Perspective is an interesting concept. It really does change how we handle things.
The Israelites were at the threshold of paradise. They had reached the banks of the Jordan River and it was time to take the land that was promised to them by God Himself. They sent in the spies and the spies told them that it was indeed a land “flowing with milk and honey”. But there was a surprise. There were giants in the land. So they did not go in. They saw the giants instead of the GIANT GOD who told them to take the land.

Remember David and Goliath. The entire Israelite army was afraid to go and fight this soldier. Even Saul the king who was a head taller than every one else in the land was afraid. Saul was the big guy. What was the problem? Goliath, the soldier that was taunting them, was about 9 ½ feet tall. “10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” (I Samuel 17:10-11) But David’s perspective was different and correct. “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” (I Samuel 17:45-47) And of course, David defeats the giant by the power of the Lord. Everyone else was looking at the champion of the Philistines, but David was looking at the Champion of the Israelites.

We walk into an unfamiliar place and all of a sudden a shadow appears. The shadow is of a being holding something in their hand and the shadow is about 20 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Our heart stops and we hold our breath, only to discover that a child emerges into our view holding his favorite toy.

What we are predisposed to affects us in funny ways. If we have a tendency to be afraid of the dark, then any “creak in the night” will cause us unrest. If we do not like bugs, then any itch of the skin might have us grasping at that place on our body. If we are pessimistic, then the glass is always half empty.

This chapter is all about perspective.

There are two view points in this chapter – The humble and the proud.
– The humble are those who love and obey God and who get their perspective from God Himself
- The proud are those who live their lives in opposition to God and who develop a perspective on life without the fear of the Lord.

This chapter is written in two parts. There is a cry from the people of God in verses 1-15 and a cry from an individual in verses 16-23. The writer takes both positions. This helps us understand that what we will learn today is both a national problem to the Israelites (the people of God) and a problem that affects the individuals (the persons that make up the people of God). This would be true for us as well. What we will see this morning is that the stance of the proud (the wicked) affects both you as an individual and it affects the Church (the people of God). This is a great way to express the connection between the Church and the Christian. What affects one, affects all.

This chapter is broken down into 6 sections. 3 of the sections are directly linked to the other 3.

Vs. 1-2 & vs. 22-23,
Vs. 3-7 & 16-21,
Vs. 8-11 & 12-15.

Even though the sections are connected, I will deal with them individually in order to point out the text. I will connect them using “a” and “b”. For instance “1a” will cover verses 1-2 and “1b” will cover verses 22-23.

1a) The humble cry out to God by name.

This is how Psalm 94 begins. Verses 1 & 2 say -

94 O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!

The cry of the nation
Not all names are like the names of God. Someone may have named their daughter “Penelope” because the parents loved the way the name sounded. The name means “weaver”. Either you must enter the garment business when you grow up or your name does not correctly describe you. Maybe someone names their son “Bly”. This means “high or tall”. Bly turns out to be a very handsome man who stands about 5’ 8”. He simply does not live up to his name. But with God – it is different. When someone cries out to God by name, then they know something about Him. His names reflect His character and His ability. Here we find God being addressed as “God of Vengeance” & “The Judge of the Earth”. This is not a friendly title to the proud. Vengeance is the “punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense : RETRIBUTION - 1 : with great force 2 : to an extreme or excessive degree ” Verses 1&2 are obviously the cry of one who counts on the Lord. Unless one is insane, you do not call out for the biggest threat to come unless you know that He is on your side. You do not call out for the Judge of the Earth if you are not sure that the position that you have taken is favorable in His eyes. So, who is calling? It is not the proud. Verse 2 tells us that the ones who are calling want the proud to get their payment – give them what they deserve. Apparently the ones who are calling are those who correctly fear the Lord – the ones calling are the humble. The call is coming from ones who know the Lord. This is good news if you are an ally of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

1b) He answers their prayers according to His character.

The second half of this section is found in verses 22 & 23.

The nation has cried out to the God they know and the individual who is part of the nation finds his hope in the same God.

22 But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out.

The hope of the individual
Why would one dare call out to the God of Vengeance – The Judge of the Earth? The only reason would be that they know for sure that He is not coming after them. Is this just their imagination or do the humble know something about how He will treat them? This God of Vengeance has changed positions in their life. They once were under His wrath and judgment, but now He has become their stronghold. He has become their Rock of Refuge. The God of Vengeance and the Judge of the Earth is now the one who they run into to hide. He is now the one who protects them from the onslaught of the evil doer. They are not afraid of Him at all. The humble revel in His strength for the Lord is on their side. The righteous are the allies of God. They’ve chosen whose statutes they will follow. They demonstrate their allegiance by submitting to Him. Verses 20-21 tell us that there are wicked rulers who have established what they think is a stable kingdom, but the humble know better. They know who is really in charge.
This is much like the story of Robin Hood. Richard the Lionhearted, who was the true king, had gone off to war. Richard was a good king. He ruled his kingdom fairly and treated all of his subjects with dignity. He cared for them and did not tax them beyond their means. His brother, Prince John, was wicked in heart. While Richard was gone, John decided to take the throne and rule in his stead. He was merciless. He taxed the people into utter poverty. He was unjust in his use of power. His only concern was his own pleasure. People began to cry out for mercy and yet he would give them none. Those who loved Richard were at the end of their rope. It seemed as all was lost. Their mourning and cries of pain reached the ears of Richard the Lionhearted. He and his armies returned home. They returned triumphant in battle and carrying all authority and power in the true kingdom for he was the true king. He swiftly removed the false king and tore down John’s wrongly established power base. Richard took his rightful seat on the throne. The subjects who knew that they had honored the true king were not afraid of his return – in fact, they cried out for him to return. He wasn’t going to punish them. When Richard did return, they celebrated their release from the bondage of John. Richard was their hope fulfilled. He was their savior. The same is true here with God. His people aren’t afraid to cry out for God to come even though they know that He will bring justice. They are not going to be punished. They know that they honor and serve the True King. When God arrives, their enemies will be destroyed and they will be delivered.
Look at verse 23. Look at how God will handle things when he shows up as the God of Vengeance and The Judge of the Earth. He will quickly turn the tables on the proud. The very ways that they had established to promote their own wickedness will now become their downfall. Look at verse 13. The pit in verse 13 is now dug and it seems that the wicked have done much of the digging. Now this Judge of the Earth will pronounce their sentence and the God of Vengeance will carry out their total destruction with a fury. This destruction will not simply be at the whim of God. The wicked will have earned it. They will have earned it by choosing not to align themselves with the True King. And after rejecting the King, they have attempted to establish themselves as ruler of all. They thought that God could not see and hear. They thought that God could not understand what was going on. Then the righteous will no longer cry out from their persecutions. Their unjust sufferings will then be over. In the presence of the True King they will rejoice for they have been saved from the onslaught of the wicked. They no longer will have to submit to unrighteous statutes. The Lord is their salvation.

The True King is going to return one day. When He comes – the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will be protected and embraced.

Application:
Unbeliever – Be afraid. Your destruction is sure if you do not repent.

You don’t know the Lord, but you can cry out to Him. You can cry out for mercy and beg Him to humble you. It is not too late to avoid destruction.

Romans 10:11-13
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Believer – You know God. Cry out to Him by name according to your need.
He will answer you by dealing with the situation according to His character.

If you are in need of provision, then call out to the Lord who promises to meet your needs more than abundantly.
If you need wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, then ask the Lord who is omniscient.
If you need protection, then run to the Lord who is the Good Shepherd.
If you need comfort, then call on the Lord who comforts you with His Spirit.

2a) The proud view God as weak and rule in wickedness.

But what do the proud look like?

3 O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

Again we hear the cry of the nation.

The people of God mount a real case against the proud. They clearly point out their wicked activities. The list goes from bad to worse.

They exult (rejoice)
– they pour out arrogant words
– they boast of their evildoing

And if that was not bad enough

– they crush God’s people
– they afflict the heritage of the LORD

And just so you don’t think they are just whining about themselves (even though they are allowed to)

– they kill the widow
– they kill the traveler
– they murder the fatherless

But the worst thing is that

– they say that God is blind and doesn’t know what is going on.

We see that the proud – the wicked – have decided that they have reason to be proud. Verse 3 says that they are exulting. They seem to have reason to rejoice. The reason. They seem to be rising in authority. They seem to have taken over. Their very actions scream out that they are the ones who are conquering.
But – this is a matter of perspective. The proud have afflicted the people of God. The proud have also picked on the unprotected. They have gone too far. The humble are calling out. They are not simply whining, but are able to point out what the proud are doing. The proud are messing with God’s people. This is territorial. Lion’s are very territorial. The male lion stands on the outskirts of his territory and bellows with such force that he can be heard over a mile away. The other males then trumpet in return marking their own domains. You do not go into the lion’s lair and start hurting the lion’s cubs. The lion cubs will cry out and you will find out what the wrath of the lion looks like. He is their kind and protective daddy, but it will be your downfall. The return of the daddy lion is both the deliverance of the cubs and the destruction of the ones messing with the cubs. Matthew 12:29 says, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Oh, the humble know this God. They know just how to cry out. They are addressing the God of Vengeance and The Judge of the Earth and they are pointing out that the proud have entered His house and are messing with what belongs to Him. This makes it personal to God Himself. Don’t look at how God gently cares for His people and consider Him weak. He is caring for His own. He is gentle with His own. But do not think that He cannot and will not rise up with a vengeance. The wicked – the proud – must think that God is bound up – that He is helpless. The humble know better. But the humble have a correct perspective.

2b) The humble know God’s kindness to them is grace and are grateful.

Look at the heart of the humble in verses 16-21.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

The individual considers his position
Look at the perspective of the humble again. They know that it is not their strength, their prowess, their insight that keeps them afloat. The humble quickly state that if it were not for the Lord, they would be reaping what the proud will reap. They know that if the Lord had not intervened in their lives, the God of Vengeance would be dealing with them harshly.

Their soul would be in the land of silence. Verse 13 tells us about a pit. The wicked are going to be captured and destroyed. The humble know that when they are about to fall, the Lord holds them up. That is why they don’t fall. It is not because their footing is so stable. When their emotions are running amuck and the burdens of life are really heavy, it is the Lord who comforts and cheers their innermost being.

Then a question is asked. Can the wicked rulers become the allies of God? The wicked are again described. But this verse is talking about a particular type of wickedness. These are the ones who are in positions of authority. They sit in ruling positions. These are the ones who desire destruction and make injustice stand by passing laws or making decrees to support the injustice. This needs to be carefully thought about. We know that there are people making rules that are not right. We can look at lawmakers that promote wickedness. We ought to be careful how we vote. We should not align ourselves with those who promote wickedness. The economy is not the highest priority when considering who we should align ourselves with when we vote. But what about on a level closer to home? What about when those in our workplace produce rules that are absolutely wrong? They are prejudicial or unethical. What should be our stand? We should be careful not to align ourselves with them. And what about parents who make rules for their children that will cause them to fail or destroy themselves? As Christians, do we take a clear stance that this is wrong?
I agree that we must be careful not to push our personal preferences on others, but there is a difference between a preference and a principle. There really are rights and wrongs in the world and many of them are quite clear.
And just in case you are naïve about the intent of the wicked. The Bible is clear that they are organizing against the life of the righteous. They are organizing to condemn the innocent to death. Proverbs 28:5 says, “5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.”
How can we as Christians be naïve? How can we remain quiet? When do we take stands in life? We cannot just hide in our houses and do nothing. If we do nothing, then we can expect to have our public morality dictated to us, the innocent will continue to be abused and killed, and we can expect that Christians will be persecuted and disregarded. We can expect marriage and family values to continue to erode; we can expect our schools to continue to teach our children damaging systems of thought, and so on and so on. The worst thing that we can expect is that our God will be considered weak and worthless and the people of God to be those who have nothing to offer society and indeed who live lives that are no different than those who have no God. Ask yourself if your life aligns itself with God or with those who rule in wickedness. Take a look at your life and see if there is really any difference to the people who watch you. Ask God to point out to you where changes need to be made and how to make these changes. We must begin to take some stands, but we must do this in a way that honors the Lord Jesus Christ. Proceed with caution, but proceed.
The questions are do we act like there is a God who rises up against the wicked? Do we act like there is a God who stands for us? Do we demonstrate our alliance with God correctly? These are important questions. The humble man who is crying out for God’s help in this chapter is able to clearly state the difference between himself and the proud, wicked man. It is one thing to be persecuted for being a Christian and it is another thing to simply let the wicked take over without a fight. After all, this is war. My goal here is not to bring condemnation to the wicked. The wicked will be dealt with by The God of Vengeance and The Judge of the Earth. The goal is to get us to really find ourselves in the place of the humble so that we might cry out to God without fear.

Application:
Unbeliever – Discard your arrogant ways. Turn from your sin. God has not already destroyed you. He has allowed you to hear the Word of the Lord. He has allowed you to hear the warning. Don’t take it lightly.

Romans 2:2-6
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works:

Believer – Remain humble by remembering God’s kind grace towards you.
Demonstrate your gratefulness with a life obeying and promoting the statutes of God.
While the proud are building their kingdom, you are building the Kingdom of God.

3a) God exposes the proud with simple, childish thoughts.

8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge—
11 the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.

This passage points out that the perspective of the proud is really stupid. There is no long explanation of complicated theology. One does not need a Seminary Degree. The proud are exposed with very simple thoughts. After all, they are the dullest of people and they are fools. One shouldn’t try to reason in complicated form with an idiot. Wow! That is not politically correct. Well, an idiot is simply a foolish or stupid person. The Bible says that the proud who function as if there is not a God are the dullest of people. The Bible says that the wicked who have exulted themselves to promote their wickedness as if God cannot see and does not know are fools. Look at how God chooses to expose these fools. He uses very simple questions. If God can and does make an ear, do you think He can hear? If God can and does make an eye, do you think that He can see? If He instructs and corrects all the different people of the earth, do you think that He knows right from wrong and is able to express it? If God has taught mankind everything that they know, do you think that He knows what a man thinks and how long a man thinks it?

These are very straight forward questions to the proud. The answer to all of these questions is - YES!

But are the humble addressed with the same tone?

3b) God positions the humble under His care.

12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Just look at God’s heart toward the righteous. This man is blessed. The Lord disciplines this man so that he doesn’t continue in his unrighteousness. So that he does not become one of the proud. The Lord then teaches the humble one from God’s law. This is how the humble receive the correct perspective. God teaches it to them.

This discipline and teaching give the blessed one rest in days of trouble – in the days of adversity. Notice that the Lord does not necessarily remove the adversary for the days of trouble are still there, but the humble do not have to worry. They rest while waiting. They are waiting for the pit that the wicked will fall into. The word “pit” is also translated “grave”. The image is of a large hole where the wild, unsuspecting animal falls into and is captured. The animal’s demise is certain. The demise of the proud – the wicked is certain as well.

Verses 14 – 15 offer more comfort for the humble.
He does not forsake (cast off) His people and He will not abandon His heritage. This tells us of our present and our future.

All those who live by faith in Jesus Christ are God’s people now. This is important for all of us who wonder what God thinks about us right now. We are not simply discarded at the first mess we make or because of our sin. Our position is secure because of the redemptive blood of Christ. This is not a license to sin, however. Remember the 2 prior verses. If we are the people of God, then He is disciplining us and He is teaching us.

We are also His people later. We are also what He will inherit. Here we have Jehovah God “The Existing One” telling us that He will receive an inheritance. How can this be? How can the one who has always existed and who created all things inherit anything? Who could give anything to God Himself?

And how could we possibly throw ourselves into this group? How can we be assured that we qualify for God’s people now and His inheritance in the future? How do we know that justice will return to us? How do we know that we are the upright in heart and that we will follow after this justice? All of these questions can be summed up in one easy answer! In Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Jesus is called Mighty God. Jesus is called Everlasting Father. Jesus is the one whose kingdom will be upheld with justice and righteousness forever and forevermore. Who will bring this to pass? Jehovah God. The same God in Psalm 94 is going to bring this to pass through His Son Jesus Christ. The upright will follow Jesus Christ.
Application:
Unbeliever – Cast away your foolish reasoning. You’ve been exposed as a fool. Stop lying to yourself. Stop ignoring the truth. Beg God to save you. Plead with Him to position you in Christ. Christ is the only way to gain a correct perspective about God.

I Corinthians 2:14-16
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Believer –
A) Don’t forget the basics.
Don't forget what creation teaches. That we are saved by grace through faith. There is no other God. That we are helpless without Christ. God has granted forgiveness. There is no condemnation. Etc. The simple things were important in the beginning of our walk with Christ and they are still important.
B) Trust the God that humbled you and redeemed you to keep you humble. He delivered you from the destruction of the proud through Christ Jesus and He will keep you humble in Him now and forever more.

TWO PERSPECTIVES AND ONE GREAT GOD

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