SERMON TITLE: The Lord is...
TEXT: Psalm 7 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Cody Ohnmeiss
DATE: 05/09/2021
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
Well it is an absolute pleasure being here with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church – whether you’re here in the room with us, or if you’re joining us at our North Main campus or online – thank you all for taking time to worship with us this weekend. As always, during our time together this morning, I pray that we will be challenged and encouraged as we dive into God’s word together. And before we go any further, I’d also like to give a special shout-out to all of the mothers out there. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!
Last week, Ed Grable preached to us on a really tough, yet relevant topic. Ed encouraged those who may be struggling with depression, hardships, illnesses, and more. The encouragement lies in the hope we have in our savior, Jesus.
Transitioning from Psalm 6 to Psalm 7, we have a shift in tone. David, the writer of both Psalms, goes from weary and hurting, to reflecting on his trust in God. And as David reflects on his trust in God, we are going to see the authority, the power, and the glory that belong to the Lord.
If you have a Bible with you, please turn with me to Psalm chapter 7. We are going to read all 17 verses, but first allow me to provide some context.
Many of your Bible’s probably say something along the lines of a Shiggaion of David concerning the words of Cush. So this tells us a few things.
So there’s some context, I assume you’ve all found Psalm chapter 7 by now. Let’s go ahead and read all 17 verses.
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend[b] with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,[c]
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man[d] does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. Psalm 17:1-17 ESV
As I mentioned previously, David is in a situation here where he is fleeing for his life. Not only is he fleeing for his life, but he’s crying out to God because he’s innocent. He’s being chased by his enemies who are trying to kill him, yet no crime has been committed. Yet another reason why some think this was Saul & his pursuers – as we know David was innocent in that story. But in the midst of fleeing, it’s almost as if David pauses for a moment to write this song in reflection of who God is and what he provides. There are a few things in this passage here that David makes clear to us.
I think you all probably noticed the theme here – in all of these phrases we see the words “THE LORD.” What that means is that in all of these truths, The Lord receives glory.
So let’s start with the first one – The Lord provides refuge. Back to verse 1 of our passage:
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. Psalm 7:1-2 ESV
Directly translated, this word, ‘Refuge’ in verse 1 has several denotations that all essentially mean the same thing. Seeking protection or seeking shelter. The word also means to confide in, have hope in, or place trust in. So in other words, David is saying – God I’m coming to you for protection! God, I’m putting my trust in you!
Listen to how one translation says it:
I come to you for protection, O Lord my God.
Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!
2 If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion,
tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me. Psalm 7:1-2 NLT
Can we real quickly note the severity of these words? ‘I come to you for protection, God. RESCUE ME!’ – Why? ‘If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.’ This is the same David who told the king, “Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” and then went and killed Goliath. The same David who led armies that conquered thousands and thousands. But notice his language here. He’s faced with a tough situation and he turns to one place for refuge. The Lord. How do we know that? He cries out to God, ‘RESCUE ME!’ Then immediately follows that with, ‘If you don’t…they’ll maul me like a lion…with no one to rescue me.’ David’s attitude here shows us that in times of trouble, God is the one who provides refuge.
So let’s ask ourselves. When we are faced with trouble. When we need shelter or
protection. What’s the first thing we turn to? Do we try to lean on our own strength or others like our family or friends? Do we turn to music, TV, or one of our other interests? Do we allow ourselves to be consumed with fear and worry? OR, in times of trouble, do we first turn to The Lord in prayer? Or how about opening up the Bible and reading.
Okay now before we get a question sent in saying something like, ‘Cody said I can’t ever lean on my family during hard times.’ Or ‘Cody said I can’t listen to music when I’m going through a hard situation.’ (You might be thinking, “I wasn’t thinking that at all.” Well I gave a talk to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group one time on Trusting in the Lord and I said something similar to this, then afterwards one of the students told the leader that I said he should never listen to music if he’s going through a hard time. And that wasn’t true at all!) The question was, do you turn to God first, or do you turn to things in this world first.
Remember what the word refuge means. Not only is it shelter & protection, but it’s also putting your trust in that shelter & protection. If we place our trust in the things of this world, or in other words, if we place our trust in anything other than God & his word, at some point, they will fail us. People love to brag about how great and reliable their car is until they get a flat tire and they’re stranded on the side of the road. Every year football fans are pumped up for the season – how often have you heard or maybe even said, “This is their year!” And then they have a losing season and don’t even make the playoffs… Maybe a bit more serious, have you ever put your trust in your spouse, parent, friend, boss, co-worker, someone – and they let you down? The point here is that God ultimately should be the first one we turn to for refuge. Here’s another way we can look at this, in John 16:33 Jesus says,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV
I know this is gonna sound cheesy, but he didn’t say, ‘Take heart, music has overcome the world.’ Or ‘Take heart, family has overcome the world.’ But when the world brings trouble, he says to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. So we come back to this question: Do you turn first to God for refuge in times of trouble? Let’s pick back up in verse 6 of our text:
Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God! Psalm 7:6-9 ESV
At this point in David’s reflection he’s recognizing God’s power, and sovereignty, and holiness in that God is the one who brings judgement – we see that at the end of verse 6 where he says, “you have appointed a judgment.” Now notice that this isn’t just David saying, God strike down my enemies! It is partially that, and we will talk about that more in just a moment, but he also says, “judge me, O Lord according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.”
How many times have you asked God to judge you? I know for me it’s more often me looking at others and saying, “God, look at what that person is doing!” Or, “Oooo God’s going to put them in their place.” But the more I read the Psalms, the more I can see why the Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart, because often we see David reflecting on the power, and glory, and majesty of God. This awestricken heart David has for God has brought him to this place where he now says, God, yes – judge my enemies, but also judge me. And not only from this passage do we know that David understands that judgement belongs to the Lord, but even when David had the opportunity to gain vengeance on one of his enemies, he neglects it, and surrenders that power to God.
In 1 Samuel 24, David and his men are hiding out in a cave, meanwhile Saul and 3000 elite troops were searching for them. As Saul and his men are passing by this exact cave, Saul decides to go into the cave for a pit stop – that’s what it says… As he comes in, David’s men basically say, now’s your chance! Kill the man that’s been trying to kill you! Instead David stealthily cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, and felt super guilty about even doing that. And as Saul finishes and head’s out of the cave, this is what David says to him:
8 David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.
9 Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? 10 This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’ 11 Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.
12 “May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. 13 As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you. 14 Who is the king of Israel trying to catch anyway? Should he spend his time chasing one who is as worthless as a dead dog or a single flea? 15 May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!” 1 Samuel 24:8-15 NLT
I have to wonder what David’s men said to him after he lets Saul go. I assume something along the lines of, “Are you crazy?! This man has tried to kill you countless times and you’re just going to let him go when you had an opportunity to put an end to all of this?” But David knew that the Lord would bring judgement, both on the wicked, and the righteous, because judgement belongs to the Lord.
So with that mindset, David declares in verse 8, “judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.” Another way you can read this would be David saying, “Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent!” “I had the opportunity to seek vengeance on my enemies, but I passed on it so that judgement may remain in your hands, Lord.”
So for us today, what does a passage like this mean? In other words, how is this relevant, this truth that God is the one who brings judgement? What can we learn from David in this story? I’m going to guess that we have all been in a situation at some point in time when someone wronged us. Perhaps with your sibling, maybe your spouse, or co-worker, or someone who is genuinely an enemy. But think about your attitude, your heart at the moment – the moment you realized that they wronged you. What’s the first thing on your mind? REVENGE.
Siblings – here’s a scenario for you. You told your brother/sister you needed to shower and go to bed because you’ve had a long day. When they hear that, they decide to run and jump in the shower before you while you’re getting your things ready. So you decide while they’re showering to go in and dump a bucket of ice cold water on them. Revenge! (Btw, all of these are true stories I found on the internet).
Spouses – a scenario. Your husband really wants this new TaylorMade driver because it will help him hit the ball farther and fix his slice, but you decide together that it’s not a wise purchase at the moment. He gets the driver anyway, and that makes you angry. So to get back at him, you open up your browser and go on an online shopping spree for the same amount of money he spent on the driver. Even, right?!
Coworkers – you have a coworker that told your guys’ boss that you were responsible for a project failure that cost the company lots of money, but it was actually him and he lied to cover himself. You end up getting chewed out by your boss, and of course, that makes you angry. So in order to get even with this person, you wait until they’re about to head to the airport for a 3 hour flight and then gift them a bag of sugar-free gummy bears as a mid-flight snack. (If you didn’t get that one, after the service go home and google stories of people eating sugar-free gummy bears, then you’ll understand).
I know those stories are pretty funny, but on a more serious note, what about those times when someone really hurts you. When someone really sins against you. Probably not to the extent that David was experiencing – someone literally was after his life. But perhaps someone is mean and harsh with their words and it hurts you mentally & emotionally. Maybe someone lies to you breaking a bond of trust and honestly. Or maybe someone has been in a situation when their spouse or significant other is unfaithful in their relationship. We live in a society that tells us it’s okay to get even. To take justice into our own hands.
Can I be blunt with you for a second? IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO GET EVEN! IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO GET REVENGE! The Lord is the one who brings judgement. Look at verses 8 & 9 again,
The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,[c]
O righteous God! Psalm 7:8-9 ESV
Who ends the evil of the wicked? God does. Who defends the righteous – searching deep within the mind and heart? God does. The Lord brings judgement. So learn this from David’s example. How many days, weeks, even years did David spend fleeing for his life from enemies chasing him down trying to kill him – and yet – he says ‘God, you are the one who judges out of your righteousness. Therefore, I have no reason to seek justice, as you provide that through your judgement.’
And folks – the fact that the Lord brings judgement… This is good news. Because he’s not just a judge, but he is a righteous and just judge. And what’s even more good news is that we have an advocate who’s on our side. (Jesus)
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man[d] does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends. Psalm 7:10-16 ESV
As I mentioned previously, during this part in David’s reflection he is recognizing God’s power in that he is the one who brings judgement, but not only that, he’s also reflecting on God’s righteousness.
The fact that these things, God’s righteousness & His judgement, go hand-in-hand, this means that when God judges, he does so justly. It means that God is honest. He is upright. He is absolute. But there’s an issue with God judging us according to our righteousness - which by the way, the word righteousness in the Biblical context essentially means to be in right standing with God. Can anyone guess what that issue is? We aren’t righteous! And if you think you are, sorry to rain down on you today, but you’re not! Romans 3-
9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.
10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 3:10-20, 23 NLT
And then later in Romans we see what the result of this sin & unrighteousness is:
23 For the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23 NLT
Months ago our tech director Mike Norman preached a sermon where he showed us a picture of the Heavenly courtroom - where God is seated on his throne as the judge, and we are on trial. And in this trial, the evidence against us is staggering. We are ALL clearly sinners. If God judges us according to our righteousness, and none of us in ourselves are righteous, how in the world can we gain that right-standing before God? The passage in Romans 3 goes on to say this:
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matterwho we are. Romans 3:21-22 NLT
And in 1 John 2 we read:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 ESV
So when this judgement comes. God will look at his people - who are unrighteous sinners - and welcome them into the Kingdom of Heaven. How? Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, God doesn’t look at those who are in Christ and see their sin and unrighteousness… He sees his Son. In other words, God doesn’t judge us according to our unrighteousness, rather, he judges us according to Jesus’ righteousness.
I mentioned earlier that there is an issue with God judging us according to our righteousness. That issue is that, far too often, we try to earn our right-standing with God. We try to gain favor in God’s eyes by our works. Yet, the passages we just read are clear that we have no capability of gaining righteousness in God’s eyes. Our only hope is in our faith in Christ.
A theme that is very evident in the New Testament is that a big part of that faith in Christ is the repentance of our sins. For a person to have faith in Christ, it means recognizing that Christ has paid the penalty for their sins. And not only understanding that Christ has paid the penalty for our sins, but the word “repent” actually means to feel remorse or regret to the point that you change your mind about what you’re doing.
But notice the judgement for the one who doesn’t repent. Verse 12
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts. Psalm 7:12-13 ESV
Now wait a minute Cody, I thought we were saved by faith alone! So are you saying that repentance is a “work” we must perform in order to earn our salvation? Not at all! Listen to what Mark Dever of 9Marks says in regard to this topic, “Repentance and faith are really two sides of the same coin. Repentance is turning from sin. Faith is turning to, trusting in, and relying on Christ. Repentance is not a “work” anymore than faith is: we simply renounce our sin and rely on Christ.” (Dever)
For the believer in Christ - their genuine faith in Jesus is accompanied with a heart of repentance - leading to a right standing with God. However, the one who doesn’t repent has no faith in Christ.
Yes, the language in this text is very strong - even frightening - to those who are not followers of Jesus. But just as faith & repentance go hand-in-hand, so also does God’s judgement & his righteousness go hand-in-hand.
So why is this important? Because we know from this passage that God is a just judge. Let’s think about it this way: If God is just - if he is righteous - in judging the Christ-follower by the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus… And repentance is part of that faith in Jesus… Then wouldn’t it be just for God to judge the nonbeliever according to their lack of faith & repentance?
Now the question becomes this: Are we able to humble ourselves enough to recognize that judgement is of the Lord?... And that The Lord is righteous?... And when we do recognize that… Can we take refuge in it?
We’ve seen in this reflection from David that God is powerful… That God is in control… But as we wrap up our time today, we should note David’s attitude before the Lord. Let’s jump back to verse 3.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Psalm 7:3-5 ESV
David’s example of humility in this passage is astounding. After crying out to the Lord for refuge - saying ‘Save me, O God, from my enemies!’ He immediately looks inward at his own innocence. He’s essentially saying, ‘O Lord… if I am guilty, then bring judgement against me accordingly.’ What David is doing here is he’s humbling himself before the Lord, in recognizing that God is the one who brings judgement, and he does so righteously. A great picture of David’s attitude I think can be summed up in CJ Mahaney’s words from his book, Humility.
“Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.” (Mahaney, 2005)
The opposite of humility is pride - and Mahaney goes on to say this about pride in his book:
“Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence on him.” (Mahaney, 2005)
If you’re anything like me, these words may have just rocked you. The first time I read these passages I instantly evaluated myself - and I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw. Maybe you’ll relate to this - I sometimes struggle with making less of my sin by comparing it to other people, who on paper, may look worse than me. But when I assess my sin in light of God’s holiness… it’s not even worth comparing.
In that comparison, you have me - a mere sinful human being - vs - the Creator of the universe who is all powerful, all loving, and all righteous. When we assess ourselves in light of these standards… pride flees rather quickly and humility presents itself much greater.
So in this prayer, we’ve seen that:
And now, David’s humble reflection in Psalm 7 culminates in verse 17 with these words,
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. Psalm 17:17 ESV
In the midst of fleeing for his life from enemies that were desperate to kill him… through all of the anguish and heartache… David’s reflection ends in him THANKING the Lord and singing praises to Him. Folks, we have so much to learn from this example. We have trouble thanking the Lord when the weather is a little crummy - let alone if we were fleeing for our life. But this attitude of David is a narrative that is reflected all over the Bible - both Old and New Testament. This call for God’s people to have thankful hearts and joyfully praise the Lord is a key component in the life of a Christian.
For in God’s almighty power, and love, and glory, he provides for us refuge, brings just judgement, and displays his righteousness to all, all through our Savior, Jesus who perfectly fulfilled these things during his life, death, and resurrection. And with that, may we respond in humility, with thanksgiving and praise. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, you are all powerful, all wonderful, all loving, all caring, and so much more. Father, many folks in our church are experiencing hurt in some way or another. I pray this morning that those who are hurting will flee to you for refuge, just as David did. May we recognize that no situation is too big, nor too small, but that you are sovereign over all - and that you care for us.
God may we forever surrender the truth that judgement belongs to you. Humble us, Father, that we may be quick to forgive those who wrong us rather than demanding justice by our own means.
Jesus, we thank you for your loving sacrifice. By your death and resurrection we are able to be declared righteous despite our own iniquities. May we never abandon the truth, that you gave your life, so that we may live.
And now God, may you grant us humble hearts, and fill us with joy, as we praise you in song. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
As you go please receive this benediction.
May you leave here today taking refuge in the Lord, who looks at his people and declares them righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross. Amen. Gateway Church, GO - and proclaim the Gospel in all that you do. YOU. ARE. SENT.
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