So Save Them

04.19.14

Psalm 17.1-2 1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer—it does not rise from deceitful lips. 2 Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. (NIV)

I love the connectivity of the Scriptures. I love the honesty of David. I love this prayer especially as it appears in my daily reading guide on the heels of the account of the slaughter of the priests at Nob. Saul’s men wouldn’t even kill the priests at Saul’s command, but Doeg the Edomite had no trouble exacting retribution on these eighty-five men and their families at Nob. And David, in 1 Samuel 22, took responsibility for their demise. I love that.

David prayed in worship and holy remorse: Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer—it does not rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. It means a lot to me that a leader would stand up and do what he could to make things right.

There is no record I’m aware of, that Doeg ever got what was coming to him during his earthly life for his deeds at Nob, at the behest of Saul. But according to David’s prayer, Doeg had far worse coming to him: Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked. By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life. May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies; may their children gorge themselves on it, and may there be leftovers for their little ones. (Psalm 17.13-14 NIV) Being confronted by God doesn’t sound pleasant.

Imprecatory psalms are hard to square with our modern philosophies and theosophies. We tend to judge God and His people as no better than other hysterical religions when we read them. We tend to make excuses for Biblical imprecation that: that was then, and this is now. The imprecatory Psalms are not in vogue today. They are typically viewed as savage un-enlightenment. But that is not what they are for, nor are they a personal plea for the someone’s demise at the hand of God; what they really are is an impassioned plea for the Kingdom of God to prevail. The harsh reality is that those who reject God are in for immeasurably worse than they can ever think or imagine – and our prayer ought to be: Lord, as You saved an unworthy like me, so save them! For further info and insight see this link:

http://www.theopedia.com/Imprecatory_Psalms

Today. I saw the holy sadness in David’s heart for his sorrow that he was, perhaps, the cause of this heinous action. And what he did is what I should do if I have been, not the cause, but the reason for someone else’s hurt at the hands of someone who can’t assail me but assail those around me in an attempt to punish them for their association with me. This is serious stuff and it requires turning it over to God for Him to ultimately make is all right – that’s His promise to us.

Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer—it does not rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right and may Your hands act. Amen