Selah:

Sacred Songs of the Psalter

 

Max A Forsythe

 

© Anno Domini 2002

From the pulpit at Pilgrim’s Rest

Presbyterian Church in America

Psalm 10

16      The Lord is king forever and ever;
                the pagans must perish from His country.
17      O Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted;
                 You will encourage them;
You will incline Your ear.
18      to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
                 so that mere earthlings may strike terror no more.
        
TEXTUAL RESOURCES

English Standard Version                                   Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament
New Geneva Study Bible (NKJV)    Bratcher & Reyburn. Translator’s Handbook on the Psalms
Authorized (King James) Version     Barthelemy.  Pre & Int Rpt on the Hebrew OT Text Project
New American Standard Bible                                         Dahood.  The Anchor Bible: Psalms 1-50
The Jerusalem Bible
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The Lord is Sovereign
For the Lord’s Day:  the 24th of August 2003

Introduction:  One of the basic lessons in the study of nations is to understand the necessary elements needed to maintain a state.  There are four:  land, people, government and sovereignty.  Land and population are easy to quantify from the smallest to the largest now present and once extant in the history of the world.  The British Empire holds the world’s record for once governing one fourth of the land surface of the world, not to mention Britannia’s rule of the waves between the distant shores.  Today the Papal State claims to be the smallest state in the world by both population and space. However  it must be observed that the population of that curious nation is non-breeding and thus without the larger church around the world providing a continuous source of recruits  it would hardly be considered self-sustaining.  In addition, even though it has a government  its independent sovereignty is completely dependent on the surrounding nation of Italy for food, electricity, infrastructure and even water and sewage services.

There are of course, many people groups once free and independent, but by history and circumstance lacking of any contemporary sovereignty.  American Indian tribes have been the most creative of these so called dependent states  in that they have used their unique status to flaunt the state laws wherever they retain or obtain title to lands normally under the rule of the subsidiary governmental structures of our country.

Sovereignty, you see is a necessary possession of any nation-state worthy of the name.  Not only in jest did Stalin inquire during World War Two:  “how many divisions does the Pope have?” when, he was confronted with a Papal suggestion about his behavior.

And here, in that relationship is writ large the ongoing conflicts between the City or Kingdom of God and the cities or states of mankind down through the ages.  But, David the king is not mystified about the practical relationships between the sovereignty of the Lord God Creator and the temporary political structures of the created order.  He observes astutely:  “The Lord is king forever and ever; the pagans must perish from His country.”

This is just another way of saying that in all things in heaven and on earth, “The Lord is Sovereign.”  Perhaps it is timely to give a proper definition of the term sovereignty:  “to rule without necessary submission to any higher authority.”  In the grand scheme of things it is precisely the Judeo-Christian heritage that understands the ultimate reality of the superiority of the Kingdom of God over all aspects and details of the created order.

Only the worldly suppose that they may rule and reign without being held to any account by any power what-so-ever!  This is why the California circus is being held in such disdain by the liberal establishment.  How dare anyone, especially the benefactors of their wisdom and charity  even consider overthrowing the liberal establishment’s necessary and ongoing right to rule!  Like the national socialists and communists before them  the liberals believe in the self perpetuation of their rights to rule and the all too expensive perks to which they must thereby be entitled!

And yet, even in the midst of competitive worldlings  David affirms the reality of God’s righteous sovereignty  even as Judge Roy Moore is still proclaiming in Alabama.  Never mind that for a brief few week’s window in the fall of 2001  even liberal politicians gathered on the steps of the nation’s Capital to sing a few off key bars of “God Bless America” in the face of a grave crisis.  How quickly they forgot that those who pray for or expect a blessing, they should be sincere in their thankfulness and worship of the great law-giver who established the foundations of our Republic.

Ah well  let them pedal their way to Hades with their sorry loads of sin, ignorance and downright stupidity.  We are blessed even as David was to know that not only is “The Lord is king forever and ever,” but also that “the pagans must perish from His country.”  By definition, the Kingdom of God must not only outlaw the wicked who deny them but also punish them for their treason of living in open revolt to His rightful laws and the absolute sovereignty of His rule.

Development:  Yes, there is still the ongoing battle between good and evil to contend with in many and diverse ways and places.  And yet, like David we know who holds the future and the vitally important fact of who shall win the last battle!  Generals over the ages who have lost an engagement or two are always quick to point out that it is always the last battle which is most important to the outcome of any war!  Lincoln sensed the end of the Civil War in his historic Gettysburg speech and yet even then he noted that there was much grief to come before the ongoing campaigns could be finally and completely closed.  There had in his mind to be a full accounting so that the last measure of blood could be atoned for the sins which had engaged the conflict.

David knows that within God’s providential ordering, that He has heard the cry of those caught up in the conflict of the intense spiritual warfare of his day and age.  The enemies of God, as always would press in to exterminate the holy people of God’s everlasting Covenant.  There is always a remnant who are faithful in their prayers and petitions.  Elijah was informed that he was not alone since there were still some several thousands of men who had not bowed their knees to the pagan gods and goddesses.

Daniel too was not entirely alone  since within a generation a remnant throng was returned to the Promised Land.  And when the course of the Old Covenant Church was completed  out of her were called the New Covenant Christians.  David gives us three realizations to help us contend with the world in our own day and place:  “O Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will encourage them; You will incline Your ear.”

First, he tells us that the Lord God of heaven and earth truly knows the state of our hearts.  He knows the desires for peace of all who are troubled by war or political correct challenges to the common sense that God gave to all men who do not oppose Him.  A few years ago, I had parked my truck near a fair barn and left the window down to control the heat build up.  When I returned  there were several dozen large barn flies bussing around the interior.  I opened the doors and using a large newspaper began shooing them out.  All but a couple had enough sense to flee.  Those few flies that remained were hunted down with the paper rolled up firmly  in order to send them forward in time and place to give a proper enhancement to the final intensity of Hades and Hell.

But, even though the human species is supposedly of a higher order, enough common sense to flee to the God of salvation is not widely evident.  But, for all of those like David who are on the receiving end of worldly hostility to nature’s God, our desires for peace and security in Him are realized; and once having come into the saving relationship  the Holy Spirit ministers to us regularly for our ongoing encouragement.  We also are made to realize that the ear of the Almighty is constantly bent in our direction as we pray and work within and according to His providential will.

Application:  Spurgeon closes his thoughts on this psalm in these timely words:  “The Psalm ends with a song of thanksgiving to the great and everlasting King, because he has granted the desire of his humble and oppressed people, has defended the fatherless, and punished the heathen who trampled upon his poor and afflicted children.”

Of course, we must always remember that the declaration of sovereignty here stated must take on a different nuance according to the various states of the church in differing times and cultures.  We have to remember that Spurgeon wrote when the full flower of Her majesty’s government bloomed from the rising to the setting of the sun. Calvin wrote as an exile from the corruption of the French church and monarchy three centuries before.

Until fifty years ago, we might have better identified with the apparent prosperity of the spiritual kingdom widely visible here in America.  A short two generations later  all has been undone and we are closer in context to the time of Calvin when even the survival of a true church was much in doubt? 

Listen to the words of Calvin in this regard concerning our last verse in Psalm ten:  “David again commends the power of God in destroying the ungodly; and he does it for this purpose, - that in the midst of their tumultuous assaults we may have this principle deeply fixed in our minds, that God, whenever he pleases, can bring all their attempts to nothing.”

The ultimate promise of David’s plea is that the Lord God will bring Himself “to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthlings may strike terror no more.”  May I be so bold as to suggest that “the fatherless and the oppressed” are all of those outside the kingdom of the Spirit?  And therefore just as the elect among that population are converted and brought into the new state of grace, there they are beyond the pale of the wicked and now safe from the terror of mere men?

Let me give you a concrete example from the front pages of the ongoing news coming out of Iraq.  Increasing evidence is coming to light that more and more martyrs are crossing the borders from Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia to fight against the American presence.  Has any of our Media experts stopped to think that while fewer and fewer Iraqis are willing or able to rise up and die  that Saddam in his desperation must recruit fools from afar who have yet to meet the unforgiving judgment of American lead forcefully granted?  “Bring them on!” our president has announced and thereby the world is made safer for the peaceful remnants more and more evident in the Middle East.

While the grand spiritual assize is yet to come  still the church that lives and dies within the pale of God’s rule, is thereby strengthened and protected from all the reality of final death and destruction unleashed upon the worldly.  “Arise O LORD,” David began this psalm.  He has gone on to show us all of those who will not bear that thought and then compared their untimely end to blessed state all of those who agree with David that the Lord Jesus should come quickly and not be slow!  If we can learn to agree with David’s assessment and realize the complete and absolute sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ  then we too can gain the confidence to seek His will and to do it well  no matter what the ungodly think or do.  Give us grace to be bold Father and grant us the peace of knowing the sovereignty of Your only Son  our Lord.  Amen.
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PREACHING RESOURCES

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament  Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.
The Westminster Confession & Catechisms.
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