Sermon(Ps 9): The trial of God

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251271

 

 

 

>> .... 4 For thou hast maintained my just cause; thou hast sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. 5 Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 The enemy have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities thou hast rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. .... 8 and he judges the world with righteousness, he judges the peoples with equity. 9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. .... 15 The nations have sunk in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid has their own foot been caught. 16 The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. 17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever. .... (Ps 9).<<

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God is a strange judge. But he is the fairest judge in the world. He is a strange judge for he, being a judge, participates in the trial as a lawyer, presiding over the trial as a judge and pleading for the accused as a lawyer. What a strange trial! However, he is an unpartial judge for he, knowing the cause of the righteous and the evil deeds of the wicked well, he can accurately defend the accused and punish the wicked in the trial between the righteous and the wicked.

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If you participate in the trial as a defendant or a plaintiff, you may think, 'If the judge on the judgment seat were also my lawyer!' Yes, my brethren! If he were also your lawyer, what a fair trial it would be to you! Previously, an ex-professor attacked a judge by a crossbow. How was he outraged by the judge's decision that he cooled down his anger with that terror? Let's look at v. 4, "For thou hast maintained my just cause; thou hast sat on the throne giving righteous judgment." And v. 9, "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Brethren, according to these verses, God is our trustworthy lawyer as well as a righteous judge who protects us from the hands of the wicked after the trial. Sometimes the wicked carry out bloody retaliation against the righteous when they lose a suit. However, God keeps thoroughly the righteous who won the suit. What a good judge who makes us feel refreshed and relieved! If you believe in Jesus as the Saviour and live in obedience to his commandments, to you he will be such a judge worthy of giving thanks. What we are indeed more thankful about, Jesus gave us laws we can keep, teaches them to us every day, and gives us the ability to keep them. Therefore, if only we live in Jesus, we can live in peace in any circumstances. Jesus is the judge of righteousness and the king of peace.

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Today's text is David's poem. We can find David's view of God in the poem. What god was the Lord in David's eyes? In the eyes of David, God was a righteous judge. Look at v. 1, "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds." David is praying to God with his whole heart. Something very good must have happened to David for he is praying to God with a wholeheartedly grateful heart. What would it be? He won a trial. Let's suppose that you were falsely accused of a crime that deserved death penalty, but narrowly won the criminal trial, so that you were acquitted. It would be a victory to be very grateful about. Let's suppose that you won the trial where you could lose hundreds of millions of won after a bitter argument, so that you don't have to be a homeless man. Then you should really thank the judge. David did something always after the sun set. He pleaded his case to God. David was a soldier and a politician, so he fought a lot of wars. He always worked in the danger of his life. David must die if only he loses just one war by the judgment of God. His life depended on the result of what he engaged in, so tried to reflect on his life before the righteous God and to be recognized by him. Before the war, David confessed his sins to God and was pardoned, then the went to the war at God's permission and won the war always. After the victory over the wicked enemies who were stronger than he, David thought, 'I won this battle not by my strength. This victory was possible because God accepted my true heart and thought it good, and permitted me the victory. The reason why I've won the war is not that my righteousness was bigger than my sins but that the enemies have sinned so that God has used me as the tool to punish them. My God, I thank thee!'

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My brethren, what is God's judgment on sinners? Look at v. 5, "Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever." I think the severest punishment in the world is >for one's name to be blotted out forever<. The wicked will get such punishment. All the wicked in the world are judged on earth before they die, but after their death, they will live forever in hell with the name tag >a wicked man<. Their original names will have been forgotten long before. Their names will disappear from God's memory forever. And their names will vanish forever from the memory of those who are living on earth and those who are resting in heaven, too. They did all to gain reputation in the world, but, having fallen into hell, they have no one to recognize them and to call their name. Now the reason why they exist is to be a vessel holding God's stern judgment and wrath. How miserable they are! The righteous in the haven will forget their (wicked people’s) names long before, but they (the wicked) will never forget the names of the righteous resting in the heaven. There were many people who knew his name when an evil man lived in the world. He even didn't respond the greeting of jibsa (deacon) Kim living next door, because he felt ashamed of him, however, now he is in the hell while jibsa Kim is not in the hell. The evil man, even forgetting his own name, is suffering forever, but can never forget the name and the face of jibsa Kim who is in the heaven. Gentlemen, have you made a name for yourselves? Professor So-and-so, minister So-and-so, Judge So-and-so, prosecutor So-and-so, president So-and-so, ... how brilliant names! But the day will come when those precious names will be erased from the memory of all people. If you, not believing in Jesus, die without being justified by God, you'll be cast into the hell, your name being forgotten by all forever. Do you want to have a name praised by many people just for several decades without believing in God, or to be justified by God and to live an everlasting life with your own self and name?

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God's punishment, unlike the trials of the world, begins when the sinners bear malice. In general, the secular court finally adjudges a person guilty after he harbored ill-will, carried out the evil intention, was arrested, and was tried three times. He is actually punished only after all those procedures. But God, a strange judge, prepares a wicked man's grave from the time he bears malice and sins. In most cases, God makes the evil man dig his own grave, which is also a strange punishment. Look at v. 15, "The nations have sunk in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid has their own foot been caught." And v. 16, "He has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands." No trial and punishment of the world are faster than this. God's trials is a super-speedy trial, for the punishment has already begun from the time an evil man had the intention to commit a crime. Some might argue that many wicked live and die comfortably. No! An evil man who rejected God's grace has turned to the hell already, and the sins he will commit during the rest of his life will only deepen his grave. Sometimes this guy, by his own tricks, ruins his life and business. Sometimes he is caught in the net or falls into the pit, which he has prepared to kill the righteous. The punishment for the wicked is this: they may try to live a great life, yet their life only destroys them.

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My brethren, please don't bother the righteous. God is the strong supporter of them. They have the God as their father. You will hasten to ruin and death if you persecute a righteous man having such a strong defender without cause. Do not make a rash accusation against him. Do not come between him and others rashly. Do not hinder his life and business. A righteous man may fall to the ground several times, but he is guaranteed a sure recovery. Sometimes he stumbles over a stone, but he will not lie there forever. How many people died before David, a righteous man to God, while they tried to kill him? The same holds in politics. If a Christian wants to be a king, he first must live like David and then can dream of it. Brethren, do not oppress the weak. Look at v. 12, "He who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted." And v. 18, "For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever." There were wicked men in Israel before who made poor people who hadn't repaid a pair of shoes their servants. God made those wicked rich men taken prisoner to other countries, and made those who had suffered by them take possession of their lands. The rich man who exploits the poor is the first to be cursed by God. Foolish are gang bosses and their action group, and those who have earned a lot of dishonest money and want to rob the poor of their last penny by usury. They do not know God who listens to all the groans of the weak and promptly avenges their grudges. Please don't bother the righteous and the weak if you want to live well and meet a natural death. Brethren, if you want to live longer than the average life expectancy and to live in good health, help the righteous and care for the weak and the poor. There are not other particular angels of God in the world. Those who do such good deeds are the very angels of God.

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Let's give thanks to God. He is a righteous judge. He is a merciful lawyer. Your life is under his protection. In the court of the world, a judge can't give a generous reward to the good people after making a judgment. There is no such law. But our God rewards you for your righteous life and for all your works for the kingdom of God. Occasionally God, wiping out the wicked, gives their lands and property to you. Our names have long been recorded in God's book of life. Jesus knows your name. Your name will remain in his mind forever. Your name is worthy forever. The weak, the poor, the sick, the disabled, and those who lack wisdom, let's give a deep gratitude to God! Thanksgiving in suffering is a true gratitude, a true gratitude is the offering that delights God most, and God will give those who have such a faith the presents that the world can never gives them. one of them, I think, is God's deep love. If we truly give thanks to God, God will give deep love to us, so that we can have a fullness of joy with God. God is a righteous judge, so he will surely reward us with wonderful prizes that the world can't know and can't give us, for the true gratitude in suffering. Some have much in secular things but do not possess the God, while some have little in secular things but possess the precious God, therefore possess all.

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My brethren, God is a fair judge. Let's learn his words (the commandments) hard. Read the Bible a lot and listen to sermons a lot, so that you can know what God wants from us. Let's correct our lives thoroughly in the light of the Bible. Let's pray to God who knows our situations and ask him for help whenever we have a hard time. He will surely hear our supplication, protect and reward us.

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May God forgive all your sins, provide supplements to your weakness, hear all your earnest prayers, defeat all your enemies and gladly accept your gratitude and praise.

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Chong Tack Kim

                                   - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -

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