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David’s Hope (Psalms 110)
David’s Hope
Psalms 110
June 27, 2021
If you ASK PEOPLE today what is the most famous Psalm
I think it’s probably a shoe-in that Psalms 23 would win the vote.
For centuries the church has rested in the promises of the Good Shepherd
And His care for His sheep.
If I were to ASK YOU what your favorite Psalm is, the answers might be pretty diverse.
• We love the 22nd and its revelations of the cross.
• We love the 46th and its promise that we will not be moved.
• We love the 73rd with its relevant discussion on wealth.
And the list goes on and on.
But it is apparent to me that if you were to ask the apostles
What their favorite Psalm is then I think I can confidently say
That their answer would have been: Psalms 110.
No Psalm inspired more New Testament writing than Psalms 110.
• Psalms 110 was quoted by Jesus during the last week of His life.
• Psalms 110 was partially preached by Peter at Pentecost.
• Psalms 110 was quoted by Peter in his defense before the Sanhedrin.
• Psalms 110 was the Psalm that inspired the entire book of Hebrews.
IT IS HUGE!
If we were to trace out and discuss in detail
Every time this Psalm is referenced
And fully exposit the texts where it is quoted
I suppose it would take us almost a year to fully deal with them all.
This Psalm has far-reaching application.
And we will certainly at least touch base with those uses
As we study the Psalm tonight.
BUT BEFORE THIS PSALM WAS EVER QUOTED BY JESUS
OR PREACHED BY THE APOSTLES
It was first a song written by David
Which expressed his joy in a coming salvation.
In fact, I have chosen to title this Psalm: “David’s Hope”
That is what it is all about.
In this Psalm David has been granted the privilege of
HEARING AN INNER TRINITARIAN CONVERSATION.
David says right off the bat, “THE LORD SAYS TO MY LORD”
• Certainly that is privileged information that David was given by God.
• In all actuality what David heard would be a POST-ASCENSION conversation between the Father and the Son.
So clearly David was given prophetic preference here
As God chose to reveal to him events that would occur
Following the incarnation, ministry, death and burial of Christ.
Before Christ ever came
• David saw the success of His ministry.
• David heard the promise of His reign.
• David understood His role as a priest.
• David saw His coming in power.
And what David heard here from the LORD
Became the very hope of salvation of David.
But it wasn’t just David’s hope,
• It also became Peter’s hope
• And the writer of Hebrew’s hope
• And it becomes our hope as well.
So tonight we are going to take a look at
Perhaps THE MOST FAR-REACHING PSALM in the entire book.
As I said, we can’t possibly extract every truth it inspired,
But we can certainly celebrate with David
As he examined this promise that gave him such great hope.
We are going to divide this Psalm into 3 points tonight
As each of them outline a specific truth on which David rested his hope.
#1 A PLEASING LORD
Psalms 110:1-3
Let’s just contemplate for a moment what David just heard.
“THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD: “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”
Even without our New Testament enlightenment
This is still a remarkable verse to behold.
David here makes an important announcement.
• David has a “LORD”
• David has one to whom he has submitted his life.
• David has one in whom he is trusting.
• David has picked a Savior.
BUT YOU AND I KNOW THAT
This selection is only good if God accepts Him as well.
I mean, what good does it do
To select a delegate to stand before God on your behalf
If God does not accept that delegate?
You can pick Muhammad or Buddha or Joseph Smith to be your savior if you want,
But it won’t do you any good if God doesn’t accept them.
That is why David is so elated here.
In verse 1 David learned that God has accepted David’s savior.
“The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
To sit at God’s right and was a declaration of acceptance.
And so on this day David learned that God has accepted his Lord.
THAT IS GOOD NEWS.
It’s no wonder that the New Testament took this verse and ran with it.
FOR WE UNDERSTAND THAT
If Jesus Christ had not been acceptable to the Father
Then you and I have no Savior.
This was Paul’s main argument in that famous 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians when he argued for the truth of the resurrection.
Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
• If God didn’t raise Christ then that means that Christ was not acceptable to God.
• And it doesn’t matter how much you liked Christ,
• If God doesn’t accept Him on your behalf then you are sunk.
How wonderful to know then that God has accepted Him.
Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
• And of course God would state that again on the day Christ was transfigured.
This is foundational to our faith and salvation
To know that God has accepted Christ on our behalf.
God’s acceptance of Christ is the BEST NEWS any believer can ever hear
FOR IN HIS ACCEPTANCE WE ARE ACCEPTED.
And as we pointed out the apostles took this verse and ran with it.
Let’s take a quick look at their application of this great verse.
First we would point out that Jesus used this verse.
Matthew 22:41-46 “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”
Obviously Jesus used this verse
To point out that He was in fact greater than David.
And this is precisely how Peter would use this verse too.
At Pentecost Peter preached:
Acts 2:34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,”
• David never rose from the dead…
• David never ascended to heaven…
• David was never invited to sit at the right hand of God…
Jesus was greater than David.
The apostles jumped all over that point.
The writer of Hebrews expanded it even further to point out that by reason of this verse Jesus was also greater than the angels.
Hebrews 1:13 “But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?
So clearly the apostles loved this verse
Because it highlighted the preeminence of Jesus.
Jesus is the greatest and the highest.
He alone was invited to the right hand of God.
BUT EVEN THAT ISN’T THE MAIN POINT.
• The main point that the New Testament liked is that Jesus not only was exalted to the Father but that He sat down.
“Sit at My right hand…”
The writer of Hebrews especially loved this.
• He loved to point out that sitting reveals rest.
• He loved to point out that sitting reveals being finished.
• He loved to point out that no earthly priest ever did this in God’s presence.
But Jesus has so perfectly finished His work that He sat down.
Saying it first in:
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
And then using Psalms 110 to support his statement later:
Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
Jesus perfectly finished His work.
There was nothing left to do.
• God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and because it was “good” or perfect “God rested”.
• Jesus came to earth, fulfilled the righteous requirement of God, and then bore the wrath of God on sin and on the cross He said, “It is finished!”
• And when Jesus ascended He rested; He sat down at the right hand of God.
THE NEW TESTAMENT LOVES THAT TRUTH.
And the apostles also loved the word “until”
Noting that His sitting on heaven’s throne is temporary
UNTIL He comes to sit on earth’s throne.
“Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Currently, as Christ is seated next to the Father,
The Father is actively working to subdue Christ’s enemies.
One by one God is subduing Christ’s enemies.
One by one God is breaking them down.
If you don’t know where God is doing that, then look around this room.
Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
WE are those enemies that God has subdued
And brought to the footstool of Christ.
Paul describes what an enemy of Christ looks like:
Philippians 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
THAT WAS US.
• We were those who were enemies of Christ, but God subdued us.
• He revealed to us our rebellion.
• He called us to repentance.
• He sent His Spirit to regenerate us.
• He gave us faith.
• He atoned for our sin.
• He brought us to Christ.
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This is why it is a foolish statement to say that
You long for Christ to reign if you are not involved in evangelism.
• Evangelism is the very essence of longing for Christ to reign.
• Evangelism is the very involvement of God’s work to bring Christ’s enemies to His footstool.
And so the apostles loved this verse.
They saw so much of the gospel here and the expounded on it greatly.
But even apart from their explanation,
Just FROM DAVID we learn a great deal about our hope.
WE SEE HIS SEAT
“The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
• David had hope because his Lord and Savior had been accepted by God.
WE SEE HIS SCEPTOR
(2) “The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
That is again a reference to the kingdom of heaven.
God would be at work to bring the hearts of wicked men into submission to Christ.
I am one of those; you are one of those.
• We are those who have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.
• We are those who have bowed the knee to Christ.
David had hope because his Lord had been accepted
And because God had promised that His kingdom would flourish.
WE SEE HIS SERVANTS
(3) “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.”
One commentary pointed out that nearly every translation of the Bible
Translates this passage differently.
• And that has made for varying interpretations of the passage, but we can still make sense of the point.
“Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;”
Perhaps the more accurate picture is that of “freewill offerings”
• That Christ’s people will present themselves as a freewill offering in the day of His power.
Like Paul said:
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
OR
Philippians 2:17 “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.”
David saw Christ’s people willingly pouring out their lives for Him.
He saw them “In holy array”; clothed in the righteousness of Christ,
But also working for the sanctification that He desires.
David saying, “Your youth are to You as the dew.”
Some translated this verse about Christ saying,
“You have the dew of Your youth”.
It’s difficult to know which, but the implication seems to be that
• Christ’s enemies have been made His servants.
• They serve Him now willingly and gladly.
• They wrap themselves in the holiness He desires.
• And they are a special blessing a delight to Him.
David saw all this coming.
• He saw a Savior, who perfectly finished His work and sat down at the right hand of God.
• He saw a God who began to turn sinners into saints and enemies into sons.
• He saw former rebels now serving Christ in holy array.
• He saw Christ delighted in their service.
And David settled his hope there.
He would smile at the future
Because His Savior would be a successful savior.
THAT IS OUR HOPE AS WELL.
That our Savior is a successful savior.
He is accepted by God and He does in fact subdue the hearts of men.
5
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
He has sounded fort the trumpet that shall never sound retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave; He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His foot-stool and the soul of wrong His slave. Our God is marching on.”
That was the hope of David as well.
He could look forward with prophetic eyes and sing
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”
We sing that same hope.
A Pleasing Lord
#2 A PERMANENT PRIEST
Psalms 110:4
This verse is widely considered the heart of the Psalm.
Indeed it is the verse that stopped the writer of Hebrews in his tracks.
• He read this verse and he could not go any further.
• He stopped in dedicated meditation.
• What is this oath that is written here?
• Who is this king that is now called priest?
• How is it that He is a priest forever?
• And who is this Melchizedek and how does he relate to Christ?
And by the time he finished seeking out this verse
He had written the entire book of Hebrews.
Some would even say that the book of Hebrews is nothing more than
An exposition of Psalms 110:1 and Psalms 110:4
And we certainly don’t have time to unpack all that the writer of Hebrews said about this verse as his commentary covered multiple chapters.
But we can read a little to bring it to our minds.
Hebrews 7:1-3 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
You have to go back and read Genesis 14 if you want the whole story,
But the point was simple.
After delivering Abraham from his kidnappers and capturing the spoil Abraham tithed a tenth of the spoil to this priest named Melchizedek.
• He was unique because he was both a priest and a king.
• He was also unique because we don’t have any record of his birth or death.
• In one sense he doesn’t have a beginning or an end.
• And he is unique because he is not a Levite.
And the writer of Hebrews applied all of that to Christ
Saying that Melchizedek was a picture of Christ.
• Christ also was greater than Abraham
• Christ also has no end of days
• Christ also was not a Levite
• Christ also was priest and King.
The writer of Hebrews would also say:
Hebrews 7:11-12 “Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.”
The writer of Hebrews simply pointed out that
If the Levitical priesthood had been perfect and sufficient
Then David would have never written Psalms 110:4.
That is to say there would have never been any talk about a new priest from a new line if those old priests had been good enough.
BUT THEY WEREN’T GOOD ENOUGH.
They didn’t make anyone perfect.
So God ordained a new priest,
And then the writer of Hebrews point out that when you get a new priest
You have to get a new covenant too.
(Because the old covenant explicitly stated that all priests had to be Levites)
So clearly in Psalms 110,
God was pointing out that there was coming a day
When we’d get a new priest and a new covenant.
And the writer of Hebrews seized upon that.
Hebrews 7:17-22 “For it is attested of Him, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.” For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER’”); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”
• The writer of Hebrews seized upon Psalms 110:4.
• He saw a new priest coming and this new priest was Jesus.
• And he saw this new priest coming with an oath from God.
IN VERSE 1 WE GOT AN ORACLE OF GOD.
And if there is anything stronger than an oracle of God
It is an oath from God. -Derek Kidner
God promised that someday David would get a new priest.
• Not a priest in weakness that could make nothing perfect.
• Not a temporary priest who would one day leave office or die.
• But David would get a powerful priest and One who would be a priest forever.
And if you want to know why this new priest
And His new covenant are better, just keep reading.
Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
• Christ is a perfect priest
• Christ is a permanent priest
• And so Christ permanently save those who come to Him.
“He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Now that is a “tip of the ice burg” explanation,
But that is still the point that David is so happy about.
• David never had a perfect priest before…
• David never had one who was capable of atoning for his sin and then setting
down because it was finished…
• David never had one who could make him perfect…
But God told him about a priest who one day would make him perfect.
AND THIS WAS DAVID’S HOPE.
AND THIS IS OUR HOPE.
• We are sinful men.
• We have no reason to expect that we could ever please God
• Or even stay pleasing if somehow we were to appease Him.
But here David heard of a Savior who was acceptable to God
And this same One would then perform as an eternal priest
To keep saved all those who come to God through Him.
That is salvation and that is security
And that was David’s hope and it is certainly OUR HOPE AS WELL.
Hebrews 6:16-20 “For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
• Jesus satisfied God.
• Jesus sits at His right hand.
• Jesus intercedes for us.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.” “When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace; through every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.”
That was David’s hope too.
A Pleasing Lord, A Permanent Priest
#3 A PROMISED REIGN
Psalms 110:5-7
One commentator pointed out that at this point David leaves the book of Hebrews
And approaches the book of Revelation.
For David also had a hope that
One day the heavenly kingdom would become and earthly one.
• David also had a hope that one day it would not just be men who were saved from their sin, but one day all evil would be vanquished.
• David had a hope that one day every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And that is the day David saw here.
(5-7) “The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.”
• Notice all the “He will” statements.
• It is promised, it is prophesied, Christ will come and will destroy His enemies.
We saw the same promise back in chapter 2
When those foolish kings were conspiring against God’s anointed
To throw His fetters off.
Psalms 2:7-9 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
THERE IS COMING A DAY
When all those who resisted Christ and refused His saving offer
Will have their knees broken and they will bow before Him.
• “He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath”
• “He will judge among the nations,”
• “He will fill them with corpses,”
• “He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.”
And the closing verse of the Psalm pictures
His relentless pursuit of the wicked until He finds none.
David said, (7) “He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.”
The picture is that of a general in pursuit of his enemies.
• He doesn’t just sit in his tent eating fine food,
• The general who wants to catch his foe pursue him, even drinking water from the brook on the way.
It pictures a relentless pursuit of the wicked.
And David says a king who is so passionate in his pursuit
WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE VICTORIOUS.
“He will lift up His head.”
He will pursue the wicked and He will not stop
Until every grape is trampled and every sinner destroyed.
THIS WAS DAVID’S HOPE.
• A Savior who was acceptable to God.
• A Priest who could keep him saved.
• A kingdom where the wicked would be destroyed forever.
Though the writer of Hebrews did not quote from the end of this Psalm, it is clear that he read it.
Hebrews 12:25-29 “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
IT IS OUR HOPE THAT
There is coming a day when our God
Will shake the heavens and the earth.
He will come and judge the wicked
And set up a kingdom which cannot be shaken
And a land where righteousness dwells.
We hope for the day when the curse is reversed and sin is gone forever.
“Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns; let me their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”
Now you see why the apostles seized upon Psalms 110.
• David spoke of his hope in a Savior whom God would accept on His behalf and this was Jesus.
• David spoke of a priest who would forever atone for his sin and keep him saved and this was Jesus.
• David spoke of at king who would crush His enemies and set up a holy earthly kingdom, and this was Jesus.
JESUS WAS DAVID’S HOPE IN ALL THINGS.
• Even though David was a king he knew he was not acceptable to God on his own.
• Even though David was a king he was not even allowed to be a priest.
• Even though David was a king he never fully rid the world of his enemies.
David’s hope was in a better king, his Lord,
Who would accomplish all of those things.
That is the same Lord we celebrate.
That is the same Lord we worship.
That is the same in Lord in whom we place our hope.
And tonight, just to remember this great hope
We are going to partake in the Lord’s Supper.
• As we do we see His body in which He earned the righteousness that was
imputed to us.
• A righteous life that was offered to the Father on our behalf.
• And in the juice we see His blood which was shed to pay the penalty for our
sin.
And it all hinges upon the fact that
THIS OFFERING WAS ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER FOR US.
HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE.
Another Look At The World (Ecclesiastes 4:1-16)
Another Look At The World
Ecclesiastes 4:1-16
June 27, 2021
Often times when we go on mission and spend time in a different culture
We speak of “culture shock”.
• It occurs when we get outside of the comforts of America and see villages of people living in utter poverty.
• We see them sleeping on dirt floors, drinking filthy water, wearing rags for clothes, and facing death due to lack of medical options.
• It can be eye-opening when you see it, especially for the first time.
Sometimes it is easy to sit in an air-conditioned house
Watching an HD television while drinking an ice-cold drink
And eating our third meal of the day
To forget just how much suffering there is in the world.
And yet, if you are willing to open your eyes
The suffering of humanity is everywhere.
If you stop and listen to a person’s story for just a few moments
You find that people everywhere are hurting.
We might even come to the conclusion that LIFE IS HARD,
Or even better yet that this WORLD IS CURSED.
And the simple fact is that you might insulate yourself from it for a while
But sooner or later HARDSHIP and SUFFERING and GRIEF will find you.
NOW THAT IS NOT A PLEASANT THOUGHT.
When a young man or woman graduates from High School
We very rarely send them a card about the cruelty of life.
• We talk to them about their bright future…
• We talk to them about all their opportunities…
• We talk to them about the potential for success…
Perhaps that is why you very rarely see a quote
From the book of Ecclesiastes on a greeting card.
The preacher here is just not “Hallmark” material.
• He does not sugar coat life.
• He does not hand out rose colored glasses.
• He tells the cold hard truth about life,
• And if you fail to listen to him the first time, then he will grab you and tell you again.
And with that we come to chapter 4 of this book.
Twice you see the statement (1, 7) “Then I looked again…”
Here the preacher takes another look at the world.
• It’s his honest critique.
• It’s his honest review.
He is out to tell you the truth, and as we have seen,
HE TELLS YOU THE TRUTH FOR A REASON.
• He has been saying repeatedly that the only true source of satisfaction is
found in the God who created you.
• He has repeatedly said that enjoyment comes only from Him and in Him.
• But if you look at this world apart from Him, you find a cold mean place to dwell.
What we are going to do this morning
Is actually cover this entire chapter in 1 sermon.
Indeed, I’m not sure our psyche could handle
Focusing on what he has to say much longer that that.
Here in the chapter we find 4 evils or vanities
That the preacher sees in life here on earth
And he wants to make sure that the young man is well aware of them.
Well let’s examine these evils or vanities that the preacher wants us to see.
#1 ABOUNDING EVIL
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
That’s a pretty difficult passage to read.
It is dark and depressing to say the least.
The preacher quit turning a blind eye.
Instead of turning away from the gutter, he purposely examined it.
He saw “all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun.”
• He simply forced himself to look at what goes on in the world.
• He made himself watch life.
• And he looked “oppression”
And his conclusion was a difficult one to swallow.
“And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressor was power, but they had no one to comfort them.”
What he saw is a definite injustice of this world.
• Sometimes those in power are evil.
• Sometimes those in power oppress the weak.
And I know that in Hallmark movies or in Hollywood blockbusters
In the end everything is supposed to be made right.
The preacher told the young man to turn off the Hallmark channel.
This life doesn’t wrap up happy endings in a nice and neat little bow.
• He saw the oppressed crying
• He saw them continually oppressed
• And he saw that no one cared to comfort them
HE SAW DEJECTED PEOPLE.
AND THE SIGHT WAS SO DISCOURAGING
THAT IT LED HIM TO MAKE A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT.
(2-3) “So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.”
Wow!
• “I congratulated the dead”
• “better off…is the one who never existed”
Those are certainly harsh statements.
But look at the oppression of this world
And see if you can’t come to the same conclusion.
Look at starving children in third world countries.
• See if you do not pity what they are born in to and have to survive.
• See if your heart is not granted relief when they die and escape the horror they were forced to live in.
It’s not a pleasant thought,
But we know there is truth here from the preacher.
There is evil and oppression in this world
And it is here to such an extent
That death can be seen as a welcomed relief.
How many times have we said around the grave of a loved one,
“At least they aren’t suffering anymore”?
You understand then the observation of the preacher.
• This life brings with it abounding evil.
• This life presents oppression and tears and a lack of comfort to so many.
• For so many it is a terribly hard life.
And the preacher is simply forcing us to look at it for a moment.
Abounding Evil
#2 EXHAUSTING LABOR
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
Now he looks at the working man.
He moves from skid row to main street.
And here he sees humanity breaking their back in rigorous labor.
And he makes some startling observations about that too.
(4) “I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.”
He noticed men working hard
And he noticed that the reason for their hard work
Is because they were in a heated competition with their neighbor.
The word “rivalry” there can actually be translated “jealousy” or “envy”
In short, he saw the “cut throat” nature of business.
He saw men locked in a brutal competition.
• And he saw them in a race with one another.
• That in order for this man’s business to grow stronger, that man’s business has
to grow weaker.
• It was a harsh battle for victory.
He sees men working themselves to death,
Not to simply earn a living, but to beat a competitor.
BUT HERE IS WHERE IT GETS EVEN SADDER.
(6) “One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.”
• It would certainly be nice if those competitors could just sit back and rest and stop the battle for supremacy.
But there is a problem with that.
It is the problem the preacher mentioned in verse 5.
(5) “The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.”
• If you “fold your hands”
• That is to say if you slack off or you take a break,
• You will ruin yourself.
Man is out there killing himself in competition to grow his business
And it would be nice to just stop, be content, and say he has enough,
But if he does that it will ruin his business.
IF HE TAKES A BREAK, HIS COMPETITOR WILL SWOOP IN
AND STEAL HIS CUSTOMERS AND CRUSH HIS BUSINESS.
So the man can’t stop.
• He has to work and work and work and work.
• He has to drive his employees hard.
• He has to push through.
There is no rest, there is only labor.
LOOK AT OUR WORLD.
There used to be blue laws where at least businesses closed on Sunday,
• But you can’t now because your locked in a competition with that other business that decided to work on Sunday.
• Businesses now open on Thanksgiving and some even Christmas because they have to get ahead of the competition.
We could probably ask, “What do you have planned this afternoon?”
• We live in a day now were the majority of people squeeze in Sunday morning worship, but no sooner is it over than do they have work to do.
• It is no longer a day of rest and the culture has made you feel guilty if you take it.
• It certainly is no longer “The Lord’s Day”
Do you see how the world has stolen rest, even from the people of God?
Look at coaches and athletes.
• Summer breaks hardly exist any more.
• From the second kids get out of school it’s right back to workouts and summer leagues.
• Sure, you could take a break, but that school down the road is doing it and since they won’t take a break, neither can you.
DO YOU SEE THAT IN LIFE?
Men push each other to work longer and harder
And it robs the whole world of rest.
Now men can’t quit because their opponent will overtake them if they do.
This world is filled with exhausting labor.
Abounding Evil, Exhausting Labor
#3 REGRETTABLE SOLITUDE
Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
Here we see a man who is so consumed with his work and his profit
THAT HE HAS LITERALLY FOUND HIMSELF ALONE.
(7-8) “Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.”
The preacher says this man has no “dependent”.
The word there is literally “second”.
It may be that more than an heir the preacher is talking about
It could be a business partner or even an employee.
He works and he works alone.
• There is no one to share his life with.
• There is no one to share his profit with.
• There is no one to share victory or defeat with.
His job has literally taken him away from every human relationship.
Ever see people like that?
• They were “married” to their job…
• They sacrifice family and friends because there is always work to do…
This guy works and works and works
Even at the expense of all earthly relationships
And never even stops to ask himself why.
At the end of the day he no longer has family or friends,
All he has is the job
And he doesn’t even have anyone to leave all his earnings to.
HOW SAD.
And in this case the preacher just can’t help it.
He takes a moment to explain the importance of relationships in this life.
(9) “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.”
• That is to say you get a BETTER PROFIT if you work with someone instead of
working alone.
• You can get more done and often work harder with someone with you.
(10) “For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.”
• Which speaks of BETTER HELP.
• Jobs are just easier when there is someone to work with.
(11) “Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?”
• A companion produces BETTER COMFORT than if you are alone.
(12) “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
• A companion is BETTER PROTECTION.
In short the preacher is just lamenting that guy
Who worked so hard all of his life and ended up alone
AND LOOK AT WHAT IT COST HIM.
Life would have been so much better
If he had had someone to share life with, instead all he had was the job.
It’s the old “Cats in the Cradle” Song
• About the man who was so busy working he never had time for his family
• And then in the end when the job is over his family has no time for him.
IT’S INCREDIBLY SAD. And yet we see it all our world.
We see those who because they were so busy working
They found themselves alone and missed out on the blessing of companionship.
Abounding Evil, Exhausting Labor, Regrettable Solitude
#4 FORGOTTEN ACCOMPLISHMENT
Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
THAT STORY CAN BE A LITTLE CONFUSING.
• In fact even translators will admit having a difficult time knowing exactly who all of the pronouns are talking about.
But I think the flow of the book helps us greatly understand his point.
Here we have 2 men.
• One is “a poor yet wise lad” who we also find out was “in prison”
• The other is “an old and foolish king”
Incidentally he is called “foolish”
Because he “no longer knows how to receive instruction.”
SO THE IMPLICATION IS THAT
We have a nation that is languishing under a stubborn king.
And because this king has made mistakes due to his pride
• The nation is ready for change
• And they turn to this “poor yet wise lad” who (14) “has come out of prison to become king”
• So the nation turns to this former poor prisoner because they have had it with the stubborn king.
And the preacher says, (15) “I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him.”
I saw this young man get massive support from the nation
And everyone loved him and supported him
And wanted him to be the king.
However, his fame was short-lived.
(16) “There is no end to all the people, to al who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.”
And the simple point is that
• Even though you may rise from poverty to greatness,
• And even though men may love you today,
• Your fame can be very short lived.
Ever watch pro athletes?
It’s actually a sad story.
• Fans can fall in love with an athlete; a quarterback.
• They’ll buy his jersey and chant his name.
• But it won’t be many years until the organization will draft a new young rookie
full of potential and before you know it those same fans will “boo” when the old quarterback takes the field and they’ll chant for his replacement.
AND SUCH IS LIFE.
• Accomplishment is often forgotten.
• Glory fades.
• It just doesn’t last.
• And after the world uses you, it will quickly discard you.
NOW THOSE ARE THE 4 OBSERATIONS ABOUT LIFE
THAT THE PREACHER MAKES.
Abounding Evil – this life produces no comfort for the oppressed.
Exhausting Labor – this life produces no rest for the weary.
Regrettable Solitude – this world will leave you empty and alone.
Forgotten Accomplishment – your glory will quickly be forgotten and discarded.
• Our world oppresses people
• Our world jealously attacks people
• Our world sucks people in and then isolates them and leaves them alone
• Our world uses people and then discards them
That is our world and you can see those things happening everywhere.
HAVE YOU EVER FELT THAT STING?
We call it THE CURSE
Genesis 3:14-15 “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
• The curse brought enmity.
• The curse brought rivalry.
• The curse brought envy and jealousy and cruelty and oppression.
Genesis 3:16 “To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”
• The curse brought pain and hardship and suffering.
Genesis 3:17-18 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;”
• The curse brought labor and robbed man of rest.
Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
• The curse brought death and the sting of being forgotten.
THIS WORLD IS CURSED.
And now, if you open your eyes you see things like:
ACTS OF OPPRESSION – Have you read about Cain killing Abel or Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery?
EXHAUSTING LABOR – Do you see man toiling to scratch out food from cursed ground and men crying out for rest?
REGRETTABLE SOLITUDE – Look at how this life leaves people alone. Look at how people are taught to work and make money and climb the ladder but sacrifice the people in their life to do it.
FORGOTTEN ACCOMPLISHMENT – Look at how this world uses people and then tosses them aside. This is what Israel did to Jesus even.
This world is cursed.
This world should never be the objective of your life.
GAINING THIS WORLD SHOULD NEVER BE THE GOAL.
Certainly that is a message to the young man.
If your ambition is to obtain this world you are in a sad state of affairs.
Open your eyes, this world is evil and exhausting and cruel and empty.
Just look at the WORDS THAT FLOOD chapter 4 of Ecclesiastes.
“oppression” – “tears” – “no one to comfort” – “evil activity” – “rivalry” – “vanity” – “striving after wind” – “not satisfied” – “laboring” – “depriving” – “grievous task” – “replaces” – “not be happy”
Do you see this world?
• It is broken and harsh and cruel.
• It leaves men oppressed without comfort
• It leaves men tired without relief
• It leaves men alone in solitude
• It leaves men forgotten and discarded
THAT IS THIS WORLD
And the preacher has sort of rubbed it in our face this morning.
BUT WHAT ARE WE TO LEARN FROM SUCH A REALITY?
• Are we just supposed to walk away depressed and defeated that we are consigned to live in such a cruel world?
No, we are supposed to see the cruelty of this sin cursed world
And be drawn to Christ.
This world will OPPRESS you, but Christ comforts the oppressed.
Luke 4:18-19 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
This world will EXHAUST you, but Christ offers rest to the weary.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
This world will LEAVE YOU alone, but Christ will come to you in your solitude.
John 5:4-5“for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.”
This world will USE you and DISCARD you, but Christ sees you.
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
Christ came into this sin-cursed world and offered salvation.
He came to offer light in the midst of darkness.
John 1:4 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
• This world was never supposed to satisfy you.
• This world is cursed.
• Only Jesus offers satisfaction and life.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 11:28
We just read this passage a moment ago,
But I want us to go a bit further in Matthew’s gospel.
There are many stories we could examine this morning in order to make the point of how Jesus treats the oppressed.
• The hemorrhaging woman who had been suffering for 12 years.
• How He healed the leper who approached and said, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” And Jesus said, “I am willing.”
• How He forgave and healed the paralytic who was lowered through the roof.
• How He visited the city of Nain and saw a widow in a funeral possession burying her only son and how Jesus raised the boy from the dead and gave him back to her.
• How He saw 10 leprous men and healed them all.
• How He restored sight to Bartimaeus outside of Jericho
• Or all the other compassionate things Jesus did which are not written.
There are any number of stories that perhaps we could turn to,
But this morning we’re looking at Matthew 11 and 12.
We see again that famous passage where Jesus offered rest to the weary.
And then we come to chapter 12 and we read “At that time…”
IT STARTS WITH a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees because Jesus’ disciples were picking heads of grain on the Sabbath.
• Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and says:
• (7) “But if you had known what this means, “I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”
• Jesus was pointing out the major problem, not only of the world, but even of the Jewish religion. There was no compassion.
BUT KEEP FOLLOWING THE STORY.
(9) “Departing from there, He went into their synagogue…”
Jesus isn’t finished.
• And here we get the story about the man with the withered hand and yet another rebuke of the religious elite.
• Jesus is full of compassion for the hurting isn’t He?
And it’s still not over, Matthew is making a point.
(READ 15-21)
There Matthew makes THE POINT he wants you to see about Jesus.
He quotes from Isaiah 42 and says it is all about Jesus.
“HE WILL NOT QUARREL”
• The word for quarrel there is ERIZO and it means “wrangling or harassing or even brawling”
• Jesus is no bully, He is filled with compassion not meanness.
“NOR CRY OUT”
• “CRY OUT” is an onomatopoetic word KRAUGAZO which means “to squawk like a bird or to scream and yell repeatedly”
• That’s not Jesus.
• He didn’t attack people, He didn’t bully people, He didn’t use or intimidate people. He had compassion on people.
“A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF”
• That is a broken person barely hanging on, but Jesus doesn’t discard them.
“A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OFF”
• A person whose light is just about to go out, but Jesus doesn’t push them aside.
“AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”
• He gives hope to the helpless
• He gives life to the dying
• He is moved with compassion.
And Matthew loved that about Jesus.
It was Matthew who first pointed out back in chapter 4
Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES— “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
Do you see this Jesus?
• The world is harsh and cruel.
• The world will work you to death with no relief
• The world will isolate you and take everything from you
• The world will then use you up and throw you aside
BUT NOT JESUS.
• He offers life to those who live in this world.
• He gives comfort to the oppressed
• He provides rest to those who labor
• He comes to those who are alone
• He sees those who are discarded
And it is important that you see Jesus
Because without Jesus all you get from this world
Is oppression and labor and loneliness and rejection.
SO YOUNG MAN, WHY WOULD YOU GO OUT AND SEEK THIS WORLD?
Seek, trust, fear, and enjoy the God who created you
For there is no satisfaction without Him.
Are you oppressed?
• Has this world beaten you down?
• Then run to Jesus He came “to set free those who are oppressed”
Are you tired?
• Have you gotten sucked into the rat race of this world, or even worse the rat race of religion where you are working like crazy to earn God’s approval?
• Then run to Jesus He came “to give you rest”
Are you lonely?
• Perhaps your loneliness is because you pursued the world at the expense of your family or perhaps your loneliness is from another source. But whatever the reason and regardless of who is to blame this world has seen fit to leave you alone.
• Then run to Jesus He said, “surely I will be with you always.”
Have you been discarded?
• Has the world used you up and spit you out. Did you give your life to a career or job only to find out how easily replaceable you were?
• HAPPENS TO HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
Then run to Jesus He shepherds lost and discarded sheep.
His invitation was given to people just like you.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Learning The Hard Way (Ecclesiastes 3:11-22)
Learning The Hard Way
Ecclesiastes 3:11-22
June 20, 2021
Well, I’m sure that simply upon reading the title of the sermon,
There are many of you who either immediately nodded your head
Or perhaps were elbowed in the side by your wife.
We all know what it is to learn our lessons the hard way.
Someone even once said that “Experience is what causes us to recognize our mistakes when we make them the second time.”
There are likely many of us
Who know a thing or two about learning the hard way,
And those of who do are more than willing
To tell the next generation: “Don’t do what I did.”
Well there again you understand the preacher.
• He is begging and pleading and warning at this young man
• To pay attention and not make the same mistakes in life that he did.
The last couple of weeks we’ve been discussing the issue of time.
It has been a rather EVANGELISTIC time
As we are all asked to contemplate, “What Time Is It?” in our lives.
We are really in an application/invitation section of the book.
Let’s ZOOM OUT a little in our look at Ecclesiastes
And see again his big picture point.
• So you know by now that he started out addressing those great temptations of wisdom and pleasure.
• You are well aware of what he had to say about both of those being a mirage.
• And you remember his lament about how he had no control over his legacy and how he lamented that.
And then at the end of chapter 2
The preacher made his first application of the book.
He got to his first point.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.”
I hope you remember that.
When he said in (verse 24a) “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.”
His point was that there literally is nothing better.
That is all there is.
If you’re expecting something more out of the work of this life,
I hate to disappoint you, but it won’t happen.
And I hope you remember the reason.
He went on to say, (24b-25) “This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him.”
Remember the reason?
• It is because God has so ordained that
• There is no true or eternal satisfaction apart from Him.
• He will not allow it.
All true satisfaction both in this life and certainly for eternity
Comes only through a relationship with the God who created you.
And so the preacher went on to say:
(26) “For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.”
So his point was that
• Your chief ambition should definitely be to please God
• And do what is good in His sight
• To seek satisfaction in Him
• For He alone has the ability to make life pleasant or difficult for you.
And He certainly has the ability to make eternity pleasant or difficult.
I hope you remember that point that the preacher made.
Because that point is still on his mind.
LOOK AT OUR TEXT THIS MORNING,
The preacher has returned right to that point now again.
Look at it in verses 12-13
“I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.”
Look at in verse 22
“I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?”
Do you see that we are still on that same point?
He is still trying to drive through to the young man
That there is only one real objective to this life
And that is to live it in a way that pleases God,
And to find you ultimate satisfaction in Him.
So that’s where we’ve been.
THIS MORNING, LET’S MOVE FORWARD
And talk about those who ignore that warning
And are still intent on learning lessons the hard way.
There are 4 points to be made in our text this morning.
#1 THE CALLING OF MAN
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
I went ahead and included verse 11 here again because it is a good reminder.
“He has made everything appropriate in its time.”
• Which is to say that God alone determines what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
“He has also set eternity in their heart”
• Which reminds us that all we do today we instinctively know is also for eternity.
“yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”
• Which reminds us that God has not told us everything. We are on a “need-to-know” basis.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”
SO AGAIN,
• God has not revealed to us everything,
• But He has told us what we need to know in order to prepare our heart for eternity and judgment
• And to find our satisfaction in Him.
And to that point the preacher continues.
(12-13) “I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor – it is the gift of God.”
IT IS THE SAME POINT.
• “there is nothing better”
Wisdom and pleasure and legacy and all that
Is simply going to leave you empty
When you realize that all they promise is a mirage.
However, the satisfied life…
• The fulfilled life…
• The happy life…
Is the life that learns to simply live and enjoy the good things
Which God gives daily to those who find satisfaction in Him.
You have a “lifetime” here.
• It is your life’s span
• We called it your allotted time
And that “lifetime” is filled with good gifts from God.
• Did you plant a field?
• Did you harvest a crop?
• Did you eat from your harvest?
That’s a good thing, it is a “gift of God” you should rejoice in it.
Those are the simple pleasures that you must learn to enjoy.
But even more than that,
It is an understanding of the fact that all good things come from God
AND THAT THE CHIEF CALLING OF MAN IS
To draw near to the One who gives all good gifts.
The New Testament echoes this:
James 1:13-18 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
• Do you hear James reminding that there is no lasting satisfaction in following temptation?
• Do you hear James remind that there is only One good gift giver?
• Do you hear James revealing that God’s greatest gift is to bring us forth by His word (born again) and change our lives into “first fruits among His creatures”?
James is preaching the message of the preacher here.
There is no satisfaction in the lusts and temptations of this world,
They all end in death.
But there is a good God who gives good gifts
And your chief aim should be to draw near to Him.
THAT IS ACTUALLY THE CALLING OF MAN.
• Turn from sin, resist temptation
• Draw near to God, call upon Him
• And God will accomplish His will in and through your life
This is what the preacher wants for the young man.
Why would you pursue the world and all its lies when you can instead be satisfied in the life that God gives you?
That is the calling, and that really isn’t new.
That’s the same point he made back at the end of chapter 2.
But you see he is now revisiting it.
The Calling of Man
#2 THE CONTROL OF GOD
Ecclesiastes 3:14-15
This is also not really a new point.
• As evidenced by the fact of him saying, “I know…”
• It’s sort of a recap.
He is reminding us again that God is the One who is really at work.
God is the One who is sovereign over all things.
We tend to think our labors and tasks are so important,
But it is really God who is at work and who is accomplishing things in this life.
And we listen as the preacher talks about the work of God.
We see THE PERMANENCE of God’s work
“I know that everything God does will remain forever;”
• When God does something it lasts; it endures.
God ISN’T LIKE a president who may fill spiral notebooks full of executive orders
Only to have his successor come in and undo them all.
• No, if God does something it lasts forever.
• There is a permanence to His work.
We see the PERFECTION of God’s work
“there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take away from it,”
• What did God ever do that you felt the need to undo?
• What did God ever do that you felt the need to fix?
When God does it; it is perfect.
We see the POINT of God’s work
“for God has so worked that men should fear Him.”
• All that God has done has been for the purpose of teaching men to fear Him.
• All that He does is meant to show that He is God and you are not.
And we see the PRESENCE of God’s work
“That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.”
I know that’s a little mysterious verse, but it simply is saying this.
That God refuses to let His standards and His laws and His works
To just fade into the past.
Instead God continually brings His past truth
Back to the forefront for humanity.
If man could, they would gladly throw God’s Laws behind their back, vote them out, and do away with them forever.
• But God doesn’t allow that.
• The world cannot rid itself of what God has determined will always be the
governing truth of the world.
“That which is has been already”
• The Law today was the Law yesterday.
“and that which will be has already been.”
• The Law that will be tomorrow is that same Law that was yesterday.
“for God seeks what has passed by.”
• God keeps bringing His truth back to the forefront.
You never can escape it.
Now let’s just make the simple observation of what has been said so far.
• We have a sovereign God who is in control of all things.
• His Law is the Law.
• He is in charge and He will always be in charge.
• And the calling of man is to fear God and draw near to Him and to please Him
and to enjoy Him in this life.
That is the calling of man and the control of God.
Now that is simple, but I hope you understand it.
You were placed here on this rock
That you might know and fear and trust and enjoy God.
That is how you are to live this life.
Listen again to Paul’s sermon to the people of Athens.
• They were totally pagan
• They had no knowledge of the true God
• They were wrapped up in idolatry
Acts 17:24-27 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
The God of the universe sits in control of all things
And you were created and put on this earth that you might seek Him.
And of course Paul would go on to say that
• It is even more imperative that you do this
• Since in the end, you will stand before Him and be judged for whether or not you did that.
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
BUT YOU SEE THE POINT.
• God created man for His glory.
• Man was intended to seek and know and fear and trust and enjoy God.
I don’t know what else you think you were put here for, but that’s it.
That is the purpose of your life.
Now, that isn’t necessarily new information from the preacher.
He’s been all over, under, around, and through that.
Here is where he starts making his newest point.
• You were put here that you might seek, know, fear, trust, and enjoy God.
• But some people insist on learning this lesson the hard way.
#3 THE CORRUPTION OF HUMANITY
Ecclesiastes 3:16-21
• Men should fear God
• Men should seek God
• Men should trust God
• Men should obey God
• Men should enjoy God
But that is definitely not what we see when we look at this world.
The preacher knows what you see,
Because it’s the same thing he saw.
(16) “Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.”
That’s pretty much it in a nutshell isn’t it?
“Under the sun” – that is in this world
We rarely see life played out as it was intended to be.
• We don’t see men seeking God we see them suppressing the truth about God.
• We don’t see men trusting God we see men rejecting Him.
• We don’t see men fearing God we see them blaspheming Him.
• We don’t see men enjoying God we see men seeking to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
At the very least it is safe to say that
Man has totally missed the point of what he was created.
“in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.”
IT IS JUST EVIL AND BACKWARD.
And at the very least it does force a person to question
Why God, who is in control of all things,
Would allow His world to go so far into depravity.
Here we have a God
• Who will not allow His work or His law to pass away or be altered,
• But at the same time He has seemingly permitted men to fall headfirst into sin.
Why?
It frustrates the righteous for sure,
BUT IT ALSO SEEMS TO INVIGORATE THE WICKED
• Men who think they can sin an God will do nothing.
• They’ve been doing it for years, and thus far no judgment.
• What does it matter?
GOD CALLS them to fear and trust and enjoy Him,
BUT THEY have chosen instead to love and pursue and seek sin
And thus far it doesn’t seem that God is doing anything about it at all.
Well the preacher is going to shed some light on that.
There are two things that every human ought to know.
1) THE PROMISE OF JUDGMENT
(17) “I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.”
Just because you get away with it now
Does not mean you won’t be judged for it later.
• That is the simple truth.
• That is actually the truth the preacher is driving toward at the very end of this book.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
• We could go to the book of the Revelation and read about the end when the books were opened, but I hope you get the point.
You’re not getting away with anything.
You’re just storing up wrath until the day of wrath.
But it is the second point you really need to see and understand.
2) THE PURPOSE OF PATIENCE
(18) “I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.”
The preacher says that God’s allowance of man
To run headlong into sin and depravity and wickedness
WAS FOR A PURPOSE.
What purpose?
God is showing man just how wicked he is.
“in order for them to see that they are but beasts.”
One of the reasons God does not instantly judge sin
Is because God allows men to get into sin
So that He may easily make His case as to how wicked man is.
WE HAVE SAID IT OVER AND OVER,
But it is so important to our understanding even for the gospel.
Today man holds the unyielding belief that he is basically good.
I talk to people all the time who are totally convinced that they are good people.
Now, what they mean by that is that
They are good compared to the human average.
And the reason they are convinced of their goodness
Is because they know that they have had opportunity for greater evil
That they have not taken.
So, because they had a chance to be more evil than they are,
And because they are not as evil as some,
Then the conclusion is that “I am a good person.”
However, human goodness or morality is easily explained.
God has placed in society certain barriers or constraints to help man choose what is right.
• The first line of defense is parents, who from an early age begin to instill right from wrong in us.
• The second line of defense quickly becomes the conscience where we feel guilty for doing what we are taught is wrong.
• Other lines of defense are societal peer pressure, where we know society will react negatively to us if we do things that society depicts as wrong.
• Governing authorities place a barrier to our wicked behavior because we can actually be punished for doing some things.
• Natural repercussions can be a deterrent. Things like smoking can give you cancer, or if you have an affair you can lose your marriage.
Point being there are all sorts of natural constraints
That God has put into effect
To keep man from being as wicked as he could be.
But if you start removing those restraints,
There is literally no limit to the level
That even “good men” can stoop to.
• If you sear the conscience
• If you nullify parental authority
• If you corrupt the societal notions of what is right and wrong
• If you vilify the police
Then man can quickly fall into all sorts of depravity and sinfulness.
In fact, you will “see that they are but beasts.”
Man is in effect nothing more than A STRAY DOG.
Whatever gratifies the flesh at the moment is exactly what he will do.
Now, in order for man to be saved, he must come to this understanding.
• The first criteria for salvation has always been that man become “poor in
spirit”.
• Man has to come to grips with how sinful he is.
• This is the only way he will cry out to God for mercy and salvation.
Well, one of the reasons God allows wickedness to continue
Is not because He is pleased with it,
But because He is allowing man to see just how corrupt he actually is.
I’m sure the prodigal thought he was “a good guy”,
• And as “a good guy” he was a long way away from salvation.
• But after his father permitted him to chase his sin and eat with the pigs he then became ready for salvation.
MAN HAS TO LEARN THIS.
And UNFORTUNATELY some people have to learn it THE HARD WAY.
We remember Nebuchadnezzar who literally became a beast to learn this lesson.
Daniel 4:33 “Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
• And after that 7 year hiatus as a vile beast Nebuchadnezzar was finally ready to repent and run to God.
We think certainly of the Prodigal Son:
Luke 15:13-16 “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.”
• These are just two graphic examples of men who had to learn what they were the hard way.
• They put themselves through unspeakable misery by chasing their sin to the max
• And God allowed them to chase their sin and even enjoy it for a time that He might finally show them just how wicked they actually were.
Consider Romans 1 where Paul outlines that God does this very thing.
TURN TO: ROMANS 1:24-32
• You see that repeated phrase, “God gave them over”
It is God letting men have the sin they crave
And the repercussions that come with it
Until they learn “that they are but beasts”
So God lets man in sin until he sees how sinful he is.
But that’s not all.
Through this process man is also forced to learn HOW MORTAL HE IS.
(19-21) “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?”
The simple point here is that
• Though man thinks himself so evolved.
• And though man thinks himself higher than the animals.
• And though man thinks himself superior.
Here’s the simple truth.
On your own, and by following your own desires,
You will live like an animal and you will die like an animal.
The preacher is clear:
• “As one dies so dies the other;”
• “All go to the same place” – death
• “All came from the dust and all return to the dust.”
And he asks:
“Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of beasts descends downward to the earth?”
His point is not to argue eternal things, but merely to point out that
Though man thinks himself so important he ought to realize that
If given the opportunity he will be just as sinful as a stray dog
And someday he will die just like a stray dog.
The Psalmist made this clear:
Psalms 49:10-12 “For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names. But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.”
Again:
Psalms 49:18-20 “Though while he lives he congratulates himself— And though men praise you when you do well for yourself— He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”
AND SO HERE’S THE POINT OF THE PREACHER.
• There is a calling for man to know, seek, trust, and fear God.
• God is in control of all things doing His perfect work so that you
will fear Him.
• AND YET, SOME MEN ARE STUBBORN.
• They don’t want to trust God,
• They don’t fear God,
• They won’t seek God.
• Instead they resist God and seek sin.
And for a time, though judgment is inevitable,
God actually allows them to walk in the sin they seek.
He does so that He might show them their sinfulness
And teach them their mortality.
NOW,
You who lives in sin.
You who chases the flesh,
whether substances or sexual immorality or whatever else gratifies the nature.
Can you not see that this mindset is no different than a beast?
A stray dog will eat what it can eat and mate what it can mate.
And if God has allowed you to walk in that sin
It is only so that on days like today
You might come to your senses and see that you need a Savior!
• You need the mercy of God to forgive you.
• You need the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to you.
• You need the atoning work of Jesus Christ to pardon you.
• You need the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God to change you.
Can you see that?
The preacher is here again driving men to the gospel.
HOW GREAT IT WOULD BE
If you would simply listen to the word of God and seek Him as He intends, but unfortunately some are determined to go and learn the hard way.
• So they chase their sin…
• They live in their immorality…
• And all the while they are simply moving one step closer to the pig pen and the final judgment.
The preacher is telling the young man not to be that person.
One final point
#4 THE CONVICTION OF THE PREACHER
Ecclesiastes 3:22
So here he has now COME FULL CIRCLE, and we are back to the point.
“I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot.”
Man should seek satisfaction and enjoyment in God
For that is why he was created.
And then the preacher asks:
“For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?”
In other words:
FOR THIS LIFE IS ALL YOU GET.
• You get one life…
• You get one allotted time…
• You were placed here that you might seek and know and fear and enjoy God.
Don’t be one who has to learn that lesson the hard way.
• Some do learn it through a life of pain.
• Sadly some don’t learn it until the day of judgment.
THOSE ARE BAD WAYS TO LEARN THAT LESSON.
We could go on with this subject for a long time, but I hope you get the point.
I’ll close again with that super relevant sermon of Paul:
Acts 17:24-31 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
The Sin of Slander (Psalms 109)
The Sin of Slander
Psalms 109
June 13, 2021
Well there is an eye-opening Psalm for you.
It’s actually quite shocking to read if you aren’t ready for it.
Some might even wonder how a song like that even made it into the Bible.
Certainly we would expect a strong rebuke from God toward David
For even thinking, let alone writing, such a Psalm.
We’ve read lots of those Imprecatory Prayers,
But this one just seems to go to a whole new level.
(10) “Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.”
Really?
(12) “Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.”
I mean that is harsh isn’t it?
One commentator I read noted that such Psalms
Almost make a Christian blush with shame when they read them.
I mean, could you imagine
• A non-believer coming up to you,
• Reading you this Psalm,
• And then asking you to explain how claim that you serve a loving God?
The Psalm presents a dilemma to say the least.
Well, just because we used it for a hypothetical,
I’ll go ahead and give you the answer.
If a non-believer does come up to you and quote Psalms 109
And then asks you how it is that you claim that you serve a loving God
THEN HERE IS THE ANSWER.
1. God hates sin, that’s never been denied.
2. God judges sinners, that’s never been denied.
But the reason we maintain Him to be a loving God
Is because God also sent His Son to atone for the sin He hates
And to save the sinners He is willing to judge.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
BUT WHILE YOUR AT IT,
• Be sure that the unbeliever who brought up the text
• Understands that Psalms 109 gives them a very detailed view of exactly what God thinks of sin.
And though God is most certainly a loving God,
Psalms 109 shows us what God will do to sinners
Who do not repent and trust in the atoning work of His Son.
YOU MIGHT THINK Psalms 109 merely represents David on a bad day.
• It may appear that David is having one of those “James and John moments”
• Where he wrongly wants to call down fire on the Samaritans.
But let me go ahead and set the record straight for you.
Look especially at verse 8.
(8) “Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”
Now let me read you another passage.
Acts 1:16-20 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. “For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’”
TWO THINGS that are very important in that passage.
1. One is the obvious thing that Peter here is quoting Psalms 109:8
in reference to Judas.
2. But the other thing that is very important is that at the beginning
of that passage Peter also reveals who said that.
“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas…”
Perhaps that changes your perspective a little bit on Psalms 109.
David sang it alright, but he did so under the directive of the Holy Spirit.
• Psalms 109 is NOT “David Gone Rogue”
• Psalms 109 is God’s genuine feeling toward those who accuse His children.
• Is the wrath intense? Yes
• Is the anger severe? Yes
• Is the prescribed judgment shocking? Yes
Well that is God’s wrath; God’s anger;
God’s prescribed judgment on those who slander His children.
SO BEFORE YOU ARE TEMPTED TO APOLOGIZE
That such harsh passages are in the Bible,
First you should point out what a terrible sin slander is in the eyes of God.
And then, while you’re at it, you can go ahead and ALSO POINT OUT that
Despite God’s fierce wrath toward accusers,
His love is demonstrated in that GOD SAVES EVEN SLANDERERS.
Psalms 109 DOES NOT flow contrary to the gospel.
Psalms 109 ENHANCES the gospel.
This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit and it addresses
“The Sin of Slander”
This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit
To remind victims of slander that
God saves His children from those who judge their soul.
BUT FIRST TONIGHT let’s lay a foundation
To remember just how badly GOD HATES SLANDER.
• God is livid over character assassins.
• God loathes those who accuse His children.
• If you don’t believe me, just read again this Psalm that the Holy Spirit gave to David.
But this should not be new information to you.
Earlier in our study of Psalms
• David wrote in Psalms 15 asking “Who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”
Part of the answer was this:
Psalms 15:3 “He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;”
We also already studied Psalms 50:
Psalms 50:16-23 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”
And of course you know that the New Testament
Rightly continues the confrontation of that sin.
In His famous “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus likened slander to murder.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
Paul taught:
Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
Colossians 3:8 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”
Peter reminded:
1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,”
James taught:
James 3:8-10 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”
So you get the idea.
• It is a severe sin to slander your brother.
• It is a severe sin in the eyes of God to be an accuser of your brother.
In fact, an interesting tidbit in this Psalm.
You see the word “accusers” or “accuser” 4 times in this Psalm. (4,6,20,29)
Do you want to know what the actual Hebrew word there is?
SATAN
That is one of the words that is attributed to the devil as an actual name.
• Devil means “adversary”
• Satan means “accuser”
• He is also called the serpent, a liar, a murderer, ect.
But you see the point.
When you slander your brother you are actually acting like Satan.
Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
And so you also understand why slander and accusation and character assassination brings with it the highest of emotions from God.
You understand why it angers God so much.
You understand why Psalms 109 is so intense in its judgment.
Psalms 109 explains to us the intense vengeance of God
On those who attack His children.
That is why Peter rightly applied it to Judas.
NOW – IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALSO HAVE BALANCE
While we hear David here really laying it down on his accusers
We DO NOT NULLIFY our New Testament commands.
Romans 12:14-17 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.”
Romans 12:19-20 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Jesus DIDN’T say to “pray against those” but to “pray FOR those”
We do remember that famous story where James and John wanted
To call down fire on the Samaritans and Jesus rebuked them harshly.
Luke 9:5 “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 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.”
We certainly remember Jonah
Jonah 4:9-11 “Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”
All of those passages remind us that
• While there is certainly such a thing as “righteous indignation”
• While we are certainly to “hate what is evil”
• While we are to “leave room for the wrath of the LORD”
• While we do lift up our prayers for justice to God like that widow in Luke 18.
At the same time we must always remember that
At the heart of the matter
The desire of God is not to judge men but to save them.
The CHIEF AIM and the HIGHEST DESIRE
Is not to see sinners destroyed but to see them redeemed.
• That does not mean we love their sin or even tolerate their sin.
• Certainly we cry out for their repentance from sin and their salvation.
• And we do expect that one day God will judge those who persecute His children if they do not repent.
Psalms 109 merely shows us God’s just anger on those who slander.
And we need to understand it.
Indeed we need to use it when we preach the gospel.
In fact we need to remember it in the church.
Colossians 3:6-8 “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”
We certainly do not wish to walk in the sins that
Cause God to feel the way Psalms 109 causes Him to feel.
So Psalms like this one are important.
• They help us understand God’s hatred of sin and why we must repent of it.
• And they help us understand God’s love and mercy since He does forgive even slanderers when they repent.
We also gain a great understanding of passages like:
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
And they also help us understand that
Because God hates slander so much,
He will absolutely save His children when they are victims of it.
Well, anyway, after such a lengthy introduction let’s now take a look at the Psalm.
It’s really not hard to understand, more than anything it’s merely hard to swallow.
4 points.
#1 THE FRUSTRATION OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:1-5
When you read those first 5 verses it is absolutely evident that
DAVID HAS BEEN BLIND-SIDED BY HIS ACCUSERS.
He is totally shocked at their response to his love.
“O God of my praise, Do not be silent!”
• David wants an immediate response from God.
• David calls for an immediate judgment.
WHY?
“For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause.”
The first cry of David is in regard to the fact that
The words spoken about him were filled with hatred and deceit.
• They spoke awful things about him and things that were not true.
• And it is apparent that they spoke a lot of them.
• David said, “They have surrounded me with words of hatred”
It is a hard pill to swallow anytime someone has hateful words about you.
It is even harder when those words aren’t true.
• No one likes to be slandered.
• No one likes to be falsely accused.
• David was and he is shocked.
But what has David more shocked than anything is that
IT IS TOTALLY UNDESERVED.
(4-5) “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love.”
This was the real sting for David,
Namely that he felt their rage to be totally undeserved.
Following the mindset of the preacher in Ecclesiastes
• Who recently reminded us that there is “a time for love and a time for hate”
• David saw their response to him as totally inappropriate.
They should have responded with love; they responded with hate.
• He prayed for them, they slandered him.
• He gave them good, they gave him evil.
• He loved them, they hated him.
And so you understand why David is so shocked and frustrated.
Their response was totally wrong.
It was totally undeserved.
Now, perhaps that is true on David’s part.
We do have a tendency to view ourselves better than we ought.
• Carrie and I have seen this many times with our boys.
• Zech would goad Zek relentlessly day in and day out as boys do.
• And, as boys will do, Zek would eventually retaliate and throw Zech around.
• Zech would then come tell on Zek and say, “He threw me into the wall for no
reason at all.”
Sometimes we have a tendency to overlook our own offense
And that is why we are shocked when someone retaliates.
AND PERHAPS THAT WAS DAVID.
But one thing we know for sure, that certainly wasn’t true of Jesus.
And these first 5 verses drip of Jesus.
• They lied about Him
• They slandered Him
• They accused Him
• They hated Him
• And all He ever did was love them.
Was His love at times harsh and confrontational? Yes
But it was love none the less.
He would have forgiven and saved any one of those Pharisees
If they had repented of their sins, but they would not.
Instead they attacked Him.
And chief on that list, according to Peter, was Judas.
• Who gave perhaps the most inappropriate response to Jesus that any man ever gave.
• He literally repaid Jesus evil for good and hatred for His love.
But you see the frustration of the afflicted
#2 THE FURY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:6-20
The longest section of the Psalm and certainly the most inflammatory.
• David is hot!
• He has had enough.
• And inspired by the Holy Spirit David lays out his expectation of judgment.
And again, while this comes across as extremely harsh,
Let it show you just how angry God is
At those who slander His own.
I remind you again that Peter told us that this Psalm (as they all are)
Was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
This is God’s rage against those who accuse His Son.
David talks about THE ACCUSERS FATE
(6-8) “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”
As we said, Peter applied that to Judas.
• Any man who has the audacity to slander and accuse God’s Son certainly deserves such a fate.
• And any who does the same to those who are clothed in the righteousness of God’s Son suffers that fate as well.
Do you understand that?
• Believers in Christ stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• When they are slandered, it is seen by God as a slander of Christ.
This is severe and David lays it out as such.
We also see THE ACCUSERS FAMILY
(6-10) “Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out.”
It is not just to do away with this sinner,
But also to root out any influence that he has left behind.
• Many times in the ancient world, when a king was assassinated all of his heirs were assassinated as well so as to make sure that there was no retribution.
• When Achan sinned and troubled Israel, Achan was judged alone. All his family and all that he owned was stoned to death as well.
That is the sort of picture we see here.
Don’t just judge him, but root out any and all lingering influences
that he may have left behind.
THERE IS NO PLACE FOR SUCH A MAN
Or for his ideology which may survive in his children.
No doubt that is severe.
We also see THE ACCUSERS FATHER
(14-15) “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth;”
Now David goes backward to pick up the accusers parents.
• Certainly they do not escape guilt since they raised such a vile man.
And David wants them to also suffer the consequences
Of failing as parents and not instilling better judgment in their child
Than to respond in such an inappropriate way.
We see also THE ACCUSERS FOLLY
(16-19) “Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.”
This man
• Had no compassion; no mercy; no sense of justice at all.
• He had no loyalty to God nor to man.
• He did not care for the poor or the humble.
• He had no mercy for those who begged and pleaded.
• He ran from blessing and instead preferred cursing.
David said he actually clothes himself in cursing.
He loves it.
He loves to malign and accuse and attack.
It is his very nature.
It reminds of Paul’s compilation of sinful men in Romans 3.
Romans 3:13-14 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”
He is just a vile man who greatly deserves the fury of God.
And that is why David says, (20) “Let this be the reward of my accuses from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my soul.”
This is the very fury of God for those slander God’s children.
• This was inspired by the Holy Spirit
• This was fulfilled in Judas
• It is applied to any who accuse God’s children
THAT IS A SEVERE WARNING AGAINST SLANDER
The Frustration of the Accused; The Fury of the Accused
#3 THE FRAILTY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:21-29
And here we see the MOTIVE behind David’s prayer.
• He could have very easily entitled this as another one of those “Destroy Not” Psalms
• Where in David was held back by the command to never take your own revenge.
Certainly we saw that in the meekness of Christ.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
• It wasn’t that Jesus couldn’t fight back,
• But in His meekness He refused to fight back.
• He was constrained by His obedience to the will of the Father.
Perhaps David saw himself as under those same constraints.
Either way David speaks of himself as a helpless man,
Unable to defend himself, and unable to right the wrongs against him.
(21-25) “But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me; For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust. My knees are weak from fasting, And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness. I also have become a reproach to them; When they see me, they wag their head.”
You can almost see Christ on the cross here.
• He is reviled
• They wag their head
• They divide with the tongue
• They accuse and malign and slander Him
And this is where David sits.
All He can do at this point is
“entrust Himself to Him who judges righteously”
And so David prays:
(26-29) “Help me, O LORD my God; Save me according to Your lovingkindness. And let them know that this is Your hand; You, LORD, have done it. Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, they shall be ashamed, But Your servant shall be glad. Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor, And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.”
He cries out to God for His great loyalty.
• “Save me according to Your lovingkindness”
He cries out to God for His vindication
• “let them know that this is Your hand”
He cries out to God for His judgment
• “Let them curse, but You bless”
He cries out to God for His vengeance
• “Let my accuses be clothed in dishonor”
It is a cry to God.
It is an appeal to God from David.
He cannot defend himself and so God must defend Him for them.
SOME MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY SEEING CHRIST HERE
For we know His prayer for His accusers while He hung on the cross.
He actually prayed:
Luke 23:34 “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
And there seems to be quite a disconnect here.
Certainly Jesus could not pray for forgiveness with His mouth
And at the same time pray for vengeance with His mind.
Not at all.
So how do we handle it?
• Is David out of touch?
• Or more appropriately were the Holy Spirit and Jesus in conflict on this subject?
NO, OF COURSE NOT.
It is only a conflict if you imagine that a desire for mercy
Cannot coexist with a commitment to justice.
God is merciful AND holy.
• He will judge sinners
• He will forgive sinners
• Both are well within His right and prerogative.
ON THE CROSS
• we do not see Christ desiring vengeance or judgment in the least.
• He came to save sinners and we are grateful that He did.
• AND YET, AT HIS SECOND COMING you will certainly the very vengeance of
this Psalm come forth.
Just because Christ desired mercy
Does not mean that He is not committed also to justice.
Slanderers are welcome to Him in repentance.
In fact, He said:
Luke 12:10 “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”
• Those who come to Him seeking mercy will have it.
• Those who reject the Holy Spirit’s call to come to Him will receive the very
vengeance spoken of here.
And we also see Christ in this passage
• In His meekness by the fact that though He would have been justified,
• He chose to leave judgment in the hands of God.
• Though He was strong He became weak for us.
The Frustration of… The Fury of… The Frailty of the Accused
#4 THE FAITH OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:30-31
And here we get even more at the heart of the matter.
Psalms 109, though it is graphic and severe and detailed,
Is NOT primarily about the judgment of the wicked.
It is PRIMARILY ABOUT the salvation of the accused.
• When God’s children are slandered, God rises up to vindicate and save His children from their attacks.
• He will most certainly do this with Satan when he saves us ultimately from his accusations.
But in reality, Christ does this for us continually.
Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
And David seemed to understand this.
(30-31) “With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”
• David cried to God because he knew God would agree with the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be angry at the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be sympathetic to his weakness.
• David cried to God because he knew God would ultimately save him.
And it reminds us again why we do not take our own revenge.
Our God will certainly save us from the accuser.
If we live like Christ in this world we can expect to be treated like Christ.
• We can expect to be accused
• We can expect to be wrongly accused
• We can expect to be hated and lied about
• We can expect hatred to be returned for our love
• And all the while we seek to live like Christ and bless instead of cursing.
However, we know that our God avenges His children.
“For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”
That is our hope and that is good news.
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