Psalm 7
Preached: Feb 28, 2010 - Des Arc First UMC - Nursing Home
SCRIPTURE READINGS Psalm 7: 10—12
The more I read these Psalms the more down
hearted I become. Aren’t we again Like the Psalmist in this psalm
about being falsely accused of crimes we say we have not committed
and wishing for the truth to come out and for our names our very
lives to be made right again.
How many of us have been falsely accused in our
lived of something we know we did not do? I know I have and all I
want is justice. A lot of people call for justice to be done for
this or for that action they do not think is right.
What the Psalmist is saying is that:
“If you have an enemy,
then we need to ask God to be the judge. Do not do anything
yourself!” What did
Jesus say? “If a man strikes you on the right cheek turn and let him
strike the other also.” But for us today we seem to want to
immediately strike back and gain our own revenge. If we have been
wronged we want to take then to court and find retribution. If we
have been injured, even if it was our fault sometimes, we want to
take them to court and gain some compensation. If someone strikes
out against us our first reaction is always to strike back just as
hard if not harder. We
are a lot like a bunch of children on the Playground.
Jesus does not want us being
picked on by the local bully, but he also does not want us judging
and taking judgment into our own hands.
This is what the Psalmist is doing; Calling
upon the Lord to vindicate his name and to judge his actions as pure
and right so he will quit having the problems that are being heaped
upon him. David was having problems in Saul’s court so He is asking
for a vindication by the priests so he can get on with his life. Too
bad he forgot about this latter in his life or he would not have
been so dysfunctional with his own family. We as a people want our
vindication but once we have received it we forget that we also must
have vindication later in life from the same judge. David did not
like being called to task for his actions and so he fell into error
when he took Bathsheba as his wife and sent her husband to his
death. Solomon with all his knowledge was not smart enough to stay
on the right side of God, when he allowed his wives to start
worshiping other Gods in his own kingdom.
We too are like this. We know what to do and
what the Lord requires of us — but then we do not follow through on
this knowledge and yet we do not want to be judge ill because of it
either. How many of us are really ready to stand before our God and
have the list of all our sins read out to us? How many of us need to
clean up our own house, before we start casting dispersions upon
others and upon their lives? How many of us are worshiping other
gods—and forgetting about our One true God in our everyday lives? I
know I am just as guilty of this as some others are.
There was a cartoon in the Legion Magazine this
last month. The little
boy and his mother are looking up at a priest on a Sunday morning
and the little boy basically says “My daddy did not come with us, he
went and played golf this morning instead. Is he going to Hell?” We
each want to know just what we can get away with and still make it
to heaven and in front of God and on to an eternal life. We each are
so un-afraid of that final judgment we live life as if there was no
rightful judgment coming our way, don’t we. We have forgotten a lot
of time or chosen to ignore this and hope that what has been taught
through the centuries is wrong. We want it our way not God’s way!
People ask me if I believe in Hell and Satan.
My answer surprises a lot of them. I believe there is evil in this
world. And I also believe a lot of this evil comes mainly from our
own self desires chosen over God’s wishes. I also believe there is a
Hell, but not a place of fire and brimstone but a place of
nothingness. For what is the
worst punishment could we ever receive — but to be kept from our
eternal life of joy and praise of our Lord and God? And to me that
is truly what Hell is, being removed from God for all times.
Hell—Purgatory are not places that we go to—to have a second chance
and to be purged of our sins that we commit here on earth so we can
someday come out of there and receive our wings. There is the true
second death that will happen if we do not accept God into our
lives, and start living the life he wants us to live; now and in the
future.
Do you need to ask God’s forgiveness be for “He
judges you”? Will you be able to stand before God and say as the
Psalmist does in verse 17 – “I will thank the Lord because he is
just, I will sing praises to the name of the Lord Most high”?
Are you ready to meet your Judge, and really answer for what you
have done or do you have some housecleaning to do first? Don’t wait
the time is short and we all have much to answer for?