Sunday, October 5, 2014 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
Let Another Take His Place
Psalm 109
As
with many of the psalms was assigned to the chief musician.
The psalm is attributed to David, clearly during a difficult time
in his life.
This psalm is difficult to study because of its harsh tone, a tone which
is in stark contrast with the attitude we are to have as Christians.
WE will address this in our study tonight.
It is an imprecatory psalm, which means one that calls upon God
to curse or defeat one’s enemies.
The occasion for this psalm is not identified, but clearly it was
written at a time when David had been hurt by one of his many enemies -
probably an enemy that he thought to be a friend.
Candidates could include King Saul, Doeg, Ahithophel, Adonijah
and others, including enemy nations.
One
reason this is the case is because verse 8 is quoted in Acts 1:8 as a
replacement for Judas Iscariot is chosen.
Judas fits the profile of the type of enemy David is imprecating
in this psalm.
Let
us now consider this psalm.
a.
Do not keep silent
– David calls upon God to act.
I am fully convinced God has been maligned by this enemy.
David wants God to act for HIS own posterity rather than David’s.
Perhaps he does not fully understand the longsuffering of God
(cf. 2 Peter. 3:9).
b.
The mouth of the wicked
and deceitful have opened against me (1-3) -
One thing we can relate is the grief in our hearts at the
world’s rejection of God. We
are living in times when matters seem to grow worse and worse.
God is being rejected everywhere – by atheists, homosexuals,
abortionists and others with agendas that are contrary to scripture.
It is no uncommon for us to wonder why God allows it to go on and
get worse and worse.
Often their accusations are outright
lies or gross distortions
of the truth. We are
villainized for standing for what is right and truth.
c.
In return for my love they are my accusers –
they have rewarded evil for good
Let us be reminded that we ARE to love our enemies and treat them as we
would want to be treated – Matt. 5:43-44, 7:12; Rom. 12:18-21, 1 Peter
3:9 (addressing brethren)
Quite often the ungodly will repay with evil those who challenge them
with good.
a.
Very strong words of
accusation.
Many things said that describe his total desolation – may the wicked
rule over him, may he be accused and found guilty.
The request to reject his prayer and to make his life shortened.
The curse even extends to his family – his children and his
parents. May he lose
everything. May none extend
mercy to him or his children.
May his name be blotted out.
May the evil he performed be paid to him in kind.
b.
The wickedness of this
enemy is described in vs. 16-17 – he failed to show mercy, he persecuted
the poor and needy, and slayed the broken in heart.
He loved cursing others. We
find here that this enemy is a wicked man.
c.
Thoughts about these
verses.
i.
Some things to consider with imprecatory psalms include:
1) David (or the writer) while calling for curses on enemies does NOT
exact the vengeance himself.
Instead, he calls upon God to carry out His will.
2) It is not a demand but a request, usually offered in a time of
frustration and great hurt.
3) Most, if not all, such psalms acknowledge that righteousness and
God’s goodness have been maligned.
In other words, the ultimate desire is that God’s ways prevail
and the enemies of that way be defeated.
Something that in the long run we ARE promised will happen (cf.
Romans 8:28, Heb. 10:30, Rom. 12:19, 2 Thess. 1:6-8, etc.)
4) What was done back then was under the Old Law.
We are under the New Testament which gives a different set of
rules. Imprecatory psalms
portray attitudes that we must be careful to consider as Christians.
This is especially true of this psalm.
ii.
Considering the wicked – realize that they need to be stopped.
We are powerless to stop them, but God can.
Everything mentioned here, as harsh as it is helps to stop an
enemy.
The mention of one’s children and
parents is a challenge when one wishes evil on the family of the wicked,
rather than exclusively the one who is wicked.
But consider this:
Where did this evil man get his ways?
Was it from an evil upbringing?
And what of his children?
Are they being influenced to follow in the same wicked paths?
In scripture, we as parents are entrusted with directing our children –
Prov. 22:6, Eph. 6:4, etc.
It is a rule (though there are certainly exceptions) that a child will
follow the directions of his parents.
There is a reason why the family of leaders in a congregation are
considered in their appointment.
That is true both for good and for evil.
One might ask why David would make such a harsh request of God.
We don’t know the reason, but we know God chose to include it in
His inspired writings.
iii.
How are we to act as
Christians?
We as Christians face many enemies.
They generally come in four categories:
1) Personal enemies for whatever reason -
animosity, personalities, etc.
2) Enemies of the cross of Christ – who hate and seek to
persecute Christians – making life more difficult to stand for
the truth.
3) False teachers – they are just as much enemies of the cross of Christ
and often they seek to harm you for resisting them and their errors.
4) Enemies of humanity – engaging in torture, killings,
We are called upon to:
1.
Pray for our enemies –
Matt. 5:43-45
2.
Do good for our enemies
– Rom. 12:18-21
3.
To let God be the judge
- Rom. 12:19
4.
Follow the example of
Jesus who did these things – Luke 23:34, 1 Peter 2:20-23, etc.
iv.
But we do ask: Is it
wrong to pray to God to defeat our enemies who are determined to destroy
Him and His word? Especially
when we consider our harshest enemies – such as terroristic
organizations, hate filled ungodly men who want to destroy God and His
truth. Of course, beyond
that, there is the question of whether such prayers can be personal
(against a particular person instead of the group as a whole).
That is our challenge as Christians (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-2).
I believe it depends upon our attitude – is it done out of genuine love
for mankind or out of hatred for the individual(s)?
Furthermore, again we need to let God do His will!
I can relate to the request of David with some of the godless leaders
and organizations within our nation.
I want to see their evil destroyed.
But I know I have to temper my desires with a godly attitude
toward our enemies. That is
why we put it in God’s hands.
a.
A request for God’s name sake – David wants this deliverance for the glory of God.
May all that we do be for His glory.
Before we are overly judgmental of David’s attitude in this
psalm, let us keep expressions like this in mind.
All that we do ought to be “for
His name’s sake.” – Matt. 26:42 – Jesus in the garden;
Matt. 6:10, in the model prayer of Jesus we pray, “Your will be done.”
1 Corinthians 10:31, “do all to the glory of God.”
b.
Again the goodness (mercy)
of God is acknowledged.
c.
For I am poor and needy – 22-24 – David describes his helpless state.
He needs God. He
cannot deal with these things on his own.
As much as we desire that God’s name be glorified in all we do,
we also realize that we need God!
I am reminded of the first, beatitude – Matt. 5:3, “Blessed are the poor
in spirit.”
John 15:5, Jesus said to His
disciples, “Without me you can do
nothing.”
Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ…”
d.
I also am a reproach to
them (25)
– the world often hates
the godly. It can be a source of frustration or discouragement – 1 Peter
4:4 – those you used to associate with might “speak evil of you.”
1 John 3:13 says, “Do not marvel,
my brethren, if the world hates you.”
John 15:18-19 – Jesus said the world would hate them.
e.
Help me, O Lord my God…Save
me… - God is greater than he who is in the world- 1 John 4:4
He can deliver us – 2 Peter 2:9 – the Lord knows how to deliver us
f.
That they may know that this is Your hand (27) -
g.
Let them curse, but You bless (28) – again David put the fate of his enemies in God’s
hands. He knows that no matter how mankind acts, God is good and will do
that which is right.
h.
I will greatly praise
the Lord with my mouth (28-29)
– David, no matter what is going to give God the praise He deserves.
He can and will deliver those who belong to Him.
He can stand for the poor.
While we might not view this psalm in the same way as others we have
studied, it certainly gives us cause to ponder how we are to conduct
ourselves in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation.
We are given instructions in dealing with everyone.
Everyone is our neighbor, whether good or bad and as such we
ought to love them as ourselves (Romans 13:9-10, etc.)
Regardless of who we deal with let us not forget what Paul said
in Philippians 2:14-16, “Do all things without complaining and
disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God
without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among
whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so
that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or
labored in vain.”