Latest / Reformed Thinking / Set a Guard Over My Mouth (Psalm 141) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

Set a Guard Over My Mouth (Psalm 141) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Imagine being completely cornered.
0:02
I mean just absolutely trapped. Your reputation is ruined.
0:06
Yeah, and your enemies are setting literal traps for you in
0:08
the dark. Right.
0:10
And even worse, the people you thought were your closest
0:12
friends are starting to look at you with suspicion.
0:15
That is a terrifying thought because if you speak up to
0:18
defend yourself, you know your words will just be twisted.
0:21
They will be used against you. Yeah.
0:23
Yeah. Your chest is tight, your mind
0:24
is racing. So what is your first instinct
0:28
in that scenario? Well, I think our natural reflex
0:31
is to fight back. You know, we want to launch a
0:33
public relations. Campaign.
0:35
Oh, absolutely. We want to draft a scorching
0:37
defense, post it everywhere, and lash out at the people ruining
0:42
our lives. Yeah, that is the human
0:44
reaction. But today, on Reformed thinking,
0:46
we are opening up Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of David
0:50
to look at an ancient blueprint for surviving this kind of
0:53
modern nightmare. We are doing a custom tailored
0:55
analysis of Psalm 141. Yeah, so you are getting a
0:59
shortcut to a text that functions as a manual for
1:02
handling vicious slander. It is a guide for putting a
1:05
padlock on your own speech and for trusting divine sovereignty
1:08
when you are surrounded by unseen traps.
1:11
And to really grasp this, we have to look at the author,
1:13
David. He is living in a state of
1:15
intense suspicion. He is.
1:19
He is half afraid to open his mouth, right?
1:21
Terrified he might say something unadvisably while trying to
1:24
clear his name. Spot on.
1:26
He is slandered, haunted by the state, and censured by the
1:29
Saints. Yet his response gives a highly
1:31
practical strategy for your own life today.
1:34
OK, let's unpack this, because the historical reality of
1:37
David's situation is what makes this text so applicable.
1:39
Yeah, we see a man stripped of his usual defenses.
1:42
His regular avenues of recourse are completely blocked.
1:45
Right. He cannot rely on his military
1:47
genius, his political alliances, or, you know, his popularity
1:50
with the masses. Well, he is driven into a corner
1:53
where his only remaining action is the one action that never
1:56
fails. And that brings us to the
1:57
opening verses of the Psalm. The anatomy of an urgent cry
2:01
David begins by saying, Lord, I cry unto thee.
2:04
And what stands out here is the exclusivity of this trust.
2:08
I mean Misbelief will seek 1000 different ways for delivery from
2:11
trouble. Yeah, human nature runs to
2:13
wealthy friends, or clever schemes, or just personal
2:16
cunning. But faith has only one path to
2:19
go to God. David makes God his absolute and
2:23
only refuge. It is a painful, feeble prayer.
2:28
It is worthy only to be called a cry.
2:30
You know, the kind of raw, animalistic sound someone makes
2:33
when the pressure just becomes unbearable.
2:35
Yet it is a nobled because it is directed to Jehovah.
2:39
David repeats this phrase, saying, I have cried into thee,
2:42
I still cried to thee, and I always mean to cry to thee.
2:45
Right. And the theological reality here
2:47
aligns with our understanding of human limitation and divine
2:50
sovereignty. Yeah, when you were in severe
2:52
distress, the realization of your own utter helplessness is
2:55
the very thing that drives you to the Almighty.
2:57
You reach a point where you acknowledge that no human
3:00
intervention can possibly fix the ruin of your circumstances.
3:03
Absolutely. But I want to look closely at a
3:05
specific pushback that arises in the very next breath David
3:08
takes. He says, Mick, haste unto me.
3:10
Yeah, that is a striking phrase. On the surface, that phrasing
3:14
sounds demanding. I mean, is it presumptuous for
3:18
David or for you, the listener, to tell the Creator of the
3:22
universe to hurry up it? It does seem to clash with the
3:25
idea of patiently waiting on the Lord's timing, doesn't it?
3:27
Right. If God is completely sovereign,
3:30
why would a believer urgently press him to move faster?
3:33
It almost sounds like a lack of faith.
3:35
But looking at the source text, there is a fascinating
3:37
explanation for this urgency. It describes a concept called
3:41
holy importunity. Holy importunity.
3:44
Let's look into that. The text acknowledges that God's
3:47
timing is best, but it also reveals that severe distress
3:51
allows believers to quicken the movements of mercy through
3:54
earnest pleading. Because the reality is that in
3:56
many earthly scenarios, if help arrives late, it might be too
4:00
late. Yeah, and the believer is
4:01
permitted to pray against such a calamity.
4:04
Ezekiel Hopkins provides a brilliant analogy for this
4:07
dynamic. Oh, I.
4:07
Love this analogy. He says that our prayer and
4:10
God's mercy are like 2 buckets in a well.
4:12
So while one bucket ascends, the other descends.
4:15
Precisely as the empty bucket of our urgent pleading prayer goes
4:19
down into the well of God's grace, the full bucket of His
4:23
mercy is drawn upward to meet our need.
4:25
Wow, so the deeper our cry goes down, the more abundant the
4:28
mercy that rises to meet us. Yeah, and this visual changes
4:32
how we view desperate prayer. It is not an act of arrogance to
4:35
ask God to make haste. It is an act of total
4:38
dependence. It is recognizing that without
4:41
his immediate intervention, we are entirely lost, right?
4:44
The mechanics of a well require the rope to be pulled.
4:47
The empty bucket has to drop to the bottom to retrieve the
4:49
water. That well analogy captures the
4:52
mechanical reality of earnest supplication beautifully.
4:55
The desperation of the cry is a very mechanism that draws the
4:58
mercy upward. And as David continues this
5:00
urgent plea, he shifts his imagery from the well of mercy
5:03
to the altar of worship. He.
5:05
Says, Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the
5:08
lifting up of my hands is the evening sacrifice.
5:11
To fully grasp the weight of this, we must examine the
5:14
historical notes from Hugh McMillan regarding the
5:16
Tabernacle. Yeah, let's talk about the
5:18
ceremonial worship of the Hebrews.
5:20
Because none of the senses were excluded from taking part in the
5:23
service, right? Spot on The sense of smell
5:26
occupied a highly prominent place.
5:29
The acceptance of the worship was often indicated by a symbol
5:33
borrowed from this sense, the Lord smelling a sweet savour.
5:37
So incense was not just a pleasant aroma, it was the great
5:40
symbol of prayer. Yes.
5:43
The altar of incense stood in the closest connection with the
5:46
altar of burnt offerings every morning, and every evening a
5:50
sensor full of incense poured forth fragrant clouds.
5:54
But here is the most striking historical detail.
5:56
This incense acted as a great equalizer in worship.
5:59
That is such an amazing point. Those who were deaf could not
6:03
hear the prayers of the priest. And those who are blind could
6:05
not see the sacrifices. But the soft, fragrant clouds of
6:09
smoke reached everyone in the camp right.
6:11
A person shut out from social by their physical affliction could
6:14
still join in the devotional exercises through the medium of
6:17
their sense of smell. The hallowed impressions shut
6:19
out by one Ave. were admitted to the mind and heart by another.
6:23
Furthermore, the. Theological weight of this
6:24
imagery is massive. The sacred incense could not be
6:28
lit with any ordinary flame. Wait.
6:30
It had to be a specific fire, yes.
6:32
It required live coals taken directly from the altar of burnt
6:36
offering, the very place where the blood of atonement was shed.
6:39
Oh wow, so this symbolizes that acceptable prayer is kindled by
6:43
the altar fire of Christ's sacrifice and.
6:45
Perfumed by his merits, prayer is not a casual thought thrown
6:49
into the wind. It is a carefully prepared,
6:51
reverently offered, sweet smelling savor, resting entirely
6:55
on the foundation of the atoning sacrifice.
6:57
Yeah, that transition from the altar fire to the individual
7:00
believer is stunning. Because if our prayers are like
7:03
this holy incense, relying on the blood of the sacrifice, then
7:07
the vessel offering that prayer must be fiercely protected,
7:10
right? Because prayer is so holy, the
7:12
mouth that offers it must be guarded from defilement.
7:15
David realizes this. He prays, Set a watch, O Lord,
7:18
before my mouth, keep the door of my lips.
7:20
I love the imagery of the lips as a door.
7:23
Nature has given us the physical ability to open and shut our
7:26
physical mounts. Yeah, we can clap our teeth
7:28
together. We can press our lips tight.
7:30
But we lack the moral ability to guard our speech under pressure.
7:34
Matthew Henry articulates this well.
7:36
He says that nature made the lips a door, but grace must keep
7:40
that door. Think about your physiological
7:43
response to being attacked or slandered.
7:45
Your heart rate rises, adrenaline floods your system.
7:48
The. Overwhelming desire is to open
7:50
the door of your lips and let the wind of your anger blow
7:53
outward. In times of persecution by
7:56
ungodly men, or when we are intensely provoked, we are
8:00
highly liable to speak hastily or evasively, or with
8:03
bitterness. So.
8:04
If we use our mouth to offer holy incense to God, it is a
8:07
tragedy to let it be defiled with untruth or pride or wrath.
8:11
David realizes that with all his own vigilance, he might be
8:14
surprised into sin. He cannot trust himself.
8:17
He. Needs a guard stationed at the
8:19
gate. We must recognize our inability
8:21
to preserve ourselves from the disorders of speech.
8:23
Yeah, a few thoughtless words can fan anger and malice into a
8:27
raging flame. This is why David begs the Lord
8:29
Himself to keep him when. Jehovah sets the watch.
8:32
The city is well guarded. When the Lord becomes the guard
8:35
of our mouth, the whole individual is well garrisoned.
8:38
And the vulnerability of that door is tied to the theological
8:41
reality of human nature, right? Absolutely.
8:44
The heart is deceitful. Above all things.
8:46
We are often blind to our own capacity for failure.
8:49
When provoked, the flesh wants to defend itself, to retaliate,
8:53
to justify its actions. We.
8:55
Need God to become the watchman of the city, because if left to
8:59
our own inclinations, we will decline from the right path.
9:02
This inward corruption is precisely why David connects the
9:05
mouth so closely with the heart in the very next verse.
9:09
He prays incline not my heart to any evil thing to practice
9:13
wicked works with men that work iniquity.
9:16
The way the heart inclines, the life soon tends.
9:19
Unless the fountain of life is kept pure, the streams of life
9:22
will soon be polluted. Yeah.
9:23
Evil things desired bring forth wicked things practiced, and
9:26
David is acutely aware of the danger of association.
9:30
Even good individuals are apartment to be swayed by the
9:32
company they keep. If you are surrounded by those
9:35
who make a practice of iniquity which literally translates to a
9:38
want of equity, a lack of justice and righteousness, you
9:42
are in danger of adopting their customs.
9:45
Sin is an infectious disease. It is bad when the heart goes
9:49
the wrong way alone, but it increases to a high degree of
9:52
ungodliness when the backslider runs the downward path with a
9:55
whole horde of sinners around them.
9:57
Therefore, the prayer is a plea for God to act as a barrier
10:01
against both the internal corruption of the heart and the
10:03
external contagion of wicked associates.
10:05
We are porous creatures, absorbing the atmosphere of the
10:08
rooms we choose to sit in. And that external contagion
10:11
leads to a fascinating detail in verse 4.
10:13
Yes, David does not just pray against doing evil or practicing
10:18
wicked works. He specifically prays.
10:20
Let me not eat of their dainties.
10:22
Why? Focus on the food.
10:23
Why not just say keep me from their crimes or you?
10:25
Know prevent me from participating in their violence.
10:28
Why is the warning centered on a banquet?
10:30
The analysis from our sources provides a brilliant answer.
10:32
Here sin is presented as sweet meat.
10:36
Wickedness often brings temporal prosperity, and the trap is
10:39
baited with delicious foods to capture the palate.
10:42
The enemies of David were sensual and luxurious.
10:46
They would gladly have admitted him to share in their banquets
10:49
if his character had resembled their own.
10:51
But he entreats to be preserved from the inducement.
10:54
The perpetrators of iniquity do not invite you to join them by
10:58
showing you the ugly consequences of their actions.
11:01
No, they bring out their sweet morsels and delicate dishes.
11:04
They hope to bind you to their service by means of your palate
11:07
if. You work with them.
11:08
You will soon eat with them. If you share their wantonness,
11:11
you will soon share their wickedness.
11:13
Think about how this shows up today.
11:16
We are rarely tempted by obvious ruin.
11:18
Right. We are tempted by a promotion or
11:20
the corner office or just a really comfortable lifestyle
11:23
that requires a 5% compromise on our ethics.
11:26
That is, the dainty modern compromises are often dressed up
11:29
as sophisticated networking events, open bars and
11:32
charcuterie boards, rather than blatant evils.
11:35
David recognizes that the dainties of the wicked are
11:38
poisoned, disguised as a feast, and he would rather starve in
11:42
the wilderness than eat with them.
11:43
The bait is always designed to appeal to our natural appetites.
11:47
And rejecting those sweet dainties of the wicked means you
11:49
must be willing to accept a much bitterer dish, the hard truth
11:54
from the righteous. David makes a brilliant shift
11:57
here, stating in verse 5, Let the righteous smite me, it shall
12:00
be a kindness, and let him reprove me, it shall be an
12:04
excellent oil which shall not break my head.
12:07
The contrast is stark when the ungodly smile upon us.
12:10
Their flattery is cruel. They are feeding us the poisoned
12:13
dainties. But when the righteous smite us,
12:15
their faithfulness is kind. Spurgeon uses a great old term
12:18
here, a Bowen urges, which literally means a son of
12:21
Thunder. We all have that one friend who
12:23
is a son of Thunder, right? The person who refuses to
12:26
sugarcoat anything. Yeah, and that person is just as
12:28
necessary for our spiritual health as a Barnabas, a son of
12:31
consolation. Sometimes godly individuals do
12:34
not hint at evil, they hammer at it.
12:37
Grace teaches A believer to take those potions which are
12:39
wholesome, even if they are not toothsome faithful.
12:42
Reproof is a token of love. Fools resent reproof, but wise
12:47
individuals endeavor to profit by it.
12:49
We must be readier to censure ourselves than others, and
12:52
readier to confess a fault than to expect a confession from
12:55
those whom we reprove. It is a sign of a polluted
12:58
nature when a person like a serpent gathers poison and
13:02
vomits it up at the party who touches them with correction.
13:05
David welcomes the sharp blows of a true friend because he
13:08
knows they're designed to heal, not to destroy.
13:12
He views the correction as an act of medical intervention.
13:15
And here is where the psychology of that medical intervention
13:17
gets really interesting. Yeah, David uses the specific
13:20
analogy of reproof as excellent oil, which shall not break my
13:23
head to. Understand how a harsh critique
13:25
acts as medicine. We have to look at the
13:27
historical context of Oriental customs.
13:30
In the ancient E, the crown of the head was the place selected
13:33
for chastisement. Owners of slaves, husbands or
13:36
schoolmasters would beat the heads of offenders with their
13:38
knuckles. It was a.
13:39
Humiliating and painful punishment, yet at the same time
13:43
medicinal oil was applied to the head to cure severe ailments
13:46
like fevers or delirium. There is an old proverb that
13:49
says if my head is to be beaten, let it be done with the fingers
13:53
that have rings on. Meaning by someone of rank.
13:57
But David elevates this. He says, Let a holy man smite my
14:01
head. And what of that?
14:03
It is an excellent oil. The blow might feel like a
14:06
physical strike, but its effect is the soothing curing action of
14:10
medicinal oil. But you know, this place is a
14:13
massive responsibility on the one delivering the rebuke it.
14:16
Really does meddling with someone's faults is like moving
14:19
a person afflicted with rheumatic gout?
14:21
Have you ever known someone with gout?
14:23
The joints are so inflamed that even the weight of a bed sheet
14:26
causes excruciating pain, right? Moving that person must be done
14:30
slowly, tenderly and with evident love.
14:33
You cannot just thrash around with blunt criticism and claim
14:36
you're being honest. Every blunt people do a little
14:38
good to others, and get little love to themselves.
14:41
The nail of reproof must be well oiled in kindness before it is
14:44
driven home. If we act like spiritual
14:46
constables, eager to point out flaws without compassion, we
14:49
cause immense damage. But if we deliver the rebuke
14:53
gently, it insinuates itself and brings genuine healing to the
14:57
delirium of sin, because the. Method of delivery dictates
15:01
whether the reproof is received as medicine or rejected as
15:04
assault. As the text outlines, it must be
15:07
done without gall, meaning, without bitterness or personal
15:10
vindictiveness. And it must be done without
15:12
public disgrace, aiming to reform the friend privately
15:15
rather than humiliate them before the world.
15:19
And it must be done without flattery, maintaining strict
15:21
honesty. When rebuke is delivered in this
15:24
manner, it becomes the excellent oil that rescues the wandering
15:27
it. Awakens the sleepy and saves the
15:29
lost from imminent danger. And once a person have the
15:32
humility to accept this kind of correction, they are perfectly
15:35
positioned to offer sweet words to others when the tables turn.
15:39
David says in verse 6, When their judges are overthrown in
15:42
Stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.
15:45
The historical context here is striking.
15:47
This verse refers back to the interaction between David and
15:50
Saul. Saul and his leaders were the
15:52
ones hunting David, acting as unjust judges.
15:55
The text contrasts Saul's barbarity with David's humanity.
15:59
Saul commanded the horrid massacre of Ahimelech and the
16:02
priests by the hand of Doeg the Edomite.
16:05
An act of sheer savagery. On the other hand, David had the
16:09
opportunity to destroy Saul in the rocky places, specifically
16:12
in the damp dark cave of in Jetty.
16:15
Instead of taking vengeance, David spared Saul's life, only
16:19
cutting off the skirt of his robe.
16:20
When Saul left the caves, David followed and expostulated with
16:24
him, meaning he reasoned with him earnestly from a distance,
16:27
in the gentlest, most respectful language.
16:29
He said his own innocence and the King's unjust behavior in
16:33
such a clear mild light that even the hard hearted Saul wept.
16:36
When tyrannical judges are overthrown, the people recognize
16:40
the justice and equity of a righteous administration.
16:43
Words. Previously ignored or slandered
16:45
are heard as sweet and pleasant. The sweetness of that
16:48
vindication is beautiful. But there is a massive paradox
16:51
here, yeah. A big shift is coming.
16:53
If David is accepting this healing oil, refusing the
16:55
dainties of the wicked, and responding to his enemies with
16:58
grace, why does the very next verse sound like he is standing
17:01
in a graveyard? Right, he goes from this
17:03
beautiful posture of healing straight into terrifying
17:06
imagery. In verse 7, David says our bones
17:09
are scattered at the Grey's mouth, as when 1 cutteth and
17:13
cleaveth wood upon the earth. This sounds like total
17:16
unmitigated despair. It paints a picture of a wood
17:19
choppers yard where everything is broken, hacked to pieces and
17:23
completely doomed. The cause of God in Israel
17:26
seemed like a dead thing, a skeleton broken and shoveled out
17:29
of the grave to return as dust to its dust.
17:32
There seemed to be no life, no cohesion, no organization.
17:36
David himself felt like one of these dried, scattered bones.
17:39
It reads like a scene from the travels of James Spruce, the
17:41
Scottish explorer who encountered a village whose
17:44
inhabitants had all perished. He described their wretched
17:47
bones lying unburied upon the surface of the ground.
17:50
A. Spectacle of horror, especially
17:51
to a Jewish mindset where lack of burial was a monumental
17:55
calamity if. The people of God are chopped up
17:57
like wood and scattered at the mouth of the grave.
18:00
Where's the hope? How can this possibly be
18:03
reconciled with the confident expectation of divine
18:05
deliverance? It feels like we are staring
18:08
into an abyss of utter defeat It.
18:11
Absolutely reads like a scene of absolute devastation until you
18:14
uncover the linguistic pivot hidden in the original Hebrew.
18:17
OK. Let's unpack this linguistic
18:19
pivot. The word translated as cleaving
18:22
or cutting wood actually relates to the act of plowing the earth.
18:26
The Hebrew word is palace, which means to cleave, slice, or
18:30
furrow. Franz de Lich provides the
18:32
crucial analysis here. The figure is not just about
18:35
chopping wood for the fire. It represents plowing and making
18:38
furrows in the earth. To a worm, a plow looks like an
18:42
instrument of apocalyptic destruction.
18:44
It tears up the soil, breaks the clods and ruins the surface.
18:48
Yes, the field of the church looks plowed, burrowed and
18:51
scarified. It looks like a wood choppers
18:53
yard. But the bones are not just
18:55
scattered there to rot in the sun.
18:57
They're like seed sown into the upturned earth in preparation
19:00
for a glorious resurrection. God takes what appears to be
19:03
utter destruction and uses it as the necessary preparation for
19:07
new life. They do not lie there in order
19:09
to continue lying. They are planted so they may
19:12
sprout up a new. When believers face extreme
19:14
division, when their cause seems cut to pieces and hopelessly
19:18
sundered, they must look beyond the surface of the plowed field.
19:22
There lives one who will give a resurrection to his cause and a
19:25
reunion to his divided people. He.
19:27
Brings up the dead bones from the grave's mouth and makes the
19:30
dried wood live again. This transforms a picture of
19:34
grotesque slaughter into a promise of inevitable harvest.
19:38
But to see that harvest, you must completely control where
19:41
you are looking. That transition from the
19:43
graveyard to the plowed field changes the entire perspective.
19:46
Survival in that plowed field depends entirely on where you
19:49
fix your gaze when. Surrounded by the threat of
19:51
death and the scattered bones of your companions, the only
19:54
survival strategy is determining where you look.
19:56
David says in verse 8 But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the
20:01
Lord, and thee is my trust. Leave not my soul destitute.
20:04
Thomas Watson gives a brilliant piece of advice on this point.
20:07
He states that to keep the mind fixed in prayer, you must keep
20:11
the eye fixed. Much vanity comes in at the eye.
20:14
When the eyes wander in prayer, the heart wanders.
20:18
Trying to keep the heart fixed while letting the eyes gaze
20:20
abroad is like trying to keep a house safe while leaving all the
20:23
windows wide open to the street. David looked upward and kept his
20:27
eyes fixed. There he regarded duty more than
20:30
circumstances. He considered the promise rather
20:34
than the external Providence. He expected relief from God
20:37
rather than from men. He did not shut his eyes in
20:39
indifference or despair, nor did he turn them to the creature in
20:42
vain confidence. He gave his eyes to his God and
20:45
saw nothing to fear, and in doing so he cries out, Leave not
20:49
my soul destitute. The phrasing introduces the
20:52
concept of spiritual beggary. The literal translation asks God
20:56
not to pour out his soul like water from a vessel, but to keep
20:59
it in the cup of salvation. To be destitute of money or
21:02
earthly resources is a hardship, a matter of physical poverty,
21:05
but to be destitute in soul is far worse.
21:08
To be stripped of every hope, left completely bare to nature's
21:11
poverty, and abandoned to the weight of 1's own sins is total
21:15
destruction. Destitution of God is
21:17
destitution with a vengeance. And David knew what it meant to
21:20
rely solely on the Almighty's provision, because the enemies
21:24
around him were constantly setting traps in.
21:26
Verses 9 and 10 He prayed to be kept from the snares, the jinns,
21:30
and the Nets laid by the workers of iniquity.
21:33
These evil workers sought to catch David in his speech or his
21:37
acts. If they could not catch him in
21:39
open combat, they would try covert temptation.
21:42
Brave individuals do not dread the open battlefield, but they
21:45
despise secret plots and hidden traps.
21:49
To understand the sheer menace of these traps, we rely on JG
21:52
Woods historical data regarding ancient hunting practices.
21:56
Specifically, the hunting of lions.
21:57
In the Middle East, lions were rarely captured through open
22:00
face to face combat. Right.
22:02
A hunter with a spear is no match for a full grown lion.
22:05
Instead, hunters utilized deep pitfalls covered with sticks and
22:09
earth or massive circular Nets. The hunters would find the lions
22:12
dwelling place in the thicket. They would arrange a curved wall
22:15
of heavy Nets, completely camouflaged.
22:17
Then the psychological terror began.
22:20
They would send dogs into the thicket.
22:22
They would hurl stones, shoot arrows and fling burning torches
22:25
at the den. The noise, the fire and the
22:27
sudden chaos were designed for one specific purpose, to induce
22:31
panic. The mechanics of that trap are
22:33
absolutely chilling, and the analogy to spiritual attacks is
22:37
unavoidable. The hunters do not fight the
22:39
lion directly. They create sheer chaos.
22:41
They use fire, noise and pain to irritate and terrify the animal.
22:45
The. Goal is to induce panic so the
22:47
lion stops thinking. It stops relying on its natural
22:50
instincts and simply reacts. The beast rushes blindly away
22:53
from the noise and straight into the unseen net.
22:56
The net envelopes the animal, rendering it completely
22:58
helpless, ready to be bound and taken away.
23:00
The enemy of our souls operates with the exact same mechanics
23:04
spiritual attacks often rely on, creating chaos, confusion and
23:07
panic in our daily lives. Yeah, the enemy throws fiery
23:10
darts, hurls accusations and stirs up circumstances to
23:14
frighten us. The intent is to make us
23:16
abandoned our fixed gaze on God, abandoned our rational trust in
23:20
his sovereignty, and rush blindly into a covert snare we.
23:23
Are pushed toward rash words, hasty decisions, or compromising
23:27
our integrity just to escape the immediate pressure.
23:30
We are driven toward those very dainties of the wicked we
23:33
discussed earlier because we just want the noise to stop.
23:36
This is why David's prayer to keep me is so crucial.
23:40
It is hard to keep out of snares you cannot see, and to escape
23:43
jinns you cannot discover. Only the omniscient and
23:47
omnipotent God can preserve us when the hunters are beating the
23:50
bushes and lighting the torches around our lives, the.
23:53
Chaos is a manufactured illusion designed to drive the prey into
23:58
the real danger of the net. But the Psalm concludes with a
24:01
declaration of divine justice that flips the entire scenario.
24:05
David prays let the wicked fall into their own Nets, whilst that
24:08
I withal escape the. Very traps designed by the
24:11
workers of iniquity become their own undoing.
24:13
While the wicked or busy digging pit that's in string up snares,
24:17
the righteous individual, keeping their eyes firmly locked
24:20
on the Lord, walks right past the danger unharmed.
24:23
The wicked are consumed by their own malice.
24:25
It takes a great deal of grace to refrain from wishing for the
24:28
immediate destruction of those who hunt us yet.
24:30
There is a righteous desire to see the innocent delivered and
24:34
the guilty reap the results of their own deceit.
24:36
The ultimate justice is that the hunters become the haunted,
24:39
caught in the very intricate traps they spent their lives
24:42
constructing. While the one who trusted solely
24:45
in Jehovah is delivered, this reveals a universe governed by
24:48
strict moral laws where malice eventually swallows the
24:52
malicious. We have traced A remarkable
24:54
progression through this text. Today we.
24:56
Really. Have we?
24:57
Began with the urgent, intense cry of a believer whose back is
25:01
against the wall, offering prayers that rise like carefully
25:04
prepared incense from the altar of sacrifice.
25:07
We recognize the desperate need to station the Divine guard at
25:11
the door of our lips, garrisoning our hearts against
25:13
the infectious company of the wicked.
25:15
And refusing to feast on their poisoned dainties, no matter how
25:18
appealing the charcuterie board of compromise looks.
25:21
We learned to embrace the sharp but healing medicine of
25:24
righteous rebuke, receiving it as an excellent oil that cures
25:28
our spiritual delirium even when it feels like a heavy blow.
25:32
We looked at the grim reality of a plowed field strewn with bones
25:35
and recognized it not as a graveyard of despair, but as the
25:38
upturned soil preparing for a glorious harvest.
25:42
And finally, we saw how fixing our eyes completely on God is
25:46
the only way to escape the terrifying noise, the fire, and
25:50
the hidden Nets of our enemies, watching as they ultimately fall
25:53
into the very pits they dug for us.
25:56
As we conclude, I want to leave you with a final thought to Mull
25:59
over in your own life. Think about the last time
26:02
someone offered you a harsh criticism or pointed out a
26:05
significant flaw in your character.
26:08
Did you immediately spit it out like poison, defending yourself
26:11
and attacking them? Or did you receive it like an
26:13
excellent oil, recognizing the loving intent behind the strike?
26:17
Furthermore, when you see those very individuals who criticized
26:20
you or haunted you fall into their own calamities, what is
26:23
your reaction are? You capable of doing what David
26:26
did, praying for them down in the dungeon of their sorrow,
26:29
refusing to gloat over their destruction.
26:31
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the Treasury
26:34
of David on Reformed thinking. As you go about your week, we
26:37
encourage you to look closely at the table set before you.
26:40
And critically, evaluate whose dainties you were eating at the
26:43
table of your daily life. Keep your eyes fixed upward and
26:46
we will see you next time.