Westtown Church
Westtown Church
The Refuge of God's Justice
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We often think of God as a Refuge--that is, we find comfort in taking refuge in God's love. But have you considered that in a world where people are too often horribly mistreated, we can take refuge in God's justice? Psalm 7 reminds us that God's people don't take vengeance in their own hands but trust God to set things right--because He will.
Trusting God Through Unjust Treatment
Speaker 1Good to be with you all . I'm Pastor Corey Colravey , with Paul . I welcome the regular folks that are here , and we give a special welcome if you're a guest , like my mother , who's here . So I'm going to be on my best behavior this morning , but it's always a pleasure to be in God's house , isn't it ? God blesses his people when they come to his house , and he also blesses sinners who come seeking him . I'm going to introduce Psalm 7 here , or I'm going to introduce it now and we're going to go through it together in just a few minutes . We're going through the Summer Psalm series . We're going through the Summer Psalm series and we're up to Psalm 7 .
Speaker 1The old Puritan Matthew Henry . He said the injuries people do us should drive us not to revenge but to God , for to Him we may commit our cause . The hurts that you have in your life , the unjust things that have occurred to you from other people , what do you do with it ? God's brought you these things into your life . He's sovereign over all things . Not a hair drops from our head without His command . And so what do you do with it ? What do you do with the hurt he sends into your life ? Well , it should drive you to him and not only drive you to him , but then , when we go to him in prayer , he calls us to commit our cause to him , our just cause . I wonder if you believe that this morning Human history is filled with people getting revenge on one another . Right , look at the Middle East . I always laugh when they say the Middle East process . How long has that process been going on ? God's people are to be holy . We're to be different .
Speaker 1You'll notice in the superscription of this song , it mentions that word a Shigion , a Shigion of David , which he sang to the Lord . Concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite , well , we don't really know what Shigion is . There's a lot of educated guesses . I'll spare you from that rabbit trail . We also don't really know who Cush is , but we do know Cush is a Benjamite . You'll notice there . And the Benjamites there was a group of Benjamites that were against David , king David , right ? You remember King Saul ? He was a Benjamite . You may remember when David was fleeing out of Jerusalem , there was a Benjamite named Shammai that was cursing David . Remember that from 2 Samuel 16 . But I want you to take note in the superscription . There's something there that's very important , that's going to set a theme throughout this psalm . Notice , it was the words of Cush that were causing David so much injury and distress .
Speaker 1The words of Cush , our Lord James , teaches us in the New Testament , the second letter listen , how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire , and the tongue is a fire . A world of unrighteousness . The tongue is set among our members , staining the whole body , setting on fire the entire course of life , and set on fire by hell . Strong words , jesus said . I tell you , on the day of judgment , people will give an account For every careless word they speak .
Speaker 1We live in a culture that devalues speech . It's become more and more vulgar and full of lies . A lot of hateful speech out there isn't there . Spend five minutes on Twitter , you'll see Better . Yet don't spend five minutes on Twitter .
Speaker 1What's this psalm going to teach us ? It's going to teach God's people , those who want to honor God . It's going to teach us what we do with the unjust treatment we receive in this world , what we do when we get the hatred from the world for one reason or another , particularly if we're living like Christians . The world doesn't like that , and it's going to call upon us , god's going to call us through this psalm to trust in him and to trust in his judgment . We often think about trusting God for the forgiveness of our sins , but do we trust him for his judgments in dealing with the unjust things that are brought upon us by other people ? So David's driven by faith for God's deliverance and help through prayer here .
Speaker 1I'm not going to read through the whole psalm at the beginning . We'll do most of it along the way . I am going to ask you , if you would , to please stand . I'm going to read just the first two verses and I'm going to read these as you stand because they really set , I think , the tone and this is somewhat the theme of this psalm . So I remind you , this is the infallible and errant holy word of the living God . He sends it to you in love , so receive it by faith in your hearts . A Shigion of David which he sang to the Lord .
Speaker 1Concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite O Lord , my God , in you do I take refuge . Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me Less , like a lion , they tear my soul apart , rending it in pieces , with none to deliver . The grass withers and the flowers fade , but the word of the Lord endures forever God's people said amen you may be seated . Word of the Lord and doers . Forever God's people said amen you may be seated . Father , your word gives life , your word transforms us into the likeness of Christ . So shine your light into our hearts and minds today and make us more like your son , jesus Christ . We ask it in Jesus' name , amen . Well , you see these first two verses here . O Lord , my God , in you do I take refuge . Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me Less like a lion . They tear my soul apart , rending it in pieces , and none to deliver . Well , as we saw a week or two ago , sticks and stones may break my bones , but words will never hurt me .
Speaker 1Baloney right , the Bible certainly doesn't believe that the words of Cush had wreaked havoc in David's life . In verse 1 , we see Cush stirred the pot against David in such a way that he got a whole pack of pursuers . Notice it's plural . He got a pack of pursuers going after David . It put David's very life in danger and it was ripping him inside and his soul , was tearing his soul apart . He was afraid that it would literally destroy him . David had no one else to turn to . None to deliver , he says except you , lord . And so David's distressed at this unjust treatment , but he's trusting God . Are you trusting God this morning ? Are you taking your distress or any unjust treatment to God ? You know Satan is the great accuser of the brethren . He's going to remind you of all kinds of things . He's behind evil schemes of Cush and many others .
Speaker 1It may have been King Saul that was after David here , we're not sure . Could have been David's own son , absalom , but either way , the apostle Peter says this 1 Peter 5.8 , be sober-minded , be watchful . Your adversary , the devil , prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour . One of the ways that Satan devours people is through wicked words . Wicked words destroy lives . Wicked words destroy lives . If they don't destroy lives , they destroy livelihoods . If they don't destroy livelihoods , they destroy reputations . If they don't destroy reputations , they destroy relationships and , at a minimum , if they don't destroy relationships , they certainly are a massive burden and joy stealer from those who are on the other end of it . It destroys and burdens people's hearts and souls . You see that in David I've had people tell me in my time as a pastor of words that their family had said to them 50 years ago , and you can still see the pain in their eye . It scarred their soul . Words do great damage and the devil prowls around like a lion , and he himself doesn't have to destroy you . He just simply needs to find someone where he can inspire them to be an instrument of his , of his , to do the destruction for him . And if it's somebody from your own family , well , that's great . Well , king David's son Absalom was filling that role , or it could be somebody even from within the church . That's , that's good too . And King Saul was filling that role . You remember he was part of Israel . That was God's old covenant church .
Speaker 1Jeremiah Burroughs , an old Puritan . Tigers rage when they smell fragrant spices . Well , the ungodly rage when they smell the aroma of Christ , the aroma of godliness . And I say that because what's happening between David and Cush here is not simply a personal spat between David and Cush . They're caught up in a much bigger battle between the righteous and the wicked , the righteous and the wicked .
Speaker 1You remember , right after the fall , when Adam and Eve fell into sin , god began his sermon and he preached right at Satan , with Adam and Eve being able to hear his sermon . And what he said there in Genesis 3.15 is to Satan . I will put enmity there . It is enmity between you , satan , and the woman , eve , and between your seed , your children , satan and her children and , of course , the children of Eve . He's talking about the children of God . He's talking about the godly , the righteous , and the children of Satan is the wicked . And so this is a clash not just between David Remember , he's not just a personal believer , he's the king of Israel . This is a clash between David and Cush , yes , but it's also a clash between Christ and Satan . It's a picture of that . And it's also a clash between the church and the world .
Speaker 1And one of the things , as God's people , that we have to learn to deal with in this world is how do we deal with hateful speech that comes to us , whether it's lies or slander , whatever the case may be , for whatever reason . Psalm 119 , 165, . Great peace have those who love your law . Nothing can make them stumble . We see , great peace have those who love your law , your law , the law of not just the commandments of God , but the word of God , law in the broader sense . And you see , david knows , he knows Psalm 1 here .
Speaker 1The blessed man is that man who trusts and delights in God's law , his scriptures , and meditates on it day and night . He knows the truth about God Because God's revealed himself to David through his scripture , you see . So he knows the character of God , and we're going to see that in a minute . But he also knows Psalm 2 , blessed are all those who take refuge in the Lord . And that's exactly what David is doing . He's taking refuge in the Lord and the Lord's going to help him . So we see David's refuge here . It's the covenant , lord . He's in a relationship with God by faith and through the grace of God .
Speaker 1But notice David's boldness . David's refuge is the Lord himself . But notice David's boldness . David's refuge is the Lord himself . But notice David's boldness in verses three through five . His boldness is rooted in the fact that he has a clear conscience .
Speaker 1Look at how bold he prays . Oh Lord , my God , now three ifs . If I have done this , if there is wrong in my hands , if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause , let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake . Itundered my enemy without cause , 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 . That's a bold prayer , lord , if these things are true that they're saying about me . Well then , take my life in the most shameful way in the dust . Well then , take my life in the most shameful way in the dust . That's a clean conscience right there . He's so confident in how he prays to God If I have done this . Oh Lord , this , the this is the accusations , all the slander that Cush has brought against David , accusations of betrayal and treachery and other things . And so David has this great blessing of a clean conscience before God , because he knows he's in the right in this case and we're going to see . Therefore , he knows that God is going to be on his side , because God always does what is right . Doesn't the judge of all the earth always do what's right ? He does ? David knows his God .
Speaker 1Now , david's not claiming to be sinless here . That's important to remember . What he's claiming is he's innocent of these things that he's being accused of . In other words , he's blameless is sometimes the word you'll see in the Psalms I'm blameless , lord . Somebody says they're blameless . It doesn . Somebody says they're blameless . It doesn't mean they're sinless . It means these things that are being said about me in this particular case at hand . I'm not guilty of these things that they're saying about me . It's not true .
Seeking Justice Through Faith in God
Speaker 1Sometimes , as Christians , we flatten sin out . Well , we're all sinners . We say yes . But I want you to imagine for a moment if I have a married couple sitting before me in the pastor's office and I'm talking to them and the husband says well , you know , we're both sinners . And then I look at the wife and she has a black eye yeah , of course you're both sinners , but you're beating your wife , you see , that's the issue . And so we can't just flatten everything out and say , well , we're all sinners .
Speaker 1No , god sorts out particular cases and he can see who's right and wrong in a particular case . Sometimes , of course , both are wrong , but it is possible that people and often so are mistreated , and if you're on the right , you need to remember that . That principle has saved my sanity more than once . Who am I to judge them for the wrong they're doing to me ? I'm a sinner too . Well , you know what what they're doing is wrong . You see David's he's not claiming to be sinless , but he's putting his finger on the truth and what they're doing is wicked , and he knows God's going to come to his aid , because God defends the cause of the innocent and the oppressed , even though they're not sinless . We have to remember that . And so David's willing to be searched by God . Are you willing to be searched by God this morning ? Verse three if there's wrong in my hands , as Cush claims , if I've repaid my friend the one I'm at peace at with evil , or plundered my enemy without cause , if I've done these things , I'm accused of Lord . Then , verse five lay my glory in the dust .
Speaker 1Pretty remarkable , you see , david's being . He was pulled into a conflict . David didn't go looking for the conflict , he was provoked . He was pulled into it because of his persecutors , by Absalom and by King Saul . Sometimes you just find yourself in a battle that you didn't start , nor the one that you wanted , but you're in it . And you see David's now being blamed for something that he didn't even start and doesn't want to be a part of . But he's in it and he's innocent .
Speaker 1In this particular case , david knew the Old Testament scriptures that God requires his people to be generous and kind to their personal enemies . For example , in Exodus 23 , 4 , god instructs his people that if they come across their enemy's stray ox or donkey ancient world farmers right If their ox or donkey , you see , if you found your neighbor's ox . Some people's livelihood totally depended upon that one ox . And if it's your enemy you might think , oh boy , this would be a great timeended upon that one ox . And if it's your enemy you might think , oh boy , this would be a great time . Just let that thing go , let it go out there and die .
Speaker 1But God says no , no , no . You take that ox or your donkey of your enemy and you take it back to him . That's how you love your enemy . If your donkey's lying down under the weight of the burden on its back , you're to help your enemy get that animal back upright . Proverbs 25 , 21, . It's also echoed in Romans 12 in the New Testament . If your enemy's hungry , you give him bread to eat , and if he's thirsty , give him water to drink . We're to personally love our enemies , even when we find them in that moment morally repugnant . Aren't you glad God loved us when he saw that we were morally repugnant ? We don't have to deny the truth about what people are doing , but we're holy like God , and the love of God is like nothing in this world . And so God's people are to love our enemies even as God has loved us .
Speaker 1And it's interesting that David spared King Saul's life twice . King Saul was the persecutor , he was the pursuer . He was trying to take David out , and he could have killed him on two different occasions , and he did not do it . Once in the cave of Adullam , in 1 Samuel 24, . Two chapters later , he found Saul sleeping in the camp . He could have killed him there . He had mercy on him . At that time as well , david had not repaid his pursuers with evil , which reminds me of Jesus , luke 6 .
Speaker 1If you love those who love you , what benefit is that to you ? For even sinners love those who love them . And if you do good to those who do good to you , what benefit is that to you ? For even sinners do the same . And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive , what credit is that to you ? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount .
Speaker 1But love your enemies and do good and lend , expecting nothing in return , and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the most high , for he is king to the ungrateful and the evil . Be merciful , Even as your father is merciful . God puts his sunshine and rain both upon the godly and the ungodly alike , on the righteous as well as the wicked . And that's the kind of love that Christ has showed us , that love that went above and beyond , even in the face of something ugly and horrible Romans 5, . For while we were still weak , at the right time , christ died for the . What For the godly ? No , christ died for the ungodly , for one will scarcely die for a righteous person , though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die . But God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners , christ died for us . While we were enemies , we were reconciled to God by the death of his son . While we were still enemies , while we were still sinners , the love of God secured our salvation .
Speaker 1You see , the love of God is holy , and David had treated his enemies as morally repugnant as they were , as ungodly as they were . He had treated them kindly , thus reflecting the kind of love that God shows . And it's why he could pray in verse 8 , the Lord judges the peoples . Judge me , o Lord , according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that's in me . You see , he's got confidence that in this particular case he's not guilty . He's not guilty . And so in the first couple of verses you see David's refuge . He's fleeing by faith and prayer to the covenant Lord . And then we see David's boldness . He has this clean conscience before God . He knows that in this case he's in the right . It's not arrogant to know that you're in the right . If you're in the right , you don't want to be arrogant about being in the right . We get dangerous when we know we're in the right , sometimes right . But it's not wrong to know that you're in the right . God knows it if you're in the right . And so , thirdly , notice David's passion . He has a passion for the justice of God in verses six through 11 .
Speaker 1We'll look at the first couple of verses of that section . Arise , o Lord , in your anger . Lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies . Awake for me . You have appointed a judgment . Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you over it . Return on high See .
Speaker 1He mentions this fury of his enemies . This is the unhinged outburst of hatred and anger that's coming at David from his enemies . But I want you to notice David has a certain knowledge about God , that his faith latches onto here . He sees something true about God that God has revealed about himself . And notice what he sees and what he understands is that God's just anger is more powerful than his enemy's unjust anger . It's a very comforting thing to remember if you're being mistreated out of hatred from somebody . Now , god's anger is not a flying off the handle like our sinful anger . No , it's holy and it's judicious . It's always right . But there's a key to David's peace in verse six here , look at it . You have appointed a judgment . David knows God is going to deal with these wicked , unjust people who are wreaking havoc in his life and in God's church , because you've got to remember , israel was the old covenant church . That's his confidence , that's his peace .
Speaker 1And , as David or Derek Kidner says , david has more than just a concern for justice here . He has a deep conviction God is most certainly going to deal with it . He has appointed a judgment . Oh , it's coming . You can hear the clock ticking and that is so important if you've been unjustly treated that you know a judgment is coming and you don't have to take vengeance into your own hands . That's a sinful thing to do . Vengeance is mine , I will repay , says the Lord . You give it to God .
Speaker 1Sometimes you can't reconcile with someone . Sometimes you can . That's a beautiful thing when you can extend forgiveness and your relationships reconciled . But sometimes you cannot reconcile with somebody and they continue to spew hatred and unjust treatment . What do you do ? Do you just carry all that around ? No , you entrust , commit your cause to God , knowing who he is . He's a just God and he will deal with it . He will deal with it in his infinite wisdom and in his time .
Speaker 1And David's using military language here . He knows God is a warrior . There are many metaphors for God in the Bible , but one of the things he is is a warrior . Arise in your anger , lift yourself up awake . Awake to the judgment you've appointed . That we read about back in Psalm 2 , against all who rebel against your chosen king . He's praying God's word . He's praying for God to keep his word . These are all military terms .
Speaker 1When the ark would set out in Israel , when they would go to battle , moses would say Arise , o Lord , and let your enemies be scattered and let those who hate you flee before you . You see that in Numbers 10.35 . But what's the point ? The point is we live in a moral universe and there is a judge over all the earth and he sees and he's appointed a judgment and in the end , no one gets away with anything . The whole world is under the oversight of a holy God , a holy and just God . Notice how David continues to pray oh , let the evil of the wicked come to an end and may you establish their righteous , you who test the minds and hearts . Oh , righteous God , you see how he's broadening out his personal issue and him as king . He wants that established in Israel and in the world .
Speaker 1My shield , verse 10 , my shield is with God , who saves the upright in heart . God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day . I think it's remarkable . He says my shield is with God . Alec Motier points out that if you notice , in the Old Testament it's the servants who carried the shields . So David's in battle and he knows God is his shield bearer . He's serving David . He knows God will serve him in his spiritual battle , in the thick of it . God saves the upright . He's a righteous judge . He feels indignation every day and when God feels something he acts upon it . He doesn't just feel it and then move on . He feels because he's going to act , just like when he hears he's going to act .
Speaker 1We got to make certain distinctions . We're to love our enemies as Christians , but we have to . Sometimes we get confused . We have to remember that it's one thing to fulfill personally loving someone . It's another thing to desire civil justice in a particular case . I'll give you an example . I own a bank and I'm the president Not really , but let's just say , for today's purposes I do and somebody steals money out of that bank , a large amount , destroys the bank , destroys my investments , destroys my livelihood . Does God expect me to love that person ? He does , but it is not wrong for me to want civil justice . In that case I can personally love someone and yet at the same time want civil justice to be carried out against that person in the court of law . Those two things are not opposed . God is a God of love and forgiveness . He's also a God of justice . That's the first thing you have to remember when you read the Psalms , lest you might get confused at what David is actually praying for . But secondly , cs Lewis says there's two kinds of justice . You have ultimate or heavenly justice and you have earthly justice .
Speaker 1And a lot of times when Protestants think about the judgment of God , the judgments of God , we think immediately the final judgment , and that's good and right . We should think about the final judgment . I think it was Luther who said I make it my business every day , you know , as if today's going to be the judgment day , so to speak . That's a paraphrase , but so that's important . We should think about the final judgment . But oftentimes in the scripture there's judgments in history . God intervenes in judgments . Look at verse eight . It doesn't say the Lord will judge the peoples . It says the Lord judges . There's ongoing judgments . The Lord judges the peoples . To study history is to study the mercies and judgments of God upon nations and peoples . And James Boyce , I think , is right .
Speaker 1We Christians today have sometimes focused on the importance of a forgiving attitude in this life to the detriment of actually working for justice . You see , david has a passion for justice here in this psalm and it's a right and good thing . There's nothing sub-Christian about it , because this reflects the passion that God has for justice . And where do we see this forgiveness of God and this passion for justice in God come together ? It's in the cross of Christ . We can be forgiven because Christ bore our sins in the judgment . Aren't you glad for that ? But we never want to say God doesn't throw his justice out the window so that he can forgive us . He fulfills the demands of justice that he can forgive us . He fulfills the demands of justice that he can then extend his forgiveness . And this is why it's important for us to be champions of the poor disadvantaged . Who's going to help them ? In the Tampa area , westtown is involved with New Life Warehouse . We're involved with the prison outreach metropolitan ministries and other types of mercy ministries . God cares about justice to the poor and those who are not being treated right .
The Call to Uphold Justice
Speaker 1Secondly , we , boyce says , we have to have upright conduct ourselves . It's hard to have a passion about justice if you're not living it out yourself , and so we must think about our attitudes toward other people . How do we think about other people ? They're socially , culturally , ethnically , economically . Are we impartial ? Are we fair ? And then , are we committed to a vindication of the righteous ? We must see that there are situations in our culture and in our lives that there are those who do good and they should be acknowledged for that . And there are times we have to identify the wicked and call it out . One of the great sins of the church during the Second World War in Germany was not speaking up at times when they should have . And there's times in this country there are times we have to speak up and say things that are wicked in God's sight , and that takes courage .
Speaker 1But the history of the Christian church ? One of the beautiful things of studying the history of the church is that you see all along the way , even though the church has failed at various times and it has its own stains and sins , just like Israel and the old covenant , just like the early church that we read about in the Bible , it had its faults and sins . Nevertheless , wherever the gospel has gone and ranged in the heart of God's people and made a big impact on cultures , you see justice flowing down to those who have been mistreated or perhaps those who are poor for whatever reason . The early church people would be amazed in the Roman Empire that the Christians would take these babies that were just set outside in the sun to die after being born , and the Christians would pick them up and take them home and raise them . People couldn't understand why they would do this , because it was right . That's justice , that's the right thing .
Speaker 1Think about all the Christians throughout the ages . They established hospitals as monuments to God's mercy and schools so that people could read the Bible and be literate and functioning in society . Christians strove and were at the head of the spear to abolish slavery . Think about the important work of crisis pregnancy centers and adoption agencies , and on and on . These are all important to God , and think about the righteous , just anger that Jesus himself showed in the gospels .
Speaker 1Think about who he got angry with the legalistic leaders putting burdens , putting unnecessary burdens on people . Jesus got angry when they pushed the children to the side as if they weren't important . He got angry at the self-righteous Pharisees because they were hypocrites . He got angry when he went into the temple and he saw that they had just covered the . They had made it a market in the court of the Gentiles Instead of Gentiles people who weren't from Israel being able to come in and learn about God and pray and get answers to their questions . They just turned it into a fair where they sold sacrificial animals for ballpark prices , and it angered Christ and he overturned tables and pulled out a whip the same meek and mild and gentle Christ , the one who's gentle and lowly turned over tables and chased him out with a whip .
Speaker 1There is such a thing as a holy and just anger . Now be careful with that , especially if you're wearing a what would Jesus do bracelet , because sometimes what Jesus would do and what he wants us to do is not the same thing . Maybe we're not called to overturn tables and pull out a whip he's the Lord , you've got to remember that . But you see that there's a place for just holy anger , and you see it in Christ . And so you see here David's passion for justice and then notice David's hope .
Speaker 1In short , if you look at verses 12 and 13 and 14 , if a man does not repent , god will wet his sword . He has bent and readied his bow . He has prepared for him his deadly weapons , making his arrows fiery shafts . Behold , the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies . He makes a pit , digging it out , and falls into the hole that he has made . His mischief returns upon his own head and on his own skull . His violence descends . What does David know ? He's encouraged because of who God is and the moral universe he's made .
Speaker 1There's a futility to evil . It's going to collapse upon itself . The wicked , when they're sowing evil , are sowing their own destruction . Remember that when somebody mistreats you , people that are persecuting other people and treating them unjustly and destroying livelihoods and slandering and ruining their reputation , they're sowing their own destruction . And if they don't repent , god's going to destroy them . Sword and bow . His bow is bent and ready . That's quite a picture , isn't it ? The God of love and forgiveness will destroy the wicked if they don't repent .
Speaker 1Everybody is called to repent by God , romans 2.4, . Paul says so . You presume on the riches of God's kindness and forbearance and patience , not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance . Don't mistake God's patience . If you're not right with God , don't mistake his patience with you and think that your sin's no big deal .
The Boomerang Principle of Justice
Speaker 1But David is encouraged by another principle . Not only is there this futility of evil , but there's a boomerang principle . We had boomerangs as kids . Anybody have a boomerang . Those are kind of fun . But you know how . You fling them out there and they go around and they come back , hopefully . Well , the same thing happens . God has ordered it to where those who dig a pit for somebody else , eventually the wicked person , unless they repent , god's going to have them in the pit themselves . Sooner or later they're going to pay the piper . And David knows this . He knows there's a moral order to things . Remember Haman in the book of Esther Wicked Haman built that wanted to hang Mordecai on the scaffolding there . So he built the scaffolding to hang Mordecai on and Haman ended up getting hung on it himself . It's the boomerang principle and sooner or later God will bring that to pass .
Speaker 1People can say , well , I don't believe in God . Well , that's fine , don't believe in gravity either . But when you step off the roof of the building , good luck with that . We live in a moral universe and you cannot deny these moral realities . People are secular minded , but we don't live in a secular world . We live in God's moral world and God is a righteous judge and he will make all things right in the end .
Speaker 1And you see , that's why David can end this psalm in verse 17 . He glories in the character of God . He knows God is going to take care of his enemies . He knows God is going to take care of him and he knows God's going to take care of his enemies . He knows God is going to take care of him and he knows God's going to take care of his people . And he knows in the end righteousness will prevail upon the earth . He knows in the end justice will be done .
Speaker 1So where is safety to be found ? The same place David found it by taking refuge , by faith in the Lord . And the way we do that is we trust Christ . He is the Lord , he's that greater David . He's the one that absorbs the justice we deserve so that we can receive the forgiveness from God . That way , we can go about our life at peace with God and knowing who he is . He's not just a God of forgiveness , he's also a God of judgment . We can entrust the unjust things that have happened to us to him and love our enemies , as he has commanded us to do .