My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
David has described his persecutors in last weeks passage, and by extension has described our heart and potential actions also. Out of this treasonous and evil choice of life, David begs God for true justice, for justice that can be provided from the only true Judge.
Psalm 58
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Throughout this psalm we have seen David battle with his frustration, with injustice, with crying out to God for action. Let’s remember David’s situation. He has been recently declared by God and His prophet Samuel, in the presence of his family, to be the next King of Israel. He has saved the nation from extreme embarrassment by defeating the giant Goliath. He has served both father and King with multiple tasks. And now he is on the run, being chased by the King and ignored by his family.
I get the message of verse 10, and the joy of seeing vengeance on an enemy. I really do! There have been times in my life when we have been treated poorly and unjustly, and eventually the Lord brings about a turnaround in the situation, with the persecutor becoming a victim. I found joy in the rescue of the Lord, and to be blunt enjoyed seeing the one suffer.
For some reason, I am finding that even though justice is deserved, and may be meted out, that in those circumstances when I see a fairness exacted I experience less joy, less happiness, less satisfaction. Don’t get me wrong – to have the Lord rescue me or my loved ones is an exhilarating experience, but if it entails a required discipline on another, even an enemy, my relative joy is diminished.
To see my enemy suffer is not a joy. I am not sure where David’s head was when he wrote this, especially referring to bathing his feet in the blood of the wicked. It may have some oriental implication I don’t understand, or he may be simply expressing the natural response of a man under tremendous pressure.
It is beyond me, and may reveal my immaturity in the Lord.
But lets stand back and consider these last two verses, that the joy may not necessarily be in the bloody foot bath, but in the fact that there is a God who judges the earth. There is a judge who will defend the helpless, and put right those actions that are evil.
And yet there is a higher thought that nags at me.
Is it not the same Judge of all the earth that was judged, condemned, tortured, mocked, ridiculed, and crucified by those who are the wicked, unjust and cruel of the land.
And yet He asked for their forgiveness.
Yes He is the Greater David, the One who pulls all of us to higher ground, who reveals the merciful heart of the Father, who provides forgiveness to us who should identify with Saul more than David.
We are truly a blessed people to have the Greater David as our Guide, Leader, Savior and Teacher.
He is good!
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Considering the Bible 