Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• “ King David spoke of this, describing the happiness of an undeserving sinner who is declared to be righteous.”(Rm. 4:6) • “ …God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead.” (Rm. 4:24) David addresses God not as ‘O Lord, My God’ but ‘O Most High’ a name that expresses his sta- tus as the highest legal authority in the universe. My worship is affected by knowing his power to for- give me, he is not only ‘Lord, My God’ but he is ‘My Most High God.’ ‘ End the wickedness of the ungodly, but help all those who obey you. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God. God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. God is a judge who is perfectly fair. He is angry with the wicked every day.”(9-11) Because God can look into the depths of our hearts and discern the true motives and intents of our actions, he is able to render a perfect and fair verdict. Though human justice sometimes fails, the Lord never fails and heaven’s court records are flawless. If justice is escaped here on earth, it will surely be rendered in eternity. Now the anger of God is focused upon the guilty ones who refuse to repent. “ If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. He will prepare his deadly weapons and ignite his flaming arrows.”(12,13) The Holy Spirit is the divine prose- cutor in heaven’s court, his sword and arrows of conviction cut deeply into the conscience of the unre- pentant. “And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” (Jn. 16:8) “ The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.”(14) There is a pro- gression of evil from ‘conception’ to ‘pregnancy’ to ‘birth.’ James takes this thought to it to its final con- clusion in his New Testament letter: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”(James 1:15 NKJV) When it comes to sin, celibacy is the best choice for all of us. Sin and evil has its own justice built into it. We can observe what happens to peo- ple who exercise wickedness upon others: III IF A PERSON DOES NOT REPENT - The Convicted 12-16

• “ They dig a pit to trap others… and then fall into it themselves. ” (15) • “ They make trouble, but it backfires on them. ”(16) • “ They plan violence for others, but it falls on their own heads. ”

In the book of Esther, Haman, the wicked official of King Xerxes, built a gallows to hang Esther’s uncle Mordecai. His plot against the Jews was discovered and it ‘backfired’ on him. “’Then hang Haman on it!’ the king ordered. So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger was pacified.”(Esther 7:9,10)

IV I WILL SING PRAISE - The Celebration- 17

“ I will thank the lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”(17) This is a victory celebration at the reading of the verdict. The ‘Most High Lord’ has declared David in- nocent and he begins singing and praising God. Our praise is founded on the premise that God has ac- quitted us of all sins and ‘ declared us to be righteous! ’ We are not guilty; we are acquitted of all charges and are set free.

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