The David of verses 3-5 of Psalm 28 sounds a lot like the
James and John (sons of thunder) of Luke 9: 54, "And when his disciples
James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to
come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?"
Of note is Jesus' response to James and John, "But he
turned, and rebuked them, and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save
them." Luke 9: 55, 56. But why would Psalm 28 include David's desire to
see the wicked suffer as they deserve; where's the grace theme in
this passage?
Grace does not compromise the integrity of God's justice; it
ever was and still is a fact that "the soul that sinneth, it shall
die," (Ez 18: 4). What Grace has done is that Christ has died to satisfy
the demands of justice, thus freeing each individual from the curse of eternal
death under which we are all born (Ps 51: 5). Thanks to Grace, sinners only
need to "confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," (Rom
10: 9).
The persons that the Psalmist treats with in Ps 28: 3-5 are
those who insist on denying, "the works of the Lord, (and) the operation of
His hands," (verse 5). It in no way seeks to bar sinners from repenting
and thus securing God's forgiveness. The cry of David must therefore be seen
beyond the private struggles that individuals experience with others and should
be seen to be addressing the macro theme of good v/s evil. And the very clear
message here is that good will triumph over evil. So where God seems not to
exist and individuals wantonly deny and disrespect Him - it shall not always be
so; for He that is to come will come and will usher in a new dispensation on
earth where righteousness will be the order of the day. "Even so, come
Lord Jesus!" Amen.
This reading is based on Psalm 28. To read and/or listen to Psalm 28 and read other related blogs, please click here.
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