Psalm 7: Justice For All

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OPENER: Janet Weininger was only 6 when her father died while piloting a CIA plane. His plane was shot down on April 19, 1961 by the Cuban government.
His body was frozen and kept in a Havana morgue for 18 years before it was shipped home to his family. In 2004 Janet filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County against Cuban President Fidel Castro...and the Republic of Cuba for the wrongful death of her father. "Yes, it’s been many years, but Fidel Castro is still in power and I realized that it was time to seek justice. I want justice for my father.”
    Joanne Sanabria of New York was driving her Honda minivan to an Easter Sunday dinner when a stray bullet ripped through the sliding door of the vehicle and struck her 2 year old son's chest, killing him. The bullet was fired during a conflict between two groups of men in the Bronx. "I want the person who did this to be caught," she said. "I want him to wake up every day and see my face and hear my voice and see my son's face. I want justice for my son..." 

    When someone wrongs us, when someone causes us suffering - no matter how greater or small the offense may be - we want justice EXCEPT when we are the ones who have committed the wrong - then we cry out for mercy and might even complain the penalty is too hard on us for our minor offense. Sometimes this is true, like when a 7th grader was arrested in November 2000 for possessing an illegal substance on the Metro - the substance was french fries! No she should not have been eating french fries on the metro given their policy of no food allowed on the trains - but arresting her might have been over the top. Still our tendency is to seek mercy for ourselves when we have wronged someone or have committed a crime - we desire leniency.

TRANSITION: Justice is a major theme in the Psalms. In the Psalms alone the word justice occurs 18 times and the word judge occurs 23 times and judgment 12 times. In fact, justice describes in part who God is - he is a "just and righteous" God - he is the Supreme Judge - and justice is something God loves - Psalm 97 says "righteousness and justice are the foundation of [God's] throne." Psalm 9 says The LORD is known by his justice." and Psalm 35 says "The LORD loves righteousness and justice." Righteousness and justice both flow out of his holiness. Because he is holy, holy, holy, he is incompatible with evil and therefore cannot overlook it - he must decree justice. Since God loves and upholds justice, then clearly we should as well.
    What I want us to do today is to examine our concept of divine justice. It might be that we have a warped understanding of it: We may think arresting a 12 year old girl fit the crime of eating french fries on the train, or we might have the opposite problem with excessive leniency - we never call it what it is because we dont want to be "judgmental". Here in Psalm 7, David is facing a situation where he has been wronged and attacked and accused of wrongdoing and calls out to God to decree justice - he wants the Supreme Judge to decide this matter. See David found great comfort in knowing God was the Judge of all the earth. David loved the justice of the Lord.

I. A Love for Justice
  • The Story behind Psalm 7
    • At the top of the Psalm we read this Psalm was written by David "concerning Cush, a Benjamite."
    • We dont really know who this Cush was or the specific circumstances BUT
    • Cush, the person in question was likely related to King Saul for both were from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
    • Saul was the first king of Israel, David was the second. Normally, the kingship was usually passed down to one of the king's sons. 
    • And when Saul came to realize God was going to give the kingdom to David, he pursued David to take his life and this Psalm could have been written at any point during his struggle with Saul.
    • But there was also another incident that occurred which might have moved David to write this.
    • Long after he became king, his son Absalom committed treason and sought to overthrow David.
    • This story is found in 2 Sam 16. David was forced to flee Jerusalem for his protection from Absalom and during his flight he encounters a man from Saul's family named Shimei. 
    • And as David and his men approached a certain town this guy Shimei came out cursing at David and his men, throwing rocks at them and accusing David of slaughtering the family of Saul.
    • "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! 8 The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!” 9 Then Abishai...said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” 10 But the king said... If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” 11 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.”  (2 Sa 16:7-12).
    In Psalm 7 and 2 Samuel 16 we see David's amazing confidence in God's justice. 
    • Shimei is an angry man who wants justice for Saul and believes David is being judged!
    • But David possessed such a security in his God - he lets Shimei vent his rage and call him names
    • He doesnt defend himself or recount how many times he spared Saul's life.
    • And in Psalm 7,  David finds great comfort in God's justice even if he is in fact a guilty man. 
    • O Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands—4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe— 5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust."
    • Why is this? David loved the Lord and everything about him - his justice and righteousness.
    • And this is evident in his willingness to take ownership of any wrongdoing of his own.
    • It is also evident in his submission to justice even when his sin is in view.
    • So when he says in vs 1 "O LORD my God, I take refuge in you..." he is saying God's justice is a place of safety!
    • The Supreme Judge of all the earth was his refuge - how could this even be possible?
II. Comforted by Justice
  • I know this is counter-intuitive for some.
    • Vs 6: "Arise, O Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice."
    • Vs 11: 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.
    • This is an intimidating image - God is preparing to go to war with the wicked to bring them to justice and to avenge their victims.
    • There are some who like this idea of God judging people. They take great delight in letting people know how bad they are and what they deserve.
    • In the Gospels they are called Pharisees - they deceived themselves into thinking they were exempt from God's justice - fancied themselves as law keepers.
    • There are others who have the opposite sentiment and have a tendency to wince at the idea of a judging God - both are a problem because...
    • NEITHER correctly understand justice and mercy. The former negates God's mercy while the latter negates God's justice.
    • Ezek. 33:11 says: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
    • If God does not take pleasure in this than neither should we - rather let us mourn for those described in vs 14-16:He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head."
    • AND remember that apart from Christ each one of us would be under the same sentence of condemnation.
    • And that is the difference between judging rightly and being judgmental.
    • A judgmental person doesnt recognize their sin smells just as bad as those they are judging - they dont realize how much they themselves need mercy.
    • I will say more about that later.
    • But what of those who dont like this idea of God being a judge and judging?
    • The theologian R.C. Sproul said: Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority.
    • And when we insist on redefining God as a being who does not judge - it is just a different approach to dethroning him.
    • Let me put in a modern context: When we hear of terrible crimes being done to people - there is something within us that wants to see criminals brought to justice.
    • And when justice prevails against them, how do we feel? Hopefully we are relieved - and perhaps comforted. By what? The presence of justice.
    • But lets say he was a serial killer and was only sentenced to 3 months in jail? I suspect most of us would say our justice system had failed his victims.
    • See, we do believe in justice - the problem is we want it on our terms.
    • Hang those murderers, but don't tell me about a God who judges our more polite sins of jealousy, gossip, lust and lying. I mean no one died when I lied so why is such a big deal being made about it?
    • Our natural fallen, sinful tendency is to have it our way - be our own boss - be the final authority and this is really at the core of both extremes.
    • To dismiss God as one who judges is to characterize him as a being who has nothing to say about the actions of a cold blooded killer.
    • If God is not a God of justice then we owe Ted Bundee and the Beltway Sniper an apology. Does that comfort you?
    • A world without justice is a world of utter anarchy, chaos and violence.
    • If God does not judge then there is no such thing as right and wrong - you cant even say being judgmental is wrong for it would be a logical fallacy!
    • Thankfully, this is not our God nor is it the world we live in. If it were, how could we ever say with David: "I take refuge in you."?
    • Would he defend us against wicked men? If you were murdered, would he hold your killer accountable? If not then he is no refuge.
    • We should take great comfort in the fact that God does hold sinners accountable and that he does decree justice.  
    • For David, God's justice was an extension of his sovereign rule. He took comfort in the fact that God was in charge and in vs 7 says: Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high;
    • We must also take into consideration verse 10.

III. Saved by Justice

  • Vs 10 says: My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
    • Contrary to popular opinion, justice and mercy are not opposites.
    • In fact mercy is not even possible unless justice is present.
    • Everytime we make use of the sacraments of the church we are admitting this to be the truth.
    • The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper point us where? To the cross - they are reminders of the mercy and grace we have received in Christ.
    • But they are also reminders of what we deserve - they are reminders of God's justice!
  • Isaiah 1:27 says: Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
    • This means redemption is not the absence of justice!
    • God did not sweep his justice under the rug so he could be merciful.
    • Instead he fulfilled his justice in order that he might be free to forgive you and I for our rebellious ways.
    • Romans 3:25-26: 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
    • Jesus' sacrifice according to vs 26 allows God to satisfy his divine justice and to justify those who have faith in Jesus.
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