His Good Pleasure

Psalm 7: 1-17

A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe

A few weeks ago, in my meditations on the third psalm, I observed that we read in that psalm that false rumors were spread that David the King was no longer God's man. How particularly painful if must have been for David to have such a charge laid against him. Imagine my surprise to receive an email that charged that I had not preached Jesus anywhere in that particular psalm! Looking back over my notes, I mentioned Him in passing, but spent more time discussing both the Father and even the Spirit. That notice hurt, after all I have been more criticized over the years for finding Christ in, through, under and over - the majority of Old Covenant passages. But prayers to the Father are to be made through Christ by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

As I understand the biblical ethic, this is the instruction of the Lord's prayer and the example of the saints all throughout the Bible to pray to the Father. Thus, when we consider the prayers of David and the other psalmists we may understand that their prayers are made long before the full revelation of how we are to pray in the New Testament was given. Nevertheless, this distance in time relative to the coming of Christ does not diminish the sincerity of the person nor the presence of the Spirit evident in these prayers.

Of course, there has been observed all to often that there is a judicial edge to these Old Covenant prayers that we do not normally invoke in the Christian era. Even in depressing days like the last six weeks, those Christians who pray, do not pray against the president and his minions like we see David the king do often enough. But we do pray that the Lord's will might overcome the will and whim of mere humans and that the Lord's standards of justice might measure small and great alike.

In this seventh psalm we can easily note that slanderous charges have been made against David the king. David is upset that his honor has been questioned. In the first five verses of this psalm, an innocent David appeals for Divine protection. The second five verses are a cry for Divine justice. And the last seven verses include a vision of that particular justice flowing down from the righteous hand of the Lord our God.

Certainly, it is difficult for those of us, in the midlands of this country and the physical peace and quiet that we have enjoyed for many years, to appreciate the almost world-wide experience of terror and injustice from which we have been spared. There is also a temptation to take to ourselves the first division of the Psalm, protest our innocence in many circumstances and miss the difference between being in the right and claiming to being righteous. Here as in many places in our understanding of God's Word, there is a fine line of distinction. How do we get to the proper sense of understanding?

With the increasing passing from power of the World War Two generation, the long waiting Baby Boomers have finally come into their own. I remember when John F Kennedy was elected president. He was the same age as my father. Dad of course explained carefully that no man in his right mind would have been so reckless with personal relationships that were demonstrated in the White House during those Camelot years. The fact that a nuclear war with the Soviets was avoided in spite of the cowboy antics of the First Family, should be credited to the little known fact that when we had a baby boom, the Russians suffered from a Baby bust!

Today, as one writer some time ago noted, the peanut gallery who cheered on Howdy Doody have come to power. Yes, the current resident of the White House is exactly the same age as I am. And like my father before me, I want to make certain that everyone understands that the only thing we have in common is a birth year! Now what on earth does Howdy Doody have to do with our Psalm this morning? Well, I do hope that I can use that show to share with you the sense of our Psalm.

The first point we have to make involves that sense of innocence and good intentions. The innocence of a happy smile and countless freckles. If our memories are uncertain, the early fifties seemed to be a time of innocence. And so was the entertainment of Buffalo Bob and his puppets. And yet, Doodyville was not pristine in innocence. There were present particular human tendencies towards sin. One example of this shown was a game between Clarabelle the Clown and Buffalo Bob. The game was a variation of the pea and shell game. This particular variation involved three boxes, a lollipop and seltzer bottles. Of course Buffalo Bob is taken advantage of to the delight of the peanut gallery even though they shout and yell their unheeded warnings.

How very much like the sixties which followed the fifties. This brings us to our second point. In the sixties the peanuts generation became increasingly aware that it was not only Clarabelle who played shell games. There were protests and despair. Yet, there was no real desire for the Lord God Almighty's judgment. And here is where our comparison breaks down. Precisely because of that difference between being right and being righteous. For you see, despite God's name being mentioned on Howdy Doody, the peanut generation had no real knowledge of David's God. The protesters and revolutionaries of the sixties were not full of righteous indignation, but rather a new brand of that old Hebrew sin of self-righteousness.

Too many became the self described "most moral generation" to have ever lived on the face of the earth - if I remember a description of the President's favorite saint! Today, wherever the politically correct group is dominant in power, the final justification for any decision that they might make is that they will call things as they see them and not worry about any discouraging words.

Our last point remains. The sense of this Psalm is a call for God to do what is right. It is a call for his justice. It is a David's call for God to judge him with the rest of the world. How many people can truthfully pray for that to be done. We live in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. If God's reserved judgment on America were to become fully operational, we too will lose much in the way of abundance and security!

But we have to remember - who is our shield? Is not our God a righteous judge? If we are truly His, what have we to fear ultimately? We see in this last division that even now he is sharpening His sword and preparing His bow. And who are the targets of His divine wrath? Certainly, verses 14-17 describe all of humanity, and certainly we too have known sin. Yet, we are to give thanks to God because He is righteous, and we are covered by His shield, we are protected from total destruction because we are His through His only son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

	Resources Used:
Kidner, Derek.	Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms.
Lewis, C.S.	Reflections on the Psalms.
MaxLaren, Alexander.	The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H.	The Treasury of David.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. International Bible Society (1973, 1978, 1984)
Psm 007a	05 June 88 & 28 February 99

Reformation for Today ------ A Presbyterian Psalter