Psalm 58

It is good to be with you.

My name is Duncan.

I'm one of the leaders here.

It is great to be with you after being away.

I've missed being able to come together.

But as we dive into this sound, please do keep that open, as I said, and let me pray for us once more before we uh dive in.

Loving Father, I thank you so much that we come and we come before you.

And I pray as we come before you today, would you move, would you work by your spirit?

Would you help us to see you, to love you, to be changed and transformed by you through your spirit?

I pray as we consider this psalm that you would speak with power and authority, that we might greater understand your purpose and your desire for us as your people, and that we might live out as people who belong to you, as people who are being transformed into the image of your son.

May we live for your name and your glory.

Amen.

As a child, I was uh pretty passionate about right and wrong.

In many ways, I probably still am.

And if I saw something that was wrong, everyone would know about it.

I would declare that's not fair.

That's something that children do.

We often see children, a lot of children, who declare such things, and often there's a lot of passion in their words as though they are exposing a huge injustice.

As though their parent or whoever is looking after them have completely gotten it wrong.

As adults, we may feel like we have moved on from stamping our feet and saying that's not fair, but really we can often feel the same.

Sometimes in wrong ways, but also sometimes in right ways.

When we find ourselves in a situation facing or experiencing injustice, it can be crushing, it can be painful.

What is worse is the fact that in our world the injustices we see and face are due to people who abuse their position.

People who have a place of authority, a place of power, and completely act wrongly.

As we look at Psalm 58, David has in mind this sort of situation.

A situation in which he is looking at those in power, individuals in power, and people who have authority, and he sees their corruption, he sees their evil acts.

Psalm 58 is a Psalm that is a cry for justice, a response toward evil that is being done.

And for you and I, we need to take note of how David is responding here.

Because we can all find ourselves despairing at the brokenness around us in the world.

We can all have moments where we see individuals who are in authority, who are absolutely corrupt, and wonder what we can do.

David here exposes evil, cries to the Lord, and rests in the judge.

He exposes evil.

Look at verse one.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

No.

Often we can come to scripture and it's not always fully clear what's happening.

We we don't know exactly from first read what is meant.

It can take time to meditate on God's word, to seek to understand what he is saying.

And here, David, inspired by the Spirit, makes it plain.

As he exposes these evil leaders, he does not avoid declaring what is true, but rather he rightly exposes their corruption.

In this case, we see that he exposes these evil leaders, and the issue is the manner in which they are leading.

Leading, not desiring and working to do what is right.

And you can think actually from verse 1, it might be that they are just rather abdicating their responsibility.

But that is not the case.

They are not just abdicating or neglecting to do what is right, but they are seeking to do what is wrong.

They are rulers who seek to do evil.

Look at verse 2.

In your hearts you devise wrongs, your hands deal out violence on earth.

It's important for us to see the depth of their evil.

That we do not seek to downplay their corruption, but acknowledge these are men who consciously lead with evil intent.

They are men who do not desire to serve those under their authority with care, but instead they seek to dominate and crush.

They do not see themselves as those under authority, but rather the ultimate authority.

They are men who have active, actively set out to do unspeakable evil.

And the consequence of such leaders brings brokenness towards those around them.

This is true of all sin.

When people sin, when people do wrong, there is always a ripple.

Sin is never merely impacting the person sinning, but rather has an impact upon those around.

Your sin, your choosing to reject God, choosing to do what you believe to be right, my sin is not just destructive toward us, but toward others also.

And for leaders, when leaders actively do wrong, the ripple effect is greater.

That makes sense, doesn't it?

The ripple is extended as their influence is greater.

The nature of being a leader is to influence others.

So when a leader falls into sin, this extends toward those they have sought to lead.

And as David sees these men, he sees the damage of their attitude, he sees the damage of their actions.

And it's important for us to understand how sin operates in our lives.

Because this is what David is speaking of here.

It can be easy for us in our culture to excuse sinful behavior.

We are living in a culture that seeks to justify wrong rather than humbly repent of it.

As David sees these rulers, he does not just expose them as the neglectful leaders, but exposes their evil acts.

And the truth of all sin is that our thoughts, our words, our actions are flowing from our hearts.

Hearts that are broken, hearts that are sinful, hearts that do not acknowledge God as we ought.

This is true of ourselves, but it's also true of these leaders.

Look again at verse 2.

In your hearts you devise wrongs.

It can be simple for us to believe as people the wrong we do is brought out of us.

It's because of people or a situation or a circumstance.

You know what it is like when someone maybe tells you that you are not okay speaking like that or acting like that, and your response is quick to justify, quick to defend.

But did you see how they treated me?

Did you hear how horrible they were?

No wonder I acted like this, no wonder I spoke like that.

Brother, sister in Christ, all sin is wrong.

No sin is justified by the sin of another.

David will not allow these men to seek to defend themselves, to justify themselves.

He exposes that the wrongs they have done are from their heart.

Not just that, but the wrong, the sin in their heart has always been there.

Look at verse 3.

The wicked are estranged from the womb.

They go astray from birth speaking lies.

On a number of occasions, I've had conversations with non-Christian friends about the gospel, and obviously about the gospel, you speak about the nature of sin.

And I remember one time speaking to a good friend of mine, and we were chatting about things, and I asked him what he thought about children and them doing wrong.

Why do they do it?

Where does it come from?

Essentially, he believed that for children it was something that they learned.

They learn from things they go through, from experiences around them, that children were born in a sense perfect.

At the time I disagreed, but as a father, I even more disagree.

Because though I love Ezra, I love him, he does wrong.

He does things, and you do not need to teach him.

You do not need to tell him, go and do wrong here.

No, sometimes either myself or Becky are with him and say, no, Ezra, don't do that.

And he might not be able to speak, but he knows what you are saying to him.

And he almost stares at you plain in the eye, and as you say, no, don't do that, and he does it.

And he knows completely.

We need to realize the Bible is clear.

God himself is clear that sin is in us from our very first breath.

That because of Adam in the garden, we are born into sin.

We are not born into sin, but with sin.

We are born with hearts that are far from God, hearts that long to be in control, hearts that seek to do wrong, seek to lie and destroy.

Romans 3 says, None is righteous, no not one, no one understands, no one seeks for God, all have turned aside, together they have become worthless, no one does good, not even one.

The nature of sin in these rulers is in their heart.

Their words and actions are merely just revealing the brokenness of their heart.

And that is true of us.

And in their evil, people are being hurt, people are being wounded, and in their evil, people are suffering due to the rejection of God and their reliance upon self.

The image David uses here of the snake is an image that the snake will not be influenced.

It's an image that is pointing to these rulers, utter defiance of God.

They will not be influenced, they will not listen.

These are men who are calculated in their evil.

They do not care about the impact or consequence.

They are those who believe to judge what is wrong and right.

They are those who think they have complete authority, complete control.

It is sad to see the brokenness of many leaders in our culture, those who have influence, those who have power and authority of different kinds, whether that's on a national scale, a local scale, who seek to actively do wrong.

There is sadly a lot of arrogance and not a lot of humility when we look to earthly leaders, whether inside the home or in institutions.

As believers, as Christians, it is right for us to expose the evil of such leaders.

It is right for us to be clear when those around us are not leading as those who are under authority, but rather thinking they have complete authority.

We should be people who, when we see evil being done, evil impacting the lives of people around, people who are vulnerable, we expose such evil.

We believe in the Amago Day that all humans have distinct value and worth as those who bear the image of the Creator God.

For any person, for any leader to seek to mistreat an image bearer, they should expect to be exposed and face the consequences of their actions.

What we need to see is that within human history, within our culture, it is often the most vulnerable who suffer to such evil.

It is those without a voice who are often victims of such evils.

We need to expose it, but we also need to see what David does.

He cries to the Lord.

Look at verse 6.

Oh God, break the teeth in their mouths, tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

In this room and online, we have people who have different characters.

And if we were to do a social experiment, we will all have different responses if we were put into different situations.

Recently I was at a wedding, and during the day, sadly, a lady collapsed, an elderly lady collapsed, and in that moment there were different reactions among people.

Some people were rushing to help, some people were just shocked and just didn't do anything, couldn't act.

Others looked unsure.

Do I step in?

Don't I step in?

Now, thankfully, she seemed to be okay after being assisted.

But if this happened to all of us, all of the people online, there would be different responses.

Now, naturally, I find myself to be a fixer.

I'm someone who struggles not to think, I will sort this, I will fix this.

If I see an issue, I will seek to see the solution.

And as David sees the issue of these rulers and exposes their evil, he knows he cannot change the situation.

He cannot bring true healing, he cannot fix all that has been done wrong.

But he knows who can.

His God, our God.

The example here is for us to be people who cry out, who seek the Lord, who long to see him move in power and with decisive action.

Recently, I found myself contemplating a lot how I long, how I, along with many of us, neglect prayer.

Neglect to know the power of prayer.

Because ultimately, a prayerless person is a self-sufficient person.

David realizes as he siege such evil and corruption in these rulers, the answer is not in his effort, it is not in his energy to merely expose these rulers, but the answer is in God Himself.

The one who rules over everyone, the one who truly has authority over his creation.

This is what leads David to his knees.

And this is what should lead us to ours.

Brother, sister, do not neglect prayer.

To neglect prayer is devastating.

Do not neglect a heart that is being captured by the gospel over and over again.

Because the truth is when we are not close to Christ in our regular rhythm of life, then our instinct will not be to run to him.

When we are not close to Christ in our everyday experience, then our instinct will not be to respond with grief and sorrow at the brokenness we see around us.

We might feel bad in that moment, we might think it is wrong, but we will not be on our knees coming before the Lord God, earnestly seeking Him, longing for His rule to come.

The goal for us as Christians is to become like Christ Jesus, to become like our Savior, who during his earthly ministry looks over Jerusalem and sees their desperate need.

And he weeps.

That as we view our world, our eyes would see, see like Jesus sees.

A Savior who has compassion on the weak, on the needy, on the broken, a savior who protects, who confronts abuse.

As David sees with eyes of faith, his cry is so severe.

Look at verse seven.

Let them vanish like water that runs away.

When he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

This is graphic for a reason.

You should not hear those words and just sit comfortably.

They should strike you, they should shock you, they are sharp.

But the truth is, the only way we can grasp what David is crying for is if we understand the depth, the breadth of the evil that these rulers are doing.

Evil that has no consideration for others, evil that has no thought for God.

And when confronted with such evil, David cries for their destruction.

For the Lord to act.

When we consider the brokenness around us, when we are confronted with the abuse of people with power, our hearts should rightly be stirred to a righteous anger.

That cries out to our Father to move and act.

When I think about sexual exploitation or human trafficking, it completely sickens me.

The evil of those who take advantage of men and women who take advantage of children, of girls and boys is disgusting.

Crying out for justice, crying out for those who do such things to be punished is right and is exactly where we should go.

This week I saw a story of David Matterson, who a man who blackmailed his daughter before raping and sexually abusing her over more than seven years.

That is disgusting and vile.

Our hearts should cry for justice.

Our hearts should break.

And we should want to see him face justice.

A man who was supposed to be there to protect his daughter.

When we see these people, those in power with authority, do such evil, it is right and understandable that, like David, we cry out.

For justice.

We cry out for their end.

We cry that they would not be able to exercise any power or authority anymore.

We should be people who pray, who are on our knees crying out for God to act.

As people, as God's people, we need to know the holiness of our Lord.

We need to know his heart is against evil.

He is a God who will and does answer the cry of his people.

Dublin is a city.

It is a broken city.

Now there are great things, wonderful things about Dublin.

Don't tell anyone in Kilkenny I said that.

I'm from Kilkenny.

But there are wonderful things.

But there is much brokenness here.

And as city church, we are committed to loving the city.

That is part of what we say.

Truly loving this city is not just loving the things we get from it, the things we enjoy, but loving the very people who we live among.

Loving them enough to be a people who are burdened when we see misuse of power and authority.

Burdened not just to expose such evil, but to cry to our Father, to be on our knees, knowing He is a good Father.

Knowing there is power in the prayers of those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Knowing there is power in the prayers of people who have been purchased by the precious blood of our Savior.

Brother, sister, if you want to love this city, pray.

Pray as you see brokenness around.

Cry out like David does against those who would abuse their power and authority.

Cry to your father to move.

But as we cry, as we call out, we rest as David does.

He rests in the judge.

Look at verse 10.

The righteous will rejoice when we when he sees the vengeance.

He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

Mankind will say, Surely there is a reward for the righteous.

Surely there is a God who judges on earth.

David knows that though our hearts should break for the brokenness we see around us, we need to not allow ourselves to be overcome.

It could be overwhelming if you actually chose to look at all the brokenness.

The way in which we are not overcome by the pain, the sadness of living in a world where often sin seems to be corrupting everything is to see the one who is the judge.

David is full of confidence in the midst of such evil.

There is no doubt in his mind what is coming, that God will judge, that God will bring justice upon the earth.

That we do not need to wonder what is God doing.

We may have moments like this, moments where we question, but even in the midst of these questions, a heart of faith is a heart that rests in our judge.

Because we know when the Lord Jesus Himself returns again, it will be final.

No longer will the evil that we see go unpunished, no longer will those who use authority and power for self-gain oppress people any longer.

Righteousness and justice will reign.

And those who have trusted in Jesus will rejoice.

We will not be conflicted wondering, is his judgment right?

We will not be conflicted thinking, is this not good?

We will rejoice, we will see he is a God of grace and mercy, but also a God of righteousness and justice.

Because we will know we did not deserve the reward we are receiving.

In the Psalm, it is the righteous who received the reward.

But if I look at myself, if you look at yourself, if we look at those around us, we all know none are righteous.

But the wonder of the gospel is not in our achievement, but in our failure, it is not in earning anything, it is in the fact that our God has chosen to make himself known.

The righteous one, the righteous one, Jesus Himself has called a people to himself, the righteous one has made it possible for people to be deemed righteous.

Because though he will bring destruction to all who are wicked, all who have rejected him, he is the one who was rejected for our sake, he is the one whose blood was spilled for our sake, he was the one who took our sin and gave us his perfection.

The day is coming when all will be gathered before the risen and reigning Jesus.

Every eye will see him, and whether reluctantly or whether with joy, we will all bow a knee before him.

And none will say, That's not fair.

All will know he is right.

Our joy will be complete in him, the longings you feel will be completely met in him, and peace will reign forever.

As people, we need to see that the goodness of God is that he has chosen to save people to himself.

None of us deserve it.

That he has made a way for salvation, a way to know him because of his glorious love for us in Christ Jesus.

But he is a God who is completely just and holy.

He will bring judgment for those who have rejected him.

But we will know and experience our reward fully and completely.

We will not question whether he is good.

We will know he is good, he is right, he is gracious, he is perfect as we see him face to face.

Let us be people who expose, who cry and rest in our risen, reigning Lord and Savior, knowing that we are children of the Creator God, we are children who depend not on what is before us in this world, but upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the righteous judge.

Let me pray.

Loving Father, I thank you so much for your word.

I thank you that as your people who live in a broken world, who see our own brokenness, you do not call us to work harder or to look for solutions, but you call us to yourself.

I pray that we would be people who would be close to you, that would long to know you more fully, and that as our hearts are transformed, we would we would have a burden for those around us, a burden for the brokenness we see, that we would cry to you, that we would seek to declare where there is injustice in our world, but that we would rest in you, knowing that you will have justice, you will have your righteousness made known to all.

I thank you that we can be confident in you, secure in you.

We thank you and we love you.

In your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.