An expression of unfairness, I think, then, if you flip the coin, is an expression of our deep longing for justice, for rightness in our world, for truth, for, as we're going to see the word today, for righteousness, for purity in our world and in our dealings with others.
Now, why have we a deep longing for that? Because we daily experience ourselves or we observe others experiencing the very opposite. We see people experiencing injustice, unrighteousness, impurity, lies, distortion of truth, and full-blown criminal acts.
But at the same time, I think we fear the justice and the righteousness and the purity we long for. We crave for it, but we fear it. Why would that be the case?
Because I think, inherently, we know that we ourselves are unrighteous, impure, unjust in our dealings with others, and in even how we present ourselves sometimes.
And so, I think we actually get ourselves trapped in something of a vicious cycle, craving that which ultimately we fear, because we suspect we can't bear the experience of true justice, true righteousness, true purity.
And that dilemma, I think, then gets worse once we introduce the notion of God into our living.
So, people commonly blame God for perceived unfairness in life's circumstances.
We see that all the time. People can ignore God for weeks and weeks at an end, but something comes up.
Oh, what sort of God would allow that to happen?
Why do people do that?
Well, because people believe that if there is a God, people believe and expect and demand that God would deliver righteousness and truth and justice.
That he would be the dispenser of those things in his world.
But then again, we get caught in that cycle I mentioned a moment ago, because we crave God's justice applied to our world.
But then, I think, at the same time, we fear God's justice.
We fear God's truth.
We fear God's righteousness.
We fear God's purity.
Because we fear that we'll get swept up with it and swept away by God's judgment.
And so, it is a dilemma for us.
And Psalm 7 just jumps into this dilemma, portraying both God's fierce righteousness and, on the other hand, God's severe judgment as inseparable.
In Psalm 7, it's just been read to us by Gareth, the righteous God, the Lord, the Most High, as he's described within the psalm, is pictured here.
The picture language is that of a fierce warrior, armed to the teeth, able to dispatch his enemies just with ease, with multiple weapons of destruction.
And this warrior is not only armed to the teeth, but he's ready to dispense severe judgment to all who deserve it.
This is a God who's portrayed in righteousness and justice, whose righteousness and justice has real teeth.
This God doesn't make idle threats in respect to judgment.
Now, I think that's probably why we're discussing this at staff meeting this week, as we always do, a preview, looking at trying to help each other prepare for sermons.
And the consensus was that in our younger years, and even now, lots of Christians would just jump over a psalm like this.
Because a mention of fierce righteousness and severe judgment, as we have here in this psalm, is just confronting.
It's uncomfortable.
Perhaps even threatening.
And that's also why, as we jump into Psalm 7, we need to be thinking theologically.
We need to be thinking theologically about God and the world in which we live, God's world.
Now, what is the word theology?
Well, theology is the science or study of God.
Theos, God, logos, words, study of.
Theology is the science or study of God and his nature.
So, you might be thinking already, well, why is he speaking to predominantly Christians here?
Why is he telling us we need to think theologically?
Isn't that a given that Christians think theologically about God?
Well, I have to tell you, no, it's not a given.
It's not a given at all.
So many people, and sadly, I have to say, that includes so many Christians, shape their thinking about God, not from what God has revealed about himself in his written word, the Bible, but from other sources.
Perhaps it's from circumstances and what feels right.
So, it's very common, and I know those who would call themselves Christians that would say this.
So, they think about God from the circumstances.
So, they'll say to me, God is in the good things of life, but he can't be in the bad things of life.
That's a God who's shaped by circumstances and feelings.
Or it could be from our culture that people get their view of God.
The culture always divides life into sacred and secular.
That is, there's some points of life, some aspects of life, that are clearly God's domain,
but then there's lots of other parts of life that are ours to shape and form and do with as we please.
And the two don't really overlap.
Or, more recently, people get their view of God from what's called expressive individualism.
That is, people say, well, my starting point is that I believe I'm entitled to be happy.
And if there is a God, then his job is to deliver that happiness.
That's what he's about.
But, you know, I don't know.
Or, again, so many so-called Christians these days would call themselves, and proudly call themselves, New Testament Christians.
That is, they reject the violence of the Old Testament.
Why do they reject the violence of the Old Testament?
I think it's because they first rejected the notion of the fierceness of God's righteous character.
And, therefore, the severity of his righteous judgment against sin.
And so, it's just downright uncomfortable for them.
They don't want a God like that.
They won't engage with a God like that.
So, that tells me that they have in mind a God who's more like an indulgent grandfather.
You know, the grandfather type who's, and I hope I'm not like this.
I don't think I am.
But, anyway, the grandfather type who always approves his grandchildren's behavior, regardless of how offensive it is.
But, neighbor calls out wrong against the grandchildren, but rewards wrong with lollies.
Just ignores bad behavior in the name of love.
That's my job as a grandfather.
So, people like that reject God if he's described in these terms as a fearsome warrior.
Judge.
Someone who's deeply offended and full of wrath against sin.
And who gives sin or rebellion precisely what it deserves.
Condemnation and death.
Condemnation.
So, there's big themes in this Psalm 7 that are confronting.
And the hope and confidence of King David expressed in verse 11.
God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day.
Just let that rush over you for a minute.
Rush over you for a minute.
God is a righteous God.
And a God who feels indignation.
That is, he's constantly offended by sin.
And as David tries to navigate difficult and painful circumstances of slander and injustice in his own life daily.
His hope and confidence is that God's fierce righteousness and severe judgment are inseparable.
That is his hope.
That is his confidence.
That is his confidence that those two must be together.
If God is fiercely righteous, then he must be severe in judgment against sin.
And we'll see how that plays out in David's own handling of his experience of injustice.
So, what we have here is two sides of one coin.
God's severe judgment is simply one expression of his fierce righteousness.
God's severe judgment.
That is doing theology according to scripture.
That is how God reveals himself.
Confronting and challenging as it may well be to us.
So, verse 12 through to 16.
We see it play out.
Very clearly, the person who persists in rebellion, those who persist in rebellion,
that is, despising God's authority or even daring to attack God,
which is, of course, the ultimate injustice against God,
the ultimate evil against God.
Those people, says the psalm, will experience God's severe judgment
in their condemnation and ultimate destruction.
Now, of course, I need to stop there just for a moment
because in our daily experience of life, it won't always feel like that.
We look around our world and it looks as if injustice and unrighteousness
is a thriving business.
But, you see, that wouldn't be to assess it theologically.
That would be to assess it circumstantially.
Ultimately, we're told here that however successful it appears to our eyes
in the short term, evil, rebellion, sin, and injustice, evil,
will be brought undone because it is self-defeating
and because God is the righteous judge.
Rebels will experience, in the picture language,
rebels will experience the full force of God's attacking weaponry,
his sword, his sharp arrows, his strong bow to launch those arrows at great speed
and with great skill and accuracy.
Now, at times, God will cut people down suddenly and without warning.
But, in the verse here, there's picture language here of them digging holes
and the idea of evil being described like a pregnancy
that's actually staged and progressive.
So, at times, God will cut people down suddenly.
But, at times, if I can use a common phrase,
he'll give people enough rope to hang themselves.
He'll let them loose into their own evil schemes
and because evil is self-defeating, he will orchestrate it to that end
and they will actually come undone
in their moment of thinking they've achieved something.
But, on the other hand,
the person who seeks to live under God's authority,
who seeks to serve God wholeheartedly,
who sees God as beautiful and desirable
as a place of peace and a place of refuge
and as a shield,
a place of contentment,
those people have nothing to fear
from God's judgment.
They will experience
the other side of the coin
the richness and blessing
of God's righteousness,
God's justice,
God's goodness,
God's mercy,
God's grace.
Blessing and the good life.
And here's the point, you see.
The two are inseparable
and here's how it works.
God's judgment on sin,
David realized this
and we'll tease this out a little bit more in a minute,
God's judgment and sin
will simultaneously be
deliverance for God's people
because the two are inseparable.
So when God judges injustice,
then his people
are delivered from that injustice
into justice and righteousness.
Those who make God their refuge
will experience the great warrior,
as you see in those earlier verses there,
the great warrior,
they'll experience his defensive weaponry.
That is, he will be a shield to them
to protect them,
to keep them safe.
in the midst of the awfulness of life.
So friends,
it's a very, very long sort of introduction here.
It's a little bit more than an introduction,
but we need to take this thinking with us
into the second part of the psalm.
Thinking theologically about God
is to understand
that his fierce righteousness and justice
will be experienced
in radically different ways
according to a person's relationship with God.
I would even go further,
and this one is questionable,
so by all means question me on it
if you think I'm taking a step too far here.
I would actually argue
from lots of the Psalms
and from lots of the Scripture
that God's character
can only be most clearly seen
against evil, injustice,
rebellion, and sin of this world.
It's only when we appreciate one
that we can appreciate the other.
It's only when we've experienced injustice
that we can luxuriate
knowing that God will deliver justice.
Colm Buchanan has a song about it.
You know,
what the sinner needs most,
if he's going to understand
the light of Jesus,
he needs to have been lost
in the darkness,
the blackness of night.
If he wants to understand
what Jesus means
when he says,
you've been found,
then the sinner needs to understand
what is to be lost.
If we want to understand
God's character,
righteousness,
goodness,
purity,
then we see it
most clearly against
the realities of our world
that we rub against every day.
And only in this huge contrast
am I suggesting to you this morning
that we will see truly
God's beauty,
God's desirability,
God's reliability
in a world where nothing else
is stable or certain
or beautiful
or reliable
or desirable.
Put it,
in other words,
going back to where I started,
I would say to you that
God
and his righteousness
is what our hearts crave.
Even though we might not
even realize that.
We might think we crave justice,
but we're actually craving
something bigger than justice.
We're craving
the God of justice,
the righteousness of God.
And so my friends,
rather than be embarrassed
by psalms like this
that speak of God's
fierce righteousness
and severe judgment,
rather than be embarrassed,
we should be glad
that this is what our God is like.
Because
that means our lives
as we
tuck in behind the Lord,
if I can use that language,
and trust ourselves to him,
that means our lives are safe.
Ultimately safe.
Our lives are in the hands
of a safe,
powerful,
good,
merciful,
ever vigilant,
truthful God.
And that,
my friend,
is a place of contentment.
And as David himself
gets to in verse 17,
that is a place
where we just
overflow in praise
and thankfulness
in the midst of
the mess of life.
So,
moving on to the second point then.
Because King David
is thinking theologically
about God,
then it means
that he's also
thinking theologically
about experiencing
injustice
through slander.
And that's the
particular
crime that he's,
well,
not crime,
particular allegation
he's facing
in Psalm 7.
So,
he may be
God's appointed king,
but he has
many enemies
who are seeking
his downfall.
Psalm 7,
David reflects
on himself
as God's
slandered king.
As he wrestles
with a particular
smear campaign
launched apparently
by this man
called Cush,
of whom we know
nothing else,
except that he's
a Benjaminite,
which means he comes
probably from
the lineage of Saul,
not probably,
he comes from
the lineage of Saul,
so may well
have some sort of
hatred of King David
as the successor
to King Saul.
But we don't really
know any of that
sort of stuff.
Either way,
it seems like he's
orchestrated a
smear campaign,
and we see
something of the
details there
of verse 2
and 3.
David feels
pursued,
he feels as if
his life's
hanging in the
bowels.
There are people
out there that are
so savagely
opposed to him
that he describes
them as just being
like lions.
If they can get
their claws into
them,
they will have
no hesitation
in ripping
him to shreds.
David's under
pressure.
In verse 4,
it seems like,
and again,
this is only
surmising,
but it seems
like from verse 4,
the rumor circulating
is that King David
is just out of
control.
He's a totally
self-interested
person with no
loyalty,
even to those
who are his
friends or those
who would come
to him declaring
peace towards
him.
Even there,
the suggestion
is that David
doesn't have any
loyalty.
And maybe that's
a reference to
how people
perceived his
move to
succeed from
King Saul.
Don't know.
But that seems
to be something
of the nature
of the rumor.
But worse than
that, not only
that he's
self-interested,
but he actually
uses his
power corruptly
to totally
exploit anybody
who might
oppose him.
And it's
very clear
from these
opening words
that David
feels the
pain of that
very, very
deeply.
It's
character
assassination.
And perhaps,
and again,
it doesn't say,
we're just reading
between the lines
here in a sense,
perhaps David's
just so
disheartened
and upset
that people
would be so
quick to
believe the
worst about
him based
on a rumor
when they
hadn't even
tried to
check if
it was
true.
And in
verse 3,
3-6,
David goes
on to
protest and
he said,
well, look,
in this
particular
instance,
I have to
say with a
clear conscience
for the
Lord, I
am innocent
of these
allegations.
Now, David's
not claiming
sinlessness.
He's just
saying in this
respect, I
am without
fault.
I'm not
guilty as
charged.
In fact, he
says, if I
had been, then
I recognize
that I would
deserve to
lose my
glory.
I would
deserve, and
by the way, I
think his
glory is that
his position
and authority
is God's
an undone
king.
So I
think David's
saying, look,
I tell you
now I'm
innocent of
these charges
because if I
was guilty,
then I would
deserve everything
that was
coming my
way.
So where
does that
leave King
David?
Well, verses
6 through
16, he
turned in
appeal to
the Lord.
Arise, O
Lord, in
your anger.
It's a
strange way to
address God,
isn't it?
Arise in
your anger.
Lift
yourself up
against the
fury of my
enemies.
Awake for
me.
You have
appointed a
judgment.
What's David
saying here
in the
poetry of
this psalm?
Well, I
think he's
recognizing and
accepting that
attacks on
him as God's
anointed king
are actually,
just as a
way, a
representation of
people's desire
to attack
God.
He was God's
king, appointed
to rule God's
people in God's
righteousness and
truth and
justice.
That was his
brief as God's
king.
And so as
people want to
express their
sinful autonomy
from God,
then David
recognizes he
becomes the
target for that.
They can't get to
God up there, as
it were, but they
can get to God's
appointed king.
And so David
longs for the
Lord to act, to
deal with sin,
rebellion,
injustice, lies,
and evil, and
establish truth and
rightness.
Because David
sees that the
attack on him is
much, much more
serious.
It's an attack on
God.
And David hates
that.
His concern is
much bigger than
himself in his
own circumstances.
His concern,
therefore, is for
God's honor.
And David knows
that God will
always be true to
himself.
He will always be
true to his
righteous character.
He knows, as I've
already looked at
that verse, that
God feels the
offense and
injustice and
rebellion deeply
every single day.
God, in his
righteousness, cannot
ignore it.
God will and
has established the
day of judgment
whereby truth and
righteousness and
justice and
uprightness will be
demonstrated and
established.
And by definition,
then, sin and
rebellion will be
destroyed.
equally true for
David, as he looks
into this bigger
picture, equally true
is that those who
fear the Lord, who
seek to obey his
word and serve him
faithfully, those who
are in relationship
with him have nothing
to fear in judgment.
That appointed time of
judgment will mean, as
it says in these
verses here, will
also be the time when
righteousness and the
righteous are
established.
Rebellion will be
exposed and dealt
with and righteousness
will be exposed and
commended.
And as I've said
before, look at verse
8.
The Lord judges the
people.
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 and may you
establish the
righteous, you who
test the minds and
the hearts, O
righteous God.
David's confidence
is, as I've said
before, the day in
which God acts to
judge sin severely
will also be the day
of his deliverance
into the enjoyment of
God's righteousness.
righteousness.
And in the meanwhile,
David can find
refuge in the Lord
and in the Lord's
character.
He can find refuge in
his acceptance and
relationship with God.
He can be confident in
God's protection.
God will be a shield to
him as he seeks to live
faithfully before God in
spite of the injustices he
suffers.
And so in that picture,
we have what I always
like to call when I'm
preaching from the Psalms,
a whisper of Jesus.
Because Jesus, King David,
foreshadowed, therefore, as
the slandered king, he
foreshadowed the slandered
Messiah who would come.
King David was God's
anointed king and
savior figure whose role
was to establish God's
kingdom, that is God's
people in God's place and
under God's rule of
righteousness and justice
and truth.
But you see, King David
was never able to deliver.
King David was part of the
problem of sin and
injustice and
unrighteousness.
He needed to be saved.
He was not able to save.
In the way that was
required.
He could not rule God's
unruly, sinful people.
So ultimately, King David
only pointed forward to
the one that the Lord had
spoken about through his
prophets, the true king,
the true savior, Messiah,
who would establish God's
kingdom of rule of
righteousness and justice
and truth and purity.
And when we jump forward
to the time of Jesus, we
see the same pattern.
Jesus came to his own, but
his own would not receive
him.
He was the slandered
Messiah.
He came to save those who
were desperate in need of
salvation.
But they chose the path of
continuing persistent
autonomy.
Jesus came to offer them
righteousness as a gift of
grace and mercy, something
they couldn't do for
themselves, but no.
People around them wanted
to persist in pursuing
self-righteousness through
their own acts of goodness,
perceived goodness.
And to do that, they had to
knock Jesus down, verbally
and finally physically.
And in the death of Jesus,
we see two great things.
In the death of Jesus, God, the
great warrior for righteousness,
truth, justice, purity, acted
decisively.
That moment in time that David
had anticipated had arrived.
God acted to deal with sin.
And his judgment was ever so
severe.
God acted true to his character
as he had promised.
Both punishing sin to its full
extent, but also showing grace
and mercy to his people.
All of that is demonstrated to
us in the death of Christ on the
cross.
The amazing thing is, well, the
non-amazing thing is that God was
true to his word.
The day of judgment arrived, as
he said it would.
That's not amazing.
That's just what God does.
The amazing thing is that God's
day of judgment was focused on
his own son.
So guilty rebels didn't have to
face his wrath.
Didn't have to face the
consequences of their own sin.
Just let me pause there and step
sideways for a minute.
I couldn't go past this moment,
even though it's not in the flow of
what I want to do.
It's very, very common to hear
people say today about wanting to
be on the right side of history.
Now, that's usually in terms of the
gender debate that we're hearing
these days.
But it's a good phrase.
If you want to be on the right side
of history this morning, whatever
age you are here this morning, from
the oldest to the youngest, then you
can be on the right side of history
this morning, which is, I take it,
escaping God's judgment,
which is condemnation and death,
and enjoying the full experience of
God's righteousness, which is the
good life of blessing.
Now, it makes sense to me to be on
the right side of history, is to be
experiencing God's righteousness as
blessing and salvation and refuge and
defense and protection, not as
judgment.
Which side of history will you be on?
Well, that determines, that's
determined very, very simply.
It is determined this morning by how
you respond to Jesus.
Continue to ignore him.
Continue to pursue self-salvation,
self-righteousness.
And you will experience God's judgment.
May not happen this week or next week
or next year, but you will experience
God's judgment.
Because God is true to his character.
But if you come to Jesus, as it says
here, repent, come to Jesus, admit your
desire for autonomy, admit your sin,
plead for grace and mercy, then you
will find that the ferocious God becomes
the place of great refuge and comfort and
security in life.
So I just say to you this morning, get on
the right side of history.
Because in your life, you don't know how
long your history is going to have or be.
You might have 20 years, or you might not
make it home today.
Get on the right side of history.
Anyway, let me carry on with where I was
going.
The pattern from the slandered Messiah.
The pattern continues for us as the slandered,
as Christ's slandered ambassadors.
In 2 Corinthians 5.20, Paul describes Christians
as Christ's ambassadors.
That is, we've been appointed, as it were,
to continue to be agents of the warrior,
the God of justice and righteousness and truth
and integrity and purity.
The work of building God's kingdom of
righteousness on earth.
The baton has passed to you and me,
as it was for King David, as it was for the
slandered Messiah, so it is for us as Christ's
ambassadors.
And so we can expect also to be slandered and
attacked as those who are our great models
before us were.
In Matthew chapter 10, verse 25, Jesus has just
sent his disciples out into the world.
And he says up front to them, it's going to be
nasty out there.
And he says, you can't expect it to be any different
as for the master, so for the servant.
You guys have seen and observed how they've treated me.
So you can expect the same treatment as you go forth.
We will be called self-righteous.
We will be slandered as hypocrites.
We will be deemed to be judgmental hate speakers.
We will be subjected to mocking and derision.
We will feel the full force of our cancel culture.
In short, we also will experience as a norm of life
injustice.
Because we identify with the king of righteousness.
And we seek to make people aware of the rebellion
and unrighteous state.
And that puts people in the corner.
Either they can admit to that,
or they can come out swinging
and take us out of the action.
Take us down.
So, last,
in the last borrowed minutes,
I was going to say in the last few minutes,
but in the last borrowed minutes,
how should we respond theologically
to experiencing injustice?
Well, very simply,
as per the pattern of King David
and as per the pattern of King Jesus.
First thing is this.
We've got to know
the Lord and his righteous character.
We really have to teach ourselves
to think theologically
in the midst of the attacks
that will come to us in our culture
because we're Christians
for no other reason.
We need to understand that God feels
in a way that not even we feel
the pain and the indignation of evil
and rebellion and autonomy
every moment of the day.
The Lord feels it
much, much more deeply
than we do.
And we've got to know the Lord
and be able to trust
that he will act
to make things right.
But not necessarily
in our time frame
and not necessarily
as we might expect him to act
to make things right
in our particular situation
of injustice.
Second thing,
and it picks up
and I didn't have time
to look at it deeply
in verses 4, 5, and 6.
We've got to strive
to ensure that all allegations
or accusations
or slander against us
are in fact baseless.
Now I throw this in
because sometimes
I hear Christians
claiming persecution
when I know jolly well
and have to say to them
you've just been obnoxious.
Why wouldn't your workmates
have a go at you
when this is how you
carry on like a...
Anyway.
Yeah, okay.
I won't get too much
into that.
We've got to make sure
that when the community
out there say,
you know,
accusers of being man-loving
that we can actually say
with a clear conscience
that's baseless.
When they say
we're hypocritical
we can say
that's baseless.
Thirdly,
we've got to turn
to the Lord
as David did
and entrust
ourselves to him
with confidence
and suck in
that beautiful picture
of both a refuge
and a shield.
You have a secure place
to hide.
You have a secure place
of safety.
You have a secure place
not just to hide
and be safe
but to thrive
in the righteousness
and the goodness
of God
in the midst
of the unrighteousness
and evil
of our world.
King David
entrusted himself
to the Lord
in the face
of injustice.
The Lord Jesus
entrusted himself
to the Lord
in the face
of injustice.
Read the second part
of 1 Peter chapter 2
verse 23
in particular.
And we're encouraged
to follow
their model
in every circumstance
of life.
So my friends
don't be anxious
in the face
of injustice.
Don't focus
on getting
your circumstances
changed
in the face
of injustice.
Seek first
God's kingdom
and his righteousness
and everything else
flows from there.
Long for purity.
make sure
your actions
are righteous
and truthful
and loving.
Focus on growing
in trust
and dependence
of the Lord
and in appreciation
of his beauty
rather than focusing
on getting
a hassle-free life.
life.
And I have to say
to you
with a great
sense of shame
because I'm
your pastor
I've spent
way too many
of my years
as a pastor
subtly chasing
a hassle-free
life.
It's just awful
when I now
realize it.
And I didn't
spend those years
chasing
the beauty
and the
desirability
of God.
If we can
do the latter
then like
King David
I've said it
before
the beauty
and the
desirability
and the
reliability
of God
will push
us to
praise and
thankfulness
in the
mess of life
and in
the pain
of experiencing
more and
more injustices
which I fear
I need to say
to you
as your
pastor
is
the lot
we are now
facing
as our
culture
changes
rapidly.
Pray with
me please.
Lord help
us not to
be frightened
of your
righteous
character
your fierce
righteousness
and inseparably
tied to that
as an expression
of it
your severe
judgment.
Rather
Lord
let us
find in
that
a place
of refuge
and comfort
and confidence
in our
experiences
of injustice
in daily
living.
Help us
Lord
therefore to
think
theologically
about you
think with
the Bible
in mind
and think
with the Bible
in mind
about our
experience of
injustice
and lead us
Lord
as you would
encourage us
in every
opportunity
of life
into praise
and thankfulness
in Jesus
name I
pray.
Amen.
and
breathe