Anticipating Worship: Crying For Justice
Psalms 129
June 19, 2022
As we have studied through the book of Psalms, we have several times come across those Psalms known as IMPRECATORY PSALMS.
These are the songs in which
The Psalmist calls down judgment on his enemies.
Psalms 5:10 “Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”
Psalms 7:9 “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.”
Psalms 10:15 “Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.”
Psalms 58:6-11 “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD. Let them flow away like water that runs off; When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts. Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun. Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”
• And believe me when I tell you that those are just the tip of the ice burg.
• The book of Psalms is filled with imprecatory requests.
• You could go back on our website and study through any one of those Psalms again if you want a refresher on the imprecatory Psalms.
But as we have studied them we have talked about
The apparent problem that they cause for our theology.
• In fact, to many, they seem like a contradiction.
• They seem down right unchristian.
• They are even often disregarded and even almost stricken from the Bible.
You hear statements like:
“That was an Old Testament Psalm, but in the New Testament we cannot pray like this.”
That is to say that this is a part of the Bible
That was apparently wrong until Jesus came and corrected it.
But I remind you again as I told you then.
• Either every word proceeds from the mouth of God or it doesn’t.
• Did the Holy Spirit not inspire the Psalms?
It is foolish to simply disregard them because they seem to us to be a contradiction to what we are taught in the New Testament.
However, we must answer the problem.
For clearly we are commanded by Jesus in the New Testament to
• “pray for those who persecute you”
• “turn the other cheek”
Paul taught us in Romans
Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
And we distinctly remember Jesus rebuking James and John for wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans saying,
• “I did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
So what do we do with these Psalms that ask God to judge the wicked?
Let me quickly remind you of some of the things we’ve learned over our study of Psalms about these Imprecatory Prayers.
IMPRECATORY PSALMS ARE ONLY TO BE SUNG TO GOD
• Imprecations are only meant for one recipient.
• Imprecations are meant to go to God and God alone.
• We do not address them to the world, we address them only to God.
We don’t go out and threaten the world with vengeance.
• We turn the other cheek,
• We return a curse with a blessing
• And we offer the gospel.
There is a place for imprecation,
But it is not for the personal vengeance of the Christian.
IMPRECATORY PSALMS ARE A BLESSING TO BELIEVERS
It is a blessing because it allows us
To have a release of our righteous indignation.
• On those days when we grieve and lament the sin of our culture.
• On those days when we are like Lot and feel our righteous soul tormented by the behavior of our society.
• On those days when the wicked ascend to power and it seems as though there is no one to stop them.
We don’t pick up a sword…
We don’t engage in physical violence…
We take our frustration and we lay it at the feet of the Righteous Judge.
We bring it only to Him.
And it is a blessing to have such a One who not only agrees,
But who also has the power to bring such evil to an end.
It is a blessing for us to have such Psalms.
WE TAKE THEM ONLY TO GOD AS A SAFEGUARD
It is also true that sometimes my indignation is not righteous indignation.
• Sometimes it is selfish indignation.
• Sometimes it is unjustified anger.
• And sometimes I can’t tell the difference.
But when I bring it to God, He is the One who knows my heart
And can rebuke me and correct me and transform me.
(much as Jesus did to James and John)
Luke 9:55-56 “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”
James and John thought they had righteous indignation.
The reality was that actually they were just selfish
And put out by the Samaritans.
And Jesus corrected them.
That is why we only bring such songs to the Lord.
1) Because He is the only one charged with delivering justice saying, “Vengeance is Mine!”
2) And because He always has true justice when I might wrongly dispense it on those who do not deserve it.
Now we’ve talked about those realities for the imprecatory Psalms.
TONIGHT let me give you a couple more reasons we sing such songs.
WORSHIP
When we sing such songs it is a verbal testimony
That we disapprove of the vile treatment
That our King receives in the world.
• We sing them and declare Him worthy or honor!
• We sing them and declare Him righteous to judge!
• We sing them and declare Him vindicated in His wrath!
By the way, you sing some of them perhaps without realizing it.
(Especially if you have sang some of the Sovereign Grace songs with us on Wed nights)
HOW GREAT
Forever without end, creation will rejoice
When works of wicked men, You finally destroy
Your power we’ll proclaim till Christ descends
And You will reign forever without end
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/how-great-psalm-145/
HOW LONG O LORD?
You will conquer every evil thing
Every sorrow, pain, and wrong
They will cease with Your return, our King
How long, O Lord, how long?
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/long-o-lord/
WE LOOK TO YOU
Deliver us from evil, Lord;
The devil’s seeking to devour
With trembling hearts we hear his roar,
But Your strong arm will crush his pow’r
We look to You, we look to You,
Come and end his earthly reign
We look to You, we look to You;
Lord, deliver us, we pray
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/we-look-to-you/
Those are songs in which
God’s righteous judgment is brought to the forefront.
We sing those as songs of worship to God.
• We acknowledge His justice.
• We acknowledge His sovereignty.
• We acknowledge His worth of glory.
AND THESE ARE IMPORTANT SONGS.
We live in a day when God’s justice or righteousness or goodness is continually blasphemed by men.
• How many today have looked at the suffering in the world and immediately
sought to condemn God as one who is not good and righteous?
• How many today have taken such a dim view of God’s justice that they openly
and blatantly do what is offensive to Him right before His very eyes?
Carrie and I went to Oklahoma City last week to the Women’s College World Series. Two blocks from the house where we stayed was a Methodist church with a rainbow “Pride” banner hanging right on the side of the building.
It is obvious that God’s justice has come under attack.
Songs such as these must be sung as an act of worship!
THERE IS ALSO A 4TH REASON WHY THEY MUST BE SUNG
TO ENCOURAGE THE SAINTS
They must be sung as a reminder to the body of Christ
That their suffering is temporary and the reward is secure.
• We never want the church to fall into the deception that God will not vindicate them.
• We never want the church to assume that they will turn the other cheek forever.
We seek to remind the congregation that
• Though we are currently hated and mistreated,
• One day our God will come with vengeance
• And will deliver His own and crush the wicked.
This is truth and we sing it as a congregation
To worship God and encourage the saints.
AND THAT IS THE THRUST OF PSALMS 129
We are still looking at those “Songs of Ascents”
• It is still that group of songs that became the unofficial hymn book for the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
• They are the songs of the caravan as they anticipated gathering before God as His people in worship.
And it is certainly right and fitting that at least one of these hymns
Focused on the coming righteous judgment of God.
God’s people need this!
God certainly deserves it!
So tonight let’s examine this 129th Psalm.
4 points
#1 A SONG THAT REMEMBERS TROUBLE
Psalms 129:1-2a, 3
The song begins with a soloist of sort.
The choir leader here seems to stand and announce:
“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,”
He announces his plight to the caravan.
But very quickly, lest we assume this is merely a personal testimony,
The Psalmist gives instruction.
“Let Israel now say, “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;”
And at this moment you hear the entire congregation
Cry out in remembrance of her lifelong trouble.
He even says in verse 3
“The plowers plowed upon my back; They lengthened their furrows.”
It is a vivid description of horrific persecution.
It is pictured like a man was laid in a field
• And had a plow drug over his back,
• And the plow was set deep,
• And the plow was drug the full length of his body.
It is a vivid picture of what was true for Israel from the beginning.
• We read of Abraham and how Abimelech did not fear God and even took Abraham’s wife in order to marry her.
• We read of Laban mistreated Jacob.
• We know of Pharaoh and the slavery which he inflicted upon the Israelites.
• We see the attacks of Balak
• We read about the Philistines and their giant
• We read about the Moabites
• We read about the Amonites
Men who continually attacked and persecuted Israel.
• We know of Tiglath-Pileser or Assyria and his slaughter of Israel.
• We know of Nebuchadnezzar and how he destroyed Jerusalem.
• We know of Antiochas Epiphenes and his rage against the Holy Land.
• We know of Rome and her slaughter of innocent Jews
• We know of Hitler and Stalin and the Palestinians
Certainly much of their persecution happened after this Psalm was written,
But it remains that it is none the less a relevant song.
Israel has been under attack since the day she was chosen of God.
Abraham was called “The Hebrew”
He was a stranger and an alien in the world.
AND THAT NEVER CHANGED.
BUT THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR THE CHURCH.
The church enjoyed no “honeymoon” period where she had no hostility.
No sooner did the church explode on the scene than did persecution rise to attack it.
• Peter and John were arrested and flogged.
• Stephen was stoned to death.
• James was killed with the sword.
• Philip had to flee.
What is true is that God’s people
Have been in constant trouble in this world.
Paul borrowed from the Psalmist to explain the suffering of the church.
Romans 8:36 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
Paul even wrote to the Corinthians a sort of chronology of his suffering.
2 Corinthians 11:24-27 “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”
God’s people have been in constant trouble.
And here the church is called to remember that.
“Let Israel now say, “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;”
• They are NOT called to forget it.
• They are called to remember it.
• They are called to declare it to God.
• They are called to relive the plow upon the back for a moment.
• They are called to remember the horror of their ill-treatment.
This song begins by remembering trouble.
But there is a reason.
A Song that Remembers Trouble
#2 A SONG THAT REJOICES IN DELIVERANCE
Psalms 129:2b
“Yet they have not prevailed against me.”
The purpose of remembering their trouble
Was NOT so that they might grow bitter and angry.
NOR that they might fall into self-pity and despair.
The purpose of remembering their trouble is so that
They might see that God has been faithful to deliver them.
Israel survived!
The church has endured!
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
And it hasn’t.
It has not mattered how many evil rulers have stepped onto the scene in order to eradicate God’s people, NONE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
• Pharoah could not drown all the baby boys.
• Haman could not execute all the Jews.
• The Jews could not eradicate the church.
God’s people have survived
Romans 8:36-37 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
There has been vicious enmity aimed directly at God’s people
Since the day God chose them, and yet they remain.
How remarkable is it that Israel remains a nation?
• Yes, they are temporarily under God’s judgment
• Yes, they temporarily have rejected Christ
• But they remain a people.
It is equally remarkable that the church remains.
• Started from nothing with uneducated and untrained men.
• No money, no leaders, no assets
• Constantly hated by the world around her
• She is still here.
So the beginning of this Psalm is really for the purpose of
Making sure that the congregation understands that
Though we are hated, we have survived.
That is a good reminder for us.
• When we live in a world that is hostile to the truth.
• When we live in an out of season kind of culture.
It is good for you to remember that the church has faced hatred since the beginning but that hatred has not been able to stop her yet.
AND IT NEVER WILL.
“Yet they have not prevailed against me.”
THIS IS HOW THE SONG BEGINS.
But even that is NOT the entire purpose of the song.
• It is NOT just to get you to pat yourself on the back for surviving hardship.
• It is certainly NOT meant to get you to be proud of yourself for enduring.
You know that.
There is a reason we are called to recognize
That despite our suffering we are still here.
#3 A SONG THAT RECOGNIZES THE DELIVERER
Psalms 129:4
Well that makes sense!
The choir leader wanted us to focus on our suffering and on the fact that though it was bad we have survived.
He did that because he wanted us to understand WHY we have survived.
“The LORD is righteous;”
This statement is the lynch pin of the Psalm.
This is the truth that the Psalmist is calling upon the congregation to recognize.
WHAT DOES HE MEAN?
He means that the reason the wicked have not been able to annihilate God’s people is because “The LORD is righteous”
AS WE SAID A MOMENT AGO,
This is quickly forgotten or overlooked or even scorned in our world.
Men repeatedly question God’s righteousness.
Sinners repeatedly ignore God’s righteousness.
Even brass “churches” spurn God’s righteousness.
BUT THE PURPOSE OF THIS SONG
IS TO KEEP THE FAITHFUL FROM FORGETTING IT.
Namely that: “He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.”
Earlier the wicked were portrayed as those who plowed upon the backs of the redeemed.
Here they are seen as captors who ensnare and enslave and who tie up God’s people with ropes.
Psalms 18:4-5 “The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.”
Psalms 119:61 “The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.”
Psalms 140:5 “The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.”
The wicked have persecuted the righteous.
And they most certainly would have prevailed.
BUT…
“The LORD is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.”
GOD HAS JUDGED.
GOD IS JUDGING.
There are countless stories of persecution
In which the wicked oppressed the righteous,
But there are also countless stories of when God caused
The wickedness of sinners to descend upon their own head.
IT DOES HAPPEN.
Do we not remember Pharoah drowning in the Red Sea?
Do we not remember the King of Assyria being assassinated in his own land?
Do we not remember Haman hanged on his own gallows?
Do we not remember Herod being eaten with worms and dying?
God has rendered judgment many times for His people.
God has intervened many times and “cut in two the cords of the wicked”
We have seen His righteousness many many times.
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
And the POINT OF REMINDER here to the church is that
It is easy in a world of persecution to fall prey to the deception
That God is not doing anything about it.
That would be a lie from the enemy.
If God had totally forsaken His righteous judgment
Then God’s people would have already been eradicated.
God is still righteous.
God does still cut in two the cords of the wicked.
He does that even today.
Even today God acts and moves in a righteous manner for His people.
Yes persecution persists…
Yes suffering continues…
But God has not fully given us over to any of it.
And that is the reminder of the first half of this song.
SING THAT GOD IS RIGHTEOUS!
Recognize His deliverance.
Recognize that He is currently at work, even now, judging sinners.
BUT ALSO RECOGNIZE THIS
What today we see in part, someday we will see fully!
And that brings us to the final stanza of the song.
These final 4 verses are sung because “The LORD is righteous”
#4 A SONG THAT REQUESTS JUSTICE
Psalms 129:5-8
There is the imprecation.
There is the calling down of judgment.
“May all who hate Zion…”
It’s NOT JUST upon those who hate God.
It is called for upon those who hate God’s people.
(Indeed they are one and the same)
This is a song sung by the congregation
Regarding those who hate God’s church!
Did you know God had a song like that?
Did you know God wrote a song for you to sing when the world hates you?
It is a song
• That focuses on His deliverance and His righteousness.
• That ultimately tells you to focus on the day when He fully crushes His
enemies.
In fact, God even gives you the words to sing.
“Be put to shame” – NO HONOR
• In a world that loves to call evil good and good evil.
• In a world that celebrates the sin of pride and sexual immorality.
• In a world that throws parades for wickedness,
The church cries out that such rebellion will “Be put to shame”
And it’s not just things like pride month.
I was at a school fund raiser golf tournament a couple of weeks ago where I saw an entire group of adults boasting about the amount of alcohol they could drink!
That won’t happen forever.
Some day this world will no longer put sin on a pedestal.
Isaiah 66:24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
The Psalmist continues
“and turned backward” – NO SUCCESS
• We grieve today when the agenda of the wicked moves forward.
• We grieve when men fight for the right to murder the innocent.
• We grieve when cultures celebrate what God calls sin.
But they won’t forever.
There is coming a day in which God will stop sin in its tracks.
There is coming a day when an evil agenda will not advance another inch.
(6-7) “Let them be like grass upon the housetops, Which withers before it grows up; With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;” – NO ENDURANCE
Isaiah 40:6-8 “A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
It seems today that evil endures and wicked men prosper and thrive.
The Psalmist prays for just the opposite.
He compares them to grass, specifically the grass of a roof.
• It no longer grows…
• It no longer thrives…
• You can’t use it for anything…
• There’s not enough to gather or make into a bale of hay…
It’s withered and gone.
Someday this will occur.
Men will travel the globe and not a shred of wickedness will be found.
(8) “Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD.” – NO BLESSING
• Today we see the world actually bless and applaud wicked men.
I told you a couple of weeks ago in our study of 1 John how it is grievous to me when even professing Christians will deliver a blessing upon sinful behavior.
There is coming a day when that will not happen.
• There is coming a day when sin will no longer be applauded or approved.
• There is coming a day when the evil enabler will be silent.
• And sinful behavior will not be blessed.
WHY IS THAT DAY COMING?
Because “The LORD is righteous”
And based upon that knowledge
The church is called to sing that God unleash His righteousness
And rid this world of sin and rebellion.
AND WE SING THIS!
We pray this!
We beg God for this!
Charles Spurgeon said:
“It is but justice that those who hate, harass, and hurt the good should be brought to naught. Those who confound right and wrong ought to be confounded, and those who turn back from God ought to be turned back. Loyal subjects wish ill to those who plot against their king. ‘Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks,’ is but a proper wish, and contains within it no trace of personal ill-will. We desire their welfare as men, their downfall as traitors. Let their conspiracies be confounded, their policies be turned back. How can we wish prosperity to those who would destroy that which is dearest to our hearts?”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of David: Volume 3 – Part 2; Psalms 111-150; Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA] pg 110)
We agree!
And this is one of the reasons that the church gathers for worship.
• We gather to worship God for His righteousness.
• We gather to encourage the saints that God is righteous.
AND WE GATHER HERE AS A FORESHADOW
Of the coming worship that will one day occur in heaven.
Do you remember what that worship will look like?
Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
That is the coming worship of heaven.
And when the saints gather today
In a foretaste of heaven we join in their worship.
We worship God for His righteousness.
We cry out that God’s righteousness
Would break forth over the whole world!
• That does not negate our desire that the wicked turn and be saved.
• That does not negate our hope that men will repent.
• But we are not willing to sacrifice God’s righteousness for the comfort of sinners.
We are not those who see God’s justice
As something He should conceal.
We love the righteousness of God!
We praise God for His righteousness!
We appeal to God to put His righteousness on display!
We cry with John at the end of the Revelation “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”
