Hey, it's always a blessing, isn't it, to meditate on essentially a verse of scripture in song and those wonderful words of comfort there of the Lord's heart toward us. If you have your Bibles there this evening, please turn with me to the book of Psalms and we're turning to Psalm 7. As you're aware, over the course of about four or five years we used the Song of Solomon or we went through the Song of Solomon on Communion nights as our devotional studies and recently, or a number of months ago, I started a series on Wednesday nights in the Book of Psalms and this week I decided that I'm going to start, Lord willing, doing one psalm a month on a Sunday evening when we do the Lord's Table. So I trust that'll be a blessing, break up the different series a little bit and that'll also enable us to get through some more of the Psalms because the more I study these, the more I realize that the Psalms are very often an mined treasure field and there's so much in the Psalms and so I'm trusting that it'll be a blessing to you. We will continue to do the occasional one on a Wednesday night as well but that's the plan and we trust that we've been led of the Lord there. So Psalm 7 and we're looking tonight at the theme, The Song of a Slandered Saint. the song of a slandered saint. And we're going to read the verses there and you'll notice that the little description or the heading or the title right underneath Psalm 7 there should say in your Bible, Shigion of David, which he sang under the Lord concerning the words of Cush, or Cush the Benjamite. Now we read the text. O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust. save me from all them that persecute me and deliver me, lest ye tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. Let the enemy persecute my soul. Yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about. For their sakes, therefore, return thou on high. The Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity that is in me. O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just, for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reigns. My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will wet his sword. He hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the gathering of the saints here tonight. We acknowledge your unseen presence here. We pray now, Lord, for the help that is so necessary for both the preacher and the hearer tonight, that you would speak to us through the Word of God. Lord, we trust that you will just take this passage of Scripture and that the Spirit of God will minister to every need through the spoken word. Lord, as preacher, I can't possibly know the hearts and all the needs that are represented, but I thank you, Lord, that you know, you have perfect knowledge of every heart here tonight. And we thank you that when there is liberty and when the Spirit of God is at work, that the word of God can be taken and applied to each individual need. And so we trust you for that tonight, prepare our hearts also to observe your table, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. The Song of a Slandered Saint. Let's just go through a couple of introductory points here and this relates to the title of the psalm, that little word of detail we have at the beginning. Shigion of David. Now that word shigion, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it right, means variable or meandering and so perhaps it has something to do with the composition of the psalm, that there's a weaving together of a number of different themes and thoughts. Then we see that it is something that was to be sung, as with all the Psalms, which he sang unto the Lord. So we need to remember that, that in the book of Psalms we're dealing with the divine hymn book of the Bible, we could say. And really the Psalms should form the soundtrack, shouldn't they, of our Christian lives. And so this was a song that was composed by David and it was sung by the people of God. And then we notice that there's a little interesting historical note here that it refers to the words of Cush the Benjamite. Now, we don't have any other reference as far as we can tell to Cush the Benjamite in the Bible. Okay, all we have is this one brief reference here in Psalm 7 concerning this man and we don't know really a lot about him but we do know that he was uttering words against David. So David has composed this song and it's in the context of him being slandered or spoken against by this man called Cush. Now you'll notice that Cush was a Benjamite and it's very possible that this psalm was composed at that time in David's life where he was on the run from King Saul. You remember that time of David's life if you're a Bible reader and so it's not hard to tell that Kush being also from the tribe of Benjamin, like Saul, would have a measure of leverage with Saul, okay? Sometimes if people have a close relationship to someone in power, and they've got it in for you, they can have a lot of leverage with that person who is in that place of power. so this is very likely what is going on. There seems to be internal evidence from within the psalm that point towards this period in David's life. So we have Cush the Benjamite, King Saul was also from the tribe of Benjamin and so it's very likely that this man was an alliance of Saul or a friend of Saul's or an acquaintance of Saul's and was using his position as being from the same tribe to leverage the king against David. Whatever the case may be, we can see quite clearly that David is composing this psalm in response to the slanderous accusations of this man, Cush the Benjamite. So what would be the expository idea of Psalm 7? Well, Alan Ross writes that the expository idea would be, So David is coming to the Lord, And he is going to present his plea before the Lord concerning the slanderous words of this man against him. So let's divide the psalm tonight into four parts for our brief expository study. Firstly, notice please, the saints approach to God in verse one and two. The saints approach to God. Let's just pause right there and say, isn't that a wonderful place to start in any kind of trial? Okay, we've heard about trials this morning, the best place to start is to enter the presence of God and that's what David is doing in this time of difficulty in his life. He says, O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, pardon me, I'm reading the wrong psalm, that's Psalm 6. Psalm 7, that was just a test if you're awake, okay? So clearly David is being persecuted and pursued here. rending it in pieces while there is none to deliver. So David comes before God to plead with the Lord about this persecution against his person and in particular against his character because as we get into the text here we will see that a very specific allegation had been laid against David in verse 4 there that he had rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with him. Now there are three words, I think, that would summarize, in these verses, the saints' approach to God. The first word is the word, relationship. The word relationship, in a time of trial, we approach the Lord and it is our relationship that forms the basis of that. Notice that he says, O Lord, my God, okay. So that's the language, isn't it, of personal relationship. This is the first time in the Psalms that we have the two names of God, Jehovah and God, Jehovah and Elohim, combined together and so David is coming there with that great sense of reverence, the name Jehovah speaks very much of the self-existence of God and his power his majesty, so David is entering God's presence with that awe of God, but also there is that personal attachment to this God as well. And isn't that amazing that the God of eternity, the God who created all things, has made himself available to be your God and my God. And so, that's the word relationship. Then we notice the word refuge, or I think the word refuge would summarize the saint's approach to the Lord. because he says in thee do I put my trust and that word trust or the phrase put my trust means to take refuge in or to hide we could say it essentially means in thee I have taken refuge and what a wonderful picture that is of the saint finding refuge in God in times of distress have you found God to be your refuge have you found God to be that strong tower for you? And this is a reoccurring theme in the book of Psalms, time and time again, the Lord being our refuge. Psalm 9 verse 9, the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 46 verse 7, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 59 16, but I will sing of thy power, yea I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.' Are you going through a day of trouble in your life? Are there troubles, are there oppressions, are there persecutions, are there difficulties in your life? Enter the presence of God, make God your refuge in times of trouble. Then the third word is the word request. David makes a request of the Lord in his presence. save me from all them that persecute me and deliver me.' We notice the saint's fervent petition here, the saint's fervent petition, save me, it means to deliver, he is asking to be rescued from those who persecute him. Now the word persecute here literally means to run after someone with hostile intent. to be pursued and so very likely this is referring to that time in David's life where Saul is literally pursuing him and trying to hunt him down and very likely spurred on by these slanderous words of Cush the Benjamite and pursuing after David there. so persecution comes to us in different forms. But we need to remember that in the context of the psalm here, we know at the very least that this persecution took the form of words, the words of Cush the Benjamite. These were words that were being uttered against David. As one commentator says, he says that a universal weapon, pardon me, against the friends of truth is the tongue. by scorn, by railing, by mocking, by misrepresentation, by slander, the people of God are wronged, distressed and cast down. says, save me, deliver me. The word deliver means to snatch or to pluck. And so he's asking God to intervene in his situation and to rescue him, to snatch him, to bring him to a place of safety in this situation. So we see the saint's fervent, pardon me, petition. Then notice the slanderer's malevolent plan. What was the plan of this man who was against David? Well, verse two says, lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is none to deliver. The tongue has a way of slicing into people, doesn't it? Don't underestimate the wounding power of this tiny little membrane here. That's the context here, the words of Cush the Benjamite, don't words cut and don't they slice and probably David's very life is under threat as well, he's trying to see David destroyed but what's fueling this is words and so this man's intention is to tear David like a lion would, rending it in pieces and to slice him up with his slander. So David uses a metaphor and a picture here that was really drawn out of his shepherding experience. He had seen firsthand what a lion could do to a lamb from the flock. You remember that David himself had done business with both a lion and a bear and he recounted that, didn't he, to King Saul in 1st Samuel chapter 17. And so it's a reminder of just how vicious and how ferocious, a slanderer can be against the one they're trying to damage. And every Christian at some point in their life is going to have to come to terms with this little member in here. And if the devil can't get us divided over doctrine, if the devil can't get us fighting one another over the great fundamentals of the faith, if he can just get a hold of your tongue for five minutes, might be all it takes for you to be a part of unleashing destruction into the church of God. so we need to be so careful. This picture reminds us of Satan who is likened to a roaring lion, we see there the picture of the soul being torn in pieces like a lion, that makes us think of the devil, doesn't it? Who walks about seeking whom he, not what, but whom he may devour. C.H. Spurgeon writes, it will be well for us here to remember that this is a description of the danger to which the psalmist was exposed from slanderous tongues. He says, verily this is not an overdrawn picture for the wounds of the sword will heal but the wounds of the tongue cut deeper than the flesh and are not soon cured. That's true, isn't it? You get a little bit of a cut in your body and it can heal maybe quite well within a week or two or depending on how deep it is. but wounds from words can still smud and hurt years later. He says, "'O' tis a meanness most detestable to stab a good man in his reputation, but diabolical hatred observes no nobility in its mode of warfare." He says, "'We must be ready for this trial, for it will surely come upon us. If God was slandered in Eden, we shall surely be maligned in this land of sinners. Get up your loins, ye children of the resurrection, for this fiery trial awaits you all. He said, it is only at the tree laden with fruit that men throw stones. If we would live without being slandered, we must wait till we get to heaven. Let us be very heedful not to believe the flying rumours which are always harassing gracious men. If there are no believers in lies, there will be but a dull market in falsehood, and good men's characters will be safe. That's the problem though, isn't it? There's a great market out there for lies and for falsehood. And so this just reveals the ferocity and the viciousness of this slanderous attack against David's character, he likens it to a lion trying to tear him into pieces, isn't that a terrible thing? When believers perhaps even get involved in this matter of tearing down others, we've got to be really careful we don't tear each other up as believers. We need to be very careful of that at this time, this time of uncertainty and differences of opinion on various things related to COVID and that sort of thing. Just be careful you don't end up doing the work of the lion and tearing someone to pieces. Be very careful. And so we see the saints approach to God. Number two, the saints' argument before God. We need to move relatively quickly tonight for sake of time. The saints' argument before God. David in these verses, in verse three to five, pleads his case before the throne of God. And so sure is David of his innocence that he is willing to stake his life upon it. And so he presents this argument, this case, before the throne of God. He says in verse three, O Lord my God, if I have done this, there be iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, here's the allegation against him, yea I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy, let the enemy persecute my soul and take it, yea let him tread down my life upon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust, Selah. So David is pleading his innocence and he's so convinced that his innocence in this matter that he is prepared to stake his life upon it and essentially say, Lord if these accusations are true then let the enemy destroy me. So he's very confident about this. that's not pride on the behalf of David and it shouldn't be pride on your behalf either. You know before the Lord sometimes that certain slanders are just simply not true and you can have a clear conscience before the Lord, it's not a matter of being prideful or claiming that you're a perfect individual or that you are without sin. We all know that that's not the case and David freely admitted that in other Psalms but here we have a false accusation against his character and David knew before the Lord that that was wrong and he could come to God therefore with great confidence and plead his case. You know, that's the value of a clear conscience as a Christian. Having a clear conscience gives you praying ground with God when the attacks come. So consider a couple of points about this. Notice the defamations against David in verse 3 there and then in the first part of verse 4. was accused of iniquity, verse 3, O Lord if I have done this if there be iniquity in my hands, the word iniquity means perverseness, in his hands the picture is of David being involved in some form of misconduct. Then he was accused of injustice in verse 4 and this was really the heart of the accusation against him. In verse 4 he says, if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, So this is obviously the heart of Cush's accusation against him, was that David had rewarded evil to someone who was living peaceably with him. David had repaid evil for good, that was the accusation. Accused of injustice. So this was a serious charge that David had acted unjustly and viciously towards someone innocent and peaceful with him. John Philip's right slander is one of the most difficult things to fight. A man's good name and reputation can be destroyed by a lying, jealous tongue and his whole life laid in ruins. Slander is one of Satan's favorite weapons. We were talking in our new members class about the fact that it says specifically of deacons' wives and probably pastors' wives too, that they're not to be slanderers and that word comes from the Greek word diabolos, diabolos, which means devils. So if you are a slanderer, you are acting like a devil. It's true. It's right at the heart of Satan's character is to slander. Slander is one of Satan's favourite weapons. He says, it is done in secret and usually behind the back of the victim. I think this is a wise insight here. He says, the more a slanderous charge is denied, the more it seems to be true in the minds of those who've been poisoned by it. That's true, isn't it? You try and defend yourself against a slander and your act of defending yourself is taken as further evidence that you are actually guilty of the charge. so what's the best thing you can do with slander? We'll do what David did, take it to the Lord. Take it to the Lord, it's very rare that we can successfully defend ourselves. Now there's a place, I know we can read that Paul in 2nd Corinthians had to defend his apostolic office and maybe there is a point where a spiritual leader might need to defend and make a case for their character if it's damaging his reputation and ultimately the testimony of the Lord but mostly when it comes to slander, we need to just take it to the Lord, take it to the Lord and let Him deal with it. It's contrary though, isn't it, to our inclination? What's our inclination? to go out and defend ourselves, to go out and roll our sleeves up and deal with it. Don't try and help God out in his act of justice, you let the Lord deal with that grievance. So these were the defamations against David, these were very serious allegations to be thrown against him. But notice that David now, before the Lord, brings his defence in there in verse 4. You notice in brackets he inserts this little note here, And so David at this point in his prayer to God inserts a point of evidence to the contrary, David's life and David's track record actually spoke the truth and dispelled the slanderous lies against his character. In reality, David had done the exact opposite to what he had been accused of. Not only had he not mistreated a friend, he had actually shown grace to an enemy. And so the integrity of his life had a way of disproving the lies of the enemy. Yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. Does anyone remember a couple of occasions where David did just that in his life when he was on the run? Anyone remember that? the cave, remember that when Saul came in, remember Saul's pursuing David there in 1st Samuel chapter 24 and he comes, David and his men are hiding in the cave and Saul comes in to relieve himself and David's men say, here's your chance David. Now remember in both these occasions Saul is pursuing David, Saul is persecuting David with the view to probably kill him. Now I suggest to you that if there was the slightest hint of bitterness in David's heart towards Saul, he would have killed him. I think this is an amazing testament to David though, of the fact that his heart was not bitter towards Saul. Imagine that you've got this man coming and he's pursuing you, you're having to flee for your very life, he's bringing soldiers there to try and capture you and probably exterminate you and you think about it, you place yourself in that situation where all of a sudden your number one enemy is completely at your disposal and you've got some pretty hefty mighty men there willing to do it for you. You might think you're saintly but put yourself in that situation where you have that opportunity to deal with the enemy. And so David was able to plead before the Lord that in actual fact, he had done the opposite to what he was being accused of. had accused him or he was being accused of rewarding evil to someone at peace with him, David says no, in actual fact I have delivered him that without cause is my enemy. second time was remember when Saul was pursuing him a couple of chapters later in chapter 26 and remember how David and his men were up on the hill there and Saul and Abner and the men encamped there and fell asleep and how David and I think it was Abishai was it, came into the camp there and took Saul's spear in his cruise of water and you remember the story there but on both occasions David delivered this man who without cause was his enemy. But this is the nature of slander. Slander is a false report. It's a lie. It's incorrect. Webster defines slander, quote, as a false tale or report maliciously uttered and tending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizens, by exposing him to impeachment and punishment, or by impairing his means of living, defamation. say, well what do I do with slander? We'll take it to the Lord and let the integrity of your life speak for itself. Sometimes these things have to be resolved over time and the lies can be exposed simply by the reality of your life before the Lord. And so David pleads his integrity the defense of David, he pleads his integrity before the Lord. He pleads in sincerity, verse 5, so confident is David of his innocence, as we've mentioned, he's willing to stake his life upon it. He has a clear conscience, he has strong praying ground there. He says essentially, if what Cush was accusing him of was true, he would be willing for the enemy to, number one, persecute his soul, number two, tread down his life upon the earth, three, lay his honor in the dust, the whole picture there is of ancient warfare where the defeated soldier would very often be trampled upon by the horses of the conquering army. So David's saying, let not just my life but my honour. laid in the dust. If this is true, Lord, and I know it's not, if it's true, I'm willing to receive the punishment.' And so this is David on very strong praying grounds with God, assured of his innocence before the Lord. And then, just to add a little bit to the appeal, he then uses that musical pause, sylla, sylla, pause, a pause before the Lord allowing, as it were, his appeal, his case to rest in the hands of God. Notice thirdly now, the saints appeal to God in verse 6 to 9. The saints appeal to God. David now appeals for the setting up of a great tribunal that God might sit in divine judgment over his case and that of others. So David appeals to the Lord for a number of things here. Firstly, he appeals to God for the condemnation of the wicked. condemnation of the wicked. He prays that God's holy anger will be aroused. Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemy. So David is asking God here, God's righteous anger to oppose to rise up and to oppose man's ungodly rage. Interesting, you've got the rage of man, the ungodly rage of man and David is praying that God's anger would be aroused to deal with man's ungodly rage. Man's wrath can seem like a fearful thing, can't it? But it's nothing compared to the pure wrath of God And so David prays that God's holy anger will be aroused. He prays for God's holy justice to be accomplished. Awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. Interesting how he uses the words arise, lift up, awake. We know that God doesn't sleep, does he? But this is David appealing to the Lord in human language, in human terms. You know, from the human side, it can seem, we know it's not true, but it can seem like God is asleep in this situation, can't it? From the human side, it can seem that way. And so you get a sense of the cry of David's heart here. He's not implying that God is asleep in the literal sense of the term, but he's using human language, he's asking God to move in his situation to deal with this problem. One thing we do have to come to terms with though, in the Christian life, is that God's timetable is different to ours. It's true, isn't it? God's timetable is different for ours and very often from the human perspective, this is where we struggle, as David did, it seems that God is inactive, it seems that God is not dealing with this issue, God is not executing justice, it would seem, from our perspective. we need to remember that his timetable is different to ours. One thing we can be sure of, Genesis 18-25, is that the judge of all the earth shall do right. In fact, that would be a fitting title for this whole psalm, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And of course the answer is, yes he will. People often feel emboldened, don't they, by virtue of the fact that judgment is delayed. sinner often feels that way, well God's judgment hasn't come yet, all this talk of judgment but I'm living fine, everything is going fine for me, therefore, you know, I don't think that God is ultimately going to judge me. The story is told of an agnostic farmer who wrote to the editor of his local paper of an experiment he had made and he said this, he said, in defiance of your God I plowed my fields this year on a Sunday, I harrowed and fertilized them on a Sunday, I planted them on a Sunday, I cultivated them on Sundays and I reaped them on Sunday. This October I had the biggest crop I ever had. How do you explain that?' The editor wisely replied, God does not always make a full reckoning in the month of October. true isn't it? But that's often the attitude. Hey everything's going fine, I'm getting away with this. It doesn't appear sometimes from the human perspective that wicked men are getting away with things and it's because we from the human standpoint do not understand the delay in justice but we need to understand if God is delaying the execution of his justice it is because he is giving sinful man an opportunity to repent. God has not judged you yet that is a testament to his mercy, that is a testament to the fact that he has given you an opportunity to repent of your sin and to receive Christ as Saviour. Aren't you thankful that God didn't give you justice in a hurry? That he gave you space to repent? make no mistake, God will ultimately give justice. But this is the cry of the saint before the Lord. So he prays for the condemnation of the wicked. Then the clearing of the righteous, verse 7 and 8, So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about, for their sakes therefore return thou on high. The Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity that is in me. So David pleads here in verse seven concerning the collective cause of the saints. He is not just pleading for himself, but he brings the needs of saints in general before the Lord. The congregation of the saints will compass thee about. for their sakes therefore return thou on high.' So he's pleading with the Lord, as it were, as perfect judge to assume his judgment seat for the benefit not only of his individual case but of the cause of the rest of the congregation, the people of God. So he prays for the clearing of the righteous, the collective cause of the saints, the personal cause of David. He wants God to judge his case and thereby reveal his integrity in the situation. He also prays, number three, for the cessation of wickedness, verse nine. Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end. The wickedness of the wicked come to an end. Isn't that the heart cry of the believer? Lord, Wickedness abounds. Wickedness is on every hand. Lord, bring evil to an end. That should be the cry of the genuine believer. That is the cry of the genuine believer. That evil that seems to have the upper hand would be brought to an end, that God would bring an end to the wickedness and the corruption and the depravity of man. And aren't you thankful that there is coming a day when evil will not always reign on this earth? looking forward to that, I'm looking forward to seeing government as it was meant to be, the first time we have perfect government when Christ rules. There's coming a day when Christ will reign and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins, Isaiah 11 4. And a scepter of righteousness will be the scepter of his kingdom, Hebrews 1 verse 8. Christ will rule the nations with the rod of iron, Revelation 2 27, Revelation 12 5, Revelation 19 5. In that day the earth will not be run by the ever-shifting standards of men but the unbendable and unbreakable standard of God's truth. he prays for the clearing of the righteous, the cessation of wickedness, the confirmation of the just, verse 9, but establish the just. Four, the righteous God trieth the hearts and reigns. So he is praying that God would bring an end to wickedness and that God would establish just. And that's, again, the heart cry of the believer, not only for the end of the reign of wickedness but for the establishment of the reign of righteousness. And we need that in a day when there seems to be so much evil in power, to pray that God would establish the just. Now we notice, fourthly, the saints' assurance in God. Lastly, The Saints' Assurance in God, verse 10 to 17. My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will wet his sword. He hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. The Saints' Assurance in God. Firstly, the saint is assured in the pattern of God's ways, the way God deals with things, the pattern of God's ways. Number one, God defends the believer, verse 10, God defends the believer, my defence is of God which saveth the upright in heart. You say, who's going to defend me in this situation? The Lord is your defence. word defense is very often translated shield in the Old Testament and a number of times as well as buckler and as we think about the nature of slander we have to understand that it is really only God who can defend you. In that situation if you try and defend yourself that will simply play into the devil's hands, you've got to trust in the Lord who saveth the upright in heart. upright. The word upright literally means straight in a literal sense, it speaks of an erect and straight position but spiritually speaking it speaks about one who is straight for the Lord, someone who is upright and walking in obedience to the Lord. You know God promises very special blessings for the upright, Psalm 84 11, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. And if you are seeking to walk uprightly, seeking to follow the Lord, then you can trust that he will be your defense in the day of trouble. So God defends the believer. This is the assurance of the saints in the pattern of God's ways. He defends the believer. Number two, God judges the wicked. Verse 11 to 13, God judges the wicked. Verse 11 to 13, God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will wet his sword, he hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. God judges the wicked. God's anger is stirred towards the wicked, verse 11. It says that he's angry with the wicked every day. And God not only hates sin, but he is angered with those who continue to indulge in it. It says God is angry with the wicked. That doesn't say God hates the wicked. God doesn't hate the sinner, does he? God loves the sinner but he hates the sin. But make no mistake about the character of our God, God is angry with the wicked every day. and people think that God is never going to judge them, they think they're getting away with all their sin in this life because God's judgment is delayed, little do they know that God's anger is kindled towards them and towards their sin except they repent. God's anger is stirred toward the wicked, God's judgment is prepared for the wicked. Look at verse 12 and 13, if he turn not he will wet his sword He hath bent his bow and made it ready. The picture here is of a warrior with his bow drawn and the arrow in place, his sharpened sword. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. That's why it's good to study the Psalms, you start to come to grips with who God really is and his character. Yes God is loving, yes God is merciful, yes God is gracious but make no mistake about it, God is also a God of justice and God's holy anger is stirred towards sin. Notice that the sinner can expect God's judgment if he turn not. God judgeth the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day if he turn not, if who turn not, if the wicked turn not. So what must the sinner do to avoid God's judgment? What must the sinner do to escape the righteous judgment of God? He's got to turn. he's going to turn from sin and his own way to God. I tell you what, people who say that the concept of repentance is virtually nowhere found in the Bible and it has nothing to do with turning from sin, here the Bible says, if the sinner doesn't turn, it's like God is there with the arrow drawn, with the sword sharpened and with the instruments of death waiting to pour out his judgment. The only thing that the sinner can do to avoid the righteous judgment of God is to turn. In fact this word turn is actually translated in the Psalms twice, convert. In Psalm 19 verse 7 and in Psalm 51 verse 13, you'll find the word convert in those two verses and it comes from the same Hebrew word as the word turn. So if the sinner converts not, if he doesn't turn, what does conversion mean? Well, it means to turn from my own way. It means to turn to Christ. Understand that tonight, that repentance is nothing to do with you fixing up your own life, but you understand you're a sinner and you turn to Christ who has the solution for your sin. Very simple. Could I just say that the message of the Bible is abundantly clear for the sinner, it's turn or burn. That might sound very harsh for today's hypersensitive generation, but I'm just saying the message of the Bible for you is turn or burn. Turn to Christ, accept you repent, said Jesus, you'll perish. So if the sinner will not turn from his evil ways, God's anger will find terrifying expression, indefinite acts of judgment against him. Look at the picture again there, he talks about wetting his sword. Now obviously the Lord is using a picture here to help us to understand something of his judgment. The word wet there is w-h-e-t means to sharpen, Spurgeon puts it this way, he says, God's sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness. It's quite a picture, isn't it? The divine sword of justice is sharpened daily upon the revolving stone of our sin. God is angry with the wicked every day. wet his sword and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors." Interesting phrase there, God does not shoot his arrows at random, they are ordained. He aims them at those who deserve judgment. One writer puts it, he says, Archer of divine vengeance stands, as it were, with bended bow and the next arrow that he discharges may pierce with everlasting anguish the soul that now glides on securely in the career of thoughtlessness and crime. So the whole picture here is of God's judgment poised and ready to be unleashed on the sinner. He said, does God want to judge me like that? No, that's the reason he hasn't yet. pause in God's judgment, as it were, or the withholding of judgment at this time, is testament to a God who is a God of mercy and a God who is a God of grace, who wants to give you an opportunity to receive his forgiveness because he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. If the sinner does not repent, God's wrath damns up awaiting the Day of Judgment. Romans 2, 4-5 speaks about this problem of the sinner despising God's forbearance and longsuffering. He says, "...or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." But could I just say here, someone said a little while ago, I heard someone say that there's no repentance in the book of Romans. sorry, the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, again comes from the word repentance if I remember rightly from the Roman series a few years ago, treasurous up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. The phrase treasurous up there means to lay up in store and so the picture here is of God's... it's like, if you could imagine it, a dam that's about to burst its banks and the floodwaters are filling that dam up to capacity and at any moment that dam could burst with a terrific torrent and a terrific flood coming out of that dam and down into the valley. That's the picture here. The sinner, through the hardness and impenitence of his heart, treasures up, stores up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. So if God is delaying His judgment, that doesn't mean that He's not angry with your sin. And it doesn't mean that He won't judge you if you fail to repent. If you fail to repent of your sin and to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then God's judgment, God's wrath is accumulating. It's a very powerful picture. With each sin, God's wrath builds up. God is angry with the wicked every day and so God's wrath is damning up there against you and except you repent and come to Christ, except you come to the bloodstained cross, eventually the dam of God's justice will burst on you. That's the picture. but it won't be because you haven't had opportunity to repent. God gives opportunity to us because he loves us, because he wants to show us mercy, because he wants to show us grace, he gives you an opportunity to turn from your sin and to receive his free gift of eternal life. That's the better option, isn't it? So God's judgment, God defends the believer, verse 10. He judges the wicked, verse 11 to 13. He repays the unrepentant, verse 14 to 16. these verses before us we see that God turns the plans of the wicked back on them, it is the law of sowing and reaping. And this is discussed with the use of three illustrations and these sub points here from John Phillips, I thought they were very good. We see, sin in its process like a birth, verse 14. Sin in its process like a birth, behold, he travaileth with iniquity and hath conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. That's birthing language, isn't it? Conceive, travail, bring forth. What a ghastly picture though, this is in relation to sin. conception of wickedness in the heart, building and growing to the point where it is birthed forth in falsehood. What a graphic picture of sin and wickedness. Lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death, James says. He travail, he conceives mischief, this is the origin of the evil plan, he's conceived a wicked plan in his heart with the help of the devil. And if you get involved in slander, make no mistake about it, Satan's involved with that somewhere. I said Satan's involved with that somewhere. the father of liars because what's birthed is falsehood at the end, isn't it? It's conceived in the heart, mischief and I understand in the Bible mischief means more than the way we often use it today, we talk about maybe the two-year-old being mischievous in sort of almost a light-hearted sense. Mischief in the Bible means you're intending, you're trying to, you're intending hurt against somebody. It's much more serious than just a light thing. Webster defines it as intentional injury, harm or damage done by design. Conceives mischief, he travails with iniquity. He's full of it, says Spurgeon, pain until he can carry it out. He longs to work his will, he is full of pangs until his evil intent is executed. Births falsehood. So falsehood, this is the context, the words of Cush. Falsehood is the end result of the conception of wickedness in the heart. Then we see sin in its plan like a bait, verse 15, sin in its plan like a bait, he made a pit and digged it and is fallen into the ditch which he made. And so we see a trap being set. What lengths people will go to to trap somebody else or to assassinate their character? Here we see a pit is digged in order to try and trap the unsuspecting victim. And these pits were dug very deep in order to trap either a man or a beast. And very often the mouth of those pits would be covered over with boughs of trees or straw so that it couldn't be seen. and thereby they would capture the victim. But here we see that this man who tries to set this trap actually falls into his own trap. So we see the law of sowing and reaping is here in these verses. Then we see sin and its punishment like a boomerang, verse 16. Not that David had a boomerang in mind but that's a good illustration. His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate. What's the pate? What's the top of the head? the whole picture here is of sowing and reaping and of the evil that he intended to David returning upon him. We see this in the Bible with examples of men like Ahab. Remember the dogs licked Ahab's blood in the midst of the vineyard of Naboth whom he murdered. Haman hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. Absalom attempts to murder David and ends up swinging from a tree by his rebellious hair. What's the principle for us though? The principle is this, leave justice in God's hands. let God deal with that, you let God deal with the injustice, your job is to bring it before him, to make your case before the throne of God, to ask God to deal with the situation but leave justice in God's hands, don't try and help God out with the execution of his justice, will you? So the pattern of God's ways is something the saints can be assured of. Then we notice in verse 17 the praise God's ways. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. The slandered one is now a singer. That's a good response, isn't it? The response of the believer's heart in light of the knowledge of God's ways. praise for God's ways, the perfection of God, His righteousness, the person of God, the name of the Lord Most High. So praise God in the darkest hours of your life. Do you praise God in the midst of your trials, difficulties? That's what David did, I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness. As David meditates upon God's character, He sings praise to Him. In conclusion, let's think through a few things here and I want your help please. Theological lessons, as we're going through the Psalms we're trying to think about some things we can learn about God. Anything that we can learn about the character of God from this Psalm. Thank you, God is a God of justice, Thomas. judge of all the earth shall do right. Very good. Yes, he does care for us. Yes, he's interested in our situation. God is our defense. Okay, he comes to our aid. Yes, Sam? Amen. Isaac? Yes, that's right, that's the practical side, yep. Any other lessons about God? So God is moved in righteous anger towards the sinner's sin and will judge if he fails to repent, that's something we get from Psalm 7, don't we? That God will judge, there's no doubt about that, we should be reminded of that. God is a shield to his people and defends them in times of spiritual attack, he is a refuge in times of persecution. What are some practical lessons, some things we can learn from this Psalm about the Christian life? Take your troubles to God. Amen. Very good. Take your troubles to the Lord. Take injustices to the throne of grace and leave them there. The judge of all the earth will do right. Appealing to God in prayer is our best course of action against slander. Any others? God is patient. Yes, praise God. God is a God who is moved in anger towards sin, but he often chooses to withhold that judgment. Why? To give man an opportunity to turn to him. And that's his mercy. Yes, George. Trials are inevitable in the Christian life and they come in many forms, okay, Pastor Dan was touching on some of those this morning. In this psalm, what trial is particularly in view? Slander, the words of Cush, the Benjamite, okay, and that is a persecution, isn't it, a form of persecution, assassinating someone's character. Any other lessons we can learn about the Christian life? So when you ask slander, just let the integrity Thank you, that's very good. So leave it in the Lord's hands and live a life of integrity before the Lord and let your actions disprove the lies. Very good, any others? Trust in God? The unsaved are in great peril except they turn to the Lord. Yes Mr. Oxby? Keep praising God through your trial, amen. Bust it in? need to be spirit-filled when we open our mouths, amen. Watch out for this little member here, it's very small but boy he's got a lot of power, packs a real punch and you can slice someone up if you're not careful. Yes? Don't try to help God out, that's right, David is appealing to the Lord to deal with this and David had opportunity to take justice into his own hands twice in the life of Saul, okay, all those two occasions but he didn't. Any others? Dan Williams? God's timetable is different to ours. So we see, in a sense, we can identify with David who's calling God to awake and to arise, okay, from the human end it seems like God is not doing anything, but in actual fact, God will in his perfect time dispense justice from his throne. Any others? God is the avenger, that's right. Leave justice in God's hands. There are many injustices in this world, but leave it in God's hand to deal with those. Any others? John? The law of sowing and reaping. You reap what you sow, that's so clear in there, in the chapter there. Someone said the law of the soil is also the law for the soul, okay? You reap what you sow. All right, what are some soteriological lessons or what we can learn about salvation? We've touched on that a number of times but very quickly, yes Julia? God is long-suffering, okay? The pause in the judgment is so man has an opportunity to receive forgiveness. Yes, John? That's right. If he turned not, what's going to happen? God's judgment is poised. Picture there as the arrow drawn on the bow, the sword sharpened, instruments of death ready. It's a very powerful picture. It's like God's divine arrow is already aimed at the sinner. That's the picture here, it's aimed at the sinner and if you turn not, boom! We're just being true to the Word of God, that's how the Word of God represents it to us. Yes? Yes, that's right. So repentance is necessary and that's what is meant by the word turn, it means to turn from sin to God and receive forgiveness. All right we better leave it there but there's the song of a slandered saint, are you a slandered saint tonight? I don't know, maybe you are, maybe someone's been saying things about you. Take it to the Lord and leave it with Him and let God be the judge of those things. All right, let's close in prayer and we'll transition now to our communion service for tonight. Let's pray. Father we thank you for your goodness to us tonight and for the Word of God. Lord, we pray that we would learn from this psalm, the lesson. Lord, that vengeance is mine, I will recompense. Help us to learn, Father, to leave our problems in your hands. And Lord, in the midst of those problems, to still praise you for your character and for who you are. So Lord, we pray for that. We pray, Lord, that we would not take the side of the slanderers. Lord, that we would not be involved in tearing down others' character by our words. Lord, protect us from that. Help us rather to build one another up and edify one another in what we say we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.