Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you're called to bear? We'll count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly, and you'll be singing as the days go by. Has that been your experience? When you've faced great burdens and doubts, When you feel weighed down by the evils and realities of this fallen world, can you simply count your blessings and all of a sudden life as if you were a Disney princess walking through the woods with animals singing and all the branches as you go along? That's certainly good for us to remember the blessings that God has given to us. But I don't think that the answer that scripture would give to us is anytime we are facing burdens and fears and doubts, we simply need to count our blessings. Think for a moment about Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, as he looks at the destruction of Jerusalem and God's people being scattered from the land, and he cries out. Can you imagine coming up to Jeremiah and saying, well, just count your blessings? Or you come to Job after he has lost everything, And he hears the news that all of his sons have been killed. And you say, all right, Job, just name them one by one. See, it doesn't work that way. And that's because in our current church, we tend to really struggle with lament. We're not comfortable with deep sorrow and mourning. I asked Ben if we could sing songs that reflect lament this morning, and as I tried to find some hymns that would reflect that, the reality is there aren't very many. We've been trying to actually to sing some psalms in the midst of our series, looking at the symphony of worship and different ways in which we approach God and worship the experience that we have. And one of the songs that comes from a psalm, we actually sang last week, as the deer pants for water. What's interesting is that's actually taken from really its context there in Psalm 42. In the song, it's basically, I just love the Lord and he's my joy and my delight. But in Psalm 42, this is what the psalmist actually says. As the deer pants for the water book, so my soul pants for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food, day and night, while they say to me all day long, where is your God? Oh God, my soul is in despair within me. I'm not saying that we shouldn't sing As the Dear Appearance of Father of the Water. I think it's a great song. But it's interesting to me that we tend not to want to actually think about the context in which we find that phrase. And yet many people find themselves feeling, as the psalmists often do, alone in deep sorrow and despair, hurt and angry. Maybe you're in that situation today. Perhaps you're grieving the loss of a loved one or dealing with a broken relationship. Maybe you're feeling the sorrow of knowing that someone you love is lost because he or she is not trusting in Christ. You're struggling, perhaps hidden struggles with a miscarriage that no one else knows about, or feeling the weight of ongoing barrenness and infertility. Maybe you're dealing with great and ongoing physical pain, or perhaps you are just overwhelmed by the guilt of your sin before God, and you're wondering, how should you deal with the doubt and the pain and the affliction that you feel? And the answer is, there's a better way to respond to the deep hurts and injustices that we face in this world. And the Psalms actually provide us, in many ways, a model for how we are to deal with those situations. In what are often called lament Psalms, Lament psalms are actually the most common type of song that you find. Over a third of the psalms are classified as lament psalms. They're really focused on the mood of the psalmist. There's a mood of grief. There's a mood of mourning. Sometimes there's even a complaint that is brought before God. And occasionally, We know exactly the situation, but most often we don't really know exactly what's going on. There's general references to the circumstances that the psalmist is facing in his life. And sometimes they're written from an individual perspective. That's the most common that the psalmist is talking about his personal anguish. Sometimes it's coming from the nation as a whole, the nation of Israel bringing their lament before God. And the lament psalms as well include what sometimes are called the penitential psalms. Psalm 51 is probably the most well-known. Psalm of which David is coming and bringing his sin and confessing his sin before God in sorrow and true repentance. And as well, they deal with imprecatory psalms. The psalm I want to look at this morning is a psalm of lament that also includes perhaps the most extended section of an imprecatory prayer that we find in the Psalms, and that's Psalm 69. If you would open up in your Bibles to Psalm 69. And in Psalm 69 and other lament psalms, we are reminded that even godly people can mourn and grieve and yet humbly and trustingly bring their complaint to God, not complain to God, but bring their complaint to God in prayer. I want to begin in Psalm 69. by just reading through it so we can get a sense of the whole. And then going back and starting to notice exactly how the psalmist feels. Psalm 69. Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold. I've come into the deep waters and a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying. My throat is parched. My eyes fail while I wait for God. Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies. What I did not steal, I then have to restore. O God, it is you who knows my falling, and my wrongs are not hidden from you. May those who wait for you not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts. May those who seek you not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel. Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Dishonor has covered my face. I've become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's sons. Frazile for your house has consumed me. And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept in my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me, and I'm the song of the drunkards. But as for me, My prayer is to you, O Lord, at an acceptable time. O God, in the greatness of your lovingkindness, answer me with your saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink. May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, O Lord, for your lovingkindness is good. According to the greatness of your compassion, turn to me, and do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly. Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies. You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. All my adversaries are before you. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick, and I looked for sympathy, but there was none. and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. May their table before them become a snare, and when they are in peace, may it become a trap. May their eyes grow dim so they cannot see, and make their loins shake continually. Pour out your indignation on them, and may your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be desolate, may none dwell in their tents. For they have persecuted him whom you yourself have smitten, and they tell of the pain of those whom you have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and may they not come into your righteousness. May they be blotted out of the book of life. May they not be recorded with the righteous. But I am afflicted and in pain. May your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. I will praise the name of God with song and magnify him with thanksgiving, and it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad. You who seek God, let your heart revive, for the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his who are prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them, for God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell in it. Let's go back again and see the experience that the psalmist has, the feelings that he expresses here in the psalmist. At the very beginning, he talks about waters threatening his life. In verse two, there are deep waters. And he has this experience as if he is sinking in deep mire. It's as if his foot is stuck in the mud and the water is rising and he cannot get out and a flood overflows him. And it says there is no foothold. I can't move. I can't find my footing. There's nothing I can do. And so there's a kind of despair that he feels. Verse three. I am weary with my crying and my throat is parched. I've cried so much, I can't even cry anymore. I've cried out for help so often, my voice is gone. And my eyes fail while I wait for God. My strength is failing, I'm looking, I'm waiting, I'm expecting God to come and to act, and yet it seems as if he's not happening. and I feel as if I am about to give up. And he talks several times about reproach that he faces. Verse seven, I have borne reproach. Verse nine, those who reproach you, the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Verse 10, it became my reproach. And verse 20, reproach has broken my heart. And there's shame and dishonor that he has experienced. Verse 19, my shame and my dishonor. Verse seven, dishonor has covered my face. And he feels mocked. Verse 11, he is a byword to them. And verse 12, those who sit in the gate, influential, powerful people, the people making decisions for the city, that's where they would come, they would come to the gate, that's where business was done. And so these powerful, influential people are gossiping and talking evil against him. And as well, he's become a mockery among drunkards. He's a song of drunkards. And in the midst of all this, he feels completely alone. Verse eight, I had become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's sons, the very people that should stand with me, those who most should be my companions and my friends had disowned me. And in verse 20, I looked for sympathy. I wanted someone to say that they understood what I was going through and would feel for me, and yet there was none. And for comforters, someone to help me, someone to be a friend to me, and there was none. He's in a very difficult situation. Why is he here? We don't know exactly, what has brought this about, but there are some hints in the passage that help us to get some sense of what's going on. Verse four, those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They hate him, but there's no reason that they should hate him. It's undeserved hatred, undeserved scorn and mockery. And yet there are many of them. There are more than the hairs of my head and they are powerful. They are mighty. I can't fight back against my enemies. And yet they are wrongfully my enemies in verse four. And wrongfully there is in some ways falsely. That it could simply be that they shouldn't be his enemies, but I think there's actually probably an indication that they are even willing to distort the truth. They're willing to twist the truth in order to wrongfully accuse the psalmist. And what I did not steal, I then have to restore. Now, it could be literally he's being accused of stealing something. But I think probably more likely that's just a general phrase of saying, I'm being treated as if I'm guilty of a crime I didn't commit. And they're acting as though I am in the wrong. And yet, verse five, what does the psalmist do? The psalmist says, Lord, you know I'm not completely innocent. Oh God, it is you who knows my folly. And just so you know, in biblical terms, folly isn't like a little mistake. It's foolishness, as opposed to the wisdom that God has given to us. And so it is a rejection of God's ways in some ways. And my wrongs, my transgressions are not hidden from you. Solomon says, Lord, you know I'm sinful, but I'm not wrong in this situation. When they're hating me, it is without a cause. They are wrongfully my enemies. Yes, I'm not saying I'm innocent, but I am relatively innocent. That there is a reality that people in this world can suffer innocently. That when there is a dispute between two parties, is either party without sin, the answer is, well, in one sense, no. Everyone's a sinner. But in this dispute, this person's innocent. This person is not at fault. So the psalmist isn't hiding the fact that he's a sinner. He's just simply saying, but my sin is not the cause of my suffering here. And therefore it is unjust suffering. And he's concerned in verse six. for others who are seeking to follow the Lord that perhaps in some way his shame and dishonor might fall on them. May those who wait for you not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts. May those who seek you not be dishonored through me. It might be his concern is that he would not act in some way that would bring dishonor upon others who follow the Lord. I think since this is described as a Psalm of David, It might be that he's pointing out as the king, many ways he's a representative of God's people. And so he understands that his actions have bearing on the greater community. And he's not just concerned about himself, he's concerned about God's people. And in verse seven, And in verse nine he points out that really this situation is because of my desire to honor and to serve God. It's for your sake I have borne reproach in your stead. Similar to the idea of the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Really when they're reproaching me it's because they're reproaching you God. They're upset with you and I'm standing in the gap. I'm the one who's receiving the reproaches that are actually being aimed at you. Why? Verse nine, for zeal for your house has consumed me. In some ways, this is related to God and his worship in the temple. The psalmist, perhaps, is calling for a reform in worship and saying that we have neglected the way that God has told us to worship. or worship has been corrupted, or maybe it's just not even being done. And he's crying out and saying, we need to worship God the way that he has called us to worship him. And yet that zeal, that passion, that fire to see God honored in the way that God deserves to be honored has created backlash, has caused others to attack him and to reproach him and to shame and dishonor him. And in verse 10, he talks about weeping and fasting and wearing sackcloth in verse 11. And I think here, it's probably not that he is, just so you know, these are signs of repentance and remorse and grief. And they can be worn as a demonstration of your own repentance over your own sin, but also can be worn in the sense of saying, we as a nation, we as God's people, are not doing what God has called us to do. And I think that's probably what the psalmist has done here. He is saying we need to repent. We're not worshiping God the way that he has called us to worship him. Yet his enemies latch onto that and instead mock him and accuse him and perhaps even say, well, apparently you're the one who's at fault. And I can't help but think throughout this psalm of the situation of Job being a good way for us to picture what's going on here. That his friends come to him and say, well, obviously God's mad at you because you have sinned. And they're constantly accusing him of doing something that is wrong. And the psalmist here says, that's what my enemies have done as well as I have tried to humble myself before the Lord. They have latched on to this and instead have used it to try to shame and dishonor me. And we don't live in a time in which we are focused on the worship of God in the temple. And I think there probably are some ways in which we can think about how we might face opposition because of our zeal for God and his truth. It might simply be the kind of mockery of drunkard songs that is described here, perhaps because you take a stand with God's word about creation and biblical creation. Perhaps in our day, increasingly, those who are trying to call us to be faithful to what God has truly called us to do in worship are mocked because we don't put enough politics into our church. On both sides, that we aren't as concerned about the political issues of our day, instead of saying, well, God's called us to focus on what he wants us to do as his church. And so we're mocked and scorned for those things. If I can even say just as simple as, I remember a few weeks back when thankfully the Dobbs decision came out and Roe v. Wade was overturned, I hope as a believer there was something in you that rejoiced at that reality. But there were people out there who said, so if you go to a church and they don't make this the center of their worship, then you need to go to a different church the following Sunday. You see, that's not really what we're about. We're not called to speak to all the political issues of our day, we're called to faithfully come and look at what God has called us to do, his eternal truth. That has to be our focus. But in our day, I think probably a big one is just if we take a stand on biblical sexuality. Might be as simple as saying sex should only be reserved to occur within marriage, between one man and one woman. That even making that kind of a claim will cause many to call you a prude, an old-fashioned and judgmental. I remember just a few years ago, there was a commentator who prides himself on being a Christian and taking a stand for character and yet was constantly celebrating and affirming a well-known TV show that was known for glorifying sex and nudity. And when anyone called him out on it, the response was to mock anyone to say, well, how could you have a problem with that in this show? Because to take a stand on an issue like that opens you up to accusations of being narrow-minded. And certainly, as we consider the broader LGBTQ plus issues in our day, that anyone who seeks to say that God does not approve of same-sex relationships, or that God calls you to recognize he has given you a body and that body determines whether you are male or female, that we're immediately labeled as bigoted and narrow and close-minded, and we are mocked, often even by people who profess to be believers. And some might even take your attempt to demonstrate love and mercy to someone else by warning them about what they're doing and letting them know that you can't affirm them and what they're doing, and instead turn that back to you as if it's hatred. and often even family members will disown us if we take a stand for situations like this. And so what can we do when we are facing persecution, when we are dealing with unjust suffering? I think there are three ways that the psalmist responds. The first is that the psalmist responds with earnest pleas for help. It's how he begins the very psalm. What's his first word? Save me, O God. Deliver me. This is something you find over and over again in lament psalms. And it's interesting, in verse 14, he's specifically saying, deliver me from the situation I'm in. Deliver me from the mire that I feel like I'm in. Do not let me sink. Deliver me from my enemies, my adversaries who hate me without a cause, and from the deep waters that I feel I'm in. May the flood of water not overflow me. I feel as if I'm about to have the flood overflow me. Lord, don't allow that to happen, nor the deep to swallow me up. Or he adds an additional description, nor the pit to shut its mouth on me. And I think that's probably a reference to the pit of the grave. to close and not reopen. And so he says, Lord, deliver me. Lord, show that you care about me. Turn to me. Verse 16, according to the greatness of your loving compassion, turn to me. Verse 17, do not hide your face from your servant. That language is saying if God's face is to you, that's because he's showing you his favor and he is acting on your behalf. And as his face is turned from you, then he is showing you his disfavor and you are facing his wrath. And the psalmist is saying, Lord, let me see your face. Help me. Because verse six, I am seeking for God. I am waiting for him. I am coming to him with a prayer at an acceptable time, verse 13. An acceptable time, I think, is saying there is a proper time to do certain things. Bible tells us that. And the time to pray to God is when we're in trouble. It's not the only time to pray to God. That's an acceptable time. When you find yourself in this situation, it's the right time to go to God in prayer. And what you want is you want God to answer. Verse 13, answer me with your saving truth. Verse 16, answer me, oh Lord. Verse 17, answer me quickly. Lord, I need your help. And I'm coming to you, God, and I'm asking you for these things because of who you are. Verse 13, in the greatness of your loving kindness and your saving truth, God's loyal love, his faithful love is great. His salvation is faithful and true. Verse 16, he has great compassion and mercy. He cares. and he knows. Verse five, Lord, you know my folly, but also, in verse 19, Lord, you know my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor, and all my adversaries are before you, but I'm not informing you of my situation. I know you know, and I know you care. Because I know that you know and you care, I'm coming to you. And asking, Lord, save me. The psalmist's prayer is not only one for deliverance. It is also one that cries out for justice. That's found beginning in verse 22. And in verse 22, we find that section of the psalm that I mentioned was an imprecatory psalm. And really that word is a word that's saying a prayer for cursing. It's asking that God would bring about the curses that he describes in the Mosaic law. Cursed are people who disregard God and his law, and the psalmist is saying, Lord, bring about these curses. And really, the curses in many ways are fitting for the crime. That if you look at verse 21, Islamists have said, they gave me gall for my food and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. And so, may their table before them become a snare. and make their eyes grow dim so they cannot see. Make their loins shake continually. Cause them to lack understanding. Cause them to lack strength. May their, pour out your indignation and may your burning anger overtake them. Don't let them escape it. As the fire is coming down, they cannot outrun it. It will overtake them. May their camp be desolate. And even as though I had none to comfort me, may they experience that as well. May none dwell in their tents. for they have persecuted him whom you yourself have smitten. And they tell of the pain of those whom you have wounded. Now that could be some indication that perhaps the psalmist is experiencing some punishment for his sin, but I think it's more likely the reality that often God brings trials and afflictions into our lives, not because of our sin, but because of our need to continue to grow in holiness. So because of our sin broadly, not because of specific sins that we're dealing with. And so again, think of a Job. That he was someone who was afflicted by God. He was someone who was being smitten by God and wounded by God. And what did his friends do? Well, they came and they persecuted him. They came and added pain to what God had already done. Or consider the description of Isaiah 53 of the suffering servant. They considered him smitten of God and afflicted. But he wasn't wounded for his sin, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And so in verse 27, the psalmist says, add iniquity to their iniquity. And I think probably the sense of that is, let them continue in their sin and continue to store up wrath. Turn them over to your wrath, Lord. May they not come into your righteousness because they are not righteous. So don't count them with those who are righteous. May they be blotted out of the book of life. I think this is a book referring to those who are currently living. It's not the book of life we find in the New Testament of those who have eternal life. This is the book of the currently living. He's saying, end their life here. May they not be recorded with the righteous. Now if we struggle with lament, we really struggle with imprecatory psalms. So much so that some actually believe that when the psalmist here makes this prayer, he's actually demonstrating his own sinful humanity. C.S. Lewis in talking about psalms like this says, we must not either try to explain them away or to yield for one moment to the idea that because it comes in the Bible, all this vindictive hatred must somehow be good and pious. We must face both facts squarely. The hatred is there, festering, gloating, and undisguised. And also, we should be wicked if we in any way condoned or approved it. I bring that up both to demonstrate that there are people who believe that and to remind us that C.S. Lewis was really wrong many times. Because there are situations in scripture in which you have the recording of someone saying something that was wrong. I've mentioned Job several times. His friends were not right in what they said. But his friends weren't the ones writing the scripture. This is not the recording of what someone else has said. This is the recording of David. With God's spirit in his mouth. And so what David writes here is not sinful. and is not wicked. And so what should we think about what David writes here and the other Psalms in which we have these calls for cursing? Well, first, we need to remember that the situation they're facing is one of deep injustice. This isn't the kind of prayer you give after someone cut you off in traffic or they burned your chicken. This is the prayer that comes from David after Absalom comes and rips away Jerusalem and pulls the people of God away from their true King. It's the kind of prayer that Jeremiah would pray after the destruction of Jerusalem and seeing women and children slaughtered. These are the kinds of things that would happen after a flagrant betrayal of a spouse, or a murder of a loved one, or sexual or physical abuse. These are great injustices that bring up this kind of response. And secondly, these are not driven by personal vendettas. Since this is a Psalm of David, let's think for a little bit about how did David respond when someone wronged him? I mentioned Absalom. When Absalom dies, what does David do? He doesn't throw a party, he doesn't rejoice, he doesn't gloat. He weeps and wails and says, oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would I had died instead of you? Oh Absalom, my son, my son. Or think of Saul and all the ways in which Saul wronged David and the opportunity that David had to take vengeance in his own hands and he refused to do so. And when Saul died, how did David respond? Oh, daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. Or think, as David is fleeing from Jerusalem when Absalom comes in, and Shimei comes and curses David, and David's men want to go and kill him, and David stops them. David was not someone who was driven by personal vendettas. These cries for justice come because these wrongs are not just done against me. These are wrongs done against God and his people. And that's why the psalmist brings these prayers to God. And that's a third thing we need to keep in mind. This isn't a psalmist saying, I'm going to do this. This is a psalmist coming and saying, God, you're the just judge. And so you deal with this situation. you bring about justice. Now even with that in mind, others would say, the psalmist was perfectly right to feel this way in the Old Testament. But we're not in the Old Testament anymore. We're in the New Testament. And therefore, we shouldn't have feelings like this anymore. And so I want it to think for a little bit then, is this not worthy of a New Testament believer? Well, consider what Paul says in Galatians 1, verse 8. As we've said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have deceived, he is to be accursed. And what is an imprecatory song? A prayer for cursing. 1 Corinthians 5. Verse four, in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled and I with you in spirit with the power of our Lord, I have decided to deliver such a one. Who is this one? This person who is sleeping with his father's wife, flagrantly and blatantly living in sin and bringing reproach upon God's church. I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. Now, does that sound better than what the psalmist said in the psalm here? It's a pretty strong call. And yet, it was a right call. For Paul, in 2 Timothy 4.14, Now, that may be not quite as detailed, but it's basically the same thing the psalmists are doing. Repay them for their deeds because of the injustice that they have brought. Or consider in Revelation six, verse nine, when the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God. because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? We're at the end of Revelation 22. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone asks them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. And I think there's maybe even a simpler answer in some ways as to whether or not it would ever be right for us as New Testament believers to look to these psalms to guide us. Because this psalm is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament. And interestingly enough, The part that are quoted are not the part at the very end. The part at the end that's like, oh, this is great. Praise and thanksgiving to God. It's the rest of the psalm. And in fact, twice in the part of the imprecatory prayers is the psalm quoted in the New Testament. One is in Romans 11. Paul, as he's talking about what's happening to Israel in verse nine, he says, what then? What Israel is seeking, it is not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not, ears to hear not, down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever. And so what does he say? What God said in this book is being applied to the nation of Israel right now. Which shows us at least two things. One, Paul doesn't seem to have a problem with applying what the psalmist says to people in his day. But also, that I don't know that these things are irreversible. because he's talking about Israel at the very end of the chapter, he's going to say, but it's not a hardening that's forever. They're going to turn and they're going to repent. And I think what you see in the impregnatory Psalms is what you see often in the calls of judgment, that there's almost always an implied condition. These things will all happen to you unless you repent. We see that, for example, in Jonah's call to Nineveh. He doesn't go to Nineveh and say, repent, Nineveh. What does he go and say? In 40 days, there's gonna be a judgment. And then they repent, and there's no judgment. Because inevitably, if you turn from your sin, this will not be your fate. The other time this psalm is quoted is by Peter in Acts 1, talking about Judas. As they're saying, we need to get someone else to take his place. Because it is written in the book of Psalms, let his homestead be made desolate and let no one dwell in it. The quote there from verse 25. And so here, I think again, we see Peter has no problem citing this Psalm, but it is also a reminder that yes, God is merciful. And if you repent, there is forgiveness. But if you don't, there is judgment. It is not an indefinite and universal offer of mercy that like Judas, those who oppose God and his people will one day face judgment. And yet, why do we feel attention as we come to these imprecatory Psalms? I think there probably are at least two good reasons why we feel attention. But then there's probably some bad reasons as well. And one of the reasons is we tend to underplay and ignore the reality of God's judgment. That we don't want to talk about the fact that God is a just judge and therefore he will judge evil. And so we only want to talk about his love and his mercy. But that's not all there is. Yes, there are Psalms that emphasize he's compassionate, he's merciful. Even this Psalm points it out. But he's also a God who brings about wrath and his wrath will overtake those who do not repent. They will not be able to escape. Another reason we have attention is that we often have a skewed perspective of what it means to actually love others. That we think that to love people is just to tell them they're okay. Instead of recognizing often to love someone is to warn them. That sin is destructive. And if you do not repent, this will be your fate. And we also tend to have a tension with these things, I think in part because we don't have the same type of zeal for God that the psalmist had. that when you truly love God and his word, and you are passionate about it, and you have a zeal and a fire, that when you see God denigrated, when you see his word ignored, there is a righteous indignation, there is a righteous anger that comes up. But for far too many of us, we don't really care that much. And so we don't have righteous indignation when we see God being ignored and God being mocked and God being blasphemed. And so when someone else has that type of righteous indignation, we think they're going overboard. Instead of wondering why we don't share it. But I do think there are a couple of good reasons why we do feel tension here. One is, there is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And in particular, when the Psalms are being written, they are being written during the time when the Mosaic Covenant is in place. And in the Mosaic Covenant, you have those things I mentioned of, if you do this, you are blessed, and if you do this, you are cursed. And we don't have that explicit statements for us in our day. And we don't have as clearly the sense of, these are the enemies of God's people, because we aren't a nation in that sense. And so it's sometimes murkier as far as who is actually an enemy of God. But perhaps the reason we do face an even greater tension is because we see the example of Christ. You may have recognized some of the phrases in this psalm as being applied to the life of Christ. In John chapter two, When Jesus comes and sees that the temple people are exploiting the poor and they're using it for their own benefit to try to make money, he comes and he drives them out with a whip. And as his disciples look at this, in John 2 verse 17, his disciples remember that was written, zeal for your house will consume me. That as Jesus looked around, at people who were not worshiping God the way that God had called them to worship, it drove him to such a level of righteous indignation that he had to overthrow their tables. He had to drive them out and whip them out of the temple. And yet, he was not sinful in doing this. He himself was hated without a cause, John 15. If I had done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sinned. But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause." Yes, there are people who are relatively innocent. There was only one person who was fully innocent, and he was hated, not because of anything he had done. And he bore reproaches, Romans 15.3, for even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. Because Christ was so concerned about doing the Father's will, he bore the reproach of those who hated the Father. And he bore that reproach to the point in which they crucified him on the cross, and as he's on the cross, When you should have people seeking to comfort him, seeking to show sympathy and compassion, what happens instead? For someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave him a drink saying, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. And that sour wine is the very thing described in verse 21 of Psalm 69, vinegar. Which I think helps us to see that when that person's doing that, it's not an act of kindness on their part. It is adding pain and affliction to what Christ was suffering on the cross. And yet, what did he do as he suffered on the cross? He said, Father, forgive them. And we see Stephen following that example. Don't lay this sin to their charge. And so yes, there is a tension that we feel. And so how do we reconcile this tension? If I can say it this way, Can you pray the imprecatory Psalms? And as I've wrestled with this, I think the answer is a cautious yes. Because in a sense, when we pray, Lord Jesus come, when we pray your kingdom come, this is included in that. Because when Jesus establishes his kingdom, he will do so by conquering evil. The battle of Armageddon, in which the blood goes up to the horse's bridle, is what comes before the kingdom is established. And so when we say, Lord, come, it is, yes, Lord, come for me, but inevitably it also is, Lord, come and judge those who are in rebellion against you. And I think just as praise and thanksgiving and sorrow and grief are all righteous ways in which we express our response to the realities of this world, that righteous anger is also one of the ways in which we are called to respond to the true evils and injustices of this world. And that if we do not respond with anger, we in a sense are not reflecting the God who made us. And yet, we have to balance both mercy and wrath. And we have to remember, it's very difficult for us to be angry and not sin. And so if nothing else, if I can just say it this way, that if we are praying and saying, Lord, I am putting this in your hand, would you bring this person to justice? Would you bring these people to justice? That if instead of them facing the eternity of God's wrath, they repent and they come back to God, that we would rejoice. And if we cannot rejoice in that situation, I do not think we can legitimately pray for God to bring about justice. That we instead are hating our enemies rather than loving our enemies. That we, instead of Stephen who says, don't lay this sin to their charge, and that actually includes a Paul. Yes, others I think did face that sin, but Paul didn't. And if Stephen could have been there to see Paul turn, I think he would have said, oh Lord, thank you. That he would have rejoiced. As God says, there is rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents. that we're not like the Pharisees, who's upset when someone comes to faith in Christ, but no matter who it is, no matter what we have done, we are able to rejoice and to be thankful that God does bring about justice, whether that person faces it themselves or whether their sin is placed on the person of Jesus Christ. And quickly, the Psalm concludes with a third response. We've seen an earnest plea for help. We've seen righteous zeal for justice. And finally, we see a thankful confidence in God's protection and deliverance. I am afflicted and in pain. May your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. And I think it's continuing the imagery. I'm in the flood. Take me out of the flood and put me on a place where there is a foothold, where I am secure, where I am made safe. And I will praise the name of God with song and magnify him with thanksgiving. and it will please the Lord, better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs. Because God is concerned about the worship that we demonstrate outwardly, but he's always primarily and first concerned about the realities of our heart, of praise and thanksgiving. And when this happens, others are encouraged, the humbles have seen it and are glad. You who seek God, let your heart revive. If you're in the situation I'm in, and you feel as if your heart is broken, let it revive as you look to God. Because the Lord hears the needy and he does not despise his who are prisoners. And I love the way that the psalmist put these things because it's not as if he's almost despising them. That's actually kind of an understatement of saying in no way does he despise them. He doesn't despise them. He cares for them and he gloriously delivers them. And so he is a God who deserves praise from all things throughout creation, heaven and earth, the seas and everything that moves in them, because his purposes will stand. God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. The descendants of his servants will inherit it. And those who love his name would dwell in it because God has promised that will happen. And he will deliver on all of his promises. So what should we do as we face situations in which we are experiencing incredible sorrow, incredible heartache, righteous indignation? And we need to remember God will bring final justice. And for some, that is a warning to you. You will not be able to outrun the wrath of God. God will capture you in his trap and in his snare. And so you need now to repent. You need to recognize God sent his son to suffer that wrath in your place. And so trust in him, but it is a comfort to us because we do not need to take out our own ends and purposes. We don't need to seek our own personal revenge. We can instead come to a God who will carry out justice, a God who knows us and knows our adversaries. And so I would encourage you to pray the lament songs. Martin Luther said this, what is the greatest thing in the Psalter? but this earnest speaking amid the storm winds of every kind. Where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the Psalms of lamentation? There again, you look into the hearts of the saints as into death, yes, as into hell itself. When they speak of fear and hope, they use such words that no painter could so depict for your fear or hope. And no Cicero or other orator has so portrayed them that they speak these words to God and with God. This, I repeat, is the best thing of all. This gives the words double earnestness in life. That when you have suffered real injustice, when you are facing persecution for the cause of Christ, come to God. Bring your earnest pleas for deliverance to him. Share your desire for justice and call on God to act to bring about justice. And come with confident trust that God is a God who delivers and who helps. That as we look around in our world, in our fallen world, we always have to remember truth will triumph. God will reign. And God hears the cries of the needy.