Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Lord Reigns Over the Nations (Psalm 9) | Matthew Henry

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The Lord Reigns Over the Nations (Psalm 9) | Matthew Henry · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine the most formidable enemy you can think of, like a
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completely hostile force. Armed to the teeth.
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They hold every strategic advantage, they have all the
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resources, and they are marching directly toward you.
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Sounds terrifying. Right.
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But now imagine that force being utterly defeated, and not
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because you fired a single arrow or, you know, because you
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possessed some brilliant military strategy.
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They are defeated simply because the enemy started to retreat.
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The sheer momentum of their own backward footsteps becomes the
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actual mechanism of their destruction.
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Yeah, they trip over their own panic.
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They fall into the traps that set Their attempt to flee is the
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very thing that finalizes their ruin.
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That is such a bizarre, paradoxical concept.
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It really is that self defeating opposition is where we are
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heading today. Welcome to reformed thinking.
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You're stepping into a dedicated space for focused, rigorous
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thought. Today we are taking a deep dive
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into the historical and theological insights of Matthew
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Henry. Specifically looking at his
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massive, comprehensive commentary on Psalm 9.
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Yes, we have a huge stack of notes based on his analysis of
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this ancient text. It focuses on King David,
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praising God for justice, victory and sovereign authority
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over all nations. And our mission for this deep
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dive is to unpack the most arresting insights from that
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commentary. We want to look at divine
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justice, the harsh realities of human nature, and how this
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ancient song points forward to the Messiah's Kingdom.
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We are going to look at the terrifying orderliness of divine
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judgment, the boomerang effect of human malice, and the
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psychology of trust. Right.
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Specifically, how possessing data about someone's name
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dictates the level of confidence you place in them.
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But before we get into all that, we should set the stage.
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Yeah, the framework of this commentary is crucial for our
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understanding of the entire text.
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We have to read this through a lens that acknowledges
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humanity's total lack of inherent merit before a holy
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God. Right.
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The baseline assumption here is that human beings bring
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absolutely nothing to the table. Nothing at all.
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Our natural state is one of complete spiritual bankruptcy,
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so Divine Mercy is not just an accessory.
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It is not some helpful little boost.
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It's an absolute necessity for survival.
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Yes, and furthermore, the analysis anchors itself in the
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immutable counsel of God's Providence.
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Every single victory, every judgment, every retreating
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enemy, all of it is held firmly within the unchangeable will of
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the Creator. So we are not looking at a
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universe spinning out of control.
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No, not at all. Yeah, we're not looking at a
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divine reactor who is just scrambling to respond to human
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free will. We are looking at a highly
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ordered reality where divine justice is meticulously
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administered. That sets a really clear
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baseline for us, But before we get into those heavier themes of
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justice and judgment, we have to start where David starts.
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Which is an interesting place. It is.
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The text opens with a highly unusual musical instruction and
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a very specific attitude of the heart.
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The title of the Psalm includes this weird phrase to the chief
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musician upon muthlavin. Muthlavin.
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Yeah, it. Sounds like a secret code, or
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maybe a lost dialect. You read it today and it feels
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completely disconnected from the actual theological content of
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the song. It does sound mysterious, and
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historians have debated its meaning for centuries, trying to
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figure it out. The commentary provides some of
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the historical speculation surrounding that specific
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phrase. What kind of speculation?
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Well, some scholars thought Muth Laban referred to the death of
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Goliath. Oh, interesting.
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Yeah, considering David's personal history, it was his
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most famous victory. Others speculated it might refer
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to the death of Nabal or even, you know, the tragic later death
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of David's own son, Absalom. Scholars really love to tie an
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obscure phrase to a dramatic narrative event, don't they?
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They do, but the consensus Henry leans toward is much more
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practical. The suggestion is that it just
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signifies a specific tune, or perhaps a distinct musical
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instrument that was common at the time.
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So it's not a secret code at all.
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No, probably not. Contextually, the entire Psalm
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points to David triumphing over the Philistines and the other
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neighboring nations that opposed his early settlement on the
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throne. You can read about that in
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Second Samuel chapter 5. Got it.
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So the title is essentially just sheet music direction for a
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victory song precise. That makes the text feel much
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more grounded to me. I like to think of Muth Labin
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like a modern musician writing on their setlist.
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Play with a heavy distortion pedal.
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Or use the drop detuning. Yeah, totally.
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The technical direction is completely lost to time.
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We don't have the specific instrument, we don't know the
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chord progression, we don't have the melody.
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Those mechanical instructions faded away centuries ago.
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But the resulting song, the lyrics, the theology, that all
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remains entirely intact for us to read today.
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The shell of the music is gone, but the substance of the praise
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is preserved. That is a great way to put it,
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and the substance of those first 2 verses establishes the strict
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conditions for acceptable praise.
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Wait. There are strict conditions.
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According to the commentary, yes, it breaks down very
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specific criteria for how a believer is supposed to approach
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God with gratitude. OK, let's hear them.
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First, it requires suitable returns.
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When marvelous works are done on your behalf, a casual
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acknowledgement is just insufficient.
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So if a massive deliverance happens, just muttering thanks
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doesn't cut it. Right second, the praise has to
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feature absolute sincerity. It has to originate with the
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heart, not just the lips. It has to be lively and.
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Fervent, lively and fervent. OK, and 3rd, and I find this one
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quite fascinating. The argument is that when we
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give thanks for one particular mercy, we have to use that as an
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occasion to recollect former mercies.
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Oh wow, so we are instructed to build a context of gratitude.
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Yes. You don't view a single blessing
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in isolation. You view it as the latest
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addition to a long historical catalog of grace.
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OK, I am tracking with the concept of a catalog of grace,
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but this brings up a massive practical dilemma for me.
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What's that? The text talks about how holy
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joy is the lifeblood of thankful praise.
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How does someone force holy joy if they just aren't feeling it?
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That is a very fair question. Because you can't just flip a
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switch in your brain and instantly generate fervent
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sincerity. Think about a normal person
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listening to this deep dive right now.
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They might acknowledge that a good thing happened, Maybe a
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bill was unexpectedly paid or a medical test came back clear.
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But their emotional state is entirely flat.
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Right, they might just be exhausted.
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Exactly. They're stressed about five
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other things. So if the criteria for
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acceptable praise requires lively sincerity, how do we
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manufacture that from a place of emotional exhaustion?
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That is a very real human dilemma, but the commentary
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anticipates this difficulty. It clarifies the nature and the
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target of the joy. OK, how does it do that?
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A sharp distinction is drawn here.
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The argument is that whatever earthly occurrence makes us
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glad, a promotion of financial rescue, a restored relationship,
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our joy must pass through that earthly blessing and terminate
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in God only. Pass through the blessing.
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Yes, we are commanded to rejoice in the giver, not just the gift.
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If your joy gets stuck on the gift itself, it is essentially a
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form of idolatry. Wow, so if I'm just pumped about
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the money I'm missing the point? You are worshiping the created
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thing. You're treating God like a
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cosmic vending machine rejoicing in the candy bar rather than the
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sovereign designer of the universe.
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That is heavy, but it makes sense.
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When you train your mind to look through the glass of the
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blessing to see the holy God who orchestrated it, the joy becomes
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holy. You aren't generating an emotion
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from a vacuum. You are responding logically to
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the character of the one who provided the deliverance, yes.
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So you move the spotlight off the shiny object you just
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received and shine it directly onto the character of the giver.
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That changes the entire posture of gratitude.
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It really does, and once David finishes setting his heart to
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that specific type of praise, he immediately points to the reason
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for his joy. Right, he is celebrating the
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complete routing of his enemies, but as we discussed at the
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beginning of the show, the method of their defeat is highly
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unusual. It is not a standard battlefield
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victory, withdrawn swords and brilliant flanking maneuvers.
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No. Verse 3 gives us this
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fascinating tactical observation.
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The enemies are forced to turn back and they're very retreat
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becomes their ruin. They do not save themselves by
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fleeing any more than they would by fighting.
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Which is just wild. The text indicates a total
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collapse of their policy and their courage.
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They retire with precipitation, meaning they flee in absolute
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panic. The commentary uses a very
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precise analogy from the Old Testament to illustrate this
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concept. What analogy is that?
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The story of Haman falling before Mordecai in the Book of
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Esther. The dynamic there is that once
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the fall begins, the person is completely lost.
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There is no recovery. Haman's initial stumble, being
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forced to honor the man he despised, was the absolute
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guarantee of his total ruin. So the momentum of divine
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justice, once unleashed, carries the enemy to their own
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destruction. Yes, their attempt to escape,
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they're scrambling to save face or preserve their position is
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the very mechanism that finalizes their doom.
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Which points to the core mechanism at play here.
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God does not need standard military instruments.
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He doesn't need drawn out sieges or complex geopolitical
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alliances to defeat enemies. His.
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Sheer presence is enough to end the contest.
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Just his presence. The commentary states that what
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a human might attempt to do with vast armies and complex
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strategies, God accomplishes with His mere presence.
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The glory of His might is sufficient for the destruction
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of the enemies of His people. Is there another biblical
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example of that? A New Testament connection is
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brought in to validate this reading.
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We look at the Garden of Gethsemane in John chapter 18.
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Oh, when they come to arrest Jesus.
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Yes, when the armed guards come, they ask for Jesus of Nazareth.
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Jesus replies with two words. I am he and the text says the
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guards drew back and fell to the ground.
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The sheer kinetic force of his presence physically knocked a
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detachment of trained, hardened soldiers backward into the dirt.
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And the notation here is that Jesus could have just as easily
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made them perish in that moment. He could have spoken them out of
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existence entirely. But he chose to just offer a
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brief, contained glimpse of his authority, right?
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When the enemies of the Church are put to confusion, we must
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describe that defeat to the might of His presence, not to
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human instruments or earthly coincidences.
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Think about a structural collapse at a massive
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skyscraper. You do not always need a
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Wrecking Ball or a team of demolition experts with
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explosives to bring down a building.
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If the foundation is fundamentally flawed and the
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internal supports are compromised by Rust or pro
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engineering, the building is already doomed.
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It's just a matter of time. Exactly when it is suddenly
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exposed to a greater external force, like a shift in the Earth
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or a massive gust of wind, the gravity of the building's own
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mass brings it down. The weight of the structure
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itself becomes the instrument of its destruction.
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Yes, the presence of the wind just exposes the unseen
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weakness, and the commentary shows how God initiates this
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kind of structural exposure and judgement in very specific
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phases. Looking at verses four and five,
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there is a clear, terrifying progression.
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Let's unpack that. What's the progression?
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A distinct 3 step progression outlines how God deals with
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wicked nations and proud people. It is a terrifyingly orderly
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process. Step one.
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Step 1 is that they are checked. God rebukes Him, giving them
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real tangible proofs of His displeasure.
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Like a roadblock. Yes, and this is crucial because
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it shows that the initial hardship is intended as a
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warning to prevent their total destruction.
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It is a mercy disguised as a roadblock.
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OK, what's Step 2? Step 2 is that they are cut off.
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If they ignore the check, they're destroyed and made
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monuments of vindictive justice. Monuments of justice, meaning
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they become historical markers of what happens when divine
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warnings are arrogantly ignored. Precisely.
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And Step 3 is that they are buried.
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They are erased into perpetual infamy, their name put out
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forever. So they are not even remembered
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with any respect. They are completely obliterated
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from honorable memory. That's right.
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You know, think about how often you and I ignore the warning
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checks of Providence in our own lives.
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Oh, all the time. Experience a sudden roadblock,
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maybe a massive failure in a project we were pursuing, or a
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sharp rebuke from a friend, or just a bad circumstance.
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Our immediate human instinct is to complain about the friction.
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We get angry. We try to bulldoze through the
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obstacle. Yeah, we rarely stop to ask if
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that friction is actually Step 1 of this progression.
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We rarely pause to consider is this a check designed to stop me
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from reaching Step 2 where I am cut off?
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We treat rebukes as annoyances instead of life saving
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interventions. We assume the universe is just
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inconveniencing us rather than a holy God providing A merciful
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roadblock. That is a very accurate reading
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of human nature. We misinterpret the mercy of a
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warning as an unjust hardship. And if a person or a nation
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persists in that misinterpretation, they move
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from being warned to being buried in oblivion.
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Building on that idea idea of cities and enemies being erased
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from memory, verse 6 visualizes these ruins.
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It describes great and populous cities reduced to rubble so
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completely that their exact locations are lost to history.
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People search for them, archaeologists dig for them, and
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they cannot even find the foundations.
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It is a picture of total desolation, human ambition
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reduced to dust. But then David shifts the focus.
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When the dust of these ruined human empire settles, he points
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to what remains standing. That earthly decay is contrasted
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with the eternal reality of God. While human cities become lost
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beneath the dirt, God sits upon the floods.
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He is unshaken and undisturbed. The text emphasizes that God has
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prepared His throne, fixing it by His infinite wisdom and His
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immutable counsel. And this contrast is the primary
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comfort for believers living in melancholy times, when the
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posture of the world looks dark, perplexed and chaotic.
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The believer looks at the rubble of human ambition and then looks
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at the fixed throne of God. Because God rules the world
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right now and He will judge it with perfect equity.
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He is determining the lot of all people.
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There is no chaos in heaven. The rise and fall of nations
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does not 'cause the throne of God to vibrate.
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I love that phrasing. The throne doesn't vibrate.
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That brings us to verses 9 and 10 and a phrase that demands
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really close attention, David writes.
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Those that know thy name will put their trust in thee.
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Now I have to pause here because practically speaking, knowing a
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name does not automatically generate trust.
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How do you mean? I know the names of thousands of
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people. I know the names of politicians,
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celebrities, casual acquaintances.
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I would not trust most of them to hold my wallet, let alone
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borrow my car keys. That's a fairpoint.
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Just possessing the data of a name does not equal confidence.
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So what does David mean when he connects knowing a name to
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absolute trust? Well, the biblical concept of
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knowing the name is entirely different from memorizing a
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sequence of letters. In this context, knowing the
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name means having an intimate, experiential knowledge of God's
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attributes. So it's about knowing his
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character. Exactly.
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The commentary breaks this down into specific logical equations,
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showing how knowing a particular attribute directly translates
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into a specific type of trust. Oh, I like equations.
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It is a calculated reliance based on flawless data.
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So if I'm tracking this, it means we have to break down the
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specific attributes to understand how the trust
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operates. Let's walk through those
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equations. All right, the first equation is
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that knowing his infinite wisdom means you will trust him further
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than you can see him. The citation here is Job Chapter
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35. Trusting further than you can
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see him. Yes, when you cannot understand
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the current circumstances, when the path forward is obscured and
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your own intellect is baffled, your knowledge of His wisdom
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allows you to trust His plan anyway.
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You are relying on a mind infinitely greater than your
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own. Exactly.
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The second equation states that knowing His Almighty Might means
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trusting Him when all creature confidences fail.
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Creature confidence is like relying on created things.
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Right when your bank account empties, your health
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deteriorates, or your human allies collapse under pressure,
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you trust the strength of God because you know it is
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inexhaustible. You are no longer leaning on
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fragile reads. The third equation is perhaps
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the heaviest. Knowing His infinite grace means
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trusting Him even though he slays you.
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That's referencing Job 1315. Oh wow, that requires a massive
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psychological shift. Trusting someone while they are
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actively blessing you is easy, right?
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But trusting someone's goodness even when their Providence
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brings intense suffering? When the sovereign plan involves
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your own pain? That requires a knowledge of
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grace that goes far beyond superficial religious
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platitudes. And the equations continue to
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build on that intensity. The 4th equation is that knowing
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his inviolable truth means rejoicing in deferred promises.
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Deferred promises like waiting for years.
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Yes, when God promises something and the fulfillment seems
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delayed for decades, your knowledge that He cannot lie
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allows you to rest upon His Word without anxiety.
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You don't panic because the clock is ticking.
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You rest because the character of the promisor is flawless.
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Finally, the fifth equation states that knowing Him as the
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Father's spirits means trusting Him with your soul.
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You trust Him with your main care, your eternal state, at all
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times, even to the very end of your life.
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Those five equations change everything about how we
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understand faith. It turns trust from a blind leap
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in the dark into a highly calculated decision based on
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rock solid data about who God is and.
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Because trusting God means trusting is justice, we have to
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look at a chilling but necessary part of this analysis.
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Yeah, we have to look at how God accounts for the injustices that
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human courts miss. Verses 11 and 12 set the stage
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for this accounting. A dual residence of God is
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mentioned in these verses. His glory dwells in heaven, but
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the special residence of His grace is in Zion, which
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represents the Church. So there is a specific
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geographic and spiritual location where he meets his
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people with promises, Yes. And from that location, David
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calls for the neighboring nations to stop singing praises
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to false gods and recognize the true God of Israel.
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And the reason they need to recognize him is terrifying.
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The text talks about God making inquisition for blood.
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What is the commentary reveal about this specific accounting
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process? The exposition on this phrase is
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deeply sobering. The explanation is that before
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the final judgement day, God makes an inquisition on earth.
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Meaning he investigates. He remembers every single drop
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of innocent blood that has been shed, whether it was done openly
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on a battlefield or secretly in a dark alley.
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Nothing escapes his notice. The Ledger of heaven is
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perfectly balanced. A very stark phrase is used
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here. The text suggests God will
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return this violence sevenfold upon the head of the blood
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thirsty. He will give them blood to drink
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because they're worthy of it. Human justice systems are
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fundamentally flawed. They miss clues.
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They have corrupt judges. They run out of funding.
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They are bound by statutes of limitations.
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But divine justice is meticulous.
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Both the cry of the shed blood and the cry of the humble
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prayers of the oppressed are sealed up among God's treasures.
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They are kept safe until the appointed time of reckoning.
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Yes, that is a terrifying thought for the wicked, but a
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profound, I mean a staggering comfort for the oppressed.
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Very much so. Knowing that not one drop of
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innocent blood is forgotten, that not one act of secret
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malice is overlooked, changes how you view the injustices of
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history. You realize that the corrupt
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individuals who seem to escape earthly justice are simply
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accumulating A heavier debt in an inescapable Ledger.
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But then the song takes a very sharp turn inward.
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After talking about this cosmic, terrifying justice, David shifts
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to a very personal prayer for compassion in verses 13 and 14.
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Let's talk about that shift. What happens?
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This shift provides a master class in theology.
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David approaches the judge of the universe, the one making
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inquisition for blood, and he does not bring a resume A.
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Resume. That's a great way to put it.
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A distinct point is highlighted here.
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David approaches God with misery only and no merit.
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Misery no merit. He depends solely on mercy for
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his relief. He even submits the specific
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mechanics of his deliverance to God's wisdom, essentially
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saying, Do for me as thou thinkest fit.
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He is not prescribing the solution.
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He is not demanding a specific outcome based on his own
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perceived righteousness. No, he is just presenting his
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desperate condition. It is the exact opposite of how
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human beings usually operate. Usually when we ask someone for
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a massive favor, we list the reasons why we deserve it.
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We point out our loyalty, our hard work, our good intentions
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have. A spotless record.
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Yeah, we bring our merit, but David brings his misery.
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Think about going to a doctor with a severe life threatening
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illness. OK, You do not walk into the
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examination room and hand the doctor a list of your athletic
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achievements, your academic degrees, or your financial
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portfolio. That would be ridiculous.
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Right. You do not try to impress the
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doctor with your status. You bring your symptoms.
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You present your misery, your pain, your brokenness.
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And you rely completely on the physician's expertise and mercy
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to cure you. You.
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Submit to their treatment plan. To bring an academic resume to
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an oncologist is absurd. To bring human merit to a holy
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God is equally absurd. That analogy captures the
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theological point. Florida State.
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To bring your merit to God is to fundamentally misunderstand both
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His absolute holiness and your own total depravity.
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You have to know where you stand.
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Recognizing your lack of merit, acknowledging that you bring
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nothing but symptoms to the Great Physician, is the only
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posture that allows you to receive true mercy.
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And David's reliance on God's wisdom in this posture pays off
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immediately in the text. It does pay off because the next
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section reveals how God handles the wicked without David having
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to lift a single finger. Verses 15 and 16 outline the
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actual mechanics of the judgement we discussed earlier.
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The wicked sink into the pit they dug.
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They are caught in the exact net they laid for someone else.
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The self defeating nature of sin is expanded upon with real world
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examples that were as true in antiquity as they are today.
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What kind of examples? The observation is made
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regarding how drunkards kill themselves through their own
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excess. Prodigals beggar themselves by
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spending their wealth recklessly.
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And the contentious and angry people bring mischief upon
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themselves by alienating everyone around them and
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provoking unnecessary conflicts. The core insight here is that
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the destruction of sinners is not just merited by them,
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meaning they deserve it, but it is efficiently caused by them.
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The sin is the very engine of their destruction.
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Yes, the malice they weaponize against others becomes the
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mechanism of their own execution.
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It is a boomerang effect. You throw the sin out into the
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world, intending to harm someone else, intending to gain an
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unjust advantage, and it circles back and strikes you in the back
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of the head. The trap you meticulously set
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for your rival is the exact snare that catches your own
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foot. And right in the middle of this
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description of self destruction, David inserts a specific musical
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term, hegeon. Yes, Hegeon, this is identified
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as a note commanding special regard.
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It is an instruction to pause the music entirely.
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Why pause? It tells the congregation to
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meditate seriously on the fact that God makes himself known by
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the judgments he executes. It is not a moment to rush past
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to get to the chorus. It is a moment to stop and
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observe the terrifying symmetry of divine justice.
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And from that necessary pause, verse 17 moves to the most
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sobering reality of all, the eternal consequences.
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The text states the wicked shall be turned into hell, into Sheol,
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a pit of destruction. But I have a major question
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about the criteria for this judgement.
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The verse says this happens to all the nations that forget God.
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Is mere forgetfulness really the standard for such severe eternal
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punishment? I mean, we forget things all the
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time. We forget names, we forget
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appointments, we forget where we put our keys.
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Sure, it seems like a very passive, harmless crime to
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warrant such an active and terrifying punishment.
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It sounds passive to a modern audience, but the immense weight
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of this forgetfulness is clarified in the commentary.
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According to the analysis, forgetfulness of God is not a
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momentary lapse in memory. What is it then?
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It is the absolute root cause of all wickedness.
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It is a willful, deliberate ignoring of the Creator.
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It is a structural rebellion. Structural rebellion.
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It is living as if He does not exist, disregarding His laws and
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refusing to acknowledge His sovereignty over your life.
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Multitudes live this way by choice.
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The text points out that there are entire nations that operate
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on this principle of deliberate amnesia.
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But a chilling caveat is added. Their vast numbers provide 0
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security. Being part of a massive majority
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that forgets God will not insulate you from divine
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justice. They will be led to ruin like
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sheep to a slaughterhouse, regardless of how many millions
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of them agree on the same rebellion.
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It reframes the idea entirely, doesn't.
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It it really does. It isn't.
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Oops, I forgot. It is building your entire life,
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your entire business, your entire civilization on the
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premise that God is irrelevant. You are actively deleting him
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from the equation of reality. And if that judgment is certain,
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it leads to a very natural tension that David addresses
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next. Yeah, if God is going to judge
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the wicked, why does it feel like evil goes unchecked for so
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long? Why do corrupt politicians,
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abusive leaders and deceitful individuals seem to get away
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with it for decades? The final verses of this text
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deal directly with the anxiety of waiting for justice.
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Verse 18 provides the anchor for the waiting believer.
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It acknowledges the feeling of being needy and seemingly
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forgotten by God. The delay of justice is a heavy
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burden. But a staggering reassurance is
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brought in here. The statement is made that the
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believer does not make haste. Faith does not panic.
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Faith does not panic. I like that the.
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Vision of justice is for an appointed time determined by
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divine wisdom. The imagery of a mother and her
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child is utilized. Even if it were possible for a
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mother to forget her nursing child, which goes against every
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natural instinct, God will not forget His elect.
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So the delay is not denial. No, He will eventually make it
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visible to the entire universe that he never forgot his people
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for a single second. The timing is determined by his
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immutable counsel, not by our anxious clock watching.
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Which brings us to David's final plea.
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In verses 19 and 20, he has praised God.
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He has meditated on the terrifying symmetry of justice.
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He has acknowledged his own misery and total lack of merit.
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And now he makes a direct request.
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What's the request? Arise, O Lord, let not man
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prevail. He asks God to strike terror, to
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reveal the true nature of humanity.
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Three very specific requests are unpacked within that final plea.
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First, David asked God to restrain the enemies.
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He's pointing out the sheer absurdity of mortal man
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attempting to prevail against the immortal God.
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He is asking God to set hard boundaries on their malice.
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Second, he asks God to reckon with them.
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This is a call for ultimate accountability.
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The notation here is that when the day of grace is over, the
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infinite mercy of God will not relent toward the impenitent.
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There's a deadline to mercy. Third, he asked God to frighten
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them. He wants God to strike terror
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into their hearts so they realize they are but men.
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That last point is fascinating. He doesn't ask God to vaporize
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them in that specific line. He asks God to terrify them with
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the truth of their own frailty. He asked God to point out their
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expiration date. The distinct theological comfort
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found in this request is carefully laid out.
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It is highly desirable for the peace of the entire universe
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that men realize they are mutable, mortal, accountable,
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and entirely depended creatures. Because when humans forget they
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are fragile creatures, they act like tyrants.
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They try to play God, they oppress the weak because they
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think they are invincible. It is an act of mercy to the
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rest of the world when God forcefully reminds a tyrant that
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he is just a man who will one day stand before a holy judge
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and give an account for every drop of blood.
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We have covered massive territory today.
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We really have. We started with the mystery of
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Muth Laban and the anatomy of true praise, learning that joy
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must pass through the gift to terminate in the giver.
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We looked at the sheer kinetic force of God's presence, capable
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of defeating enemies by making their panicked retreat their
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ruin. We analyzed the boomerang effect
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of sin, seeing how wickedness is its own efficient executioner,
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and we grounded it all in the comfort of trusting a God whose
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counsel is immutable and whose throne is unshakeable.
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To you listening right now, I want you to evaluate your own
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posture. When you approach God, are you
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leaning on your creature confidences?
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Are you bringing an academic resume, a list of your perceived
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merits and your good intentions? Or are you bringing your misery
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and relying solely on His mercy? Are you worshipping the candy
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bar or the sovereign designer? I want to leave you with a final
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thought to Mull over. If the commentary is right, and
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sin is truly its own most efficient executioner, how does
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that change the way you view the current successes of corrupt
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systems in the world today? When you see arrogance and
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injustice thriving. When you see wicked individuals
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accumulating wealth and influence.
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Are you watching them build an invincible empire, or are you
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just watching them dig a very elaborate, very deep pit?
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Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into the source
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material.