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Continue your love to those who know you,

    your righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 May the foot of the proud not come against me,

    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 See how the evildoers lie fallen—

    thrown down, not able to rise!

Derek Kidner, in his ‘Tyndale’ commentary on Psalms 1-72, sees this as an example of a prayer of faith. The psalmist prays that God’s people, who have come to enjoy His love, will continue to do so (10). He also prays for protection (11), and in his final statement (12) he already sees the prayer answered and the wicked decisively dealt with.

Here is the Kidner quote. I found it wonderfully encouraging:

‘The psalmist finds himself stationed on the disputed ground between human wickedness (1-4) and divine grace (5-9); so he turns to urgent prayer. Twice he has praised the steadfast love of God (5,7); now let it reach out to the place of need (10!)…The last verse shows the victory already claimed; it speaks as though the scene were present and clearly visible…This is the faith defined in Hebrews 11:1 (Phillips) as ‘putting our full confidence in the things we hope for…being certain of things we cannot see’.

So the early eloquence was genuine. The evil which David portrayed in the first stanza he was ready to fight; the grace which he praised in the second he was ready to invoke; and, once invoked, to accept as given and as settling the matter.’

God’s love is meteoric,

    his loyalty astronomic,

His purpose titanic,

    his verdicts oceanic.

Yet in his largeness

    nothing gets lost;

Not a man, not a mouse,

    slips through the cracks.

7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!

    How eager we are to run under your wings,

To eat our fill at the banquet you spread

    as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.

You’re a fountain of cascading light,

    and you open our eyes to light.

10-12 Keep on loving your friends;

    do your work in welcoming hearts.

Don’t let the bullies kick me around,

    the moral midgets slap me down.

Send the upstarts sprawling

    flat on their faces in the mud. (The Message).

I’d like to encourage you to re-read these verses in the translation you normally use, then read it once more in Peterson’s paraphrase above. I believe these songs/poem-prayers, are to be felt, not merely analysed. So let the gigantic waves of God’s generous love sweep over you. Feel exhilaratingly washed in the ocean of His undeserved favour; eat your fill at His banqueting table (and consider the words of Jesus in John 10:10).

In the ‘NIV’ verse 8 reads: “They feast on the abundance of your house;

    you give them drink from your river of delights.”

I understand that the word for “delights” is closely related to the word for ‘Eden.’ So this may take us back in thought to Genesis 2:10 where “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.” It maybe also causes us to think about Ezekiel 47:1-12 and Revelation 22:1,2. Also, the words of Jesus in John 4: 13, 14 and 7:37-39.

The bottom line is this: eternal destinies, and current lifestyles are at stake; and it is better to swim in the deeps of God’s lavish love, than to drown in the polluted river of self-love.

We each have a choice to make.

PRAYER: Lord God, you have poured immeasurable spiritual wealth upon me.Help me not to live (needlessly) as a pauper.

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

    your justice like the great deep.

    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

‘In this psalm, there is a choice to be made which determines the sort of life we experience now and the destiny that awaits: the choice is how to react to the revelation of God. To reject it is to be condemned to listen to our own hearts and to a life without values; to embrace it is to enjoy life, light, provision and protection.’ (Alec Motyer: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.508).

Ultimately, there are only two types of people in this world:  those who are marked by the self-love of sin, and those for whom the love of God has become their greatest reality. This is a love the psalmist describes as “priceless” and “unfailing.” Motyer says, reflecting on verse 5, that it is ‘something far bigger and higher than anything on earth.’

What hope can there be for sinners (1-4) – something we all are by nature?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).

I heard that on a wall, in a mental institution, somewhere behind the ‘iron curtain’, a (no doubt) sane person, imprisoned there for having the ‘wrong’ beliefs, had written:

‘Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made;

We’re every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.’

I have a message from God in my heart

    concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God

    before their eyes.

2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves

    too much to detect or hate their sin.

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;

    they fail to act wisely or do good.

4 Even on their beds they plot evil;

    they commit themselves to a sinful course

    and do not reject what is wrong.

Sin is a slippery, down-hill slope, and it starts, in some form, with the rejection of God (1b – as in Romans 1:18-32). Although Alec Motyer has an interesting observation to make:

‘The issue is not whether God exists but whether he matters; not his reality but his relevance. It is the position of many people all the time; it is the position of believers some of the time – not as a stated creed but in practice’ (‘New Bible Commentary’, p.508).

It is sadly true that, even as ‘believers’, we can be ‘practical atheists.’

A few years ago, my wife, Jilly, tried to engage a couple of friends in a conversation about spiritual matters. They didn’t fall out with her, but their attitude was, in essence, ‘Why would I want to go to church?’ The issue wasn’t whether or not God existed; they just felt no need for Him. As far as they were concerned, life was good and they had all they could need.

At its core, sin is about self-love (2): the rejection of the true God and the enthronement of self in His rightful place. When thinking about the word ‘sin’, I often think of it as ‘’sIn’: it is when ‘I’ am in the middle of my life calling the shots. It is when my theme song has become ‘I did it my way.’ This self-love blinds us so that we cannot see ourselves as we really are, and cannot hate what we are, or have become (or are becoming). For sin does tend to be a slippery down-hill slide, and can lead a person to a place where verse 4 is their reality. It is possible to see a Putin type figure in this verse, but it is has become true for many unknown people also.

What hope is there for sinners? As we will see, it is to be found in the love of God.

I have a message from God in my heart

    concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God

    before their eyes.

You may have heard the story about the person who went home from church one Sunday, and was asked by a family member, ‘What was the sermon about?’

‘Sin’, came the reply!

‘And what did the preacher say about it?’

‘He was against it!’

Well understandably, but it won’t necessarily earn you any popularity points for saying so.

In an article in ‘the Spectator’ this last week, Gareth Roberts asked, ‘Who is Sandi Toksvig to lecture Justin Welby about sin?’He was referring to the critical, open letter she recently sent to the Archbishop. Roberts says that he is an atheist and a homosexual, but he found what she said ‘insufferable.’ The truth is the Judaeo-Christian tradition believes that certain things are sinful, and whether we agree or not, like it or not, there’s no point denying it is so.

In the Bible’s understanding, sin is both falling short of a standard and deliberately crossing a boundary. In both senses we are all sinners, and we need to understand what we are and that we are in need of the Saviour, Jesus.

Recently, we heard a young man tell his conversion story in one of our church services. He said he heard a preacher speak about the holiness of God, and it caused him to realise the great gulf that existed between God and himself. It broke his heart and brought him to repentance, and made him cry out to the Lord for salvation.

Bu without that overwhelming experience of conviction of sin, the ‘dedicated sinner’ carries on down his/her utterly.ruinous route

I have a message from God in my heart

    concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God

    before their eyes.

If preaching is to move the heart it must come from the heart. It is out of the ‘overflow’ of the heart that the mouth speaks. If the preacher is not stirred by the message, how can he (or she) expect anyone else to be? In a very real sense, his heart must be in his mouth.

Authentic preaching requires:

• A messenger;
• A “message from God”;
• A “heart” prepared to speak “from God” (2 Peter 1:21);
• Bravery to pass the message on – especially when you have something tough to say that people may not want to hear (indeed, something which might get you ‘stoned’ in one way or another).

Preaching is not just stringing a few thoughts, jokes and anecdotes together and sharing them on a Sunday. It is the overflowing of a bubbling, boiling pot that has sat on the stove long enough to get very hot. It has had a lot of heat under it in the form of prayerful study.Although this message may pass through a human heart (and lips), hearers know it came “from God”.

‘The word of God can be in the mind without being in the heart, but it cannot be in the heart without first being in the mind.’ R.C.Sproul.

Let us pray today for clarity and courage (and passion!) for all who are called to preach God’s Word.

I want to add a ‘P.S’ to our look at Psalm 35. We have noticed that although David was undergoing a great trial, he nevertheless held to a conviction that all would be well (10, 18 and 28).

When I was going through a very ‘dark valley’, just over a decade ago, I visited one of my oldest and best friends, Gordon. He lives in Hale, in Cheshire. We spent a special day walking and talking at a National Trust property near his home. But before we went back to his house, he took me to see an old friend of his – an elderly widow. He said a little bit to her about my situation. I guess I had been more honest with Gordon about my true feelings than with anyone else, but I probably hadn’t even let my most trusted friend know the last 20% of the darkness and fear I was in. Then this dear godly lady quoted to me some words of Juliana of Norwich:

‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’

Those words hit me with prophetic force. I believe they were a word from the Lord to my soul at that time. It is true, of course, that this is ultimately true for all believers: in eternity ‘All shall be well.’ But I sensed, that day, as her prayer and her words filled me with peace, that God was going to do something about the heavy burden I was carrying in time, and so it came about. That very evening I received a phone call during which I felt the mist already starting to lift a little, and I want to give God all the praise and glory for the manifestation of His grace and power…

…and for friends! Even in this dark and lonely place, David knew he had friends (27). Let’s treasure our friends and thank God for the ways he works and speaks through them.

Do not let those gloat over me

    who are my enemies without cause;

do not let those who hate me without reason

    maliciously wink the eye.

20 They do not speak peaceably,

    but devise false accusations

    against those who live quietly in the land.

21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha!

    With our own eyes we have seen it.”

22 Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent.

    Do not be far from me, Lord.

23 Awake, and rise to my defence!

    Contend for me, my God and Lord.

24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;

    do not let them gloat over me.

25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”

    or say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 May all who gloat over my distress

    be put to shame and confusion;

may all who exalt themselves over me

    be clothed with shame and disgrace.

27 May those who delight in my vindication

    shout for joy and gladness;

may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,

    who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,

    your praises all day long.

David, who is a ‘type’ (or foreshadowing) of Christ, was Christ-like both in his experience and his response.

• He was Christ-like in experience in that he was hated “without cause” (19; see also verse 7, Ps.69:4 and John 15:25). ‘Hatred without cause is so basic a response of evil towards good (already emphasised in verse 7) that Jesus saw verse 19 (and 69:4) not as David’s strange misfortune but as his own predestined lot (John 15:25), an authoritative revelation of what must be. The pattern, pure and complete in his case, was recognisable though fragmentary with David, and is appointed for us as well (John 15:18ff.).’ Derek Kidner, p.162.

• But he was also Christ-like in his response. Have a look at 1 Peter 2:19-23, and note in particular verse 23: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” That is precisely what David does here, however imperfectly. He seeks “vindication” from the Lord (24,27). The word “Contend” (see also verse 1) is a word which applied to law suits. David is asking for right to be done. He has done nothing wrong; he has been slanderously maligned. He is confident he can take his case to the highest court, and there find the Judge who sees all and knows all (22).

In everything, David knows he still has some friends who will be so glad and thankful to see him come through this (27).

Whatever God may allow into our lives, and although we may not understand all of it, let’s remember that He “delights” in our “well-being” (27b), and is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

David’s cry in verses 23 does not come from mistaken theology. He doesn’t believe God is asleep, I’m sure. But in the life of faith it sometimes feels like He is, and this is an urgent ‘999’ call in the night.

Ruthless witnesses come forward;

    they question me on things I know nothing about.

12 They repay me evil for good

    and leave me like one bereaved.

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth

    and humbled myself with fasting.

When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

14     I went about mourning

    as though for my friend or brother.

I bowed my head in grief

    as though weeping for my mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;

    assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.

    They slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;

    they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 How long, Lord, will you look on?

    Rescue me from their ravages,

    my precious life from these lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;

    among the throngs I will praise you.

If, as we saw yesterday, ‘you reap what you sow’ is an oft-repeated Biblical principle, the question, ‘How long?’ Is also a bit of a recurring theme. We must learn to not only wait on the Lord, but also to wait for Him. The prayer battle may be long and hard, but faith is confident of there being light at the end of the tunnel (18). It does not, however, deny the length of the tunnel, nor the thick darkness within it.

I am challenged by David’s compassion for the sick, and the personal price he was prepared to pay in order to intercede for their healing (13,14). He cared very much. Someone made the point that it is as if the Good Samaritan himself fell among thieves, only to find the one he formerly helped now being his chief tormentor.

It is right always to do unto others as you would have them do to you. But they don’t always treat you in kind! Thoughtless ways are one thing though; but to deliberately mistreat someone who has only been good to you is quite another. Sadly, it happens. It has happened throughout history; it still happens today. It goes on in churches – even among those who claim to be the people of God. The way some people behave, it’s quite possible to feel savaged by their teeth (12), and mauled by their behaviour. It’s hard to have lies told about you, and to have those untruths believed. (On verses 11,12, see 1 Sam.24:9,17).

‘This is the sad heart of the psalm: to find that people who were considered friends are the source of false report, gloat over misfortune and seethe with hatred.’ (Alec Motyer, ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.508).

It is possible to feel “bereaved” (12) without losing anyone. Loss can come in many forms, and at this time in his life David had lost so much.

But again, he points the way to navigate such circumstances. He does not take matters into his own hands, but entrusts His cause to God. He knows the Lord will intervene on his behalf (17a). What he doesn’t know is when.

PRAYER: Lord, in this time of waiting, let me not lose heart. Put within me the conviction that all will be well – in your way and time