Arise, O Lord

Psalm 7: “Arise, O Lord”

Perhaps you’ve heard the encouraging saying: “Life is hard, then you die.” It’s a moto that will make even the most hardened pessimist grin. When you’re young, you think life should be fair. Then your brother gets a bigger slice of cake than you do. Your friend gets to go to that concert that everyone else is going to and you have to stay home. Slices of cake are one thing, but what do we do when we are unfairly treated…when we are persecuted…or just mistreated by someone being mean? In this life we will experience dissonance between the song of God’s righteousness and the tune hummed by unrighteous people in this world.

We are in Psalm 7 this evening. This Psalm wraps up our section of lament psalms. David is being treated unfairly by one of his enemies…we don’t know more than this. Psalm 7 helps us see the world’s unfairness from God’s perspective. It gives a hand hold to grasp when we face injustice.

Read Psalm 7

We’ll look at this Psalm in 5 sections, then find 3 points of application.

1. Save Me! (1-2)
David takes refuge in God because of his enemies. This is standard fare in lament psalms. However, verse 2 is a potent picture of his plight. If his enemies catch him, the will rip him apart like a lion. Think of a herd of antelope fleeing from a pursuing lion. There’s a weak baby antelope in the back of the herd. The lion catches it and rips the antelope to shreds. If you’ve watched animal planet, you know what this looks like. David is not talking about his flesh being torn by his enemies, he’s talking about his soul. We can have enemies in our lives that will rend our hearts in two. David’s plea to God: Save me!

2. I’m Innocent! (3-5)
In short, David says: “If I deserve this type of treatment, let it happen.” Let them rip me to shreds…trample me…and grind me into the dust. I believe in justice. If I have done wrong, I deserve this. But I haven’t done these things. There is no wrong in my hands. I don’t deserve this!” I’m innocent!

3. Judge Them! (6-11)
God is a righteous judge, so David calls on God to judge his enemies in his anger. “Lord, do something! Arise! Wake up!” In verse 7 all the nations will be gathered for God to judge them. But it is surprising what David says in verse 8: “judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness.” Hold it there. I’m not sure you should be so quick to ask God to judge you, David. We are all sinners. This will not end well. What’s happening here?

The judgment is for David’s righteous deeds and his integrity. He doesn’t claim to be to be perfect. He doesn’t claim to be sinless. David says, “God, as far as I know, I have lived before you and others with integrity. Show me if I’ve done wrong. It sure seems like I’ve done wrong because I’ve got these enemies breathing down my neck.”

In verse 9, we see the outcome that David wants to see: the wicked perish and the righteous are saved. Right now things are mixed up…they are dissonant. It looks like the righteous will lose and the wicked will win. Part of dealing with injustice done against us is reorienting our perspective to heaven’s perspective. God will protect and save the righteous. He will judge the wicked.

4. Execute Them! (12-16)
The first line of verse 12 is a bit ambiguous. If he does not turn, he will whet his sword. Who will not turn or relent? It does not change the meaning much, whatever way we read it. If the wicked will not repent, they will face the judgment of God. God whetting (sharpening) his sword. This is the ancient version of a father cleaning his shotgun on his front porch as his daughter’s suitor comes to pick her up. Instead of shotgun, we have a sword. His bow is strung…ready. His arrows are ready to be lighted and shot at the enemy. But then the picture stops. God does not yet actively judge because the wicked take themselves out.

Verse 14 is shocking picture of evil. Evil is conceived will soon show…and will come out and grow. This is a bad thing. The evil conceived by the wicked will soon get away from them. He falls into the pit he dug to catch others. His own mischief comes on his head. The evil plotted against the righteous is turned around on the wicked. When it seems like the wicked are winning, in the 9th inning, God comes to bat and the wicked lose.

5. Praise God! (17)
While the righteous may breathe a sigh of relief after being rescued, they should also sing a song of praise to God. God will work. God will judge. He will save. And he is to be praised for that.

This Psalm with its enemies, pursuing lions, judgment, and anger, may seem distant and irrelevant for us today. This Psalm contains important themes we can trace through the Scriptures. This Psalm was written for our instruction and encouragement.

The one broad principle we have noted before in our study of the psalms is this: if God is not the righteous judge, then we do not have the hope of final salvation from evil, sin, and the devil. All the atrocities committed on this earth will be let go. All the injustice done to you in this life would be let go. Hitler and Stalin would be go Scott free. God must be the judge or we will not have peace. We looked at this point in Psalm 2. There are 3 more specific points of application I would like to draw from this psalm.

1. Righteous will not protect you
Don’t buy t lie that if you do the right things, you will be treated fairly. David stood before God and said: “Look, I did all the right things, abut I’m being mauled by my enemies!” Look at the book of Job. Job did all the right things…and look what happened to him!

We must be careful not to believe the lie that if we live according to the principles of God’s Word, life will go well for us and people will treat us with respect. If we work hard, pay our taxes, don’t do drugs, let ducklings cross the street, and help our neighbor shovel out his driveway, why would anyone do something bad to us?!

We live in a sinful world. People will hurt us, perhaps kill us for no good reason. We will face injustice big and small even when we have done everything we can do to live pleasing to God and others. How unfair! Unfair, yes. But normal in a sinful world.

I Peter 4:12-19 fills out this point.
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Let’s make sure if we are being punished, it is not because we are sinning against others! Don’t be surprised if you are being treated unfairly, especially for being a Christian.

2. God’s judgment is coming
The righteous judge will one day judge all people. Everyone in this room. Everyone in the world. Are you ready? If you are in Christ, you are safe on the day of judgment. If you are not in Christ, you will face the full fury of God’s wrath. Even though Christians are safe in Christ from the judgment for their many sins, they will be judged for their works. No, there will not be punishment, just loss of reward. When you stand before God now and when you stand before him in the end, I hope we can say with the Apostle Paul: “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God…” (2 Cor 1:12).

3. God’s wrath is scary
Some of this imagery in Psalm 7 is startling. God is sharpening his sword…cleaning his shotgun…waiting for judgment day. God has his bow strung, his flaming arrows poised to punish the wicked. We hear the unmistakable sound of the 12 gauge shell clicking into the chamber. It’s coming. The wicked will get what is coming to them.

God’s wrath seems unpalatable to many Christians today. They cannot square God’s love with God’s wrath. They think the God of the OT is angry and the Jesus of the NT is only peace-loving. This is a distortion of the Bible. But how do we understand God’s wrath in relationship to his love?

Let’s use the sun as an illustration. On earth, the sun rises and sets, creating gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. Streaks of orange, pink, purple, gray, and blue. It warms the earth and brings grass and trees to life. We are depressed when the sun hides behind the clouds, happy when it appears.

Let’s imagine you were so excited about the sun, that you wanted to take a trip there to find out more about it. Perhaps even go to the very core to find out what makes it blaze. Even if you were to get to the center, you wouldn’t survive very long in 25 million degrees. Instant incineration.

The sun is like God’s holiness…his purity and absolute otherness. When we are in Christ, God’s holiness is overwhelmingly beautiful. Apart from Christ, the holiness of God engulfs the wicked and consumes them in an instant. Like the sun, God’s holiness is pervasive. For his children it looks like love. Because it takes what it not holy and makes it holy. For the wicked, God’s holiness reaches into every nook and cranny of the universe and renders judgment. It’s an imperfect illustration, but maybe it will help you grasp that God’s love and wrath are not in opposition.

God’s wrath is not something we hide away in the back closet and get out once a year, like our thanksgiving turkey platter. We talk about God’s wrath when we find it in the Bible. We talk about God’s wrath when we talk about the gospel. After the cross, we view God’s wrath through the work of Christ. In Christ we are safe from God’s wrath. Apart from Christ we are engulfed in God’s fury.

Psalm 7 helps us get a handle on the injustice in the world. When you are unfairly treated…whether that be someone giving you the finger for going the speed limit or someone maligning you for being a Christian…we remember, God the judge waits. He will be your refuge today. In the end he will deal with evil once and for all. Then there will be peace…forever.