Thoughts From Psalms 7 and 8

Playing With Fire

“If a man does not repent, God will whet His sword; He has bent and readied His bow”

Psalm 7:12

     There is a preacher I know who is now in his eightieth year. He is one of the godliest men I have ever known and I have as much respect for him as any man. I was surprised to hear that this veteran soldier of Christ approached one of his brethren, a friend of his for several decades, to essentially “come clean” over an incident that had taken place nearly fifty years prior. As it turned out this older preacher had wronged the other Christian in secret and had never allowed the light of day to shine upon his actions all those years ago. He finally came to the conclusion that he could never rest assured of his salvation until he repented of the action not just to God, but to the man he had wronged. Indeed, he did not believe that he really had repented unto God until he sought to make things right with his friend.

     Does it seem strange to you that my friend would be worrying himself over something that had taken place fifty years prior? Does it seem odd that he would approach that man and apologize to him over something that man could barely even remember? I believe that my friend made the right choice. There is no statute of limitations on our sins. The mere passing of time does not lessen the significance or a sin nor does it erase the stain it leaves on our soul. When a person becomes a Christian by submitting to Christ in humble faith and contacting His precious blood in the waters of baptism (Romans 6), the sins of the past are washed clean (Acts 22:16). Part of that process is repenting of those past sins (Luke 13:3, 5).

     However, repentance remains incredibly important in the life of the Christian. The sad truth is that though the faithful Christian sins far less, he still sins. To continue to be washed clean by the blood of Christ he must be willing to continue to repent of his sins (1 John 1:8-9; Acts 8:22). 

     Let us not play with the fire of sin. When we see it in our lives let us join voice with David. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”  (Psalm 51:1)     

“O Lord, our Lord”

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Psalm 8:1, 9

     Rarely have I been so overcome with wonder and emotion that I did not know how to express it in some way, even if the manner and result of my expression ultimately fell far short of capturing the intensity of the feeling. Israel’s sweet psalmist (2 Samuel 23:1) possessed the soul of a poet and a seemingly endless collection of the most moving expressions of adoration, praise, devotion, and wonderment. Yet even he could only utter a faint “O Lord, our Lord” as his mind was transported to realms that simply defy capturing with mere words.  What depth of feeling must have poured from his pen in the four words, “O Lord, our Lord”!

     It is very telling that Jehovah Himself was the object of David’s consideration in this psalm. This righteous man who never seemed to be at a loss for words knew not what to say when meditating upon the glory of the God whose own heart he possessed. It is the fact of David’s meditation upon God that I wish to consider with you at this time.

     How often do you allow yourself to mentally set aside all the activities of the day, to emotionally check out from the daily grind, to spend time in serious thought about all that God is and all that He does? I promise that you will be better for it when you do. These days it’s rare to hear someone speaking of God in the manner David does in the psalms, isn’t it? I have to assume that this is because the vast majority of people simply do not know God the way that David knew Him. David regularly meditated upon the Creator of the heavens, moon, and stars (Psalms 8:3). David often considered the exalted station God has bestowed through His mercy and grace upon man (Psalm 8:4-9). David’s constant awareness that creation proves a Creator lit within him a fire to seek out and cling to this Creator’s revelations as a drowning man clings to driftwood (Psalm 119). 

     Is there any wonder that the only way to express his depth of feeling was simply to say the name of the One whom he adored? After all, His very name is majestic in all the earth. How much more His Person? We would do well to spend more time considering the things that filled David’s thoughts.