Psalms 108 & 109 - The Power of God and the Seriousness of Sin

by Becky

LINK: Psalm 108

Psalm 108 combines the last parts of two previous psalms, Psalm 57 and Psalm 60, with minor wording changes. Leaving out parts of the previous psalms and recombining other parts gives a different emphasis. Where the previous psalms begin with entreaty and some complaints, this psalm begins and ends with assurance, praise, and victory. It centers on the power and provision of God.

I hope you’ll take some time to meditate on it before moving on to Psalm 109. What is your heart fixed on? Are you steadfastly trusting the LORD?

LINK: Psalm 109

BACKGROUND and REFLECTION

Psalm 109 is a troubling psalm, because it contains one of those imprecatory passages, a passage that curses an enemy. There is no question that this is a hard passage.

It is important for us in the 21^st century, used to the personal, private use of God’s Word, to remember that this is a psalm of David and was given to the chief musician for use in public, corporate worship. It isn’t a private, personal poem, but is a song. Therefore, it must have some value for worship. It’s possible that we in our time may never understand completely why it’s included, or how it could be used in worship.

I teach Shakespeare. I have directed several of his plays. Because there are few stage directions it is possible to extract several possible interpretations from certain lines, simply by varying the way they’re delivered and by emphasizing different phrases and words. I think that is probably the case here.

The psalm begins with the presentation of a problem (vv 1 – 5), one that most of us can identify with. People are telling lies, gossiping, spreading false rumors about David. In return for David’s love he receives hatred. He continues to pray for them, has done good to them, and they respond with evil actions.

In verse 6 “the enemy” changes from plural to singular. Look at the change in pronouns. Perhaps it is not significant, but it could be, so I thought it should be noted, because at least one commentator uses that fact to propose that the words, “They say” be inserted here. Doing that would completely change the point of view and it would be clear that this is what the enemies are saying about David., rather than what David’s song says about his enemy. Verse 20 would then be a request that the Lord turn the curses of the enemies (from the previous fourteen verses) against themselves. Take a look. What do you think?

The more usual view is that the imprecation is from David against the wicked. Some writers are obviously baffled by it. Because Peter quotes this Psalm, referring to Judas Iscariot, in Acts, some commentators say that it speaks specifically about Judas and should not be extended generally.

Then there are those who try to figure it out within the context of its use. Here is an excerpt of one explanation that I found thought provoking and thorough. In my thoughts about the psalm, this is mostly where I’ve landed:

All of the above observations lead me to the conclusion that the imprecatory psalms are far more relevant and applicable to Christians today than we would like to admit. Why then are we so uneasy about them? Essentially I think the answer is that we have a distorted view of God, perverted by our own sin. We want to think of God only in terms of love and mercy, but not in terms of justice and judgment. We are soft on sin. … We have adopted the thinking summarized by the expression, “I’m O.K., You’re O.K.” If you will pardon me for doing so, I could entitle Psalm 109 “I’m O.K., but You’re Not.” Such was the conviction of the psalmist. Most of us know that we are not O.K. Therefore we respond by going easy on others, hoping our laxity will make things easier on us. Let me tell you that if we had the courage and the conviction to pray as David did, we would be very ill at ease in regard to our own sins. Our greatest problem with imprecatory psalms is that the psalmist takes sin much more seriously than we do.

You may wish to challenge me by stressing that while we must hate sin, we should not hate the sinner. We want to think that God hates the sin, but He loves the sinner. I must ask you then, why does God send men to hell? Why isn’t hell a terrible place of torment for Satan and his angels and sin? Why is hell a place where people go? I don’t think it is as possible as we think to separate the sin from the sinner. This is not the solution to our problem.

I believe that in David’s case his enemies were God’s enemies whom God hated (cf. Romans 9:13 — in some sense, at least, God “hated” Esau). The solution was not to separate the sin and the sinner, but to commit both to God. This freed David from personal vengeance, enabling him to “love his enemies” (cf. Psalm 109:5) and treat them with kindness (as David did to Saul, Shimei, and the rest of his enemies). Let us not strive so hard to separate the sin from the sinner as to separate the sin from our attitudes and actions toward the sinner. I believe that David responded as he did to his enemies because he was a “man after God’s own heart.” Our problem is that we look at sin and sinners more from a human viewpoint than from the divine.

The amazing thing is that when we strive to conjure up human feelings of love and forgiveness, we really can’t love or forgive our enemies. The best we can do is to suppress our feelings of anger and hostility. When the psalmist prayed as he did in Psalm 109 he admitted his feelings and his desires (which were in accordance with God’s character and His covenant with men). He was thereby relieved of his hostility by committing the destiny of the wicked to God. Punishment and vengeance belong to God. By giving up vengeance we free ourselves to love and to forgive in a way that we cannot produce in and of ourselves.

Let us learn from the imprecatory psalms that a hard stand on sin is the best way to prevent sin. Let me tell you it must have been some experience to gather as a congregation in days of old and sing Psalm 109. Remember, the psalm was written for public worship. To sing its words was to remind the saints how the godly should respond to sin. In so doing each individual was reminded of the seriousness of sin and the dire consequences which accompany it. To be soft on sin is to give it a greenhouse in which to grow. To be hard on sin is to hinder its growth, not only in the lives of others but in our own as well.

from Bob Deffinbaugh at bible.org

If you want to read the whole commentary, go to http://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-109-prayer-punishment-wicked . It's worth reading.

The last verses of the psalm ask God for mercy and help, so that his enemies, those attacking and maligning him, will see that God’s blessing supersedes their cursing. The psalm ends in praise to the LORD who rescues.

APPLICATION

Sin is serious. Do you take it as seriously as it is taken in the psalm?

Let me repeat what Mr. Deffinbaugh says, “To sing its words was to remind the saints how the godly should respond to sin. In so doing each individual was reminded of the seriousness of sin and the dire consequences which accompany it. To be soft on sin is to give it a greenhouse in which to grow. To be hard on sin is to hinder its growth, not only in the lives of others but in our own as well.”

PRAYER

It is easy for us to gloss over sin – to excuse it without truly dealing with it. Help us, Lord, to recognize its horror. Sin has consequences that reach far beyond the moment and far beyond the individual. Help us to deal honestly with you about our own sin. Help us to speak to you honestly when others sin against us. Help us to leave consequences in your hands rather than adding our sin to theirs by trying to hurt them.