Judgment in the Psalms (Ps. 7, 35, 109)

[Josh]

Our first theme in our Psalms series will be "judgment" in the Psalms. In Reflections on the Psalms, Lewis treats the most difficult subjects in the Psalms first and leaves the sweet stuff for dessert

The homework reading this week is Psalms 7, 35 and 109.

If you peruse these Psalms, you'll notice that God's "judgment" over peoples/ the earth/ situations is seen as something to rejoice over, something to welcome (see Psalm 7, for instance, where the Psalmist even says: Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.)

Judge me, according to MY righteousness? Doesn't someone sound a bit cocky here?

From a Christian standpoint, at first blush, this might seem like a foolhardy thing to seek out, since we all know that we all alike deserve judgment and yet are saved by God's grace. So why do the authors of the Psalms look forward favorably to God's judgments? Isn't there a danger of pride or hypocrisy in wishing that God would judge your enemies?

Furthermore, what are we to make of those Psalms in which the author wishes and even prays that calamity would befall his enemies? For example,

Psalm 35:4-9

4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. 5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away; 6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them. 7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, 8 may ruin overtake them by surprise-- may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin. 9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.

Or, even worse, David speaking of his enemies says in

Psalm 109

8 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. 9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. 10 May his children be wandering beggars; may they be drivend from their ruined homes. 11 May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. 12 May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. 13 May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. 14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. 15 May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

[stevekimes]

I believe that the poetry of the Bible reflects the full emotional expression of humanity. So David speaks openly of vengeance and curses his enemies clearly. And this is clearly a part of David's spirituality (although not with his son, Absolom).

But should this be a part of our spirituality in Jesus. Jesus is the "fulfiller" of the OT Scripture, and thus he fulfilled all the sections of the OT that was inadequate or broken-- such as, for example, David's sins against Uriah and Bathsheba, or Moses' sin at the rock. I am not saying that such passages above were sin for David, but they are not a part of the fullness of Christ. Jesus said, "bless and do not curse," and so cursing is not supposed to be a part of our spirituality. But that is the life of Christ, who ask for his enemies to be forgiven. The life of David was full of bloodshed, which made him inadequate to build the temple, but not so much a sinner that his descendants would reign God's people eternally. As disciples of Jesus, we should see forgiveness and blessing, not cursing, to be our model.

[Josh]

I believe that the poetry of the Bible reflects the full emotional expression of humanity. So David speaks openly of vengeance and curses his enemies clearly. And this is clearly a part of David's spirituality (although not with his son, Absolom).

Yes, it's interesting to observe the full range of emotion and attitude toward judgment in David's life.

I'm inclined to think that perhaps, if he is truly the author, David wrote a Psalm like this later in his life:

Psalm 143
A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. 5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6 I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. "Selah" 7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD, for I hide myself in you. 10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.

Seems like we're meeting an older, wiser, more humble David in this Psalm.

For my teaching since this is such a complicated topic I've decided to treat the issue of "eagerness for judgment" separately from the cursing Psalms, as Lewis does in Reflections. So, for tomorrow I'll mainly be discussing Psalm 7. In a couple of weeks we'll return to the difficulties of Psalm 109.

[Josh]

Some related quotes from C.S. Lewis, which we discussed today:


“The reason [people in the Psalms ask favorably for judgment] soon becomes very plain. The ancient Jews, like ourselves, think of God’s judgment in terms of an earthly court of justice. The difference is that the Christian pictures the case to be tried as a criminal case with himself in the dock; the Jew pictures it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff. The one hopes for acquittal, or rather for pardon; the other hopes for a resounding triumph with heavy damages. Hence he prays ‘judge my quarrel’ or ‘avenge my cause’”

“Christians cry to God for mercy instead of justice; [the ancient Jews] cried to God for justice instead of injustice.”

“I think there are very good reasons for regarding the Christian picture of God’s judgment as far more profound and far safer for our souls than the Jewish. But this does not mean that the Jewish conception must simply be thrown away. I, at least, believe I can still get a good deal of nourishment from it. It supplements the Christian picture in one important way. For what alarms us in the Christian picture is the infinite purity of the standard against which our actions will be judged (Matthew 5:48) But then we know that none of us will ever come up to that standard. (Romans 3:23, James 2:10). We are all in the same boat. We must all pin our hopes on the mercy of God and the work of Christ, not on our own goodness (Ephesians 2:8).

Now the Jewish picture of a civil action sharply reminds us that perhaps we are faulty not only by the Divine standard (that is a matter of course) but also by a very human standard which all reasonable people admit and which we ourselves usually wish to enforce upon others. Almost certainly there are unsatisfied claims, human claims, against each one of us… Of course we forget most of the injuries we have done. But the injured parties do not forget even if they forgive. And God does not forget.”

-CS Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms

[Josh]

Link to Audio of the Judgment in the Psalms Teaching

[stevekimes]

Josh, how did you upload your audio file? I'm trying to find a host for my audio files...

[Josh]

The church website service we use has a built in file download system.