David pleads for the “Judge of All the Earth” to vindicate him against his enemies. After laying out his case in the first five verses (of this Psalm), he now calls upon God to take action, “Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift up yourself against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed judgment.” Like David, we (God’s people) long for the promises that God would avenge and set all things right, which will occur upon Christ’s return. Like the Martyrs written about in Revelations, our hearts are filled with their cry in the lost world, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:10). In the closing verses of this Psalm, David describes the justice of God. Here are a few observations that should strengthen our hope in the midst of present day darkness.
God our Protector. David enters praise as he declares, “My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.” The evil that goes on in the world does not go unnoticed by God, thus David describes God as one who, “…feels indignation every day.” Often, we can feel like Lot who was a citizen of Sodom and was grieved (daily) because of the endless lawlessness he witnessed (2 Pt 2:8). Sometimes when I think it can’t get any worse in society, I am often disabused of such a notion after I turn on the news or social media. As Christian, we experience a measure of God’s grief over lawlessness and sin because his Spirit lives in us. But we are not to despair, for our God is a Righteous Judge and he will exonerate his people at the appointed time he has set. We should draw strength daily with this promise, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Rom 12:19).
Our Warrior God. David uses imagery to illustrate God’s judgment as a deadly weapon against wicked. Such description is meant to highlight the strength, knowledge, and precision of God who never fails in his purposes. David says, “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; (13) He has prepared for him deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.” Though you and I have limits in our capabilities and understanding, we can be encouraged that God lacks nothing. He is perfect and one day our enemies will face our God who is a Consuming Fire (cf. Heb 12:28-29). Though the wicked dig a pit for us to fall into, God will cause them to stumble and plummet in the very trap they have constructed.
Praising God in advance. David closes his prayer with thanksgiving, “I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.” Remember, David’s situation is likely to not have changed as he scribed this prayer. After he makes his appeal to God for vindication, he praises him in advance! Why does David do this? Because he recognizes that God is unchanged in his character & sovereignty even while we are in the midst of trial. Though he may not answer our prayers according to our timing, we praise him in advance because he promised he would hear and answer, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Lk 18:7). Our faith in God is not performance based. In other words, shall we have a type of faith that expresses thanks only after God delivers us? No, for that is not faith at all. Rather our faith in God is trust-based, meaning we believe that God will be who he says he is and do as he says he will. We take him at his word. We should learn from Apostle Paul and Silas, who after being beaten, unjustly arrested, and wrongfully imprisoned, sang hymns to God in the midst of it all while they were locked in chains (Acts 16:25). Why did they do this? The same reason why David praised God in advance………….they believed that God is righteous and our shield who saves his people in distress. Amen.
Blessings,
Dr. Jason S. Price, Th.D
www.springoflivingwaters.com