This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome back for day two of this week. We're going to look at
Psalm seven today. And let me begin with the title of Psalm seven.

It begins by saying a Shigeyon of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning
Cush, a benjamite. So there's some questions as you see that title. First,
what's a Shigeyon?

What does that mean? Well, we're not exactly sure. These are many times musical
terms that are used in Psalms at the beginning to express how it should be sung.

But most likely this means a deep emotional expression. So there's something
emotional. There's something deep about this Psalm.

And then it's something that he's saying concerning Cush, a benjamite. We're not
exactly sure who Cush was, but there is some evidence in history and in
Christian teachers that this was a person, a man who told lies about David, told
lies to Saul specifically. Lies that ruined David's life.

Lies that made Saul believe that David was against him when he was not against
him. So this is a Psalm, seeing that as the beginning point. This is a Psalm
that's about how to take refuge in God when you're feeling chased down,
especially when you're feeling chased down by the words of others.

Why do they believe those things about me? If you've ever had that happen to
you, if you're having that happen to you right now, this is a Psalm about what
you do when you feel like the words of others are against you. As you look
through what David did, and he had to face this many times in his life, he
teaches you and I what we can do.

First he says, here's what you do. You recognize that God is the only one who
can rescue you. Psalm seven, verses one and two.

Oh Lord my God, I take refuge in you. Save and deliver me from all who pursue
me. Or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue
me.

He's saying, without you God, I'm going to be torn apart by these words, torn apart
by this battle. Now depending on the circumstances that you're facing, when
somebody says something against you, you may or may not need to say something in
response to those who are speaking against you. Sometimes it's important to tell
the truth.

Other times it's important to be silent. You need to ask for God's wisdom in
that. But I'm telling you that whether you speak or are silent, your rescue is
not going to come through your words.

We think, if I could just say the right thing, then all of this would turn
around. But your words can't change someone's heart who's already attacking you.
They're attacking you.

They've already settled their heart in the wrong direction. In fact, your words
often make them want to attack all the more, especially if you're right.
Especially if you're clearly right.

It just makes them mad and they attack all the more. So your rescue is not in
your words or your arguments. Don't depend on them.

Even if you have to say the truth to some people, don't depend on that to turn
things around. Your rescue is in God alone. And when people see you putting your
confidence in him, that quiet confidence that doesn't have to speak, that's
going to speak louder than any words.

So recognize that God alone is the one who can rescue you when others are
attacking you with their words. Second, David reminds us here, recognize your
own need for judgment. As you talk to God about those who are attacking you,
talk to God as one who needs to be judged, not as the one who does the judging.

David does this. In verse three, "O Lord my God, if I have done this, "and there
is guilt on my hands, "if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me, "or
without cause have robbed my foe, "then let my enemy pursue and overtake me.
"Let him trample my life to the ground "and make me sleep in the dust.

" Salah. David is saying, in essence, in these words, that he didn't do these
things. But if he somehow missed it, if he really did do these things, then he's
willing to take the punishment for it.

He's dramatically stating that he's willing to face the consequences if he's
been wrong. And in saying that, he's saying, I'm one who's being judged, I'm not
the judge. God, you're the judge.

When someone is judging you, judging you with their words, it's very easy to
want to judge them back. Instead, it's an important time to remember that we are
all subject to the judgment of God. Don't fall into the trap of trying to judge
them back.

Then you're flinging words back and forth at each other. Just, God, I'm judged,
they're judged. I'm putting myself before your judgment in this moment, even as
they need to put themselves before your judgment.

Recognize yourself as someone who needs to be judged, not who's doing the
judging. That's what you do when someone's attacking you with their words. And
then number three, you recognize that God's judgment is final, not man's.

Whatever somebody's saying about you, that's not the final judgment. That's not
even the final, that's not even close to the final judgment. God's judgment is
final.

In verse six, arise, O Lord, in your anger. Rise up against the rage of my
enemies. Awake, my God, decree justice.

And God will in the end. In these verses, David talks about God judging the
peoples, and he also says, God, I need you to judge me according to your
righteousness. And in verses 11 to 13, he says, God is a righteous judge, a God
who expresses his wrath every day.

If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword. He will bend and string his
bow. He has prepared his deadly weapons.

He makes ready his flaming arrows. God's judgment is final, and it will come
against evil. We spend so much time thinking about the evil things, the wrong
things, the cruel things that people say about us.

And we spend far too little time thinking about the fact that we will all
someday stand before the judgment of God. Now, yes, as believers, as followers
of Christ, we will stand as forgiven because of Christ. But that doesn't mean
you lose sight of the fact that God is the ultimate judge and not man.

If you think of man as the ultimate judge, you have to fight those words. If you
think of God as the ultimate judge, then you can recognize that God is someday
going to settle those words. He's going to settle your case.

If you listen too much to the words of man, you end up with what the Bible calls
the fear of man. But instead, we're to live in the fear, the reverence of God.
Jesus had something to say about this.

It's pretty shocking. Matthew 10, 28, Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who
kill the body, "but cannot kill the soul. "Rather, be afraid of the one who can
destroy "both body and soul in hell.

" He's, in essence, reflecting what we've just read in these verses from David.
We should be awestruck before God and his power. And when you are, it minimizes,
it diminishes the power of those words that somebody's trying to speak against
you.

So recognize that God's judgment is final, not man's, not what they're saying
against you. I know it hurts in the moment. I know you're being hurt by what
they said possibly in the moment, but it is not the end of the story.

And God's justice will prevail. So that's the fourth point. Fourth thing we
learn from David in this psalm, recognize the inevitable end of evil of someone
who speaks lies, who speaks against you.

We reap what we sow. If you sow good seed, you're going to reap a good crop in the
end, not immediately, but in the end. And if you sow seeds of evil, if you sow
seeds of lies, you're going to reap evil in the end.

You're going to reap lies in the end. Verses 14 to 16, "He who is pregnant with
evil "and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment, "to lies. "He who
digs a hole and scoops it out "falls into the pit that he's made.

"The trouble he causes recoils on himself. "His violence comes down on his own
head. " It's tempting to think that those who are attacking you right now are
somehow winning.

But the evil that they are doing against you, it's going to come back against them.
The lies that they're telling, it's going to give birth to lies in their own heart
and disillusionment in their own lives. The hole that they're digging by telling
lies about you, cruel things about you, they're going to fall into that hole
someday.

And the recoil that's going to hit them is going to be worse than the bullets that
they're trying to fire at you right now. That's the truth of the scripture.
That's the truth of God's justice that you can count on in the end.

Now, there's one final thing that we have to add. The last verse, verse 17
reminds us of what to do in the face of people speaking evil against us. "I will
give thanks to the Lord," verse 17 says, "because of his righteousness, and I
will sing praise "to the name of the Lord most high.

" So the fifth thing you do is you let your words be words of thanks and praise.
Satan would love nothing more than to turn the negative words that people are
speaking against you into negative words coming out of your own mouth, to turn
their lies into lies coming out of your mouth, to turn their bitterness into
bitterness coming out of your mouth, resist that. Instead, choose praise.

Instead, choose to give thanks. You're battling against Satan, and you're also
battling against those words that others are speaking against you when you do
that. Let your words be words of thanks and praise.

So let's end with that, let's pray together. And Lord, we choose to end with
these words of thanks and praise. You know how it hurts when people speak evil
against us, but we thank you that you don't speak evil against us, that you
speak the goodness of your grace into our lives.

We praise you that you're not working against us, you are working for us. And
even if 10,000 come against us, millions come against us, you, the most
powerful, the one who will end this story, you are the one who will have the
final word, you are for us. And so we stand on that right now.

We stand in that place of praise and thankfulness. And we ask that instead of
turning to lies and bitterness ourselves, you keep our hearts full of praise,
full of thankfulness for who you are. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to look at Psalm eight, how majestic is God's name in all the
earth.