Sudden Assault, Sudden Retribution

Let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father, we have gathered to hear from you and to cry out to you in prayer.

And we don't want this to be just a checkbox of things to do here,

but we want this to be an opportunity for us to commune with you, to relate to you,

to grow in our love for you,

to increasingly conform all of our values, our thoughts, our attitudes to that of Christ.

And so we pray that you would do that work in our midst this evening.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Psalm 64, verses 1 to 10.

Psalms 64 · chapter mention

The title of it says,

To the Choir Master, a Psalm of David.

I'll read it out loud for us.

It says,

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint.

Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

from the throng of evildoers,

who wet their tongues like swords,

who aim bitter words like arrows,

shooting from ambush at the blameless,

shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

They hold fast to their evil purpose.

They talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking,

Who can see them?

They search out injustice,

saying,

We have accomplished a diligent search,

for the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

But God shoots his arrow at them.

They are wounded suddenly.

They are brought to ruin,

with their own tongues turned against them.

All who see them will wag their heads.

Then all mankind fears.

They tell what God has brought about,

and ponder what he has done.

Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord,

and take refuge in him.

Let all the upright in heart exult.

The main point of this psalm is that we can take refuge in God,

who fights for us.

We can take refuge in God because he fights for us.

Verses 1-6 is about the sudden assault of the wicked.

And then verses 7-10 is about the sudden retribution of God.

And I don't know if you guys have ever gone laser tagging or paintballing.

Yeah.

Right?

But when you go,

you kind of get paranoid and a little skittish

because you're kind of getting hit or shot from places you don't expect.

It's because people are ambushed.

Right?

And that's, of course, just a game.

But here, in Psalm 64, David's talking about how in real life,

he feels like evil people, wicked people are kind of sitting in ambush,

leveling their arrows at him, shooting their arrows and attacking him.

And so he cries out to God for deliverance,

and he writes about that in verses 2-6.

It says,

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

from the throng of evildoers who wet their tongues like swords,

weighing bitter words like arrows,

shooting from ambush at the blameless,

shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

They hold fast to their evil purpose.

They talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking,

Who can see them?

Right?

The words used to describe their attacks,

and it's like secret plots, ambush.

They snares secretly, right?

So they all suggest the type of assault that cannot be anticipated, right?

So it's coming from places he doesn't expect,

when he's not expecting them.

And these attacks, because it's a plot,

it's done in secret, it's coordinated,

it's not like a,

it's not a mindless or reactionary,

heat of the moment kind of assault,

but something that has been meticulously planned,

like a military operation.

And their secret plots are not known to David,

who is the presumed author here.

And so he observes in verse 4,

that the attack comes to him suddenly,

because he's not anticipating.

And the mode of these wicked people's attack is verbal.

So if you look at verse 3,

it says,

The evildoers wet their tongues like sword,

and aim bitter words like arrows.

So their tongue is their sword,

and their words are their arrows.

And they have staged,

basically then,

a carefully planned smear campaign

against David,

and the psalmist,

and then with choice gossip,

whispered in strategic places,

and hard-hitting slander,

uttered behind his back.

And their evil plans are such

that it fills the psalmist with dread.

Right?

So that's the situation.

And that,

but just as,

so,

and then in 7 to 10,

he tells us about

the sudden retribution of God.

He says,

But just as they shot their arrows

of bitter words to the psalmist,

verse 7 tells us that

now God shoots his arrows at them.

Right?

And then just as they attack the psalmist suddenly,

in verse 4,

verse 7 now tells us that

they are wounded suddenly.

Right?

So God's justice,

you can see how reciprocal it is.

Right?

The way they attack the psalmist,

God is going to bring retribution.

And so even though they use their tongues

like swords in verse 8,

well,

verse 8 promises that

they will be brought to ruin

with their own tongues

turned against them.

God will turn their slander

and gossip against them

so that all who see them

will wag their heads.

Right?

So this image of God

shooting his arrows,

right,

is a picture of him

as a divine warrior

who fights for his people.

And that's why we can take refuge in God

because he fights for us.

And Charles Spurgeon

puts it very memorably.

He says,

They shoot

and shall be shot.

A greater archer than they

shall take sure aim

at their heart.

One of his arrows

shall be enough

for he never misses his aim.

Right?

So that's,

that God fights for us

in that way.

That he is,

and that's why we can take refuge in him.

Those who take aim

at God's people,

God himself

will take aim

at them.

Right?

This kind of reminds me

of 1 Corinthians 3,

17,

which we talked about

recently in our church.

If anyone destroys God's temple,

God will destroy him.

For God's temple is holy

and you are that temple.

And these wicked people

took their shot

at the psalm

without fear.

It said in verse 4,

but after God's judgment

and retribution,

it says in verse 9,

all mankind fears.

Right?

So God's just judgment

upon the wicked

will instill a proper fear

of God in people's lives

and in the heart of man.

And that's why he says,

and that's why those

who have the fear of God

no longer need to have

the dread of the enemy

that verse 1 speaks of.

And this will ultimately result

in rejoicing for the righteous.

Psalm 64.

Yeah.

And it says in verse 10,

let the righteous one

rejoice in the Lord

and take refuge in him.

Let all the upright in heart exalt.

So, I don't know if you noticed already,

but there's a contrast here

between the upright in heart

in verse 10

and the wicked

who are described

as heart of a man

are deep, right?

In verse 6.

So the wicked

were described in this way

in verses 5 to 6.

They hold fast

to their evil purpose.

They talk of laying snares secretly

thinking,

who can see them?

They search out injustice

saying,

we have accomplished

a diligent search

for the inward mind

and heart of a man

are deep.

So this is a description

of the wicked.

So that description

of their heart,

which is deep, right,

is contrasted

with the upright in heart

which exalts in God.

And I think Jeremiah the prophet

probably had these two verses,

verses 5 to 6,

in mind when he wrote

in chapter 17, verse 9.

It says,

the heart is deceitful

above all things

and desperately sick.

Who can understand it?

Right?

So it says,

no one can understand,

so no one,

it's basically that verse

that talks about

how no one can understand

the depth of depravity

that resides

within a man's heart.

But the following verse

in Jeremiah 17, 10

also says,

but I, the Lord,

search the heart

and test the mind

to give every man

according to his ways,

according to the fruit

of his deeds.

So this psalm

is speaking of how

the wicked believe

that their wicked deeds

are unsearchable,

right,

that they will not be found out,

right,

their hearts are deep

with wickedness.

And no one can understand

the profundity

of their,

the depth of their complexity,

the depth and complexity

of the evil

that resides in their heart.

But God tells us

in Jeremiah 17, 10

that he searches the heart

and tests the mind

to give every man

according to his ways,

according to the fruit

of his deeds.

So that means

he will find out

their wickedness

and execute his justice.

So this is good news,

obviously,

for people who are

upright in heart

and who take refuge in him

and trust in his judgment.

But of course,

that's with the condition

that our hearts

are indeed upright.

And unfortunately,

the problem is that

God's people

throughout history

have repeatedly failed

to be faithful to God

and failed to keep

their covenant with God.

And so their hearts,

too,

like these wicked people,

are full of wickedness.

It's deep with depravity.

And so then,

what recourse do we have

as God's people?

And that's the promise

that prophesied about Jesus

in Ezekiel 36, 25 to 27.

God promised,

I will sprinkle

clean water on you

and you shall be clean

from all your uncleanness.

And from all your idols,

I will cleanse you

and I will give you

a new heart

and a new spirit

I will put within you.

And I will remove

the heart of stone

from your flesh

and give you

a heart of flesh.

And I will put

my spirit within you

and cause you

to walk in my statutes

and be careful

to obey my rules.

Right?

So it's only when

we have a new heart

that God,

new heart from God

that we can be upright

in heart

as the psalm speaks of.

And we receive

that new heart

only by receiving

Jesus Christ

into our lives

and by repenting

of our sins

and believing in Him

and so then being renewed

in the Holy Spirit.

And so that's really

the promise,

the ultimate promise

that this psalm

points to.

That's the promise

in which this psalm

is fulfilled

is that so that

we can be upright

in heart

and take refuge

in Him

in the God

who fights for us.

So with that in mind,

maybe we can sing

a song to Him

and let's pray.