Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

5. Snake-like tongue- “…the poison of a viper drips from their lips.” These people are ‘serpent like, crafty, slanderous adversaries, who are preparing themselves for war against him…” 3 Jesus tells us: “But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them.” (Mt. 15:18) Through lies and deceit they defiled many people getting them to join their rebellion against King David. This word for the ‘viper’ occurs only here in the Bible and describes the deadly adder that coils up and then springs upon its victims. It reminds us of the serpent in the Garden of Eden; “But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent.” (2 Cor. 11:3) “O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from those who are violent, for they are plotting against me. The proud have set a trap to catch me; they have stretched out a net; they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude” (4, 5) Saul and his army constantly hunted David like an animal but God heard his prayer and kept him from being trapped and killed: • “Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let him be found.” (1 Sam. 23:14) • “Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!” (1 Sam. 23:20) • “Discover his hiding places, and come back with a more definite report. Then I’ll go with you. And if he is in the area at all, I’ll track him down, even if I have to search every hiding place in Judah!” (1 Sam. 23:23) Jesus was hunted relentlessly by the Pharisees and teachers of religious law to see if they could ‘trap’ him by his words and put him to death; “Then the Pharisees met together to think of a way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could accuse him.” (Mt. 22:15) Evil progresses from thought to words to harmful actions. II PRESERVE ME - 4, 5 Evil Hands (Interlude) “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my God!’ Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy! O Sovereign Lord, my strong savior, you protected me on the day of battle. Lord, do not give in to their evil desires. Do not let their evil schemes succeed, O God. Interlude.” (6-8) David sets the example for all who are overwhelmed by enemies who are vicious and powerful; make a strong impassioned cry to the ‘Sovereign Lord’ (Yahweh Adonai) . This is a ‘comparatively rare ad- dress’ 4 for God and appeals to the strongest points of his character. “…you protected me on the day of battle” [“You have covered my head in the day of battle.” NKJV] is reflected in Isaiah’s prophecy where the Lord himself puts on his helmet and armor to execute justice for the oppressed: “He put on right- eousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with the robes of vengeance and godly fury.” (Isa. 59:17) The Holy Spirit reveals the true nature of spiritual con- flict when Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil …Put on salvation as your helmet…” (Eph. 6:11, 17) Guard- ing our thoughts is critical in the day of spiritual confusion and accusation; we must mentally hold on to the promises of God rehearsing them in prayer and song. “Let my enemies be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. Let burning coals fall down on their heads, or throw them into the fire, or into deep pits from which they can’t escape. Don’t let liars prosper here in our land. Cause disaster to fall with great force on the violent.” (9-11) The first sentence is the key to understanding this prayer of David. He is asking that his enemies be repaid by the same treatment that they had intended for him. He is praying in his office as a King in which he was responsible for civil punishment for the wicked. Civil justice is on a much lower plane as governments are called by God to ‘constrain evil’. We are called to ‘convert evil’ by praying on a higher level as priests of the Lord in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said: “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for III YOU PROTECTED ME - 6-8 Evil Desires (Interlude) IV DEEP PITS - 9-11 Evil Plans

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