Series: Psalm
Title: Our Defender, Advocate, Judge
Text: Psalm 58:1-11
Date: March 12, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Psalm 58: 1: « To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David
This is another “destroy thou not” Psalm, as well as another “golden psalm”
of David.
Believer, have you ever been charged unjustly? Have men ever spoken unrighteous things about
you? King David experienced that. He wrote this Psalm to the unjust judges that
Saul bribed to charge him with treason.
But even better, Christ experienced this. Unjust
judges spoke unrighteousness against Christ and unjustly accused God in human
flesh of sin. They unjustly sentenced the
Prince of Life to die the cruel, cursed death of the cross.
This Psalm speaks of two people—the wicked
and the righteous. The wicked are all
who reject Christ and would harm his people.
The righteous is Christ and those who Christ made righteous by his
person and works. This Psalm is Christ
speaking.
For our divisions we will see the good news
for every believer that 1) Christ is our Defender who convicts the wicked that
unjustly judge us 2) Christ is our Advocate with the Father for our good who
calls for the destruction of the wicked 3)
Christ is our Judge who carries out judgment in this life on behalf of his
people.
Title: Our Defender, Advocate and Judge
OUR DEFENDER
Psalm 58: 1: Do ye
indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of
men? 2: Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands
in the earth. 3: The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. 4: Their poison is like the poison of a
serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5: Which
will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
Christ is our defender. If any
have not believed on Christ then Christ speaks this to you. If there are any who are unjustly accusing
Christ’s people, Christ speaks this of you—"Do ye indeed speak
righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?”
Who among sinners can stand up and charge other sinners with
unrighteousness. Do you speak righteousness
about your own self before God? Do you
judge uprightly concerning your own self before God? Let me show you what it is
to speak righteousness concerning ourselves before God. This is judging uprightly about our own
selves before God. David prayed to God,
Psalm 51: 1: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2:
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3: For I acknowledge
my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4: Against thee, thee
only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
In every generation the wicked exalt themselves as judges
over Christ’s people, condemning Christ’s people (the righteous) in attempt to
justify themselves. So Christ prosecuted
his own wicked accusers. Christ
prosecuted David’s wicked accusers. He
prosecutes our wicked accusers. No
wicked sinner shall escape the righteous, just judgment of Christ our Defender. He says to the wicked, “Do ye indeed speak
righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?”
We know Paul quoted verse 4 in Romans 3.
But this may be the Psalm Paul had in mind when he wrote Romans 2. He says, “Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons
of men?” Then in Romans he
writes,
Romans 2: 1: Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art
that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for
thou that judgest doest the same things. 2: But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3: And
thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the
same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
When a sinner judges another sinner he
condemns himself because BEFORE GOD he is guilty of doing the same things. But when God judges, it is according to truth
and none shall escape. The only place God judges a sinner to be “the righteous”
is in Christ the Righteous. Believe on him,
forgive one another for his sake and leave judgment to God.
Christ defends his people by convicting the
wicked of heart-wickedness. This is true
of all of us in our sin-nature—"Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye
weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.”
Wicked sinners are quick to condemn the outward acts of other
sinners—especially God’s saints. But our omniscient God sees the sinful acts men
commit in our heart—"Ye weigh the violence of your hands in earth.” As sinful as you see the outward acts of
your brethren to be, just know that God sees far more sin being committed by
you in your heart!
Isaiah 26:7 says that God “weighs the path of
the just.” It means God observes it,
considers it, approves of it, and takes delight in it as being right and agreeable
to his mind and will. Here it means in
their hearts the wicked “weigh the violence of their hands in the earth”—they
think on it, purpose it, approve of it and commit it with delight because it is
agreeable to their sin-nature. The proud
self-righteous religious sinner works wickedness in their heart far worse than
the outward acts they condemn in God’s people.
And God sees “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1Sa
16:7)
David said, “Thou desirest truth in the
inward parts; in the inward part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” Before we exalt ourselves as self-righteous
judges we should remember that Christ had mercy on sinners who struggled with
outward acts of sin but whose hearts rested in Christ’s righteousness alone,
who were constrained by Christ’s love, who loved their brethren, who delighted
in mercy toward others. But
Christ was strict with the self-righteous whose outward acts appeared righteous
before men yet whose hearts were hard as stone, with no love for Christ or his
people, with no mercy or forgiveness. No
sin is good. But I would rather struggle
outwardly with acts of sin and have a new heart set on Christ with love and
mercy toward my brethren than to be straight as an arrow outwardly with a stony
heart of self-righteousness—because God looks on the heart.
Christ declares the
wicked are sinners from the womb—"The wicked are estranged from the
womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is
like the poison of a serpent.” We
sinned in Adam; we were conceived in sin from Adam; so we are all estranged
FROM GOD from the womb; we go ASTRAY FROM GOD as soon as we are born.
Romans 5: 12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
A lie is what we are therefore lies is what we speak—out of the
poisonous heart the mouth speaks. Unregenerate,
wicked sinners lie about their righteousness, sin and guilt. They speak lies on Christ. The message they preach is lies.
But the wicked will not hear God’s gospel—"they are like the
deaf adder [asp] that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of
charmers, charming never so wisely.” Our gospel is like the voice of
charmers, charming never so wisely. The
charm of the gospel is Christ Jesus the Righteous. The doctrine that charms the believer is God
the Father’s divine election in Christ by grace, Christ’s finished redemptive
work for his people, the Spirit’s regenerating grace to give us life, alone with
God’s preserving grace, resurrecting grace, and glorifying grace. The charm of the gospel is that salvation is
all of grace apart from our wicked works.
But wicked sinners shut up the ear to the gospel like a deaf adder
to the voice of charmers.
1 Corinthians 2: 14: But the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
This is so of all
sinners, including God’s elect. This is
the wickedness we are and which Christ must save his people from.
Romans 3: 9: What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise:
for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11: There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12: They are all gone out
of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one. 13: Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15: Their feet are
swift to shed blood: 16: Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17: And
the way of peace have they not known: 18: There is no fear of God before their
eyes.
What makes some
remain the wicked and others to be “the righteous?” Not by the works of the law. The
law was given to give us a knowledge of our sin to shut our mouths in guilty.
Romans 3: 19: Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20: Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by
the law is the knowledge of sin.
How then are some
made to be “the righteous?” It is only by
Christ’s faithful works given to us freely through faith in him.
Romans 3: 21: But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22:
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23: For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood,
1 Corinthians 4:7: For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what
hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost
thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Why then would you
and I, believer, glory by condemning another sinner? Why would look at the outward, sinful acts of
one Christ purged of all sin and exalt ourselves in judgment over them? You and I are wicked in ourselves. Everything we have God gave us freely by his
grace through the blood and righteousness of Christ Jesus his Son. So Christ speaks to wicked sinners who spoke
unrighteousness of him and who speak unrighteousness of those for whom Christ
died, saying, “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge
uprightly, O ye sons of men?” Christ said what men do to his people, they do
to him. Believer, we never want to be
guilty of charging others unjustly, especially one for whom Christ died because
it is charging Christ Jesus our Righteousness.
But remember, when we are charged, Christ is not only our Righteousness
but arises like a defense attorney on our behalf. Christ is our Defender!
OUR ADVOCATE
Psalm 58: 6: Break
their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young
lions, O LORD. 7: Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when
he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. 8:
As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like
the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
We see Christ our Advocate with the Father. Here Christ intercedes against his accusers
and ours by asking the Father to execute judgment upon the wicked—"Break
their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young
lions, O LORD.” Notice, in this,
the perfect faith of Christ the Son of God.
He is speaking to the Father against the wicked in defense of his people. Christ is our Advocate who intercedes for his
people. The teeth are often put for the
destructive words that the wicked speak.
Christ asks the Father to shut the mouths of the wicked who intend to
slander his people.
Christ advocates for
the wicked to be taken away so as to do no harm to his church who Christ has
made righteous—"Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when
he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. As a
snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth
of a woman, that they may not see the sun.”
We see the election
of grace in this, Christ prays for the
destruction of the wicked and he does so for the good of his people, God’s
elect, chosen by free grace in Christ.
Also, we see the sovereignty of God in
this. Our God is sovereign to make the
wicked melt away. He cuts their arrows
so that they do no harm to his people in this earth in this life. He makes them melt away like a snail. God makes our enemies as useless as if they
had not been born.
Believer wait on the Lord Jesus Christ to
Defend you against the wicked. And wait
on Christ to advocate for us with the Father to stop our enemies. But whatever you do, never be found on the
side of the wicked against whom Christ intercedes.
OUR JUDGE
Psalm 58: 9: Before
your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
both living, and in his wrath. 10:
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet
in the blood of the wicked; 11: So that a man shall say, Verily there is
a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Believer, when the self-righteous turn again to bite and devour you with
their self-exalting judgment, wait on Christ our Judge to execute
judgment. Christ not only arises to be
our Defender, he not only Advocates for us with the Father, but also the Father
has given all judgment into Christ’s hand.
It is Christ who executes Judgment for us, right now in the earth and
who shall do so at the last great judgment.
He tells us three things about his judgment.
One, God’s judgment
upon the wicked shall be speedy—"Before your pots can feel the thorns”—it
is like us saying before you can boil water. “He shall take them away as with a
whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.”
He means right now in this life God judges our enemies speedily. Look at Korah for example. Korah plotted against Moses and Aaron. In the midst of his scheming, while they were
alive and planning, God in his wrath opened the earth and swallowed them up
speedily then closed the ground upon them.
Two, God’s judgment
upon the wicked shall be thorough—"he shall wash his feet in the blood
of the wicked.” Vengeance
shall be thorough: Christ shall make a thorough end of all our enemies, washing
his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Three, judgment upon
the wicked shall cause his people to rejoice—"The righteous shall rejoice
when he seeth the vengeance…So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward
for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.” God’s people do not rejoice in God’s
vengeance as a personal vendetta. We
would much rather see sinners granted repentance and reconciled to God through
faith in Christ. But God’s people
rejoice in the justice of God. Christ
justified his people so God’s justice demands none be lost. We rejoice in the vindication of God’s honor. And we rejoice in Christ’s righteousness.
Our reward is all of
grace. By his providential judgment in
this life, God makes us know that our religion is not a vain and unprofitable
thing. Our triune God is the living God. Right now he judges the wicked in this earth
for the safety of his people and honor of his holy name and that makes us
rejoice.
1 Chronicles 16: 20: And when they went from
nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; 21: He
suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, 22: Saying,
Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 23: SING unto the LORD,
all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. 24: Declare his glory
among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
Sinner hear this
word. If you find yourself on the side
of the wicked, repent and worship Christ now.
You will not win otherwise. “Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is
kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Ps
2:12)
For you who Christ
has made “the righteous”: trust Christ our Defender to deal with the wicked for
you; wait on Christ our Advocate with the Father to stop the wicked who would
harm us; leave vengeance to Christ our
Judge who shall take care of the wicked speedily, thoroughly and make us
rejoice in the justice of God!
Amen!