Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• Informing Saul that David was in the strongholds of Horesh- “ We know where David is hiding, Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!” (1 Sam. 24:19,20) • Informing Saul that David was in the wilderness of Engedi: “ After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of Engedi.” (1 Sam. 24:1)

l I COME TO YOU - David Comes Before the Judge of the Universe- 1-5

“ I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors-rescue me! If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” (1,2)

This courtroom is being held in the midst of an unjust circumstance that is threatening David’s life. We have immediate access to heaven’s court when we cry out to God! The lion always represents sa- tanic accusation and opposition in the scriptures and if we have no earthly accuser (Cush) we most cer- tainly have a hellish one who would like to devour us. David had defeated both lions and bears in his youth and now faced a diabolic foe: “ Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) “O Lord my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice, if I have betrayed a friend or plun- dered my enemy without cause, then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground. Let my honor be left in the dust. Interlude (Selah)” (3-5) David is not declaring that he is sinless or perfect but he is affirming that the charges that ‘Cush’ has leveled against him are simply untrue. We must remember that repentance from our sins washes us clean before heaven’s court and we will never receive punishment from the consequences of them. “ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1) The structure of this part of the poem is based upon an ‘if’ / ‘then’ theme. “ IF I have done wrong… THEN let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground. Let my honor be left in the dust. ” “ Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God and bring jus- tice! Gather the nations before you. Sit on your throne high above them. The Lord passes judgment on the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High!” (6-8) When a judge enters his court the officer announces; “All rise, the honorable court of judge ___________ is now in session.” Here David petitions God with two powerful images that are themes throughout the psalms; ‘Arise, O Lord’ and ‘Awake, my God’. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of the law when this judge ‘Arises’ and ‘ Wakes’. David is looking for justice, a correct verdict for his predicament. Jesus illustrated the correlation between prayer and justice in Luke’s gospel: ” don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night?…I tell you he will grant justice to them quickly.”(Luke 18:7,8) Heavens’ court is in session and ready to hear every case brought before it through our prayers. This is an ‘international court’ as the nations are gathered before him to be judged. There are two aspects to this thought: 1.) God judges each individual in the nation 2.) God judges the nation collectively for its in- justices. Both are strong concepts in scripture and history. The Jews spent 70 years captivity in Baby- lon as a national judgment on their many sins. This is one of the most powerful statements in this psalm as it points to the basis for our salvation and right standing with God today. Upon our repen- tance from sin, God justifies us, makes us legally right with himself by declaring us righteous. He can do this because all the penalties for our sins demanded by the law have been paid in full by the blood of his son that was shed upon the cross. The judge slams the gavel upon his desk and decrees: ‘not guilty, I declare them righteous!’ This is the foundation of Abraham’s faith and he is our spiritual father: • “ Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.”(Rm. 4:3) • “ But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.” (Rm. 4:5) “ Declare me righteous, O Lord…” (8) lI I AM INNOCENT - The Conclusion 6-11

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