just be guilty of this for the sake of argument.

But again, you jump back into 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26. I was going to turn us there, but it occurred to me that we won't be home until 1. If I turn to every passage that I have listed in the notes, as any time ever, if you ever want notes from any sermon ever preached, send me a text, send me an email. I will send it to you. It's got more of the specific references, where there's other places in the Psalms, for instance, or in this instance in 1 Samuel 24 and 26.

What happens with David's companions? They're telling David, kill him. David, you can take the pebble out of your shoe. You can rid yourself of this problem. You're getting that 2% opportunity that most of us don't have. So what does David do in that scenario? He restrains them. It makes one conscious of the greater than David who found himself in similar circumstances.

Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane when those filthy soldiers under the behest of the unbelieving Jews come and lay their filthy hands upon the Savior and Simon Peter withdraws his sword and he's going to do business with Malchus? What does Jesus say to him? He says, put your sword back in its sheath. Do you not know that I could call a legion of angels to get rid of this pebble in my shoe? But he doesn't do it. Or when he's being questioned by Pontius Pilate, are you a king then? You said rightly that I am a king. My kingdom is not of this world, for if it was of this world, what? My servants would fight.

So David as type in his dealings with Saul, David as type in his dealings with Absalom are typical instances of Jesus the anti-type. And consider, too, in verses three and four, O 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, or have plundered my enemy without cause.

David did not wrong Saul, and David was not guilty of the accusations leveled. But in view of verses three and four, I think Augustine is right when he says, which none can say with truth, but the perfect. David may not have had that axe to grind with Saul, David may not have had that axe to grind with Absalom, but David was not a spotless, pure, absolutely holy one.

Christ is. Verses 3 and 4 are predicated ultimately of David's greater son, David's Lord. In the ministry of Christ, there was no iniquity in his hands. He never repaid evil to anyone, and he never plundered his enemy without cause. Andrew Bonar, in his excellent little commentary called Christ and His Church on the Psalms, says this.

The true David, no doubt, took up this psalm in the days of his flesh, and often may he have used it as part of his wondrous liturgy when alone in the hills of Galilee. I love that thought. What's Jesus thinking about as He's walking around knowing that He's despised, knowing He's a man of sorrows, knowing He's acquainted with grief. What is it that steals His soul? The Psalms. He composed it. Subject. Author, singer, prayer, focal point, what is it that buoys up the Son of God according to His humanity, but that blessed Word furnished for His well-being, for His encouragement, and for His perseverance in what was a very difficult situation that He had to undergo.

So he makes this if statement in verses 3 and 4 and then brings it home in verse 5, the then clause of his argument. Let the enemy pursue me. Let him overtake me. Yes, let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust. If he is guilty, I should be overtaken.

And as I would imagine, lions are really good at that. I mentioned this recently, being afraid of lions is relative. I'm not afraid of a lion if it's in a zoo and I'm on the right side of the fence. But if I'm out in the middle of the Serengeti and there's a team of lions or a pride of lions chasing me, that's a bit of a different story. I'm sure I'm fearful at that point.

They're like God's killing machines, right? I don't think it's any accident that this is the metaphor invoked by the psalmist to describe the wicked and their animosity and their perseverance in order to rid the earth of the righteous and the holy. It's a very simple argument. If these things are true, then may I be trampled to the dust. May my glory be gone. May I be destroyed.

But of course he doesn't stop there. He moves then to the vindication of the psalmist. So what's his point? I'm not guilty of verses three and four. It shouldn't happen that I experience verse five. I'm not the problem, David says, when it comes to Saul. I'm not the problem, David says, when it comes to Absalom. I'm not the problem, Jesus says, when it comes to the unbelieving Jews and a godless government that is opposed to him. Not the problem.

So now we run to the gun cabinet, right? So now we go fetch the grenades. Now we go get the C4 vest and we meet our enemies on the field of battle. Now I'm not suggesting there's never a time for a physical battle, but I'm telling you in a spiritual battle thus, we go to God.

We seek our vindication from the Lord. We seek our blessing from on high, we seek our protection and deliverance from the one who protects and delivers. So notice with reference to the vindication of the psalmist, verses 6-17, it's a big chunk but the recurring theme is God's judgment. Notice his petition in verses 6-13 and then his expectation in verses 14-16. And then he ends with exaltation, praising and rejoicing in his God in verse 17. But note his request in verses 6 to 9.

Arise, O Lord, in your anger. Lift yourself up because of the rage of my enemies. Rise up for me to the judgment you have commanded. So the congregation of the people shall surround you. For their sakes, therefore, return on high. The Lord shall judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me. This is the vindication of the righteous one. David with Absalom, David with Saul, Jesus with all that was upon Him. There's no guile in Him. There was no sin in Him. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled.

Verse 9, O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just, for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. That's His petition. I want to just break that down. He's applying Himself to what He's already said in verse 1. O Lord my God, in You I put my trust. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me.

What's that look like? It looks like verses 6 to 17. It looks like petitioning the God of unrivaled holiness, sovereignty, supremacy, majesty, and glory to visit His enemies with judgment. That's exactly what it looks like. Notice, when he applies himself to verse one, he leans on the perfections of God in verses six to nine.

So note, arise, O Lord, in your anger. Lift yourself up because of the rage of my enemies. The anger of God, to meet the anger of the enemies of God. The rage, spoken in the manner of men, predicated of God, The rage of God targeting the rage of men who oppose God. David Dixon says, when our enemies are desperately malicious and nothing can mitigate their fury, let the consideration of God's justice mitigate our passions. Look at the remedy here. Look at what he's saying. Look at the Christian response.

Again, in the spiritual battles that we face, if your country ever calls upon you to defend its borders from foreign invaders, hey, I believe the Bible authorizes that. But when you're dealing with the spiritual forces of evil, the false allegations of men, the wretchedness, again, I'm not suggesting you can't write to your members of parliament, you can't write to your prime, you can do all those things. The Bible's not against that.

The first and foremost thing is to go to God. recognizes anger. When our enemies are desperately malicious and nothing can mitigate their fury, let the consideration of God's justice mitigate our passions, for He will arise in anger against them. It's a perfect backdrop for Romans 12,

19. What does Paul tell us in Romans 12, 19? Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. I fear at times Romans 12, 19 is very misunderstood. Avenge not yourselves, beloved. You can't be upset about the ungodliness that's around you, because God said don't avenge yourselves. Don't avenge yourselves, but what? What does Paul say?

Give place to wrath. In other words, recognize that it's God's monopoly, that it's not yours participatorily, and give place to it. How do we give place to it? I'd suggest saying Psalm 7, especially verses 6 to 17. invoking God's judgment upon the enemies of the Most High. That's kind of foreign in modern Christianity. Can we do that? It's long been my burden to say, yeah, we can.

Based on New Testament passages, 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, let him be damned to hell. 2 Timothy chapter 4, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, may the Lord repay him. Or 2 Thessalonians 1, it's right with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you.

All you got to do is read the first seven Psalms. The recurring theme? It's not just, you know, these few imprecatory Psalms that made, you know, C.S. Lewis uncomfortable. I'm picking on C.S. Lewis, but he thought the imprecations of David were ungodly. These are the imprecations of David's greater son. And thus, not only are they not ungodly, but they're for our use.

Notice, he then says concerning the judgment of God. Verses six and seven. Rise up for me to the judgment you have commanded. There's a decree in place by God to bring judgment to bear. Live in light of that. That's okay. All rights will be vindicated. All wrongs will be punished. It's okay to think that way.

It's okay to celebrate 2 Thessalonians 1. It's okay with the fourfold hallelujah of the saints in heaven when they see the whore of Babylon collapsed and destroyed and the false prophet with her to say hallelujah four times in Revelation 19. or in Revelation 18, the hallelujah at the fall of the whore. That doesn't make you ungodly, it makes you godly, it makes you like God. Again, it can be overdone, it can be misspent, it can be abused to be sure, but I'd say verses three and four and the allegations leveled against David and the allegations leveled against our blessed Savior, meant a response like this was perfectly legit, was perfectly satisfactory.

So notice then, verse seven, so the congregation of the people shall surround you for their sakes, therefore, return on high. The Lord shall judge the peoples, judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me. The Lord Jesus, as mentioned earlier alone, can say this. Because he alone is the innocent, guiltless one of verses 3 and 4. But David can say it and the church can say it by virtue of justification by grace through faith in Christ. The imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone. There are times, brethren, when we're right. If false allegations have been leveled against us and they're wrong, well, you can't sound like you're arrogant. But I'm right. Not me, Jim, personally. You get the point.

You see what encourages David? You see what encourages Jesus? You've decreed, you've commanded there's going to be an assembly, a congregation that is going to be in place for that judgment that is to come. And all those false accusers, all those godless wretches, all those miserable people are going to get their due. And all those justified freely by God's grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, by virtue of the innocence of that Christ, that righteousness imputed to us, received by faith alone? Boy, takes the fangs out of the coming judgment, doesn't it? Takes the threat out of the coming judgment. It takes any fear. I mean, there's fear. I don't know what it's like to die. I'm not sure how it's all gonna work. There's certainly those things attendant to it. But nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. Our soul and whole righteousness.

And then notice. The reason for this request, so the request, verses six to nine. based on his anger, based on his judgment, based on his righteousness, so let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just, for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. He knows who falsely accuses. He knows who's actually upright. He knows this because he's God.

But then the reason follows in verses 10 to 13. My defense is of God. My defense is of God, or my shield is with God. My protection, my defender, my ruler, my governor, my king. I'm not looking to myself to be able to wriggle my way out of this kangaroo court. He says it all too clearly, my defense is of God who saves the upright in heart. God is a just judge and God is angry with the wicked every day.

If he does not turn back, he will sharpen his bow. He bends his bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for himself instruments of death. He makes his arrows into fiery shafts. So notice this protection of God. Again, it comes up in the Psalms, Psalm 97, 10, and 11, Psalm 125,

4. Psalm 125 starts off with, you know, God, or as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people. He protects us. He's our shield. He's our defender. But then notice as well God's justice in verse 11. I'm sure you've probably quoted this verse before. I hope you have. You're a Calvinist. Any self-respecting Calvinist has Psalm 711 in the ready when it comes to doctrine of total depravity, right? God is a just judge. God is angry with the wicked every day. How's it functioning here? How is it in service of the Psalmist and Christ here? You got this, God.

If false accusations bothered David when it came to Saul, if false accusations bothered David when it came to Absalom, if false accusations came or bothered David when Shimei was cursing him as a bloodthirsty wretch and tyrant, If false allegations bothered our Lord Jesus Christ, which true humanity, brethren, He had to have been bothered by it. What of God?

You know, I think this text corrects some faulty thinking in our lives. If it's not true of you, I hate when preachers do that. They sin and they blame it on you, or they include you in sin. Well, because I sin this way, you all must sin this way. I know the tendency in my heart is to, at times, I don't think I consciously express it. Well, I'd be afraid to, and yet I'm going to.

What a moron. Where is God in the midst of a generation that aborts babies? Where is God in the midst of a generation that thinks it's perfectly acceptable to cut off functioning body parts of young people to try to make them into the other sex? Where is God? God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

He is not on holiday. He has not turned his face away. If I can use the language, it bothers him a whole lot more than it bothers us. You see where the psalmist is finding comfort and refuge? God's a just judge. God is angry with the wicked every day. I had to deal with them with Saul. I had to deal with them with Absalom. Jesus obviously had to deal with it, with the unbelieving Jews and the godless civil state. Of course, but from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. What is part and parcel, not part of, but part and parcel, part of, again, it's not a composition, but what makes up God's nature? What's definitional to God?

He's angry with the wicked every day. We may not be able to explain how it is He hasn't come in immediate judgment to destroy all the godless wretches that occupy the face of the earth. But that He will come to destroy the godless wretches that occupy the face of the earth He's a just judge. He's angry with the wicked every day. I find that to be a helpful remedy as well.

You know, we can get so obsessed and so consumed with how bad it is out there, we don't want to get out of bed. We don't want to engage. We just want to pull the covers back over. What new, foul, fiendish thing am I going to hear today? I mean, presently they want to make it a sin, a crime to preach the Bible. Really? Orwell didn't envision that. Well, probably Orwell did envision that, but we're seeing things that make previous generations of commies go, really? You're getting away with that? Seriously?

Brethren, it can be paralyzing. We can get so wound up and so caught up, and again, personal admission and confession. that when we say God is a just judge, God is angry with the wicked every day, I can leave a lot of this to Him. He has the capacity to do it. I don't. It can bury me. I think this is a beautiful remedy for the psalmist. I think it's a beautiful corrective for the psalmist.

And then he ends again on the judgment of God in verses 12 and 13. If he does not turn back. He's talking about the impenitent. He's talking about in the context the false accusers in verses 3 and 4. He's talking about the sinner. If he does not turn back, then what?

God will sharpen his sword. God bends his bow and makes it ready. God also prepares for himself instruments of death. God makes his arrows into fiery shafts. The song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, 41, if I wet my glittering sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies and repay those who hate me.

The thought that God doesn't care. The thought that God is unaware or the thought that God is not going to act in God's own best interests is blasphemy. And I think this psalm affords for us a helpful remedy and corrective so we don't fall prey to that type of thinking. Turn to the prophet Malachi chapter three and see an evidence of this kind of thinking that obtained in the southern kingdom.

Malachi chapter three. Verse 13, your words have been harsh against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken against you? Who, us? Malachi is a series of indictments against the people. God, through the prophet, says you're messed up here. And they say, who, us? Really? What do you mean, Lord? It's kind of like the kid that's got the cookie in the hand and the chocolate on the face, and you say, I think you just stole that out of the cookie. What? Cookie, huh? So in this? One, your words have been harsh against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken against you?

You have said, it is useless to serve God. What prophet is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blast for those who do wickedness are raised up. They even tempt God and go free. Basically, they say it's useless to serve God. It's unprofitable to serve God and it's unfair to serve God. They forgot Psalm 7. They forgot David and Saul, David and Absalom. They certainly had no regard for the coming David, the true David, David's son and David's Lord. Brethren, we need to leave these things with God.

I stress that in verse 1. It's not personal retaliation, but it's trust in God. its refuge in God. That's what the psalmist evidences here. And then notice the expectation in verses 14 to 16. These are three illustrations that just flash out the judgment of God as promised in verses 6 to 13. In other words, the psalmist and our Lord, they understand who they're dealing with and so much so that they end the psalm or ends the psalm on this high note of expectation relative to the death and the judgment of the godless.

He speaks of the birth of falsehood in verse 14. Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity. Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. Perfections of God, the wretchedness of man. Sounds a lot like James 1, 13-15. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. But the psalmist is saying in verse 14, behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity. Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.

The God who judges is the God who's going to judge these kinds. Verses 3 and 4 is what they actually do. Verse 14 is the theological rationale as to why they do that. Notice in verse 15, the ditch of death. He made a pit and dug it out and has fallen into the ditch which He made. This is in Psalm 57 verse 6 as well.

And I love the connection here because while what ultimately encourages him is the coming judgment commanded by God, that decreed judgment, the judgment of all men in the congregation of the righteous, the psalmist recognizes that even before then The wicked get their due. And it doesn't always come by, you know, God sends a lightning bolt to whatever your address is. It penetrates your ceiling and roof and finds you in your bed. It can come through providential things.

It's like as we'll continue reading in Luke 21, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by enemies, know that its desolation is near. When Jesus stands before the high priest and they say, I adjure you, under God are you the Son of God, you've said it rightly. Hereafter you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and glory.

They rip their garments, we have no further need of witnesses. I believe what Jesus is referring to is that enthroned at the right hand of God most high through the agency of the Roman armies Jerusalem received the penalty for her sins. Oh, that's outlandish. Really?

Because God raised up Assyria to take down the northern tribes in 722. God raised up Babylon to take down the southern tribes in 586. Did you know God calls Nebuchadnezzar my servant? Did you know God calls Cyrus king of Persia who's going to bring an end to the Babylonian Empire so that Judah Heights could return to Judah. Do you know that he calls him my anointed? My Christ? My Messiah? Brethren, providence doesn't just kind of work out for, you know, in the benefit of God.

God governs all His creatures and all their actions. The ungodly digs a ditch as a snare for the godly, and the ungodly falls into it. And then in verse 16, his trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. Yeah, there's this cosmic coming judgment. There's this congregation attending. There's this blessed Savior appointed as the judge of the living and the dead, where the wicked are gonna be cut off, the righteous are vindicated, but here's an encouragement, church.

Sometimes in the here and the now, sometimes in the present, sometimes in your own goings and comings, you will see wicked people dig ditches that they end up falling in and dying. You will see wicked people who have their trouble returning upon their own heads. Just three quick examples. Again, you can look these all up later. Judges 7. Judges 7. Remember when Gideon has to face the Midianites. They are way outnumbered. Way outnumbered. And then God says, you still have way too many people. And he whittles them down to 300 troops.

If I'm Gideon, a tactician strategist, I'm probably scratching my head at some point saying, This just doesn't seem like it's gonna work, but bless God for Gideon, he doesn't do that. I mean, there's that fleece thing and all that, but what was Gideon's tactic? Gideon's tactic was to sound a horn or a trumpet, to take an empty pitcher and put a torch in it, descend upon the camp of the Midianites, and then do you know what happens? They sound that trumpet, they break those pitchers, and it's mayhem. What do the Midianites do?

They start killing each other. 722, you can look it up later. They start killing each other. Huh. The psalmist is on to something. They dug a ditch for Israel and they fell into it. They wanted to inflict trouble on Israel but it was a boomerang and it came and got them. Or consider as well the instance of, put the glasses on, Romans 1. Romans 1, when the Apostle Paul is outlining the wickedness and the guilt of the Gentiles in particular, what does he say in 24, 26, and 28? gave them over. God gave them over. God gave them over.

Well, in the description of their horrible ungodliness, wouldn't we expect God rained hell from heaven on their heads? No, enough hell from heaven came by God giving them over. going to destroy themselves just like those Midianites that were, you know, off kilter when the Israelites sounded the trumpet and broke the pictures and the torches were visible. Even the wrath of man shall praise God. And this is where the psalmist finds his refuge.

Listen to Luther, and we're gonna bring this to a close. Luther says this is the wonderful wisdom of God, that he does not punish the ungodly except with their own stratagems. He mocks them with their own mockeries. He pierces them with their own javelins, as David did with Goliath and Christ did with the devil. Thus the Jews had prepared every evil for Christ, and behold, it came upon themselves. And God always observes the rule. Luther's quoting a pagan here, but it makes perfect sense. No law is fairer than that the schemers of destruction perish by their own device. And then he says, and blessed Augustine says, you have commanded, O Lord, and so it is done, that every disordered spirit be its self-punishment.

He ends, and in this passage, verse 16, we read, his mischief shall be turned on his own head. This is what happened to Saul, Absalom, and many others who harmed themselves when they wanted to harm others. And the fact that Saul fell on his own sword and his armor bearer after him is an illustration of this.

In other words, at times, instead of opening heaven, sending fire down upon the enemies of God, He just gives them enough leash to hang themselves. I understand we'd be more impressed if heaven opened and we saw our enemy consumed with fire, but that he's gone is as much owing to the glory, the power, the majesty, and the excellent justice of God as is the opening of heaven and sending fire down. David encouraged himself thus, Jesus encouraged himself thus, and that is precisely what happened in AD 70 when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies.

Verse 17, he goes to the only place he can go to exult in his God. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. May God give us that spirit and that appreciation for what God in His justice and in His righteousness has not only promised to do in our future in terms of the Day of Judgment, but what He often does even now, but for whatever reason, we don't always see it.

For whatever reason, we become atheists when it comes to divine providence. With reference to the church, we ought to see who our deliverer is. God. We ought to understand who our oppressor is, that lion or that devil that roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We ought to appreciate who our righteousness is. The man of verses 3 and 4, the man of verse 8, judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me. Or verse 10, my defense is of God who saves the upright in heart That's our righteousness.

It's given to us by God's grace through faith. I would suggest as well, with reference to this particular psalm, the church's confidence. The church's confidence. Be concerned with what's going on. Be prayerful. God, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But don't be paralyzed. Don't make it such that you can't get out of bed. Don't make it such that, you know, I just, I can't handle this. But God can.

Remember, he's a just judge and he's angry with the wicked every day. And as well, the church's vindication. It's coming because of what Christ did. Athanasius, again. So then, my son, let whoever reads this book of Psalms take the things in it quite simply, as God inspired, and let each select from it, as from the fruits of a garden, those things of which he sees himself in need. For I think that in the words of this book, all human life is covered with all its states and thoughts, and that nothing further can be found in man. For no matter what you seek, whether it be repentance and confession, or help and trouble and temptation, or under persecution, whether you have been set free from plots and snares, or on the contrary, are sad for any reason, or whether seeing yourself progressing and your enemy cast down, you want to thank and praise, or praise and thank and bless the Lord. Each of these things, the divine Psalms, show you how to do. And in every case, the words you want are written down for you, and you can say them as your own. Psalm 7 is the prayer of Christ. Psalm 7 is the prayer of David. And Psalm 7 is the prayer of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have a God who is thus described. Let us find our comfort. Let us find our confidence. And let us find the cause for our rejoicing. And let us echo the psalmist. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness. and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. I would be remiss if I did not warn sinners that have not come to the Lord Jesus Christ to see themselves in this psalm. To see themselves in this psalm. I say it's for David, I say it is Christ, and I say it's for the church. But it includes the unbeliever as well.

What should you conclude from this psalm? God is a just judge. God is angry with the wicked every day, verse 11. God has purpose. There is a day coming, decreed, commanded by Him to judge the living and the dead. In fact, Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or bad. That's kind of hopeless. No, it's hopeful. God tells you what He thinks of you. I'm angry. God tells you what He's going to do to you. I'm going to punish. But God, in His infinite grace, mercy, and love, has provided the man that Psalm 7 is about.

And He's already told us back in Psalm 2 that we're to kiss Him. That means to believe on Him. That means to look to Him. That means to receive every benefit accomplished by Him, by faith. In other words, it's to stop Listen, understand, and flee to the remedy, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him, and you'll be saved.

And when you come to that day of judgment, you'll hear probably the most surprising words you're ever gonna hear. I'm not surprised by Matthew 25, 41 to the wicked. Depart from me, I never knew you. Into hell, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. You know what surprises me? Enter into your rest, good and faithful servant.

That is surprising. That is grace. That comes by looking to the Lord Jesus in faith. Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the Psalms of David, the Psalms of our blessed Savior. We thank you for the Psalms that you've given to the church, May these things find their way into our closets, to our family altars, and certainly may they saturate church life as we pray, as we sing, as we consider the God revealed herein. We ask that you would bless us this day, help us to sanctify the day, help us to call it a delight, and may you look with favor upon this congregation. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.