God Is A Righteous Judge

[0:00] We're in familiar territory with this psalm, aren't we? It's another lament from David concerning yet another season of distress, which seems to now be common in David's life as we work through these psalms.

[0:14] Every psalm seems to be another moment of suffering, another moment of trial. And if we aren't careful, that will cause us to be just a bit jaded, won't it?

[0:24] And we bring all of these psalms together and we see over and over suffering, affliction, distress, and it'll cause us to start to get a little pessimistic about the life that God has given us.

[0:37] And surely this is representative of what life is like, isn't it? David gives us a fair picture that there are peaks that we get to enjoy and there are many valleys that we have to suffer through in this life.

[0:52] And so once again, we find David in a particular distress. And the nature of that distress is actually, it's quite easy to discern here, even if we don't have all the details.

[1:04] Simply an individual named Cush spoke against David in such a way that his enemies multiplied and his life was in grave danger.

[1:15] It's fairly simple, at least from that perspective. Unfortunately, Cush's identity has been lost to time, but it is his heritage as a Benjaminite that helps us to understand the background of David's lament here.

[1:32] You'll remember that King Saul, who tried multiple times to murder David, was from the tribe of Benjamin, and the tribe had set itself often, if you read back through those historical narratives of 1 and 2 Samuel, you'll see that the tribe of Benjamin often set itself against David as a really quite foolish act of loyalty, not to God, but a loyalty to Saul.

[2:02] Let me just walk you through a few passages here. They're on the screen. You don't have to turn. We see in 1 Samuel 22 and verse 7, Saul calls for Benjamin's allegiance against David.

[2:14] Here's what he says. And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards?

[2:25] Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? In other words, what he's saying is, is I will be better to you than David will be. Therefore, do not conspire against me.

[2:38] Conspire against him. Saul calls for the allegiance of his own tribe to support him in his fight against David. That's really where it begins.

[2:49] And then it continues. 2 Samuel 3 and verse 1. After Saul dies, Benjamin leads an opposing army in civil war.

[3:00] Did you realize that after Saul's death, it still took eight years for David to assume the throne in Israel? The reason is because of this civil war.

[3:11] And the opposing army against David was led, spearheaded by none other than the tribe of Benjamin. And we read about it in 2 Samuel 3. There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.

[3:25] But God was good, wasn't he? David grew stronger and stronger while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker. And then it continues again. 2 Samuel 16 verses 7 and 8.

[3:37] When Absalom ran David out of Jerusalem, Shimei, another Benjaminite, curses David. And the basis of his curse is he was claiming divine vengeance for Saul.

[3:52] Now there happened to be there a worthless man who's, or excuse me, and Shimei said as he cursed, Get out, get out, you men of blood, you worthless man.

[4:03] The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. And the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son, Absalom.

[4:15] 2 Samuel chapter 20. After Absalom's revolt, another Benjaminite named Sheba led another revolt against David. Here's the verse.

[4:25] Now there happened to be there a worthless man whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, We have no portion in David. We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.

[4:38] Every man to his tent. So Israel. So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from Jordan to Jerusalem.

[4:51] So we see the pattern here, don't we? It's not so much that we need to know who Cush is. That doesn't really matter. This situation that David's in, it could have fallen in a number of different scenarios in his life.

[5:04] But the pattern that we see is that there was this ongoing feud between the tribe of Benjamin, those who would have identified themselves with King Saul. If we step back and we look at the big picture of the Bible, we're looking at people who would identify as the seed of the serpent that are fighting constantly against the seed of the woman represented in David, which ultimately points us to the person of Christ.

[5:29] So the hostility of Benjamin toward David is well established, though we cannot be sure of the exact issue at hand here. But one feature of this hostility over and over and over with Benjamin repeatedly comes to the surface.

[5:47] And it is this. False accusations that lead to threats against David's life. That goes all the way back to Saul.

[5:58] In fact, there's a passage in 1 Samuel as Saul is trying to kill David, and David meets up with his best friend, Jonathan, who happens to be Saul's son.

[6:09] You'll remember the exchange here. What is it that David says? He says, what have I done to your father? What sin have I committed? What have I done? I have done nothing but serve him, but he seeks my life.

[6:21] And the implication there, or the inference there, is that what Saul was doing was conjuring up in his own mind false accusations about David.

[6:33] He felt threatened by David, and therefore he spread the false accusations, and he tried to murder him. And that's exactly what we see the tribe of Benjamin doing again and again and again. They're raising false accusations against David in order that they may threaten his life and take the throne for themselves.

[6:53] And Psalm 7 is fundamentally a prayer for vindication, that God would expose the truth in relation to Cush's lies, and that by doing that, he would save the righteous, in this case, David, and bring justice against the wicked, in this case, Cush the Benjaminite.

[7:17] Okay? So that's the background here, right? That's what's happening, and that will help us. Now, before we walk through the song itself, we need to recognize that there is a key verse here.

[7:29] The key verse is verse 11a. Set your eyes on it. Verse 11, here's what David says. God is a righteous judge.

[7:43] God is a righteous judge. All of the content of this prayer flows from David's faith in this one statement, which means that if we're going to grasp the foundational understanding of this psalm, if we're going to apply this psalm the right way, then we need to understand these two foundational affirmations that David is making.

[8:09] Affirmation number one is that God is the ultimate judge. David is the sufferer. He has authority that is limited.

[8:20] He does have authority, but even he recognizes ultimately God is the judge. Affirmation number two, God is righteous in all his judgments.

[8:33] God is righteous in all his judgments. Okay, so follow me here. That's all in just that one statement. God is a righteous judge. God is the ultimate judge. All of us will ultimately stand before him, and when God issues his judgment, it is always right.

[8:53] He always does what's right. That's what Abraham says, right? And Abraham, when he's having that conversation with God related to Sodom, what is it that he says to God? He said, shall not the judge of all the earth do that which is right?

[9:05] He says, we know you're the righteous judge, that all of your judgments are good and right. Paul says it again in 1 Timothy, when he talks about his crown of life, that the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to him on that day.

[9:19] He even recognizes there is coming a day, a final judgment. God will rule over all of us, and all of his judgments will be right. Now, everything David prays in Psalm 7 flows from his faith in this statement.

[9:34] Without this statement, none of the rest of the psalm makes any sense. It all flows from this. And these affirmations, they're repeated throughout the scriptures, and they are universally held by true believers.

[9:51] fundamental to the Christian faith is the fact that God, through Christ, will judge the world.

[10:02] And his judgment will be perfectly just. Why? Because he himself is truly righteous. righteous. And as we will see in David's song, God's righteous judgment, while it is certain, happens according to his timeline, not ours.

[10:26] In some cases, some injustices are judged now, while others are addressed in the final judgment. But in both cases, these two affirmations drive David's prayer for vindication.

[10:42] And they must also be the things that drive our prayers for vindication as well. So, when facing circumstances such as David's, affirming these truths will lead us to four actions modeled by David in Psalm 7.

[10:58] Okay? We're looking at four actions modeled by David for us to follow in similar circumstances. Action number one. Put your ultimate hope in God.

[11:11] Put your ultimate hope in God. Look again at verses one and two. Oh, Lord my God, in you do I take refuge. Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.

[11:23] Lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces with none to deliver. This is now the third time that the notion of taking refuge in God has been stated in these opening psalms.

[11:39] In Psalm 2 and verse 12 we're told, blessed are all who take refuge in God's King, God's anointed Son. Psalm 5 verse 11, let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them that those who love your name may exult in you.

[12:01] refuge. What is a refuge? Refuge is simple. It's a shelter amidst a storm. If you ever go golfing with Terry over at Cowan's Ford and a storm comes up, there are various shelters on the course where you might hunker down and take refuge until the storm passes through.

[12:25] Every once in a while, we will have the threat of a tornado in our area, which kind of blows my mind a little bit. If you're like me, you grew up watching Twister. So I thought tornadoes only happened in Oklahoma, but apparently they happen here too.

[12:39] And I think one of Julie's deepest fears is that we will get hit by a tornado. And someone told her at some point along the way that you know a tornado is coming if it sounds like a train, like a big train is coming through, right?

[12:54] And I don't know how many times the wind has been howling during a storm during the night. And Julie has woken me up, Jared, is that a train? Is that a train? And she'll pull up her app on her phone and it'll say there's a tornado warning in the area and Julie is very quick to gather her brood and to take us into the pantry downstairs in order that we might find refuge in case the storm does actually impact our house and wreck it.

[13:21] Such is the picture that David gives us again and again in the Psalms of taking refuge in God. It is to find shelter and security in Him as the storms of your life roar around you.

[13:38] In this case, seeking vindication when false accusations have been made about us, it is only when we have these two foundational affirmations in view that we will truly take refuge in God as David did.

[13:56] Isn't that what he does? He does not appeal to his own authority here. He submits his calls to the Lord. In you do I take refuge. Which is significant for us, isn't it?

[14:09] Because in situations like David's, we are always tempted to retreat to our own devices. we want to defend ourselves, don't we?

[14:21] Rightfully so. Rather than taking refuge in God, often, instead of trusting Him as the righteous judge, we seek shelter in human wisdom.

[14:34] We'll take matters into our own hands, won't we? It's actually incredible what this communicates when we do this kind of thing, and all of us are probably guilty of doing it at some point along the way at various trials in our lives.

[14:47] What it communicates is that what we really believe in our heart of hearts is that we will treat ourselves better than what God will treat us if we submit to His purposes in our lives.

[15:01] Have you ever thought about that? When we don't take refuge in God, when He is not the source of our hope in various situations of our lives, what we're saying is, God, I love you, but I think I'll take better care of me now than what you will take care of me.

[15:21] And so we resort to human devices all the time, don't we? We might consider in a situation like David's, fighting fire with fire, sinking into the same sin as our accusers.

[15:34] We might insist on our own innocence so widely that what we end up doing is attracting suspicion rather than dispelling it. And I want to be clear that to take refuge in God doesn't mean that we do nothing.

[15:48] That's not what it means. Notice what David does. David's enemies, they pursued him indicating that he ran away. He was doing something. It's not that we do nothing.

[16:00] It's good and right to use whatever righteous means are available to us when seeking justice. And David does what he needs to do to escape but his ultimate hope, his trust, was in the Lord.

[16:15] He submits his calls to the Lord when he could run no further, when he could do nothing else. James Johnston says this, I found this so helpful, if your ultimate hope is not in God, anxiety will churn you up inside when you cannot reverse injustice.

[16:34] the false accusation will eat you up when you cannot do anything about it. So what do we do then? When we trust that God is the righteous judge, I think we'll find it most natural to take refuge in him in seasons of distress.

[16:57] It doesn't mean that we never act. It means that we always commit our calls to him. Like Nehemiah, as he builds the wall around Jerusalem, remember what he did when he had threats of enemies coming against him.

[17:14] He prays to God and then what did he do? He set a guard. Trusting God doesn't negate human action, but all of our human action must be surrendered, committed to his calls.

[17:26] Our trust must not be in our ability to fix the problem. Our trust and hope must be in God's goodness as the righteous judge. Action number two.

[17:40] Boldly plead before his throne. Boldly plead before his throne. Look at verses three through five. David continues, O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it.

[18:05] Let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah. David claims his innocence here. Declares it boldly before God.

[18:17] And it bears mentioning that David isn't claiming to be innocent of all sin. That's not his claim. We can read in other Psalms, particularly Psalm 51, that David was very aware of not only a sinful behavior but a sinful condition.

[18:33] This is not a claim to total innocence. We understand that. It's a claim to innocence regarding the charges that are brought against him in this case. And the nature of those charges is revealed in verse four.

[18:46] Look at it again. David's enemy, Cush the Benjaminite, accused him of repaying a friend with evil and plundering an enemy without cause.

[18:59] In other words, David is being misrepresented as a tyrant who is unjustly hurting others in pursuit of personal advantage. That's the accusation on the table against him.

[19:14] A common sin, isn't it? We see this kind of thing everywhere. It's not only common, it's destructive. And anyone who is guilty of it is certainly worthy of severe consequences.

[19:34] Sins like this, they are expressed on a spectrum, aren't they? On one hand, we would see this kind of sin expressed in the extreme behavior of a terrorist who attacks an enemy unprovoked, repaying an enemy without cause.

[19:54] It may also be expressed in a much subtle way, the betrayal of a colleague that is in line for a promotion ahead of you, cheating on your spouse with the spouse of a friend, repaying a friend with evil things.

[20:13] And the guilty would be worthy of serious consequences. So this is no small accusation. Whatever it is, whatever this is in relation to in David's life, whether it's big, little, public, or private, this is a serious accusation.

[20:30] But notice, David does not go into detail to prove his innocence, at least not in the psalm. What does he do? He takes his case before the Lord. He takes his case before the one who sees behind every mask, who knows the truth of all of our hearts.

[20:48] Why? Because his declaration of innocence flows from his belief that God actually truly is the righteous judge.

[20:59] On the one hand, it wouldn't make sense to fake innocence, feign innocence before the omniscient God. Who knows the truth? What would be the purpose in that?

[21:13] Even more, if David were truly guilty, we know by the pattern of his life, he would not have cried for justice. He would have cried for mercy.

[21:26] And all of these things point toward his true innocence. But it does something else for us. it calls us to examine ourselves before we make our appeal to God, doesn't it?

[21:40] We should be careful to know whether it is justice or mercy for which we should pray. But in either case, David teaches us that we can come boldly to God's throne with our pleas.

[21:53] because he knows God to be the righteous judge, David trusts that the Lord will indeed vindicate him because he knows himself to be innocent. So he doesn't waste his time trying to clear his name before his enemies.

[22:08] He takes his calls to the one who can actually exercise true authority in the matter. He commits his calls to the Lord. He declares his innocence to the one who knows, to the one who is the righteous judge, who will indeed vindicate him in time.

[22:25] Action number three. David confidently anticipates true justice. David confidently anticipates true justice.

[22:37] Look at verse six. Arise, O Lord, in your anger. Lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies. Awake for me. You have appointed a judgment.

[22:50] Now I want you to notice just in between verses five and six is that little word selah. We've talked about it a couple of times already, haven't we? There's only one in this psalm and its place in between verses five and six signal that there is a significant transition happening in the psalm.

[23:12] So David has opened with an appeal to God for his refuge. He has pleaded his innocence and now there's a shift happening here.

[23:23] Now he's addressing God in a different way. He calls on God to take action now. Arise with anger. Lift himself against his enemies. Awake for the appointed judgment.

[23:35] In other words, David is painting a picture for us. It is time for the heavenly court to begin its session and the song now brings us into that courtroom of the righteous judge.

[23:47] And this will take us almost to the very end of the psalm. And as David presents us with the courtroom of the righteous judge, he has two judgments in view. First, a final judgment.

[24:01] A final judgment. Look again at verse six. He says, you have appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you over at return on high.

[24:15] The Lord judges the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end.

[24:27] And may you establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God. My shield is with God who saves the upright.

[24:38] In the heart. Final judgment. Here, the attention, it shifts away from David's present circumstance. And it focuses momentarily on God's judgment of the nations.

[24:55] Let me prove that to you, okay? If you're wondering how I got to that, let me show you. At the end of verse six, David refers to an appointed judgment, a specific judgment that could be in just relation to his circumstance.

[25:10] I think it probably has something more significant in mind. And this appointed judgment, he goes on to say, involves all the peoples.

[25:21] Peoples being plural. These are people, groups, nations. kings. So that the peoples in verse seven and eight, I believe, recalls the raging nations and the plotting peoples of Psalm 2, who we read there, set themselves against God and his anointed king.

[25:45] And then he describes the wicked in verse nine, which I believe refers to those in Psalm 1 who will not stand in the judgment, but will perish instead.

[25:59] Now, David recognizes that even if he does not receive justice now, I think the picture he's painting is that there is coming a day when the righteous judge will gather all the wicked, will carry out swift and final justice on them.

[26:19] In other words, even if Cush gets away with the slanderous lies now, he will not get away with them forever.

[26:32] Why? Because David knows, he knows that God has appointed a judgment, that God looks at the peoples who are raging, the nations who are plotting, and Psalm 2 says he laughs at them because they are all headed to an eventual judgment when God will have the final word.

[26:57] That's the truth of the big picture of the Bible. God creates, his creation falls, and then we have to ask, where is all this going?

[27:11] And the Bible gives us a clear answer about that. All of creation is moving toward a final eschatological judgment in which God, the righteous judge, the one who David says here, tests the hearts and minds of us all.

[27:28] What does he mean by that? He knows what's true of every one of us. He knows what's true. No one will be able to stand before God in that judgment and fool him because he tests the minds, he tests the hearts, he sees what we do not see, he understands what we do not understand, he knows the truth of every person.

[27:49] And all of creation is headed toward this eschatological judgment where God will bring an end to evil by ruling against sinners. And the Bible makes it clear that all unrepentant sinners will be sentenced by this righteous judge to eternity in hell.

[28:12] Revelation chapter 20 gives us the clearest picture of it. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away.

[28:26] No place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, in other words, young and old, standing before the throne of God.

[28:39] And books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

[28:51] And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

[29:04] This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. David understands.

[29:15] He may not have been able to voice it in those words like John did. John had a special vision to be able to write that to us. But David understood all of this is heading toward a judgment.

[29:26] And even if I don't get vindication now, God will vindicate me then because we will all stand before him and sinners will be judged. But we're reminded here also that the righteous will be saved in this final judgment.

[29:44] Isn't that what he says here? Look again at verse 8. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to the integrity that is in me.

[29:56] Verse 10, my shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. So, the righteous will be saved in this final judgment. No escape.

[30:07] But see, here's the problem. the scriptures repeatedly affirm that no one is truly righteous. That's a pretty big problem for us, isn't it?

[30:19] If everything in creation is headed toward this final eschatological judgment, and the righteous will be saved then, what do we do with passages like Romans 3 where Paul strings together a number of quotations from the Psalms and from the prophets in order that he might affirm for us that there is none righteous, no not one.

[30:41] He goes on to say, all have turned aside, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the question then becomes, how can David speak so confidently about standing in that judgment when we know he was sinful?

[30:59] How can he have this kind of confidence? Is this kind of confidence foolish? Can we actually have it? Can you and I be so confident as David that when that final judgment comes, we will stand rather than perishing with the wicked?

[31:16] And it's here that we must remember that David often speaks prophetically in the Psalms, doesn't he? He's not only a king, he's the Old Testament type pointing us forward to a greater David, the true and better David.

[31:36] Jesus Christ. David often in the Psalms he speaks his own words that are then fulfilled, not in him, but are fulfilled in Christ.

[31:48] The singular me and my in verses 8 are not ultimately about David, they're ultimately about Jesus. He was truly sinless, sinless, and as the sinless son laid down his life in our place as a substitute for sinners who would come to him in faith.

[32:11] And those who do come to him in faith, we're told are justified, that word justified, it means in a legal sense, to declare someone righteous even though they are not actually righteous.

[32:26] righteous. And the Bible tells us that because of what Jesus has done, all who come to him in faith are declared by the righteous judge to be righteous even though they are not actually righteous.

[32:44] That's why he has this confidence. He may not have been able to piece all of that together the way that we can looking back from a New Testament perspective, but the Lord is speaking through him here. Let me prove it to you.

[32:56] 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin. Why? So that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

[33:10] A transaction takes place at the cross whereby the sins of those who believe are given to the one who never committed a sin. And that transaction is completed when the righteousness of the one who is truly righteous is imputed onto those of us who come to him in faith.

[33:30] So that in that judgment as we stand before the righteous judge who knows our hearts who knows our minds who has final authority he does not look to us in righteousness he looks to the righteous one who has given us his righteousness.

[33:46] That's how we stand in that judgment. It's said over and over again in the scriptures Romans chapter three we are justified again declared righteous by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

[34:11] This was to show God's righteousness righteousness so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

[34:26] Don't let me lose you. Think about what this is saying. God the righteous judge is just in forgiving us not because he turns a blind eye to our sins but because he punishes his son in our place that he might rightly as the righteous judge justify us who come to him in faith.

[34:56] Therefore Romans 5 chapter 1 says therefore since we have been justified declared righteous by faith we now have peace with God and we have that peace not through our own righteousness we have that peace through our Lord Jesus Christ Christ which again leads us to Romans chapter 8 that we read earlier in the service there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Jesus is the fulfillment of David's words here in the final judgment all who trust in the righteousness of Christ the blessed man will be saved but there's another judgment that David has in view here it's an immediate judgment an immediate judgment look with me at verse 11 God is a righteous judge and a God who fills indignation every day if a man does not repent God will wet his sword he has bent and readied his bow he has prepared for him his deadly weapons making his arrows fiery shafts behold the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies he makes a pit digging it out and he falls into the hole that he's made his mischief returns upon his own head and on his own skull his violence descends

[36:23] David I think now turns back to his present circumstance though he knows a final judgment is coming he also recognized that God often brings justice in the here and now he declares that verse 11 God is a righteous judge who feels indignation every day that indignation is not solely reserved for the final judgment it is indicated day by day in other words while the wicked await a final eschatological judgment the Lord also works to condemn and judge their wickedness now and often the way God uses the weapons described in verses 12 and 13 as wetting his sword bending his bow and preparing his fiery arrows often the way that God carries those weapons out in judgment is by turning the wickedness of the wicked against them in verses 15 and 16 you see what he says there the wicked makes a pit and then he falls into it not because he's a loser or just really that foolish but because

[37:45] God turns his wickedness against him verse 16 his mischief returns upon his own head his own skull on his own skull is violence to sins this is the fiery arrows of the Lord there is a judgment and a condemnation in the here and now God often does carry that out on behalf of his people how and when God issues his judgment is his business but taking refuge in him means confidently anticipating his judgment both now and in the future he is the righteous judge he will vindicate his people in one way or another and that's a truth that like David you can be certain of and you can take comfort in he will not forsake your calls he will come to your aid he will judge the wicked and you can confidently pray to him for that but there's an important qualification in verse 12 that we cannot miss notice that

[38:51] God's judgment here is conditional he wets his sword and readies his bow not against all sinners but against the man who does not repent against the man who does not repent this means that though you deserve his judgment he's made a way for you to escape it though we all deserve his judgment he's made a way for all of us to escape Christ has fulfilled the law on our behalf and anyone who repents of their sin and trust in the righteousness of Christ for salvation will be saved from this judgment notice what David says if a man will not repent God will ready his bow and wet his sword implication being that if a man does repent he will be welcomed and forgiven it also means that praying for justice doesn't preclude our desire for people to be saved even if it means that we have to live with the consequences of their sin against us we should desire first that our enemies turn to Christ that they turn from their sin and their wickedness and that they trust in him that like us they will escape the judgment that we all deserve to have received such amazing forgiveness from God should drive us to extend that same forgiveness to those who do wrong against us so that while we pray for

[40:37] God to be just and to bring justice we also pray that he would so work in their hearts that they would turn from their sin and turn to him in faith and then withhold that justice from them that he would be the righteous judge for them as he has been the righteous judge for us remember God is righteous to condemn sinners who will not repent and since Christ has made a sufficient sacrifice for sin he is righteous to forgive all who seek refuge in him in either case our prayers are based on our belief that he is the righteous judge fourth action final action worship the righteous Lord worship the righteous Lord look at verse 17 notice how David closes this is he does this so often it's so good I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his what's that next word righteousness I will sing praise to the name of the

[41:40] Lord most high so David's belief in those two affirmations I gave you at the beginning they lead him to take refuge in the Lord they lead him to boldly declare his innocence before the Lord they lead him to confidently anticipate a coming judgment either here and now or ultimately in the future in the great judgment and in the end all of this leads him to worship the Lord specifically for his righteousness it gives us a pattern so that we can specify our praise to God so that in similar situations even if they are not yet resolved we might knowing that God is the righteous judge turn our praise and praise him for his righteousness God I know you're the righteous judge I know that you will vindicate your people because of Christ and I praise you for that righteousness that's what David does here he determines to give

[42:41] God thanks do his righteousness and he directs his song to the most high who rules over all creation indeed all that God is and does is ultimately for his glory and when we have those two affirmations in view our lives will pour forth praise to the righteous judge now let me finish this way would you turn with me to 1st Peter chapter 2 1st Peter chapter 2 when I step back to the 30,000 foot view again of what's happening in this song David is in a circumstance where an enemy has brought false accusations against him and his life is in danger as a result he commits his calls to the Lord and he must decide in doing so how he will react will he react in his own devices or will he commit the call solely to the

[43:46] Lord and trust the Lord to deal with his enemies the way he sees fit to deal with them Jesus gives us the model of this 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 22 Jesus committed no sin neither was deceit found in his mouth though he was accused of both things when he was reviled he did not revile in return in other words he did not fight fire with fire when he suffered he did not threaten what did he do he continued entrusting himself to him who does what judges justly the righteous judge and how did he do that he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you've been healed for you were straying like sheep but now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls

[44:52] How does Jesus model this? He carries it out to its fullest end Jesus was crucified the charges against him were that he was an imposter that he was a liar that he was blasphemous that he had made himself to be something that he wasn't in being God he had made himself equal with God that's why the Jews hated him that's why they murdered him of course all of that was true about him not that he had sinned in those ways but that he actually is God and he had no to sin there was no deceit in his mouth he was not saying that he was something that he was not he could have poured out wrath on them then he had authority to do that just as David had a certain measure of authority to carry out that judgment against Cush the Benjamin night to the one who judges justly which meant that it cost him his life he knew that his vindication would come and it did come it came in his resurrection three days after they murdered him for something he did not do

[46:17] God raised him from the dead in Acts 2 or yeah Acts 2 Peter says because death had no claim on him he was sinless his vindication is seen in his resurrection our vindication in relation to whatever it may be will also be seen in our resurrection you may not receive justice for the wrongs committed against you now you will be vindicated on the day that the Lord returns and the dead Christ are raised and we are transformed and we are forever with the Lord indication will come you don't have to have it now it would be nice wouldn't it you don't have to have it now your future is certain it is certain better better better better better better better better better!

[47:15] better better better sinner who has ever lived, including our enemies.

[47:39] And may that be a comfort to us and a help to us in times like David's.