Now we're going to be studying
Psalm number 7. And I pray the Lord will bless
us together, bless us mightily for His name's sake. The title of the message I've
given to this this evening is taken from verse 10. And this is the theme of our
life as believers. My defense is of God. The same is saying, my salvation
is of God. My righteousness is of God. My defense is of God, which saveth. My God saveth those upright in
heart. Those who are upright in heart
are those who have been object of His grace, who've been given
a broken heart. a contrite spirit. Now as we
look at Psalm 7, David here had been falsely accused of treason
against the king of Israel. His name was King Saul by this
man that's mentioned here in the title of this psalm, Cush
Benjamite. Some think this man here that's
referred to in the title is the same as Saul being one of the
tribe of Benjamin. Saul, we know, sought to kill
David on numerous occasions, and the reason being because
the prophet of God, Samuel, told Saul that the kingdom of God
would be taken from him and given to another. If you hold your
place there and find I Samuel 13, I Samuel 13, King Saul was told to wait until
Samuel came on the scene before he waited for Samuel to offer
the burnt offering, and Saul did not wait. He went and made
an offering unto the Lord, which he was not to do, even though
he was king, he wasn't a priest. And Samuel said to him, verse
13, 1 Samuel 13, 13, Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly,
because thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God,
which he commanded. For now would the Lord have established
thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not
continue. The LORD hath sought him a man
after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be
captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which
the LORD commanded thee. So Samuel told Saul that the
kingdom was going to be taken from him and given to another
Therefore he thought in his heart, well, if I can kill that other,
if I can kill David, then my kingdom will be preserved. Now,
this psalm is called by some the song of a slandered saint. And they accused David falsely. What a blessing it would be if
we could turn the most disastrous event in our life into a song
of praise unto our blessed Lord as David did. Do you find yourself
sometime in great heartache, in great trial, in great conflict? Wouldn't it be a blessing if
in that time of trial and heartache and distress, like David, we
could sing unto the Lord songs of praise unto his name? Martin Luther said about the
Psalms, David made Psalms, which means songs of praise. David
made Psalms, songs of praise. We can also make songs of praise
and sing them unto the Lord as we can honor our Lord and spite
and mock the devil and his friends and his ministers. Old Martin
Luther knew something about persecution, didn't he? from the established
religion in his day. He was severely persecuted, but
in those times of trial and persecution, like Martin Luther, like David,
and like many other of God's saints down through the years,
even those who sealed their testimony with their blood being martyred
for the cause of God and truth, to sing praises unto our God. I want to do that, don't you?
I want to honor my Lord as, as David says in the last verse
of this Psalm 7, I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness
and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. That's worship. That is worship. Now let's look at these verses
here and I want take too much time, I, I trust, but we'll try
to cover most of these verses. In verses one and two, we see
the believer's only source of help. The believer's only source
of help. You see it in verse one, O Lord
my God, in thee, in thee, he is the Lord who is the Lord of
heaven and He is Lord of Lord and King of King. He is my God. In Thee, not another, in Thee
do I put my trust. My whole hope is upon Him, upon
God who is God. And then he prays this way, Save
me from all them that persecute
me. Save me and deliver me, lest he tear me. David knew he was
no match for Saul. Remember, Saul took out with
3,000 of his best men to hunt David like a dead dog. David
knew he was no match, but David knew that God was God and that
God would protect him, that God would deliver him. That's why
he cries unto the Lord, Save me! Deliver me! Lest he tear
my soul. like a lion rending in pieces
while there is none to deliver. You see his total confidence,
his total hope was not in David and his three or four hundred
men that he had with him. It wasn't David in his skill to
evade or David in his skill to attack. His hope was in God to
deliver him and in God to save him. I like this phrase here,
Oh Lord my God. My God, he's my God, he's my
king. Now I don't know what he is to
others, but I know what he is to me. Look back at Psalm 5,
you remember these words in verse 2? Hearken unto the voice of
my cry, my king, my God, unto thee will I pray. I own him,
don't you? I own him as my God, my King,
my Sovereign. I like the words of the Apostle
Thomas when he had a view of the resurrected
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, My Lord and my God. That's whom we worship. That's
to whom we look for all salvation. In thee, he's saying, in thee
do I put my trust. Indeed do I put my hope. We have
a good hope. We have a good hope. It's a good
hope of grace. A good hope through grace. Indeed
do I put my trust. Indeed do I hope. He's my hope.
He's my trust. And He is my salvation. He is
all my salvation. Now when should we trust Him?
When things are going well? Is that when we're to trust Him?
When are we to trust him? When things are going bad? When
are we to trust him? Find Psalm 62. Psalm 62. Look at verse 8. Psalm 62. Trust him at all times. Trust
him at all times, ye people. Psalm 62.8. Pour out your heart
before Him. God is a refuge for us. We can
trust Him at all times. Now watch this. David says here,
in thee do I put my trust. Do I put. It's not I have. It's
not I will. Yes, I do trust Him right now
continually for all things. And that's the essence of faith.
It's not, I have believed. It's not, well, maybe someday
I will believe. The essence of faith is right
now we are believing Him and looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are trusting Him for all
salvation. And then He cries, save me. and deliver me, save me. How does God save sinners? David
here is praying particularly to be delivered from that persecution,
to be saved from harm's way. But in a spiritual sense, we
cry unto God to save us, not because we're deserving. Not
because we're better than any other. Save me from my sin. Save me from thy wrath that is
due me. Save me by your grace. It's grace
alone. Salvation is by the grace of
God. That's his unmerited, undeserved, sovereign favor to his own. Don't
we cry that, Lord, save me by your grace. It's the grace of
God alone that saves sinners. For by grace are you saved through
faith in that and not of yourself. It's the gift of God. So we can
cry as David does here, Lord, save me. Now who needs saving? Those who are lost. He came to
seek and to save those who are lost. Who needs deliverance? Those who are guilty. Those who
are dead in sin. We need salvation. We need deliverance. And He saves His people by His
grace. And He delivers us. You know
what that is? That's redemption. That's redemption. How does he redeem us? How does
he deliver us? You know what he's called in
scripture? You know what he's called? One of his names is Deliverer. He is the Deliverer. Redeem me,
save me by your grace, Lord, and redeem me by your blood. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are redeemed not with corruptible
thing, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's redemption. That's redemption.
Can you pray that way? Lord, deliver me. Lord, save
me. I trust in thee. I trust you
to do all that. I trust him to save me. I trust
him to deliver me. Not that I'm deserving. but rather
because he is gracious. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him. I'm going to come. Redeem me.
Redeem me lest the enemy tear me in pieces. Now we have a great,
a much greater enemy than David had here David had a mighty king
after him, but we have a greater enemy against us. Satan himself
is called the adversary. Satan himself is called the accuser
of the brethren. Satan himself is called a roaring
lion going about to devour whom he will. Lord, save me from that
lion. Save me from that adversary,
lest he tear me in pieces. I'm no match for him. Remember
what the Lord said unto Peter, Satan had desired to sift you
like wheat. He desired to have you that he
might sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you that you do
not fail. That's what we need and that's
what we have in Christ. He does intercede for us. He
does protect us by his grace. Save me lest the lion tear me
in pieces while there's none to help. God help me, save me,
deliver me. That's a good prayer, is it not?
Now look what he says in verse 3, 4 and 5. David declares, and
this particular charge against him, they charge him with treason,
they charge him with rebellion against the king, which was a
defense if rightly found to be true, that man would be executed
and justly so. David declares he's innocent
of this charge of treason against the king. He said, look what
he says, oh Lord my God. Now, the Lord knows all things,
but one of the things I especially like about David, he just commits
everything unto God. He just lays it out before the
Lord. Oh Lord my God, if I've done
this iniquity, If I've done this thing, this rebellion against
the king, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I've rewarded
evil unto him that was at peace with me, yea, he said, I've delivered
him that without cause was my enemy. You see what he's saying?
Let the enemy persecute my soul. If that be true, let old Saul
have his way with me. and let him take me. Let him
tread down my life upon the earth and lay my honor in the dust.
And then he says, Selah. I want to think about that. I
want to meditate upon that. David declares that he's innocent
of this charge against King Saul. Now David here is not saying
David here is not saying that he's innocent in not sinning
against God. That's contrary to the rest of
Scripture. David said in Psalm 51, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
And we can say with Paul as he writes to the Romans, we've all
sinned and come short of the glory of God. But he is saying
specifically, I am He is saying, if I am guilty of treason against
Saul, let my honor be stripped, and let him destroy me, and put
me in the dust. That's what he's saying here.
David, remember from the reading of 1 Samuel 24, he would not
touch King Saul, and he would not let his men, when Saul was
in that cave, and they had the opportunity to take his life,
he would not let his men touch the king. So David's saying here,
Lord, you know, you know I'm innocent. You know I'm innocent
of these charges. Now, in verse 6 and 7, David
appeals to the judge of all the earth to do right. Arise, O Lord.
Arise, O Lord, in your anger, in your righteous anger, and
lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies. David would
not take any step toward executing Saul, but he cries unto God,
the God of all the earth who will do right, he cries unto
God, Lord, you take care of him. You take care of him. Arise,
O Lord, in thy anger. Lift up thyself because of the
rage of my enemies, and awake for me. Awake for me to the judgment
that thou hast commanded. So, verse 7, so shall the congregation
of the people compass thee about. For their sakes, therefore, return
thou on high, or let it be known this day that thou art God. Arise,
O Lord, in your righteous anger. Lift up yourself awake to execute
your judgment. that you've commanded for me."
Two things. Punishment upon the wicked of
which they're deserving. And then the second thing in
verse 7, so for the judgment, awake for the judgment that thou
hast commanded for me. What did the Lord command, the
judgment commanded unto David? To be the king, the anointed,
and the king of Israel to sit on the throne, judging Israel
in righteousness. God said, I've found a man after
my own heart. And he did. David did. God did put David on the throne,
and David reigned 40 years in Israel as God's king. And it
was a blessed reign. He's saying this, Now wake for
me to the judgment that you've commanded. Lord, bring it to
pass now. Put me on the throne now. So for this one reason,
look at verse 7, so shall the congregation of the people David
said, I'm going to lead the people in praising the Lord. I'm going
to lead the people in the way of worship, so that the congregation,
all the people of Israel. David doesn't just ask this for
himself to sit on the throne as God's anointed king. He asked
this for the good of the people. So shall the congregation and
the people compassing about and for their sakes. Therefore return
thou on high. Then, David's saying, when I
am the anointed of Israel, setting on the throne of Israel, the
congregation of people will encompass thee about, they'll worship thee. Lord, do it for the people's
sake. Return thou on high. Let it be
known this day that thou art God, that there is none beside
thee. Turn over here to Psalm 35. I've
got a reference here, Psalm 35, 23. Stir up thyself. Awake to my judgment, even unto
my cause, my God and my Lord. You see that? Under David's leadership. Now it came to pass. Under David's
leadership when King Saul was executed, when King Saul was
put out of the way, Israel under David's leadership when the ark
of God was returned to Jerusalem, the people did worship again.
That worship that had been so wrongly neglected under Saul's
reign, David did lead the people in worshiping the true and living
God. He did return to that priestly
order of sacrifice unto the Lord. Now, that's what he's crying
here, and that's what he's praying. Now look at verse 8 and 9. The
Lord shall judge the people. The Lord shall judge the people.
All men in general, judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to mine integrity that is in me. O let the wickedness,
verse 9, of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just. For the righteous God trieth
the hearts and the reins of his people. Judgment will come. That's what
he's saying, that the Lord shall judge. The Lord shall judge the
people. All men in general, judgment
will come. The day of reckoning will come.
It says in Hebrews 9, 27, God has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness. That's Acts 17, 31, by that man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9, 27, God has appointed
a day in which he will judge all in
Christ. It's appointed unto man who wants
to die, and after that, judgment. That's what it says in Hebrews
9, 27. There is a day of judgment coming unto all men according
to that righteous man, the Lord Jesus Christ. But here he's saying
this, also in verse 8, Judge me, O Lord, not according to
my efforts, but according to my righteousness, according to
my integrity that is in me, according to as I trust the Lord for all
things in salvation. Now listen to me, every believer
like David is not afraid to stand before God, but rather is confident
to stand upon the ground of the righteousness given in Christ
Jesus. That's what David's saying here. Judge me, O Lord, according to
the righteousness that you've given me. Turn to Psalm 32. Verse 1. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. That's a blessed
man. Judge me, O Lord, according to
my righteousness, according to that which you've given to me,
according to that which you've imputed to me, according to my
integrity that is in me. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputed, not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no God. You know what? The throne of
God, we have boldness as believers. Now look at this verse here.
Find 1 John 4. 1 John 4. Now in myself, in Bob Barrett,
in my work, I would never stand before God upon that basis and
have any confidence of acceptance. But in Christ Jesus, in that
righteousness that's freely imputed in the gospel, in Christ Jesus,
look what he says here, 1 John chapter 4 verse 16. And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Now watch this. Because as he
is, so are we in this world. I tell you what. We have boldness
and liberty before God's throne of judgment because as He is,
as Christ is, so are we in this world right now. David's saying, Lord, judge me
in Christ. Deal with me in Christ. Have
mercy upon me in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our only hope. God who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. The Lord shall judge the people,
all men in general. There's a day of judgment, great
judgment coming. But David said here, judge me.
Judge me, O Lord, according to that righteousness that you've
given me. That's safe ground. According to my integrity, according
to as I look to Christ for all things in salvation. Verse 9,
oh let the wicked, oh let the wickedness of the wicked come
to an end. It will. It will. One day soon it will.
But look what he says in verse 9. But establish the just, establish
those justified in Christ Jesus. Those justified in Christ shall
be established forever with an everlasting righteousness. We
read four times in scripture, the just shall live by faith. You know what that's saying?
They're justified by Christ. Justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For the righteous
God, look at verse 9, the last line in verse 9, for the righteous
God trieth the hearts and the reins. God knows the hearts of
His people. The Lord doesn't look on the
outward countenance, He looks on the heart. He looks within.
The believer can say with Peter, Lord you know all things, you
know that we love you. Look at verse 10 now. Psalm 7,
verse 10, my defense, my defense, my hope, all of my salvation
is of God. It originates with Him. It's
of Him. It's freely supplied and given
of Him. My defense is of God. He saveth
those upright in heart. Who are those that are upright
in heart? those who have been made objects of His love, those
who have been given a broken heart, those who have been called
of His grace, those who have been made new creatures in Christ
Jesus. God saveth His people. He makes them upright in heart. Now, we know we're not upright
in heart in ourselves. Our total defense, our acceptance,
our forgiveness, and salvation is all of God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is our all and in all, for He is our surety, He is our
Savior, He is our mediator, our intercessor, He is our advocate. This is saying the same thing
that we studied over here in Psalm 3 verse 8. Turn over there.
Psalm 3 verse 8. Our defense is of God. You remember
Psalm 3 verse 8? Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Psalm 37, turn over there, Psalm
37, 39, saying the same thing, my defense is of God. Psalm 37,
verse 39, but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. of the Lord. He is their strength
in the time of trouble. The Lord shall help them and
deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save
them because they trust Him. He's all our trust. Now look
back at verse 11 of Psalms 7 verse 11. God judges the righteous. Or, the marginal reference is,
is a righteous, God is a righteous judge. God is a righteous judge. Our God, He is holy in all things,
in all His way. God is a righteous judge. Look
what it says, God's angry. God's angry. every day. God's angry with the wicked every
day. God is a righteous judge. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Now, as I said earlier, we hear
so much about God's love, and God is love. But my friend, let
us never forget the love of God is manifested in Christ. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God is a consuming fire. God is angry with the wicked
every day, and His anger is nothing more and less than His holiness
stirred in activity against sin. God is too holy to look upon
sin with favor. I tell you, where we see a display
of God's anger, where we see a display of God's holiness stirred
into anger, you look at Calvary. You look at the Lord Jesus Christ
as He dies under the weight and judgment of the sin of His people
laid upon Him, and you see something of the holiness of God. We see something of the wrath
of God stirred into anger against sin. God must punish sin. The Lord in His own time will
stir up His wrath, His holiness against the wicked. Remember
Psalm 2, turn over there, turn to Psalm 2 verse 12. Psalm 2,
kiss the son, verse 12, lest he be angry and you perish from
the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all
those who put their trust in him. Oh, I want to trust him,
don't you? I want to feel the righteous
anger of God. God is holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty. Isaiah 6. Now look at verse 12. I won't keep you much longer,
but I want you to see this. If he turn not, now here he's
talking about the wicked man. If he does not turn, if he does
not repent, That's a good definition for repentance, is a turning,
a turning unto God from self. If he does not repent, if he
turn not, God will sharpen his sword, he'll wet his sword. He
hath bent his bow, he hath made it ready. He hath also prepared
for him the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors. There's no option here. It's
either turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and look to Him for all
of salvation or feel the, or experience the righteous, righteous
anger of God against all unbelievers. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son,
what? The wrath, not the love of God,
the wrath of God. The wrath of God. If you turn
not, Charles Spurgeon said of this verse, turn or burn, this is his quote,
turn or burn is a sinner's only alternative. Turn or burn. God has commanded all men everywhere
to repent. Our Lord said, except you repent,
you will perish. If you will not turn, then God
will sharpen his sword of his wrath and justly execute the
wicked. If you believe not, if you turn
not, then God's arrows of divine wrath in his bow of holy justice
are ready to fly at your heart in eternal condemnation. And
God, when he draws his sword and when he puts his arrow in
his bow of justice and pulls it, he never misses the target. He always will execute justly. Verse 13, ìHe hath also prepared
for him the instrument of death. He ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutor.î Verse 14, here we see the persecutorís history,
the wicked manís history. ìBehold, he said, he travaileth
with iniquity. Heís conceived nothing but mischief.
He brings forth nothing but falsehood.î This is a good description of
our fallen flesh. Travails with iniquity like a
woman with child travails in pain till she delivers that baby
and the wicked man travails with iniquity until he commits his
devious act and Have conceived mischief brought forth falsehood
verse 15 He made a pit and digged it and he's fallen into his own
trap He's fallen into his own ditch which he has made. His
mischief, verse 16, shall return upon his own head, and his violent
dealings shall come down upon his own head. Now, here's the
scripture I want you to look at. Psalm, excuse me, 1 Samuel
30, 1 Samuel 31. 1 Samuel 31. Saul did not turn. He did not
bow. He went on in his rebellion against
God. 1 Samuel 31. And the Lord did
wet his sword. The Lord did send forth the arrows
of his justice. 1 Samuel 31 verse 1. Now the Philistines fought against
Israel. And the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines
and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed
hard upon Saul, upon his sons. And the Philistines slew Jonathan,
Jonathan, David's dear friend, son of Saul, Abinadad, Malkishua,
Saul's son. And the battle went sore against
Saul, and the archers hit him. That's the bow of God's justice.
And he was sore wounded of the archers. That's the bow of God's
justice, the arrows of God's wrath. Then said Saul unto his
armor-bearer, draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith,
lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse
me. But his armor-bearer would not,
for he was sore afraid. Then Saul took a sword and fell
upon it. Sword of God's justice, he took
his own life. When his armor bearer saw that
Saul was dead, he fell like was upon his sword and died with
him. So Saul died and his three sons,
his armor bearer, and all his men that same day. If you turn not, God will wet
his sword. He will bend his bow. The instrument
of death are prepared and it came to pass against King Saul,
didn't it? And it will against every rebel
against God. God will and must execute judgment
against the rebel. Verse 17 and closing. I will praise the Lord according
to His righteousness. I will sing praise to the name
of the Lord Most High. I will praise the Lord. That's
the occupation of the godly and their eternal pleasure singing
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood.
To Him be glory both now and forever and ever. I will praise
the Lord according to His righteousness. I will celebrate both His holy
justice and His mercy. I will sing praise to the name
of the Lord most high. One more Psalm and I'll close
Psalm 85. He says, I will praise the Lord
according to His righteousness. I will sing praise to the name
of the Lord most high. Now look at Psalm 85. Verse 10. Mercy and truth. are met together. Righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. Where's that? Where do we see
the mercy of God displayed and the holy justice of God's truth
displayed together and righteousness and peace, they've kissed each
other? At the cross. Truth shall spring out of the
earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the
Lord shall give that which is good and our land shall yield
her increase. Righteousness, now watch this.
This is righteousness personified. Righteousness shall go before
him and set us in the way of his steps in Christ Jesus. I will praise the Lord according
to his righteousness.