Please have your Bibles open to Psalm 59. And as I've announced to you last week, we're going to take a little detour from our study in 1 Samuel, because Psalm 59 is that very Psalm that David reflected on and wrote in the context of his flight from Saul. So open your Bibles to Psalm 59 and stand with me for the reading of God's word. And there are a few psalms, not too many, a handful of them, less than 10, that are specifically mentioned that coincide with the experience of David and Davidic psalms that are written in the scriptures that gives us the context. And we will go over them as we go through our narrative study in 1 and 2 Samuel. Alright, this is the reading of God's Word, Psalm 59, for the choir director said to Al-Tashkhayq, a Miqtam of Dawid, when Sha'ul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God. Set me securely on high, away from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who do iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed. For behold, they have set an ambush for my life. Fierce men launch an attack against me, not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord. For no guilt of mine they run and set themselves against me. Arouse yourself to help me and see. You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations. Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah. They return at evening. They howl like a dog and go around the city. Behold, they belch forth with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, for they say, Who hears? But you, O Lord, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations. Because of His strength I will watch for you, for God is my stronghold. My God, in His loving kindness, will meet me. God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes. Do not slay them or my people will forget. Scatter them by your power and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be caught in their pride. And on account of curses and lies which they utter, destroy them in wrath. Destroy them that they may be no more. that men may know that God rules in Yaakov to the ends of the earth, Selah. They return at evening, they howl like a dog and go around the city. They wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied. But as for me, I shall sing of your strength. Yes, I shall joyfully sing of your loving kindness in the morning, for you have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. Oh, my strength. I will sing praises to you for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me loving kindness. Amen. Please be seated. This is a very encouraging psalm because all of us can identify with David's life experience, that if we maintain a God honoring life, we will experience painful rejection and hostility. even from those who are very close to us. The English word betrayal reminds us of David's many experiences, that he was betrayed by his own father-in-law, betrayed by his own son, betrayed by his own close friend and confidant and counselor Ahithophel, David experienced many, many hurtful experiences from enemies. And no doubt, no other human being in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament has experienced so many enemies like David did. Minus, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole world of men was his enemy. And even to this day, they are snarling like pack of wild dogs against him. See if they can tear his kingdom apart. And of course, the Lord scoffs at them as well. To those who are married in faithfulness, the assault comes from the one whom you love and the most painful betrayal and attacks of hostility. That can be unbearable. To those who have family members who turn on us for no rational reason, you'll experience hostility, alienation, even direct assault. And often those who are faithful are slandered, maligned, misrepresented, and even lied against some of the closest relationship family members. And often these painful experiences, there's no rational answer. So it's no good for us to ask, why? Why, Lord, is this happening? And we can take comfort in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ asked, why? Why? Why have you forsaken me on the cross? My God, my God, why? And there's a moral anguish and a senselessness and irrationality about sin. That at a certain point it just makes absolutely no rational sense. There is no satisfying answer. It's just the way it is. Because evil is part and parcel of this fallen world. And so in this psalm, the Holy Spirit of God who inspired David to write these words, first with a personal reflection, And then, through a general application, because David had a personal encounter of deep, painful experience with Saul, but that was just the beginning of his lifelong struggle with multiple enemies, both domestic and foreign. As we saw before, he had family members who attacked him, who were his enemies. But he also had many foreign enemies. He had the Moabites, the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Edomites. Doeg the Edomite was a tremendous enemy of David. And even Achish, the Philistine ruler. There are many enemies that David experienced both in Mesopotamian enemies and the nations around Israel and those who are neighboring enemies and internal enemies that he had to root out and fight. And so in this Psalm of David we have a movement that David takes us from his own personal experience to now a global experience. From his plight, personal pain, to now a wonderful joyful praise. David covers all situation in life which requires righteous people of God to call upon the Lord for deliverance. And that's the major theme in this psalm. The Lord wants us to cry out to him and to talk to him about our enemies. And in so doing, the Lord will teach us more about evil, but more about sin that is within, our greatest enemy. He will teach us more about what He will do in His justice, in His perfect way, because often we demand justice on our own terms, on our own schedule. But see, that's imperfect. If we get what we want, we would get an imperfect sense of justice. But God, in His perfect timing, in His perfect way, and in His perfect power, will execute justice. And we, the faithful men and women of God, must wait, must trust in the Lord. And as we begin to understand what God is doing with all these enemies that is placed around us, as David learned to trust in the Lord, we learn to trust in the Lord. As David fled and saying, Lord, do you see what's happening? We must also flee and we can cry out, Lord, you see my plight. David complained, and the Lord says, I can hear your complaint. Bring it to me. The New Testament message, of course, is Peter, 1 Peter 5, 7, cast your anxieties on him, for he cares for you. And so the Lord wants us to come to him with our struggles, our plight. and our complaints. And we need to talk to the Lord. Then David grows in his confidence in the midst of problems. Because once we begin to interact with God in prayer, and we begin to think, wait a minute, I'm talking to God who created the heavens and the earth. I'm talking to God, the God of Israel. A God who delivered his people from the mightiest of enemies, the Egyptians, during the bondage. I'm talking with God who gave us this land. I'm talking to God who has anointed me. We begin to understand about our audience and then He begins to slowly deal with all of our angst and our problems and our needs. He begins to fill our hearts with greater confidence in Him. The problems don't go away, circumstances don't change, but our perspective begins to change. And so, while describing the ferocity of His enemies, David grows in confidence. As he thinks about his enemies, they're like a pack of wild dogs. Rotten, dirty, filthy. They're not going to triumph. They're never satisfied. These people are doomed for destruction. Once we start talking to God, recognizing His holiness, His power, His justice, then all of a sudden the flood of what we know about God will fill our hearts and begin to give us confidence. to override every situation of pain and difficulty. And then finally, David finds faith to celebrate the Lord in praise. As he asks God to punish his enemies, and he realizes that God will do so in His perfect way, David learns to rest in the Lord and give Him praise. Now let's learn these lessons from today's passage. I would like to give you kind of a bird's eye view first and then we'll go into a little bit of the details. Obviously this passage is application rich as most Psalms are. And it's a great psalm for our reflection, because David does a masterful job of involving himself personally, but taking himself out of the picture and making the whole situation broad for general application. And also he takes us to another place, an international, global, cosmic place where evil is constant, and yet God will put an end to it. So that gives us a very important prophetic vantage point. So let's take a look at this psalm. We notice it's Miqtam of David. It says it's for the choir director. So it's definitely a song. It's a musical piece. So what we have is a lyric. lyrics of songs. So in typical Hebrew parallelism, you're going to find one line and then another line that parallels that with slightly different variations, slightly different information. Not only that, we're going to find four different chunks and then a repetition of two themes that David brings back. He brings back the characteristics of his enemy, like dogs, pack of wild dogs. And then he brings back his confidence, trust in the Lord. And so, those themes repeat throughout this psalm. It says here, it is said to, or that's what the NASP translators think, al-tashheyt. And now, nobody knows what this is, but they believe this is like a negation of something, do not do something. And that's the best guess. All these are educated guesses because these haven't been sung in this pattern for a long, long time. And they're left in the Word of God as reflective psalms for us. We know the author. It says it's a mikhtam, a kind of a song of David, a poetry of David. And then the theme, when Saul met sent the men and they watched the house in order to kill him. And no doubt it was that incident that gave David time to reflect. And so he begins with personal reflection. But it was during a time when David was king. And so this final strophe, the final segment of how this psalm ends is while he's king. So it goes from individual experience to the nation of Israel. And so now Israel becomes the persecuted nation. And all the other foreign nations around David are attacking Israel. So David is calling out to God to protect not only him as the king of the anointed, but the nation of Israel. So there's a bigger picture here. All right, with that, let's take a look at the remaining verse 1. And here we are invited to make our complaints to God. Not the kind of complaint that ends with a complaint, but a complaint that seeks a greater perspective. God's perspective. Whenever you bring a complaint to God, acknowledge to whom you are speaking. You are speaking to an all-knowing and all-holy God. He is all powerful as well. And so we're going to Him who knows all and who has solutions to all. That's whom we're going. So we cannot just end with a complaint and then leave. We must continue with our complaint and follow through the natural course. Can we trust in God's timing and His ways? And can we learn to thank Him and praise Him even in the midst of our complaint? That's the real question. And that's how you know you're growing in great faith. that your understanding of who God is is increasing, and then your response to God is of reverence, and not a childish tantrum. That's how you know. Because if you've thrown a childish tantrum in the past, complaining to God, complaining, saying, why, why, why, and then you just took off, then you know that you are very immature, because that's how little kids behave. They just kind of rant out and express their feelings and then they just kind of leave you where it is without any kind of a desire for a solution. And here it is, deep mature faith in David. So this is God's will for us. He wants us to bring complaints, but he wants us to find solution in the Lord. So let God know of your plight. And especially against wicked men. We're not just talking about circumstances, poor circumstances. We're talking about people who are out to get us. And so I've appropriately titled this message, What To Do When Your Friend Wants To Destroy You. All right, that's Psalm 59. What To Do When Your Friend Wants To Destroy You. All right. Deliver me from my enemies. Look at all the verbs. Deliver. Set me securely. Save me, verse two. All right, these are all complaints, but they're also wishes. Calling God to do something. No one has uttered these words more than David did. He had many, many enemies. That word deliver, from that verb, meaning to pull away or take away. The imagery is one person who has fallen into a pit, needing somebody to pull him away from the pit. Take me out of this situation from my enemies, Lord. That's the idea. Set me securely on high away. That means to rise up, raise up. That's the idea. The imagery here is a person who needs to be raised up from the dangers of floodwaters, rapidly rising from below, or ferocious animals attacking you and you have to climb up a tree and they're out to get you from below. That's the idea. The first two verbs have directional rescue. since David's enemies come from all sides. And that's how life's troubles often come. They come unpredictably. They come without any announcements. You didn't expect that. It happens to you. The shock factor is what gets you sometimes more. They come in groups sometimes, waves at other times, and seasons. They seem to all come at once, however, and without warning and without predictability or routine. And that's what really takes us by huge surprise. Only when we face such dire straits do we sense the deep urgency to pray and cling to God. Notice the words like deliver, save, that's not casual verbs. This is a prayer that requires deep searching and deep anguishing because these are desperate circumstances. You know, we're living in times of peace and relative ease. Very few of us have clung to God with such anguish, such depth. And if you haven't, on the one hand, that's God's protective blessing upon you. On the other hand, be ready. Because when those times do come, then you can go to God. For David, it came as a shock. He did not expect his father-in-law to want to kill him and then send men to brutally murder him in his own house. And so he says, deliver me for those who do iniquity and save me from men of bloodshed, verse 2. There is a repeat of David's plea in the previous verse, deliver me. But this time David gives greater definition of his enemies. His enemies are those who do iniquity. or those who make trouble or evil, literally. There will always be those who cause trouble or produce harm to others as a matter of lifestyle and life choice. It should not surprise you that there are people like that. And there are people like that in your midst. There are people like that at your work, in your neighborhood, God forbid, in your own family members and extended family, in the church, sure. David cries, save me from men of bloodshed. Well, we need saving. Because these people are not just to play around. They're not there just to threaten. They're there to kill. So David is crying out with deep, serious anguish, calling out for help. This is the second parallel. David uses the verb of salvation, save me, he says. Because those who seek to destroy his life are men of blood. They're men of blood, literally. Which means that they have experience in killing people. David's not the first victim. He's just, One in a series of many that they're willing to kill. Indiscriminately. David must have puzzled over this because whoever Saul sends, David would have known. Because they saw David defeat Goliath. They saw David lead armies. They saw David win victory after victory after victory. So the very men who are sent to kill David are the men who admire, respected and followed David for his leadership. Now, they're just paid to kill him. Indiscriminately. And this is the shocking part. The shocking part is that it's Ahithophel that David constantly routinely fellowshiped with, had dinners with, invited him over to his house. There are friends who betrayed him. The shocking thing is his only son Absalom, his beloved son Absalom was the one who betrayed him. That's the shock when it happens. And that's when we realize there are people who are just men of blood. They're just out to get blood. They're indiscriminate. Sometimes, some people take pleasure in that. Other times, they have no moral compunctions. You know, they don't apply the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them done unto you. David vividly describes the attitudes, the mental process, and the lifestyle choices of violent people who seek to harm others as a way of life. And boy, we need salvation from such men. And by the way, when we cry out to God, and He saves us from certain circumstances, that should help us to see the bigger picture of God's sphere of salvation. He saves us from the ultimate death, the greatest danger of our soul. So God is a protecting God. David understands this. So he cries out to the Lord. And then verse 3 and 4, Not only let God know about your plight against wicked men, but let God know of your innocence. And then, appeal to God based on a clean conscience. Verse 3 and 4. You will be emboldened to go to God if you are innocent of the crimes. And if your conscience is clean. You know, when somebody attacks you or slanders you, if you're innocent, you don't have to worry. If your conscience is clean, you can sleep well at night. I don't have to toss and turn. For behold, David asks God to see the egregious things that are being done to him, that are happening right now. His appeal to God's omniscience and omnipresence gives us basis for our plea. Lord, do you see this? Do you see this? I know you do. That's the sense of what David's doing. He's drawing attention to the Lord and saying, they have set an ambush for my life, he says. There are people who set traps. to destroy, set an ambush, they plot. Their minds are creative and intelligent, sinister in making devices to set traps. That requires evil motive, careful planning and deceitful execution. Some people are opportunistic. They see an opportunity and they seize it. The intended effort is to destroy life. David was falsely accused of this very thing later on while he was fleeing because he didn't want to cause a civil war and cause Israel brother against brother to kill one another to maintain that power. He decided to just flee and allow God to bring justice to Absalom, his son. Shimei, who was a relative of Saul, insulted David. In 2 Samuel 16.7, thus Shimei said, when he cursed, Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed and worthless fellow. I mean, that's a lot of trash talking. Worthless fellow is the lowest you can call somebody in those days. Son of Belial is what that is. Man of worthlessness, rotten scoundrel, is what Shimei called. Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed. So, even though David refused to take matters into his own hands and spare Saul multiple times, Shimei, he wasn't there. He doesn't know David's heart. He is now calling David a man of bloodshed by killing, destroying his own master. Saul and Jonathan died in a battle. That's the fact. But when you have a wicked heart like this of slander, who cares about facts? It's an opportunity, he seizes. And yet David does not allow his troops to spear Shimei at that point. but he receives the insult and he moves on. And of course, the Lord deals with him later on, as we shall see. There will always be false accusers who will make a vulnerable situation an opportunity to vent or to attack. We should not be surprised at that. If that upsets you, you can't stand the injustice of it all, then that is a mark of your spiritual status right now, that you don't know how to talk to God. and that you don't see God as an omniscient, all-knowing God, who is your defense. So, can you go to God and let God know, Lord, you see everything, right? You're not asleep. You know everything. I know you do. I know you do. For behold, They have set an ambush for my life. Fierce men launch an attack against me. These attackers are always fierce. They're not timid and shy people. They're capable of great damage, who intend to do serious harm. The shocking thing is that they've been there all along. Now they've decided to act, and act swiftly against the innocent. You know those men who were sent to David's house to kill him with those instructions? If they were men of integrity and of character, they would have count the cost of disobeying like Jonathan did. The king's instruction to protect and shield David. But these men don't have that kind of conscience. They're not men of integrity. They're fierce men. No standards. It's just another job. David's just another man. They're getting paid. They're just doing what they're told, no big deal. But David sees their heart and they say, well, these are wicked men who do such a thing. He says, not for my transgressions nor for my sin, O Lord. Here's David's appeal to God's omniscience once again, but this time it is to the Lord's intimate understanding of the guiltlessness. Not that we're guiltless of any sin, but that we are innocent of the charges that are brought against us. How many times are we receiving in the false charges? That's going to happen. And that's the time when you go to the Lord and say, Lord, you know this. I'm not excusing myself of any sin because I'm a sinner. But what they're accusing me of, I've done none of that. You know it. And when you can say that and you have a clean conscience before the Lord, then your prayer before the Lord can be bold. So here's David's bold prayer. Check your guilt meter and see if there's a correlation between the active or inactive prayer life. When we're guilty of sin, we do not have the strength and the boldness of petition. Rather, there's a guilt that condemns us and our knowledge, awareness of our own sin and guilt. But when we are innocent of the accusations of others, then we can have boldness and confidence. We can humbly say, Lord, you know that I'm a sinner saved by God's grace. But I am innocent of this charge. Lord, you know. You are my defense. And we can cry out to the Lord in confidence of petition, the God of justice and mercy. And so the Lord wants us to draw near to him. Well, there's no rationality for the hostility of the wicked. Here's where our knowledge and the nature of sin helps us to make some sense of our troubles when these things come our way. We don't have to keep asking, why, why, why? Why are they doing this to me? There's no rational answer. Sinful jealousy, envy, hatred, malice doesn't make any sense at all. But the gospel of Jesus Christ helps us to overcome these evils with supernatural grace. As 1 Peter 2.18 says, Now, most of us, the Lord has placed in a subservient role, whether it be at work or in society, we don't have a lot of power, right? And so the passage of scripture that reminds us that the gospel of grace tells us to take on a lowly, humble position and trust the justice and righteousness and fair dealing to the Lord. Now, as we go to the Lord in prayer, as we ask Him to deal with wicked men, as we let Him know of our innocence and clean conscience, and then meditate on the cosmic scale of Injustice here and in the second part of verse 4 arouse yourself to help me and see Now David is not saying that God is asleep But sometimes when God doesn't answer quickly he seems indifferent. He's there. He's awake But does he care? And that may be where we may have issues with slowness of his timing, and we need desperate and quick resolutions. Verse 5, You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations. Now notice what David's doing. David goes from his own personal plight with his enemies, Now he's saying all the nations. Now he makes it very big and scale large thing. Because not only was Israel surrounded by hostile nations that wanted to crush it. David himself was a king and he's constantly having to go to fight. and to defend his country against hostile enemies. But now here is a cosmic warfare that's going on, who hate the righteous people of God. Back then, as it is today. And so now, David brings us to the cosmic sphere. He calls God, first notice the two titles for God. First the name, covenant name, Yahweh. That's all caps, Oh Lord. And then the title, Elohei Shevaot. So the God of hosts, the God of the armies. Elohei Yisrael. David calls upon the Lord, the God of the armies, the very God who exercises might and power. And then he says, awake to punish all the nations. Not only on his behalf, but now the prayer is corporate and is against all who hate God's people. At that time, nation of Israel. And so sometimes the hostile enemy will come against the entire church. Against God's people. And here's what we can pray. Awake to punish all the people. And notice what David is saying. Do not be gracious to anyone who are treacherous in iniquity, says Allah. Now notice what David is saying. This is not just a generic prayer and saying, go get them God. But David is saying, all who are treacherous. You know what treachery is? That's like a friend who is willing to sell you. That's the worst kind of treachery. This is what David's saying. Men who are treacherous do not understand grace and mercy. They're the type of people who would betray their friends with full knowledge. We're not talking about those ignorant people. We're talking about people who should know better, like Saul, like Absalom, like Ahithophel. These people knew better than to do that to David, the Lord's anointed. And yet, did their knowledge inform them? Not a chance. And that's why in the church, we need to really take a second look at, you know, we've been given several warnings not to be a spear thrower, not to take matters into your own hands and start attacking people on your own and going after them and trying to destroy them. And you become the judge, jury, and the executioner because that's not of the Lord. And especially if it's out of jealousy against someone, out of dissatisfaction against someone. And so if we sense danger from wicked people, tell God about it, not to take matters into your own hands. But here, notice what we can pray. This is God's will. We can pray, Lord, they should know better than that. Do you see? Tell God about it. He wants you to. Tell Him what you already know. Tell Him what He already knows. Tell Him that you need comfort. Tell Him that you need His presence. If you're innocent, go to the Lord boldly and tell Him about it. He will confirm to you That what you know and what you believe what you're doing is right. He will give you greater boldness to approach him for help. And he will give you a satisfaction of knowing that he will bring justice ultimately. So, in your complaint to God, seek a greater perspective. Seek a broader way of looking at the situation. Do not just get immersed into you and those people who are out there, out to get you. No, zoom out of that and say, well, there's evil out there. There's injustice out there. And you are a piece, a small part of the great cosmic battle between sin and evil and unrighteousness and injustice that only God can resolve, and He will. And that's where you get immersed into the worldview of the Divine. And He will take you into His arms, comfort you, and help you to see that you have come to the right place. And He wants you to keep talking to Him about it. And if you keep doing that, there's a reason why He allowed evil and injustice to surround your life. Because He wants you to be more sensitive to that. He wants you to join in the greater perspective of what's happening in the world. He wants you to hate sin and injustice. He wants you to long for God's kingdom and righteousness. And so you will grow in the heart that God has. So in your complaint to God, seek a greater perspective. Now let's take a look at verses 6 and on. Have confidence in the midst of your problems as you pursue God's justice. Have confidence in the midst of your problems as you pursue God's justice. Not your own, God's justice. Look at verse 6. Pursue God's power of deliverance and do not fear evil men. Here's where David begins to identify God and all the enemies of the world who attack his glory. We know who God is because when you see all the evil men rallying against the Lord and His anointed, boy, you see it. You see it out there. And you see them mobilizing. You see them secretly scheming and plotting. And here David uses very picturesque language of a pack of wild dogs in the ancient Near East during that time. Verse 6, notice the plural. They return at evening like a pack of wild dogs who sleep all day during the day, but come out roaming in the streets at night looking for something to eat and something to devour. Wicked men also come out at night to drink and to engage in evil, revelry. And such are the men who are men of violence. Even the timing of the attack is dark. They don't do this in the open. They don't want to expose their evil in the broad daylight. So they hide in the cloak of night like a pack of wild dogs coming out in the evening. They howl like a dog and go around the city. The imagery of disgusting pack of scavengers is employed in these evildoers who together use wicked speech of vulgar, blasphemous, destructive communication. So this is how David sees these men. They're talking and howling like a pack of dogs, go around the city ready to devour and do harm to somebody who's innocent. Verse 7, behold, they belch forth with their mouth. Here's another parallelism. Behold, David's saying, Lord, look like snarling, howling pack of dogs. These men boast and proclaim Godless threats arising from their prideful hearts. Sores are on their lips, for they say, who hears? They fear nobody. They say, well, nobody knows this. Their words are destructive. They have no concern or any consequences. They're destructive and their presumptuous ignorance of God's omniscience is telling of their arrogant speech. They don't care if God hears. They don't think He does. Who hears? Who knows? These are deeds done in the dark, done in secret, wicked deeds. Verse 8. David says, but you, O Lord, laugh at them. You scoff at the nations. Instead of being filled with the fear of men, David looks at his enemies from God's vantage point, and it is ridiculous. It's vain, because God knows, and He will judge them all. Then he realizes that they are like chaff, that the wind drives away, like the psalmist wrote. And also Psalm 2-4, he who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Psalm 37-13, the Lord laughs at him for he sees his day coming. All the wicked are running in vain circles. Their self-destructive sinful ways will catch up with them in the end. Notice though, there's a little detail that we must not forget. Notice verse 9 says, Because of his strength, I will watch for you, for God is my stronghold. Now David begins to describe the Lord, not speak directly to him, but describe him. Verse 9. Notice David's vigil. I will watch for you, he says. Which later Habakkuk has also learned to watch. Although he was just perplexed as David was. He didn't know what was going on. It was just bewildering why things were happening. Habakkuk said in chapter 2 verse 1, I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart and I will keep watch to see what he will speak to me and how I may reply when I am reproved. Habakkuk said, you know what? I have no idea what's going on. I'm crying out to you, God. I'm going to wait for an answer. And then God finally speaks and Habakkuk said, OK. That's it. If everything's gone, everything's destroyed, yet will I rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk's perspective has completely changed. Circumstances haven't changed. Jerusalem was doomed. Enemies have come, ravaged the land. Habakkuk's perspective changed. Circumstances did not. David learned that lesson first. Habakkuk was inspired. Because David learned it. He learned and he knew how to hide under the mighty protection of the Lord his God. So Habakkuk did the same thing. He says, because of his strength, I will watch for you, for God is my stronghold. Now basically, this theme is repeated later on. But here, it's important how David now addresses God. Verse 10, it says, my God in his loving kindness will meet me. Notice, it's really a soliloquy. David is just reflecting and talking to himself now. Even what he says, I will watch for you, for God is my stronghold. He's not talking directly to God. He's talking to himself now. You see that's what's happening? So pursue God's path of justice and not man's way of justice, and convince yourself, and that's a great application from this path, as David did, to grow in confidence in the way God does things. His ways are higher than our ways. You don't like it because he seems too slow, inactive. Oh, believe me, he's working. He's working. You and I need to have this perspective of faith. My God in his loving kindness will meet me. David is assured that the Lord God will grant his request because God's name and His glory is at stake. His loving kindness is at stake. His chesed. God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes. David is assured that there will be victory over his enemies. Verse 11, Do not slay them or my people will forget. Now here is a very interesting thing. After David pronounces his assurance in the midst of his great plight, Then he tells God, God, by the way, don't destroy them all at once. That's what he says in verse 11. Do not slay them. Do not put them to death right away. What is surprising is that David doesn't ask for God for immediate one shot deal. But he asks God to gradually, gradually deal with his enemies injustice. So that God's people will see it, they will understand God's hand of justice, learn from God's ways, and learn to trust in God's ways. That's what David asks God to do. He says, don't slay them or the people will forget. They won't learn the lesson. of your justice he says scatter them by your power and bring them down oh lord our shield rather david asked god to take his time slowly judging them while he protects his people he says lord scatter the enemies so that the result will be more evident to the righteous wow god is at work Verse 12, "...On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be caught in their pride. Know that such boastful pride is an affront against God. Such boast and pride was on the lips of Goliath, and God judged him." God judged him through David's sling. That arrogant, boastful Philistine who defied the armies of the living God. Verse 12 says, The primary sin is the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips. Because these enemies of David were men of arrogance and boast. They believed in their dead, dumb idols. They believed in the power of their might and their armies. They threatened David and saying, we will crush you. We will do this to you. We will do that. And all their military bravado, David says, silence them, Lord. Let them even be caught in their pride. The Lord is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And on account of curses and lies which they utter, the wicked men are known for their sins of the tongue. Their curses and lies. Curses and lies. Destroy them in wrath. Destroy them that they may be no more. David's imprecatory request resonates with God's will for justice against the wicked. Now, sometimes this is hard for us because, you know, is God telling us to bring down curses and wrath and judgment against our enemies? Or is God telling us to understand that His justice and His wrath against His enemies are known? We're not David. We can identify with some with David. But David as a prophet now are taking the reader into a great cosmic battlefield, a spiritual battlefield where the great judge God will do business with his enemies. And David's enemies were God's enemies. Because David is the anointed and the kingdom of God is Israel at that time. And so anyone who attacks God's Kingdom, God's Anointed, Lord Jesus Christ and His Church, will have to experience great defeat. And how you and I find ourselves in our prayer before the Lord, is to join in with God, in His sense of justice. And we must want that justice. God's justice in the world. That men may know that God rules in Yaakov to the ends of the earth. And we can say that. We can say that men may know that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord and He is head of the church to the ends of the earth. That men may know that the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, has given us His only begotten Son, that through Him and only through him that they might be saved, and if they reject him that they would be forever accursed. Anathema. This final rest, Salah, calls for meditation. That ends our section and prepares for the beginning of the next major section. So now David reflects and he thinks about his complaint to God, seeks a greater perspective to pursue God's purposes of justice, Trust justice to God, not seek his own. And then, grow in confidence in God's justice and don't become discouraged by what you're seeing. Verses 14 to 15. Now notice verse 14 is basically a repeat of the theme that he introduced in the same imagery of the wording of the previous section beginning verse 6. The description of his enemy, pack of wild dogs. But David adds additional detail about these evil men. and the nature of evil. Verse 14, Now, obviously he said that before. That's a picture of restlessness, constantly on the prowl, looking for victims, looking for food, looking for anything. You know, if you get in the way of a hungry pack of dogs, you're in trouble, right? Always coming out at night after people have gone inside in their homes for the evening. They roam the streets looking for trouble. The wicked do not do their deeds during the broad daylight. They are looking for trouble. Verse 15, they wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied. And like hungry dogs, the wicked are hungry for flesh and blood. And yet they continue to destroy people. They are not satisfied. And there is the additional detail that was not given previously. They are not satisfied. Godless people will not stop at one or two acts of godlessness and evil, of destroying people. They will not. They will keep going and going and going. Because they are not satisfied. All who practice evil will never become satiated. Doing evil and things that God hates leaves a huge vacuum and they keep doing it over and over again. Those who practice evil are corrupted by their own very practice and ultimately destroyed by that which they practice. And that's the nature of evil. They are not satisfied. But the godly are satisfied because they are amply supplied by the hand of the Lord. They are protected by Him. They are supplied by Him. The godly are sanctified through righteousness, which they practice. They are satisfied in the Lord because the Lord provides everything. They don't need to seek the emptiness to fill their heart with vengeance. They don't have to do that. They can rest in the Lord. and they can be satisfied in Him. That's why worship is the key to our deep inner restlessness of soul. Worship is the key. If you know how to engage with God personally or corporately, you know how to thank the Lord in the midst of difficult circumstances, learn to praise Him even when you're sad. Worship is the key. And righteous will always find their answer in worship. The wicked, however, will keep going on like wild dogs at night, looking for something, never satisfy. Night after night, they come, never satisfy. They do one evil after another, never satisfy, and they will ultimately be destroyed. And that's why they will never find the God of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, one who is worthy of all worship. Well, in your complaint to God, seek a greater perspective. Pursue God's purpose of justice, not your own. Grow in confidence in God's ways and don't become discouraged. And finally, learn to celebrate and praise God in the midst of your pain. Verse 16 and 17. But as for me, notice the contrast here. Wicked men are out there. They're going to continue to do wicked, evil things. But ask for me. There's where you and I have a choice. David made his choice. He says, ask for me. I'm not going to go there. My circumstances haven't changed, but my perspective has changed, Lord. I see that the wicked are going around, continuing to do wicked. These men are men of blood. They've killed other men before, probably, mercilessly. They're out to get me. I'm no different than any of the victims that they've previously hunted down. You know who they are, you deal with them. But as for me, I'm not going to ever partake in any of that stuff. It's what David said. Now these verses again are return of the themes already sung in verses 9 to 10. Again the repetition of previous confidence in the Lord is there, but he adds a slight variation to highlight David's growing confidence in the Lord. As for me, My enemies are like dogs trying to devour, but as for me, he says, I choose to give thanks and praise to the Lord. They growl and howl and bark, and they're arrogant, boastful, blasphemous, snarling, but I will sing. They go out at night, they sleep all day and go out at night and do their evil deeds in the dark. I will rise up in the morning and I will praise you. That's the contrast. His enemies take their own strength into their own hands, but David says, I will sing of your strength. David's praise is filled with his trust in God's power. And that's how we're going to get our strength, brothers and sisters. If you keep looking to your own resources, what you could do, what other people around you could do, you will quickly become dismayed and discouraged. Let me tell you. People will fail you. Your skills will fail you. Everything about us will fail us. But if we know to whom we can go to praise, to worship, and we can ask for Him and His strength, and His strength is always available to us to protect us and to lift us up. Yes, He says, I shall joyfully sing of your loving kindness in the morning. Joyfully. not with dissatisfaction and anger and snarling, bloodthirstiness of evil, but joy. You think that men and women who plot evil, who gather together to slander, to gossip, to attack, to look for opportunities, do you think that they understand joy? There can be no joy. Joy is from within. It's the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's one of the fruits of the Spirit. I don't know any joy. There's no joyful singing. Are you kidding? And there's no experience of the Lord's chesed, loving kindness, fresh batch of grace every morning? You think they wake up every morning thanking God for His fresh batch of grace? Experiencing God's goodness day after day? That there's joyful melodies coming from their soul? I don't think so. People who practice wickedness do not understand worship, they do not understand joy. and they have not experienced the loving kindness of the Lord. That's the mark that God of righteousness has triumphed and has delivered his people. When we can sing joyful melodies in the midst of our pain and hostility, in the midst of our enemies, as David said, you set a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And that's a sign of tremendous blessing. It's also a sign of great spiritual maturity because faithful men and women can have this perspective. And notice David gives all the glory to God. Who's going to come and snatch you out of the stronghold of God? Nobody, you know what happened to David in his experience and first Samuel we studied it Saul send wave after wave after wave of troops armed men ready to kill because the armed men that he sent were deceived and so David escaped. But the armed men that he sent, three waves of them, God protected them and got them involved in prophecy rather than pursuing David's life. God protected. And then Saul finally came and God made a mockery of him. He had to disrobe and relinquish all of his regal authority. God said, no, you're not going to touch my anointed. David experienced that. He experienced the protection of God as a young man. That was his first hostile pursuit from a hostile enemy. That was a shock to David's system, but David experienced God's protection. So, indeed the Lord was his stronghold and his refuge in the day of his distress. And so when he thought about that, all other dangerous situations seemed to take its natural place. Well, God is the God of Israel. He is the Lord of the armies of the hosts. He is my God. He is my strength. He is my stronghold. Then what can my enemies do to me? Lord must scoff at these little, small, puny little creatures. I'm going to sing in the morning. I'm going to sleep well at night. I'm going to get up and I'm going to sing. My enemies, they can snarl all day, all night. But I'm going to rejoice. This is David's choice. And you and I have that same choice. Verse 17, Oh my strength, I will sing praises to you. Those who find refuge in the Lord's living presence, protective strength, will find many reasons to praise Him, to thank Him, to worship Him. For God is my stronghold, a God who shows me loving kindness. I mean, look at verses 16 and 17. Does that sound like the same tenor, the same emotional status of verses 1 and 2? Deliver me, save me. He says here, I will joyfully sing. I will sing praises to you. What happened? Perspective. And I say that to my kids all the time. Look kids, most of Christian life is perspective, right? And attitude. And then the rest of it is discipline. If you have an eternal perspective, you understand who God is and who you are in the Lord, then just about every problem will take its own place and will find and settle and it won't seem as grand. And only if I applied my own counsel from time to time, I would be a much joyful and peaceful individual. But I love God's joy and peace. I want to keep all of it and hold on dearly. And it is a great, great blessing from the Lord. Because our circumstances won't change. Your enemies ain't going to change. God's not going to miraculously do all those things overnight. And if you can pray like David did, Lord, don't destroy them, scatter them. Take this evil situation and bad situation and do something good from it that only you can. May people come to saving knowledge of Christ through it somehow. May people learn to fear you somehow. May people be brought into a deeper awareness of your intimate presence somehow. And I will rejoice in you. I will thank you. Wake up in the morning singing praises to you, Lord. No one can break your power and I am in your arms. And I'm safe there. And I thank you for your chesed, your loving kindness. I don't find my shelter in men, but I find it in your loving kindness. That must be our meditation. And if it isn't, then chances are we don't have a very good emotional status. Every day will be a rollercoaster ride. Here's the key. Personal worship. Thanksgiving. Awareness of the Lord's presence. Casting anxieties on Him. Trusting in Him. Growing faith in Him. Don't take matters into your own hands. Learn to trust in the Lord and His timing. Take a bigger picture, perspective. God is doing something cosmic. The world doesn't revolve around you or me. It revolves around Christ and His Kingdom work. See what's going on. Evil has always been there from the beginning of Garden of Eden, but it will come to an end when Jesus returns. That's what we need to be focusing on. And when that happens, then all of our desires will be accomplished. He will execute His justice perfectly. We can be sure of that. So, all of us will experience false accusations and wrongs done to us. If we live long enough, we'll experience more. We will feel the pain and agony of these moments, and it will bring deep anguish to our soul. Like David, we'll have to wait a long time before any of these injustices are rectified. And in David's lifetime, he experienced a lot of pain, but not a lot of resolutions. But he still trusts them to the Lord. He found peace. And this psalm is a testament to that peace that he's found. And so the lesson for the righteous is to trust the Lord, wait upon Him, learn to give God thanks and praise in the midst of suffering. David begins his psalm with lament, but ends with praise. He begins with a solemn gloom, but ends with joyful singing. And that's the way we can end every bad situation. We're comforted in the fact that the activity of the wicked will cause their own downfall. God has embedded into evil a dissatisfaction and corrupting and destructive influence. Don't worry about it. Evil men, if they don't repent and renounce the evil, they will be destroyed by that evil. Matthew 7.2, For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you. And those go around who want to destroy people, they will be destroyed. Galatians 6, 7 and 8, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. So we need to pity those people who continually practice destructive patterns of life. but avoid them and avoid following them because God will deal with them. But we are of sober mind because of what God says about those who desire harm against others, those who speak evil against their neighbors, for we are surrounded by people all the time like this. As we pray for them, we grow in our perspective and understanding of God's purposes in all this. Why does God place these people in my life, in my path? Well, here's the answer. Let's look together as we close Romans 5. Romans 5, verses 3 to 5. Apostle Paul basically has the same perspective that David had at the end of his ordeal with his plight. Paul experienced a lot of hardship, a lot of hostility from sinful men. Romans 5 verse 3 says, not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance proven character, and proven character hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. This is a fantastic passage because Paul says, there is reason to greatly rejoice, when things are bad. It says, knowing that these bad things or tribulations, difficulties, slips, brings about long suffering, macrothermia. It forces us not to give up, but keep going. And what happens when we keep going? Perseverance, proven character. This is like the sandpaper that just polishes the rough edges. And it's like that polishing cream, that wax that just brings out the luster. And then proven character, hope. After it is all polished and something from deep within is drawn, and that is hope. Hope, what is hope? And the biblical idea of hope is the assurance of the things that God has promised that comes to a very vivid focus. And it says, hope does not disappoint because of the love God has poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit. No wonder. This is the hope of a bride waiting for the wedding day because the Arabon, the engagement ring has been given. You know it's coming, but you have to wait. And you wait in hope. What is the hope? Because when things are really bad, the hope is eternal glory. When there's great pain and difficulty, the hope is eternal joy. And if the tribulation is injustice, whether to you individually or in our society, our family, church, whatever, then the hope is God's perfect justice. And that's when we focus on what God has in store. So, God allows evil to grow around us so that we would learn important lessons of life by it that we cannot learn in other ways. The principle of separation. How do we know that we are to separate from evil, bloodthirsty men? The importance of prayerful trust. How do we know to trust the Lord about these circumstances when we can just trust our own resources and our own strength? Giving thanks in difficult circumstances. How do we know to give thanks to God only when things go well? What about when things go not so well? They're all learned during difficult times and evil forces surround us. And there are more. So much that is worth learning in life happened through adversity, difficulty, pain, suffering, injustice. You know when it's easy, comfortable, and we don't learn a whole lot of important lessons. Paul seems to have figured this one out. God chooses, not all at once, not just overwhelmingly that we would be crushed under his weight, but in this perfect way that he sanctifies us by allowing evil, not taking us out of the world, but keeping us there so that we will learn some of life's most important lessons that God wants us to learn. And that is that we can ultimately grow deep in our relationship with God through adversity. And we grow in confidence in the Lord's planning. And our faith increases dramatically. I mean, you go out of that valley and you climb up to the heights, your faith is stronger than ever before. You want to keep perpetually immature? Then always ask for ease. But if you're willing to follow the Lord and trust in Him and long suffer through the valley, then He will take you up to the heights of greater faith, deeper devotion, and more mature disposition in the likeness of Christ. And what's better? The better thing is being more like Jesus right before we enter into eternity. And that's what the Lord is planning and purposing. His perfect way to maximally produce in us Christ's likeness before He takes us home. Believers are immortal until our work of sanctification in the world is done. So even when we're surrounded by hostile dogs out to rip you apart, trust in the Lord's protection. He will protect you and your soul. And sing of His greatness. Praise Him. Thank Him. Worship Him. That's the key to overcoming gloom and experiencing the joy of your salvation. That's it, not better circumstance, but a renewed perspective. May the Lord give you that every day as you arise. May his steadfast love never cease, continue to lift you up. Let's pray. Father, thank you for giving us a reminder of your goodness and your graciousness in midst of terrible circumstances and wicked people and difficult people. Lord, we know that we don't even have as nearly as many enemies that David had, and certainly not as many as Paul had, or our Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated all of our enemies so that we might be protected by his benevolence and his great love. And so we thank you as recipients of that great love. May we find the opportunities of rejoicing and growing in our faith and praising and giving thanks in midst of difficult circumstances as David did. Even while he was being chased by his own father-in-law, even while he was hiding himself from his own family, and you protected him, and you have not allowed his soul and his life to be in danger toward death, but you preserved him and you exalted him in due time to be the great king of Israel. And we see that you have done the same for our Lord Jesus Christ, the greater anointed one. And we thank you for your divine protection. And that even though he went to the cross, that the grave could not keep him. and that through his glorious resurrection, he has empowered and enabled every one of us who trust in him to trust you now. And so may we do that each and every day. And may the joy of Your salvation ever pump us to live day after day until Jesus Christ returns for us or until our days are over and we meet Him. Until that time, Lord, would You cause us to continue to grow in our faith and our joy in Your great salvation that You have won through Your Son. It's in His name we pray. Amen. Lord bless you and keep you.