"But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the
earth. They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals. But
the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the
mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.”
The more I read this Psalm, study, and meditate on it the more it means to me. I
told my wife yesterday; “I can’t believe I haven’t memorized this Psalm, but it
definitely is on my list to do so now”! David was in the wilderness of Judah
facing the greatest crisis of his kingdom, yet we find him desiring and seeking
God (vv. 1-2), praising and worshipping God (vv. 3-5), remembering and thinking
about God (vv. 6-8), and finally “rejoicing in God” (vv. 9-11).
After yesterdays chat, I remembered an old praise tune that came from verses 3 and 4
in this Psalm. In the video chat today, I’ve attempted to sing a portion of it.
If you go to this link on YouTube, https://youtu.be/JllGU0qYBgk you can listen to it
in its entirety, and as often as you want by Maranatha Music. Who knows maybe
this is the same tune that David used to sing it to!
You might also think that somehow David already knew about Philippians 4:4-9, that
the Apostle Paul would write centuries later from a Roman prison to the church
at Philippi. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let
your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally,
brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things
are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things
are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy--meditate on these things. The things which you learned and
received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with
you.”
Remember in Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were on their second missionary journey, it was
at Philippi that they were terribly beaten and thrown into prison cell with
their bloody bodies (Acts 16:22-34). Maybe it was Paul who remembered Psalm 63,
because he and Silas practiced what David did when he was rejected in a time
and place of tremendous pain and distress! At midnight Paul and Silas were
found singing and praising the Lord instead of complaining and moaning in their
pain and misery and demanding their rights. God was so thrilled by them
responding this way that He sent an earthquake and had them released.
Some people might criticize David for wanting his enemies destroyed and their bodies
left for the scavengers to devour (vv.9-10). But they should remember that
these rebels were the enemies of God and God's purposes for Israel, and that
those purposes included the coming of Messiah into the world. David didn't
execute the enemy himself but asked God to deal with them, and He did (2 Sam.
18:6-8).
David only wanted the God of truth to triumph over the liars. David rejoices and
glorifies God because he believes that the “mouth of those who speak lies
will be stopped” (v. 11). (There are a lot of lying mouths in the media and
politics, and even pulpits, that need to be stopped today.) David didn't rejoice in the destruction of
his enemies; he rejoiced in the God of Israel. Furthermore, he encouraged all
the people to praise and glorify God with him (v. 11).
Often David's personal praise became communal praise as he publicly glorified the
Lord for His mercies, and so it should be with us today. And we can and will,
if we seek and desire Him with all our heart and “meditate on these things” (Phil.
4:8)!
God bless!
