The Imprecatory Psalms

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Well our text this morning is Psalm chapter thirty-five. So turn with me if you will in your copy of God's word to Psalm thirty-five. And the title of our message this morning is The Imprecatory Psalms. The Imprecatory Psalms. Let's read our passage this morning. Psalm 35, beginning in verse 1, says this. Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help. Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life. Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me. Let them be like the chaff before the wind with the angel of the Lord driving them away. Let their way be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. For without cause they hid their net for me. Without cause they dug a pit for my life. Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it. And let the net that he hid ensnare him. Let him fall into it, to his destruction. Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exalting in his salvation. All my bones shall say, O Lord, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong from him, the poor and needy from him who robs him. Malicious witnesses rise up, they ask of me things that I do not know. They repay me evil for good, my soul is bereft. But I, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth, I afflicted myself with fasting, I prayed with head bowed on my chest, I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother, as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered. They gathered together against me, wretches whom I do not know, tore at me without ceasing. Like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth. How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions. I will thank you in the great congregation, in the mighty throng, I will praise you. Let not those who rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those who wink the eye who hate me without cause. For they did not speak peace. But against those who are quiet in the land, they devise words of deceit. They open wide their mouths against me. They say, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it. You have seen, O Lord, be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me. Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God, and my Lord. Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, aha, our hearts desire. Let them not say, We have swallowed him up. Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and honor and dishonor and magnify themselves against me. Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, Great is the Lord who delights in the welfare of his servant. Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long. Let's pray. Father, we ask that your word would be in our hearts this morning. This is your word for your people. We pray that it would convict, encourage, admonish, and exhort our hearts this morning as that is exalted. And in all of this, may the person of Jesus Christ be praised and exalted. And we thank you and praise you for these things we ask. In Christ's name. Amen. Well, for many of my elementary schooling years, I attended a Christian school in Holton, Maine. It was an old four-story brick building on a school street located near downtown Holton. And we would leave our house early in the morning and drive the 40 or so minutes to school. And in one particular time, we arrived to see a man standing across the school street facing the school building. And as faculty and students arrived for that day in particular, and as parents and families dropped children off, we all noticed this man simply standing on the sidewalk opposite the entrance of the school. Now it didn't take long to realize what was happening. Upon closer examination, we learned why he was standing there. He was not there to drop anyone off. He was not a neighbor across the street. He was not a relative of anyone involved with the school. He was there to offer insult to God and Christians. And he stood there with large white signs that contained words and phrases one ought not to utter about God nor his followers. And having nothing better to do and having an unregenerate, evil heart, he decided to curse God and those who followed him. Well, in our study in the Psalms, it's inevitable, we approach the Psalms known as imprecatories. An imprecatory psalm is a psalm of intense outcome upon God's enemies. Imagery like Psalm 37. Arise, O God, strike my enemies on their cheek. Break the teeth of the wicked. Or in Psalm 109, it said of the wicked, May his days be few, may another take his office, may his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. This type of language is throughout the Psalms, and it's found in the Psalms we know as the imprecatory psalms. They are imprecations, they are psalms of vindication. And it must be understood how the Christian interacts with such psalms. Well, what are they? Well, like any great food, there are ingredients. And it's interesting that each of these ingredients in a certain dish that we may like, these certain ingredients do not necessarily stand out in and of themselves. Meaning, if you were to take a bite of a dish, you maybe, or most likely not, could list every single ingredient in that dish. You might be able to pick out a few of the heavy hitters, if you will, but chances are you might not be able to say all of them. But if an ingredient was left out, it would affect the entire outcome of the dish. And you would at least know that. A subtlety then is required. So then, Christian, in handling the imprecatory psalms, it's like this. If you leave one ingredient out, it stands out too much. But if you leave it in where it should be, it helps the entire thing be understood. The entire outcome is affected and guided. Understanding the Psalms of imprecations are as such. Well, what are they? Imprecations are calls to victory through the enemy's defeat. Notice our psalmist says that even here. The part of our liturgy as God's people is a song of victory. It's a victory song. You remember in uh weeks prior to this, we looked at psalms of ascent. And what we meant by that is the nation of Israel, when they went to Jerusalem, they would sing Psalms of ascent as they ascended to God to worship. And that was a song of victory. We're coming to worship because God listens to us and he is holy, and we are his people. That's a victory song. Well, the imprecations, the imprecatory psalms are much the same. We sang today, victory in Jesus. Why do we sing those words? Because God wins, and in him we win. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, thanks be to God who gives us the victory? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. John 16, in a world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. What's Jesus mean there? He's already defeated, he's already overcome. Therefore, within our liturgy of God's people, we sing psalms and songs of victory. We have a victory song because we have a victorious God. And this victorious God sits in the heavens and laughs at the raging nations. Psalm 2. And this psalm before us and other impregatory psalms are honest calls for God to act justly to the wicked. God, act justly to the wicked because you are victorious, God. This is the DNA of an imprecatory psalm. Because the wicked is alive and well, if you will. Verse 19 of our psalm. Let them not rejoice over me. Why they want to rejoice over the writer of the psalmist? Verse 25, let them now say we have, let them not say we have swallowed him up. Verse 27, let them be put to shame and dishonor those who act against you, O God. What's the psalmist saying here? God, be victorious over those who do not follow you. Let the raging sinner lose. Let God win. Lately, when I'm in my garage, I've been putting on this FIFA World Cup. It's the one time in four years I'm a fan of soccer. I call it soccer. Because I think it matters. It's fun to watch. Country versus country. It's really neat. The entire game, the fans of each country are cheering and yelling. It's very neat to see. Country pride in the right context is wonderful. They want their country to win. Go win. Country of which I am from. They want their opponents to lose. And this is what the psalmist is saying here. He's wanting God's victory, and he's wanting God's enemy's defeat. And so it would be for every member of God's new covenant. We want God to win. We know he has already done a wonderful, victorious work in defeating sin. Now we want all sinners to turn from their wicked ways and turn to God. And so we pray that the wicked sinners would fail and turn to God. We pray that those who would hate God would not prevail. Because God wins, and we want his enemies to be defeated. Imprecatory Psalms are this call for victory. Imprecatory Psalms are also calls for God to act. Okay? They are in their simplest form. God, we want you to act. An ingredient is this call for God to action. We could say there are righteous lament of seeking God's vindication. He begins by saying, Contend, O Lord. This is an action of the psalmist wanting God to do something. God, do this thing. Do it. Contend for those who contend with me. It's a call for God to action. Again, as that fan watches his countrymen run and kick the ball, he is yelling at them to run faster and do this way or that. Kick stronger, whatever you do, or whatever you call. So the Christian calls for God to do that. Act on my behalf and do more of this. In the face of evil, an imprecation is a call for God to work. The psalmist asks God to contend, for God to fight, to strive against the wicked. And he calls for God to take hold of the shield and buckler, the spear and the javelin, and to lead the charge against his enemies. He wants God to say, I am your salvation. Why? Because he knows he is not his own salvation. Well, in light of even this first stanza, the psalmist is helpless in a foxhole. He's outnumbered and facing defeat. Bullets are flying overhead, the enemy is nearing, and the psalmist needs help. So he calls for God to help. He calls for God to do something for me. Contend, O God, act on my behalf. And this is echoed down through redemption. Each sinner who believes that they are a sinner and that their sin defies a holy God realizes they are headed for an eternity in hell. And asks for God's forgiveness. Each sinner at some point understands, believing sinner at some point understands their sin, defies a holy God, and they need forgiveness, and they ask him and say, God, save me, be my salvation, do what I could not do. No God, no salvation. Therefore, this imprecatory echoes through to eternity in every sinner, asking God to be their salvation, because the battle is against sin. Which brings us to imprecatory Psalms desire for sin to cease. The psalmist prays simply, let those be put to shame and dishonor. Let them be disappointed and retreat. He says, Let their way be dark and slippery. What is meant by this? Well, the psalmist does not want his enemies to gain ground so that ultimately sin does not gain ground. He does not want them to succeed because they are filled with sin. Well, verse 11 tells us that his enemies are malicious. Verse 8 says they entrap him. Verse 12, they repay evil for good. Verse 10, they rob the poor. Verse 15, they rejoice at his failures. In verse 16, they gnash their teeth at him. In other words, Christian, the enemies of the psalmists are not the type of people you want to be around. The enemies of the psalmists, filled with sin, are cold to righteousness. They're full of sin. They're pharisaical. They're self-centered. They're prideful. They're not humble. They hate God's commandments. They're of their father the devil. They lie. They cheat. They steal. And they think they're better than everyone else. And they fight against. The psalmist. They're a clear depiction of Romans 1. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They're gossips. They're slanderers. They're haters of God. They're insolent, they're haughty, they're boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decrees, that those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. The enemy of the psalmist is continued here in Romans 1. And so the psalmist seeks for God to give justice to them. And a precatory psalm is a writing that says this God, deal with them. Oh God, end sins reign in them. They are acting like this. Oh God. May it stop. Well, in precatory psalms are not only a call for sin to cease, but they are very closely related to laments. Laments. And we spoke earlier of this ingredients illustration. Now it may be that one specific recipe calls for a small amount of a certain seasoning. Lament are not exactly the hero of the dish, but they are a small yet essential ingredient to the dish. In other words, laments are this subtle type of ingredient that's carried forward in almost all the Psalms, but included absolutely in the precatory psalms. Verse 17 is this lament. Look at it before you. How long, O Lord, will you look on? That's a lament. The psalmist knows, God knows and sees what's happening, and he said in verse 22, you have seen this, O God. Do something. It loathes the psalmist to endure such wickedness. In other words, he says, Are you not going to do something, O God? The psalmist is watching an evildoer prevail, and he knows God sees the same thing, and he laments to God. Psalm 94.3, O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exalt? Another lament. Job 21, 7, why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Have you ever wondered such a thing? Why do the wicked prosper? Why do those who hate God seemingly live long lives and prosper? Job 21 7. That's a lament. What about Jesus coming to Jerusalem? Coming up over the hill, looking at the city and weeping over it. What's he doing? He's lamenting for the sin of Jerusalem and Israel. He's lamenting over the rejection that they have against him. People of the old covenant. For all of history, God's covenant people have interacted with what we're seeing here in Psalm 35. And it might not be that there are those that do the certain things we see in Psalm 35 against you. But make no mistake, all of this understanding is to be seen as people in the new covenant that all of God's people interact with such sinners. Much of the prophets in Jesus' ministry, we see this lament over this sin and over the wrong being done. Now, what is the Christian to do with such psalms? It's not nice language, so we don't read it to kids and we move on with it. Or is there actually something good in here for the New Testament believer because it means something for us? And of course, the answer is all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for training in righteousness. Now, that being said, Robert Godfrey says in handling the imprecatory psalms, we must be careful and sensitive. So we will seek to do that. Low-lying fruit, the Christians ought to include such laments as seen in the imprecatory psalms in our prayers. So we'll start there. True Christ-centered prayers include attitudes of grief over sin. If in your prayer life there is no grief over sin, then you are losing sight of the prayers of Scripture. True Christ-centered prayer includes this attitude of lament over sin. Sin both in the public square and sin in yourself. Christ-centered prayer is grief and lament over sin. Sin in the world, sin in the church, sin in me, and sin in you. And the Christian laments and wails and feels sorrow for sin. The Christian laments over sin because sin is the one thing that will hinder them from living and loving the person who has redeemed them. So, firstly, to include in a purgatory psalm is first to be lamentful towards the sins, both in my life and yours, and in the world in which we live. Secondly, in Purgatory Psalms must be directed towards the true enemy. The true enemy. And what is the true enemy? Well, Ephesians 6.12, we do not wrest and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. In other words, we seek for God to vindicate the righteous against the evil forces of the enemy. This is a spiritual battle in which we fight believer. Not against flesh, but against spiritual forces. We are in a spiritual battle, and our enemy is spiritual. So then we seek God to work spiritually in a person, not just physically. The true enemy is a spiritual enemy. It's a spiritually dead heart. Paul in Romans addresses a fundamental flaw within the Jewish belief system of the day. In the early first century church in Rome, many thought that one was a Jew outwardly and not inwardly. But Paul says that one is a Jew inwardly before one is one outwardly. And what he means is a spiritual change occurs. To be a Jew outwardly was fairly easy. Circumcised, follow the law. One could do this, but never could do it to be a Jew inwardly. To be a Jew inwardly meant one had to have the law written on their hearts. And this is where the Pharisees fell short in understanding the kingdom of God, and this is where law is worthless in your life. There must be a regeneration of the heart in the new birth. It's a spiritual change that must occur, not just an outwardly, and it is the new birth of the gospel in one's life. So the true enemy is a spiritual change. One must be born again. Dealing with such psalms, one must understand, in light of this, the greatest evil. In the old covenant, the greatest enemy of the people of God was the surrounding pagan nations. In the new covenant, the greatest enemy to the people of God is not these nations. Why? Because they've been given to Christ. He has given the nations to him. Therefore, the greatest enemy of the people of God in the new covenant can be their own lukewarm hearts. We make this argument because Ephesians 6.12 is clear. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. In the old covenant, there was one nation including God's people. In the new covenant, there are all nations included in God's people. Therefore, the enemy is not a nation because they've been given to him. Therefore, the greatest enemy is the spiritual forces at work in them. The new covenant includes the nations being given to God as an inheritance. There is a spiritual battle. There is a greater than anything physical. Therefore, impregatory psalms are to be seen in light of this. God, the enemy is not flesh and blood, it is a spiritual enemy. And we seek for you to work in that way. And we lament. Dealing with such psalms leads us to the greatest victory, which is Christ over sin and death. Again, we we contemplate this question: what is the greatest enemy to the Christian? Is it a political agenda of the age? Is the greatest enemy to the Christian a political agenda of our age? It is an enemy, but history shows us that policies do not stop the word of God or the work of God. They don't. He sets up kings and he brings them down as he wants to do. The greatest threat to the church of God is the lukewarm Christian. It is a Christian that simply grows numb to holiness. A lukewarm Christian can do more damage to the household of God than anything Parliament has to offer. A Christian in church, neglecting Christ and loving sin, can wreak more havoc against the brethren than any bill. Which is why the admonition is clear: take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an unbelieving, evil heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. It is the deceitfulness of sin that the writer of Hebrews warns against, not the government and its agenda. Therefore, in dealing with such impregatories, we do not point the finger outwardly, but we first point it inwardly at our own hearts. We want God to work in them, yes, but we first must want God to work in me and us. Dealing with such psalms also leads us to understand that God has the last word. Our Confession of Faith has an entire chapter that teaches on God having the last word. God has the last word. The writers of the Confession of Faith merely want to express that and point it out. And they say this: God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. To all whom power is and judgment is given of the Father, in which day not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in body, whether good or evil. What is said there by our Baptist forefathers? God has the last word in judgment. Within in a precatory psalm is a hope of God's justice prevailing. God, you see what's happening, and it needs to stop. Bring your just swiftly upon this circumstance. And for the New Testament believer, we must understand that God will do this with all sin and with all wrongdoing. God will bring all things to him and judge justly, and we leave that with him even in our laments. Notice that this brings the psalmist to say, let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, Great is the Lord who delights in the welfare of his servant. Notice the beginning of the psalm, the psalmist is struggling with sin and he's wishing God would work. And then in the middle of the psalm, he tells about what the enemies of God are doing to him and against him. And then notice where he lands. Well, he lands in hope. Why does he land in hope? Because he knows that true justice will not be usurped. He knows there is hope in God having the final say. And the psalmist knows justice will prevail. So we understand this in our own lives that God has the last word. We lament and we pray in light of these Psalms that God would work in such evil. And we understand that He will. Now, in what manner do New Testament saints further utilize such imprecations? Now, when we do this, we do so not forgetting Romans 12, 14. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. So is this a contradiction within scripture? Psalm 35 and Romans 12, 14? No. And here we see Paul simply call the church in Rome to not curse those who persecute. And I think Christ shows himself this when he dying on the cross does what? He does not curse them. He does not hurl insult. What does he say? He prays for them. He says, Father, forgive them because they're ignorant. This does not make imprecations illegitimate. It instead urges the saint of God to call to repentance each sinner before God's justice is finalized. It is not for us to utter these imprecations for the sake of damnation, but instead to utter them for the sake of salvation. Repent and believe before it is too late. God hates sin, he will bring things to fruition in the last day. Therefore, turn to Christ, O sinner, while it is today, and be found in him. He will act justly against the wicked. Therefore, repent and turn. An imprecation is simply one seeking God's judgment to be brought. And we see or hear of wickedness occurring in the world, and we think, Lord, bring a swift end to such wickedness. We do not err in doing this. We instead are calling for what we could say is the eschatological fulfillment of final justice. And before that happens, we call those sinners to repent who are involved in such. And in the meantime, may it be seen in these imprecatory psalms, call sinners to repentance because now is the day of salvation. Do not complain about such evil in the world. Instead, pray against it and pray and share and evangelize so that Christ can be brought. Therefore, in the imprecatory psalms, in all of these things is a call to Christ. To call one for being an enemy of God to being a friend of God, which is what the imprecatories are calling in the sense of God wanting to work. This is not done outside of Christ. To turn for being an enemy of God is to be a friend of God and to be a child of Him. And this is through salvation. You can read the imprecatory Psalms, and the strong language is there, but make no mistake, there is no more terrible circumstance found in the imprecatory Psalms than an eternity in hell. Ultimate judgment is seen in the glimpse of specific judgment in these impregatory psalms. Therefore, we warn sinners to turn to God because God's judgment is swift. He will act, he will vindicate, he will judge. Therefore, we call in these imprecatories a lament to the sinner to turn from sin and believe in God. Parents of unregenerate children, we warn them, and you must warn them often to turn swiftly to repentance and faith in God before it is too late. Friends that you and I know that do not know the gospel, we do not simply stand by silently as they drift off into hell. Instead, we urge them to repentance before God's final judgment. And in the meantime, we pray these things to God. Our liturgy is ordered around the psalmist. Our liturgy is informed by the psalmist, and it's not left there. It continues us into the new covenant where we call all sinners to repentance. Why? Because God does not stand the wicked, and he calls them to repent and turn to Christ. There is salvation in Christ to the enemy of God, to the one who turns from their sin and believes in Christ. And that salvation is offered in the scriptures, and it is offered here now to you. May the Spirit work and may every listener hear understand. Let's pray.