God's severe judgment

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.

God's severe judgment.

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.

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.

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.

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

Matthew 10:25

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

1 Peter 2:23

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