3/14/2012 8:38:43 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: God’s Justice
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 58:1-5
Message of the verses: Today we begin looking at Psalm 58 and I will first of all look at several introductions and decide which of them I will use on this Spiritual Diary.
“As a lament against tyranny, the first half of the psalm rehearses a series of charges against wicked leaders and judges; and the second half is an imprecatory prayer that they be obliterated. In the end, the psalmist is certain that God will act with ultimate justice.” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“During David’s exile years, Saul led the nation down a path of political and spiritual ruin as he disobeyed God’s law and opposed God’s anointed king. Saul was surrounded by a group of fawning flatterers who fed his ego and catered to his foolish whims (1Sam. 22:6ff), and he put into places of authority people who used their offices for personal gain and not for the national good. They wanted to get as much as they could before the kingdom collapsed. David himself had been treated illegally, and it’s likely that many of his men lost all they had because they followed David. (1Sam.22:1-2). This psalm was probably written late in David’s exile, or very early in his reign in Hebron, and may have grown out of his pondering the mess he had inherited from his father-in-law. (See Psalm 82 for a parallel psalm by Asaph.) The prophets often preached against the lawlessness of the leaders in Israel (Isa. 1:23-28; 5:22-25; 10:1-4; Amos 5:7-13; Mic. 3:1-4, 9-12; 7:1-6). Certainly nations, corporations, and even churches today need to take this kind of leadership crisis seriously. This is an imprecatory psalm (see Psalm 6).” (Warren Wiersbe)
“Accusation—Lawlessness Practiced” (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO DO NOT DESTROY. A MIKTAM OF DAVID.» Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? 2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, 5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.” (ESV)
As I look at this psalm and then look around me today I can see similar things and the need for similar actions that David prayed for. There is indeed lawlessness practiced in our nation today and many other nations around the world especially pertaining to how people now view the Gospel. I am reading the autobiography of Billy Graham, a book that is very long in length and starts at the birth of Billy Graham and continues through his celebrated life of preaching the Gospel to more people than any other person in the history of mankind. It was early in his preaching that he spent time in Europe speaking to millions of souls who were ripe to hear the gospel. People around the world were ripe to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, but it seems today that people do not want to hear the good news of Jesus Christ in the same way that they did when Billy Graham began his preaching. There has been a turn in the lives of the people around the world. Many people today are being killed for their faith as I read on “The Voice of the Martyrs” that as many as 1000 people everyday around the world will die for their faith. I am not a date setter as far as when I believe the Lord Jesus Christ will return for His Church, but it seems to me that the times are being made ready for His return. It was my fear of the end of the world that the Lord used to call me to Himself and since 1974 I have studied eschatology (study of the end times) with great interest as many others have and it seems to me from what I have learned that many believe the time is near for the return of Jesus Christ.
It is the lawless leaders that these verses from Psalm 58:1-5 that David is addressing and he asks if their words were just, if their decisions were legal, and also if their sentences were fair and honest. Were these leaders upholding the law or making up their own laws to their benefit and the benefit of the wicked. David knew the answer and it was that these men were evil and going against the things that God had made clear to them to do but didn’t do them. We know that the Bible teaches that all are born sinful do to the fall that is spoken of in Genesis and David has also pointed this out in Psalm 51:5 where he wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” We have already discovered that this did not mean that there was adultery involved, but David was speaking of his sin nature, something Paul goes into detail about in Romans 7. These men seemed to enjoy sinning and did not look to do things according to the Law of the Lord. The very fact that men are sinners is the reason that God established government and law, for without law society would be in chaos. Evil comes from the heart of man as Jesus spoke of when the Pharisees were trying to impose their tradition on Him to ceremonially wash before eating, which was their man made rule.
Dr Wiersbe writes about these unjust judges when he calls them liars, “Their words were like venom that poisoned society instead of like medicine that brought health. David compared them to snakes in verses 4-5 and lions in verse six, both of which are images of the Devil (Gen. 3; 2Cor. 11:3; 1Peter 5:8). Like the cobra, they obeyed the charmer only when they got something out of it, but they had a mind of their own. Snakes have not visible ears or internal eardrums, but they do have small bones in the head that conduct sound vibrations. The cobra responds more to the movements of the charmer than to the tune he plays.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I look at Psalm 58, and part of this psalm is an imprecatory psalm, which many people have trouble with, I see the justice of God being spoken of. Many people today only want to see God’s love and God is love, but God is also just, and David knew a lot about the justice of God along with the mercy and grace of God, so David was getting the whole picture of God.
I look around the country that I live in and the country that I love and see many unjust things happening that I desire to have the Lord do something about. I believe the verse that says vengeance is mine saith the Lord, and I believe that all of the wrongs that are done to believers today will be dealt with, but like others, I sometimes want it to happen right away, but as I continue to learn contentment I believe that it will happen when the Lord wants it to happen, and that will be the perfect time for it to happen.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to be steadfast like I learned yesterday, and I want to continue to learn contentment. I want to trust the Lord to lead my life as Proverbs 3:5-6 speaks of. I need the spiritual armor on as Eph. 6:10-18 speaks of. I give myself to the Lord for worship and service as Romans 12:1-2 talk about.
3/14/2012 10:04:27 AM
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