When Under Attack

Theme: A song for justice

Scripture: Psalm 109

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

Know: We will experience opposition and injustice in a sinful and fallen world.

Think: Consider God my help and shield against those who oppose or attack me.

Do: Ask God to deliver me from my enemies, leaving the vengeance to Him.

A1 Outline

B1 What the evil person did (Psalm 109:1-5)

B2 What the evil person deserves (Psalm 109:6-15)

B3 What the evil person did (Psalm 109:16-20)

B4 What the righteous person asks for (Psalm 109:21-31) (We can’t have perfect parallelism, because we do not deserve, we request mercy).

A2 About the Psalm

B1 This is one of the imprecatory Psalms.

B2 While there are various opinions regarding these (see here), they are inspired by God.

B3 In my opinion, they are the feelings of the Psalmist. The person/s spoken about have crossed God’s do-not-cross line, choices have consequences, and sin must be punished.

B4 Also, some are Messianic either directly or have Messianic overtones.

B5 Discuss possible reasons for these Psalms, why they are in the Scriptures, and how could a omnibenevolent God allow such things to happen.

B6 We suffer like our Master. Consider this from the Letter to Diognetus : They [Christians] love all men, and by all men are persecuted.  ¹²They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life.  ¹³They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance.  ¹⁴They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated.  ¹⁵They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect.  ¹⁶When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life.  ¹⁷They are treated by the Jews as foreigners and enemies, and are hunted down by the Greeks; and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their enmity.

A3 What the evil person did (Psalm 109:1-5),

B1 What is described as the Psalmist’s main complaint? What was this evil man doing?

B2 What are we to do when people lie about us?

B3 What do we do, if we show kindness and love, yet are lied about and verbally abused before others?

B4 Tips

C1 Pray: “I am in prayer.”

C2 Entrust: 1 Peter 4:19 CSB - So then, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good. The Greek word for entrust means commit, to deliver, to give custody of. How do we entrust ourselves to God?

C3 God knows the truth:

D1 Psalm 31:5 NKJV - Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

D2 John 2:23-25 (Pickering) Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed into His name, observing the signs that He was doing. But as for Jesus Himself, He did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all men and that He had no need that anyone should testify about man, because He Himself knew what was in man.

C4 God is judge: Acts 10:42 NKJV - And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.

C5 You are in good company:

D1 Luke 23:46 NKJV - And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

Acts 7:59 NKJV - And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

A4 What the evil person deserves (Psalm 109:6-15),

B1 Why does David ask so many punishments against these liars?

B2 Is God under any obligation to do these things?

B3 Does God want repentance from these people or punishment?

B4 Does God rejoice in the death of the wicked?

C1 Ezekiel 33:11 NKJV - "Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'

C2 Ezekiel 18:23, 32 NKJV - "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live? ... "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"

B5 Is this Psalm a prophecy of Judas? Consider:

C1 Acts 1:15-20 NKJV - And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; "for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) "For it is written in the Book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it'; and, 'Let another take his office.'

C2 John 6:66-71 NKJV - From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

B5 Was Judas like a lot of phony religious leaders? Matthew 10:2-8 NKJV - Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

B6 How do leaders like this get into positions of authority and power?

A5 What the evil person did (Psalm 109:16-20),

B1 In this passage, this evil person/s show a life opposite of what a believer should be. Does this give a believer today guidance of how we should live?

B2 In Psalm 109:16, give some examples of those who might be broken in heart?

C1 Abused women, men, and children. Often the elders, pastors, etc. persecute the abused and protect the abuser.

C2 Those who have had a loved one killed.

C3 Who else?

B3 Instead of grieving for the sins of society, they cover it up. We should grieve: Ezekiel 9:3-6 NLT - Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the LORD called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer's case. He said to him, "Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city." Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all--old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders.

B4 What is the meaning of the phrase: He wore cursing as his garment? Note that this cursing could be in thoughts, words, desires, and/or deeds.

B5 Does God sometimes punish the evil person with the very same things that the evil person did?

A6 What the righteous person asks for (Psalm 109:21-31),

B1 How would these verses be applied to our Lord Jesus?

B2 In the early morning hours I go for my run. At the end of the driveway is a yard light. When I look down I see my shadow. If the night is clear with no moon, I can see my shadow with difficulty up to ¼ of a mile (~400 meters). This is the meaning of the phrase: Psalm 109:23 CSB - I fade away like a lengthening shadow...

B3 Why do these people have such arrogance to wish all kinds of evil against someone?

B4 In Psalm 109:30, how does the one who is delivered by Almighty God respond?

B5 Why kind of deliverance is spoken of in Psalm 109:31? Is this spiritual deliverance, physical deliverance, both, neither, other?

B6 Why does God deliver people?

B7 How did the Father deliver His son, the Lord Jesus?

A7 Other questions:

B1 Why do the Psalms bring comfort? There are Psalms for praise, for asking for help, for grieving, for feelings of revenge, etc.

B2 Why does God deliver anyone?

B3 Who are the people the hurt us the most? Is it strangers, friends, family, spouse, pastor, government, or boss?

B4 What is the difference between justice and revenge?

A8 Next week:

B1 The greatest love

B2 Theme: God is love

B3 Scriptures:

• 1 John 4:7-19
• Psalm 40
• Ephesians 2:1-10
• Romans 5:6-11
• John 3:16-17