Psalms 7:7-9

⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you,

    while you sit enthroned over them on high.

The Lord sits on high above all on His throne in heaven.

Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar. – Psalm 138:6

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. – Psalm 11:4

Hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. – 1 Kings 22:19

David is calling for God to sit on His throne of judgment in front of the heavenly hosts.

⁸     Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
    according to my integrity, O Most High.
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
    and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
    who probes minds and hearts.

How could David say that he is righteous?  David himself tells us that no person is good.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

    there is none who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

    to see if there are any who understand,

    who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

    there is none who does good,

    not even one.  – Psalm 14:1-3

The only thing that would make David’s righteous is the Spirit of God within him.  David knew the Spirit of God was with him and within him.  He testifies of it in Psalm 51:11 when he prays to God, “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

David is praying here for God to vindicate him based on the actions he has taken and on the integrity of his heart which has followed the Lord’s command through His Spirit.  Otherwise he can’t make that prayer because he himself knows there is no good in man. 

O LORD, judge the people, condemn the wicked and free the righteous!  Only He can do this as only He knows the mind and heart of every man.

Psalms 7:6

⁶ Arise, Lord, in Your anger;

    rise up against the rage of my enemies.
    Awake, my God; decree justice.

This is such a powerful statement from David.  Especially if you’ve been subject to the deeds of evil people or an evil person.  Yes!!  Oh Lord Yes!!  Rise up in Your anger against them!! 

This is also a very Old Testament mindset, but we should be reminded that the Lord is the same God and He does not change.  David prayed for God to rise up in His anger, not David’s, against the rage of his enemies that were dealing with him unjustly.  David wisely knows that when God rises up to oppose his enemies, his enemies are doomed.  God’s justice is perfect.  God’s opposition to them will be perfect and there is no escape.

To say this, David is confident that he has not wronged his enemies.  If he has, he has just prayed for God to allow him to be trampled and overtaken by them.  David knows he sits on the side of God’s righteousness and his enemies oppose God’s righteousness or God Himself.

Jesus taught for us to Love our enemies and Pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:44).  The spirit of the text being to pray for their salvation.  To pray that they will turn on one of the chances they get to choose to believe in God since God doesn’t will that as single person would perish in to the eternal flames of a very real Hell.

Is David praying differently than Jesus teaches?  David who had the Spirit of God within him is praying for God’s anger to rise up against the rage of his enemies. 

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. – Romans 12:17-19

Notice that David isn’t praying that he be allowed to destroy his enemies.  He is asking God to take His anger against them.  He is praying for God’s wrath upon them.  Paul teaches in Romans that the ungodly live at enmity against God (Rm 8:7-8).  That is, they are enemies of God.  David knows this and is praying for God to repay them.  David knows that God will deal with them perfectly.

²² Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut;
May their best friends be trappers who’ll skin them alive.

²³ Make them become blind as bats,
Give them the shakes from morning to night.

²⁴ Let them know what you think of them,
Blast them with your red-hot anger. – Psalms 69:22-24

Do we want any less?  If people have hardened their heart against God and are intent on opposing Him everywhere they can to include intruding and demanding me to change my lifestyle – to take away my freedom to worship and live as well as I can according to the Word of God, then yes I want God’s anger to rise up against their rage, so they will meet Him face-to-face.  Perhaps then, they can decide if they want to oppose the living Lord forever or realize that that powerful God is reaching out to them even while He stands against them.

Either way, I want those who don’t know God to be presented with God.  I pray they will act justly and stop battling me, but if they won’t, I pray that the one true living God will rise up and stand against them, so they will know there is a God that is everywhere and who is all life and who loves His children.

It is important however to remind myself that God’s timeline isn’t mine.  I must rest in peace knowing God will save His children and confront their enemies.  He will deal justly with them perfectly.

Psalms 7:3-5

³ O Lord my God, if I have done this:

If there is iniquity in my hands,
⁴ If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or have plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
Yes, let him trample my life to the earth,
And lay my honor in the dust.  (NIV)

How many people do I know that are willing to sacrifice their worth, their pride, thein “honor”, their life, so willingly so that righteousness will be done?  How many people do I know that believe righteousness is so important that it must go forward as a priority over even their own cause?  Am I willing to believe in righteousness so vigorously?

An interesting thing to note here about David is he was very close to God in these extreme trials.  In battles with enemies or his king, he turned to God with complete abandonment of himself, as we all should.  In 1 Samuel 13:14 we read Samuel telling the king Saul, “the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler of his people”.  And in Acts 13:22, “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”  David was a man whose internal desire was pursuit of the purpose and character of God.  This he did, especially when in confrontations, battles, and trials. 

I have often thought that David’s fall came when he relaxed as a deserving king that didn’t need to be in those battles, leading and inspiring the men, but resting in the palace comforts while they fought.  I recently heard someone say that “happiness is the enemy”.  The point was that once they rested in comfort of accomplishments in life, they would stop achieving – they would lose their drive and their ability to take risk.  They would be unwilling to lose everything to achieve great things.  I wonder if David had lost some drive as king during his dark days of sin and had relaxed his pursuit of God’s righteousness.  (The response to this quote was, “if you can never let yourself achieve happiness, then you have already lost.”  I don’t know what the answer is to these opposing thoughts.) 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

David has the most noble of thoughts here from his heart.  He considers that he is capable and may have done wrong to these people unknowingly.  Maybe they are justified.  If he’s actually done wrong to these people, then the just answer is for him to be dealt with properly.  That is honest repentance and putting God then others first.  We should strive to be so noble.

Light of Life

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12 

Today, I certainly don’t feel like I have the light of life.  I wonder if God has left me.  I assume this means that I am not following Him, if I interpret the verse above correctly.  How can you follow when you can’t hear or there are no words for you?  Where is the life from the Spirit?

Perhaps God has judged me and He has left me to myself as a judgment.  I certainly deserve this.  What then? 

I know that life is precious and everyday should be lived and not taken for granted.  Yet, life seems hollow.  Every aspect of life seems to hurt and I make everyone around me miserable.  I try to hide it, but those closest to me know something is wrong.  Perhaps I am just really tired from the fight.  Everything is a fight.  I am criticized on all sides.  The light of hope fades and I fight to keep it alive.

As I write I notice that there are way too many “I”s in the above paragraphs.  “I” should not be so important to my own landscape. 

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  - Psalms 51:10-12

God did not speak to Israel for 400 years.  No prophets came during that time.  That is 12 to 15 generations of families.  That is longer than the United States has been a nation.  Even so, some in the culture kept the Word of God and the society was a theocracy based on the writings from God through men of previous generations. 

Then, Jesus came as a child and died as a sinless man.  He was resurrected and through Him life was created and can be recreated.  The dead society following words could choose God and receive His Spirit and walk in life.  Long before, David knew how important that Spirit was within him and pleaded with God to not take it from him.  Now, the Spirit is available to any who choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of the one true living God.

Today I plead as David did, for a new pure heart, to not be cast from the presence of God, that the Spirit would remain in me and my own spirit be renewed, that my joy of His salvation would be restored, and my own spirit would be willing to persevere.  May it be so.