Amen. I invite you to take your copy of scripture and turn to Psalm 109. Psalm 109. And you'll find our passage, if you're using one of the Bibles that we provide for you, on page 508 and 509. 508 and 509. We are in a series in the Psalms, and this morning we come to Psalm 109, and so I'm gonna read the psalm in its entirety, and then we'll pray and consider God's word together. To the choir master, a psalm of David. Be not silent, O God, of my praise, for wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues, They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause. In return for my love, they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good and hatred for my love. Appoint a wicked man against him. Let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he has tried, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few. May another take his office. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins that they inhabit. May the creditor seize all that he has. May strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children. May his posterity be cut off. May his name be blotted out in the second generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually. that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth. For He did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to put them to death. He loved to curse, let curses come upon Him. He did not delight in blessing, may it be far from Him. He clothed Himself with cursing as His coat, may it soak into His body like water, like oil into His bones. May it be like a garment that He wraps around Him, like a belt that He puts on every day. May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord of those who speak evil against my life. But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your namesake. Because your steadfast love is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me. I am gone like a shadow at evening. I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting. My body has become gaunt with no fat. I am an object of scorn to my accusers. When they see me, they wag their heads. Help me, O Lord my God. Save me according to Your steadfast love. Let them know that this is Your hand. You, O Lord, have done it. Let them curse, but You will bless. They arise and are put to shame, but Your servant will be glad. May my accusers be clothed with dishonor. May they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak. With my mouth I will give thanks, great thanks to the Lord. I will praise him in the midst of the throng for he stands at the right hand of the needy one to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you, Lord, that all your Word is true and good and profitable. And Lord, we thank you this morning for Psalm 109. Father, give us wisdom now as we turn to your Word, as we consider it. Lord, we pray that by your Spirit you would lead us and guide us into all truth. And Lord, we pray that as the psalmist does here, that we would rejoice and hope in you. And it's through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen. As I was reading Psalm 109 just a moment here ago, you might have been wondering, doesn't Jesus teach us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us? And so what are we to do with Psalm 109? What are we to do with the curses that David prays over his enemies? Psalm 109, like an earlier psalm that we read this morning, Psalm 69, is known as an imprecatory psalm. to imprecate is to invoke a curse. And as John explained earlier in the service, imprecatory psalms include prayers that call for God to curse those who are callously determined to commit grave acts of evil and injustice. And so how are we to understand these psalms? How are we to understand them in particular in light of the teaching and the life of the Lord Jesus? This last week I was talking to a man who used to serve as a Methodist minister and now he is a professed atheist. We were having a conversation and he mentioned several reasons why he no longer professes to believe in God. And one of the criticisms that he had for the Bible was that there's a lot of stuff going on, is the way he put it, there's a lot of stuff going on in the Old Testament that's just not good. And I presume he's referring to passages like Psalm 109. The thinking goes that if God is love, how can David pray curses upon his enemies? My friends, I want you to consider this morning what if this psalm, instead of contradicting Jesus, in a very real sense is about Jesus and is consistent with the teachings of Jesus, other teachings that don't get maybe as many views or likes. I believe, in fact, that's the case. In fact, I believe that a better understanding of Psalm 109 provides us with a fuller and more accurate picture of who Jesus is. And that this fuller understanding of who Jesus is and this fuller understanding of the Scriptures is needed if we are, in fact, to live in love like Jesus in a world that includes profound evil and grave injustice. I hope that you'll see that this morning in Psalm 109. Our psalm actually divides into three parts and the content of each part of the psalm can be summarized in a prayer that actually comes from the text itself. And these three prayers will serve as our outline. First, be not silent. We see in verses 1 through 5. Second, let curses come upon him, in verses 6 through 20. And third, help me, O Lord, in verses 21 to 31. The first prayer that captures what David is trying to communicate here in verses 1 through 5 is, be not silent. Now, I've entitled the message this morning, Accused and Rejoicing. Accused and Rejoicing. And you will notice here in Psalm 109, as we think about this idea of the psalmist rejoicing, that the psalm begins and it ends with praise. In fact, in the original language, so Psalm 109, like most of the Old Testament, would have been written in Hebrew, and Psalm 109 begins literally, the first two words of the psalm are, God of my praise. So in the English here, it's translated, Be not silent, O God of my praise. But in the original language it's actually, O God of my praise, be not silent. So immediately the psalm begins with praise. And then if you look down at verse 30, the psalm concludes with praise. With my mouth I will give thanks to the Lord. I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. And another thing I want you to notice here in these opening verses is that David, he begins right away, like his greater son, the Lord Jesus, loving his enemies. Now this might oftentimes be missed in Psalm 109, but you should see it there. Look at verse 4 and 5. David says, in return for my love, they accuse me. But I give myself to prayer, verse 5, so they reward me evil for good. I was good to them, but now they are evil towards me. And hatred for my love, I love them, but in response to my love, they hated me. So here we see that David, like his greater son, the Lord Jesus, loves his enemies in Psalm 109. But in particular, we go on to see that their evil and their hatred against David is expressed through their words, through their tongue, through their accusations. This is actually noted here in these first five verses, but then is a theme that continues throughout the psalm. You see it there in verse 2. For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues." Verse 3, they encircle me with words of hate. Verse 4, in return for my love they accuse me. And actually that word accuse is a word that's very important to understanding this psalm. The verb form is used here, they accuse me, but actually the noun is used repeatedly throughout the psalm. You see it there in verse 6, appoint a wicked man against him, let an accuser stand at his right hand. Again verse 20, may this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord of those who speak evil against my life. Again in verse 29, may my accusers be clothed with dishonor, may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak. And this is all the more interesting when we realize that this word here, accused, that's used in Psalm 109 is actually in Hebrew the word Satan, which is the word later that we use to identify the devil as he is described in the Bible as the accuser of the brethren. Now as we think about this with David and we think about the circumstances that he finds himself in, we recognize that David was a man who had many enemies. In fact, there are many times that we see in David's life that what's being described here in Psalm 109 was played out by enemies accusing him, falsely accusing him, attacking him, slandering him. So you think about King Saul who accused David of trying to usurp his power and take the throne and as a result Saul was trying to kill David. Or you think about David's son Absalom who secretly plotted to undermine David's leadership and lead a rebellion so that he might be king. Maybe these accounts aren't quite as well known, but still important events in David's life. Then Ahithophel, one of David's most trusted counselors, actually betrayed David and sided with Absalom. And from that point forward, Ahithophel used his words to advise Absalom to conspire against David. And then when David is temporarily removed from the throne and he's retreating from Jerusalem, there's a man by the name of Shammai who hurls curses at David as he retreats from the city. He declared again and again, get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man. And these are just a few examples that took place among people within the nation of Israel. And then we know David had many enemies outside of the nation of Israel. Given this emphasis on words and the tongue and accusations here in Psalm 109, Martin Luther actually concluded that this psalm is directed almost entirely, quote, against those who disparage another's reputation. And that's what David is experiencing here in Psalm 109. Slander, lies, vicious attacks. Charles Spurgeon states it this way, quote, in all Satan's armory, there are no worse weapons than deceitful tongues. To have a reputation over which we have watched with daily care suddenly be spattered with the foulest aspersions is painful beyond description. The heart sinks when assailed with slander, for we know not what may be said next, what friend may be alienated, what evil may be threatened, or what misery may be caused to us and others. The air is full of rumors and shadows impalpable flit around. The mind is confused with dread of unseen foes and invisible errors. What ill can be worse than to be assailed with slander?" And some of you have known that experience. Others may be saying false things, vicious things against you or against those you love. But notice David's response in verse 4. In verse 4, we see that David responds, but I give myself to prayer. And actually, the text here literally reads, but I prayer. That's how the text literally reads, but I prayer. It's as though David is saying, I've given myself entirely to prayer. It's almost like David has become prayer. My enemies speak evil against me. They lie, they attack, they accuse. They are full of malice, but I will be full of prayer. It's not to say that when we find ourselves in these situations we should never attempt to defend ourselves and only pray. But the key here is to see that David is not taking justice into his own hands. And that's one of the vital things we should see in Psalm 109. David is not taking things into his own hands and lashing out, but rather he is going to the Lord in prayer and entrusting the Lord with this situation. His enemies will attack. His enemies will slander. But David commits himself to prayer. And what does he pray? Well, it's a very appropriate prayer given the circumstances. You see it there in verse 1. Be not silent. Lord, as they talk, as lies are passed, as rumors spread, do not be silent. May their voices not be the only voices, Lord. May you speak on my behalf. You see, David understood that the Lord's defense is the best defense. And so although he was accused, he was at the same time rejoicing. So this is the first section here we see in the psalm, Lord be not silent. But this leads us to our second point. And the prayer that captures the second part of the psalm is let curses come upon him. You see it there in verses 6 through 20. This is where these curses are recorded. This is actually the main section and the longest section of the psalm. In verses 6 through 15, this is where, in particular, David prays curses upon his enemies. And then in verses 16 through 20, the psalmist goes on to further explain the crimes of his enemy. Now let me just say, before we kind of launch into looking at these curses in particular, let me just say that as we read these verses, we do need to use some common sense. We need to have a basic sense of proportional justice. Proportional justice is the idea that when a crime or some offense is committed that the penalty in relationship to that crime would be proportional. It would be related to it. So, you know, if someone murders someone, they shouldn't get a slap on the wrist. Someone steals a popsicle, they shouldn't go to jail for 20 years, right? So we have to understand that, use some basic common sense, have a sense of proportional justice when we read this. So we should not be inclined to pray these harsh imprecations on someone if they cut us off in traffic. Or they steal our parking spot. Or if our favorite college football team is defeated by their rival in eight overtimes. If you know, you know. We need to use some basic common sense when we read these curses that David is preying on his enemies and have a sense of proportional justice and recognize that as David is preying against these enemies, he is preying against individuals who are brazenly evil and their actions have resulted in tremendous suffering and death. Another thing we should take note of is that as we're reading through this psalm, in the first five verses, David refers to his enemies as they. It's in the third person plural, they. But now as we come to this section, verses 6 through 20, and David begins to pray these curses, his enemy is he. And then later in the third section of the psalm, which we'll look at, again, it becomes they. So it's they, then he, then they. And it seems apparent what David is doing is that in this section, David is recognizing that among his enemies, there is a leader. There's a head honcho, a bigwig, who's calling the shots. And in particular, David directs his prayers against that individual. With this in mind, notice that in verses 6 through 7, David prays for judicial justice. In verse 6, appoint a wicked man against him. Let an accuser stand at his right hand. The sense here is that he, my enemy, has falsely accused. Now allow him to be accused. Let another accuse him. Verse 7, when he has tried, let him come forth guilty. So David here is praying for judicial justice. In other words, David is praying that in a court of law, he would be found guilty for the crimes he has committed. Notice verse 7, let his prayers be counted as sin. Now some may read that and say, oh, that's way too harsh. How could anyone pray that someone else's prayers would not be accepted before God? But let me ask you this. How many of you have heard the recordings of terrorists who, before they detonate the suicide bomb or before they fly the plane into the building to kill innocent civilians, will pray, Allah Akbar, God is great? No, my friends, David is right to pray. Let his prayer be counted as sin. Look at verse 8. David prays for the termination of his office. You see it there. May his days be few, may another take his office. So David's enemy obviously holds a position of power and influence. And he's using his influence to bring about terror and death. And so David prays that the Lord would bring his term to an end through death. Again, some might say, well, that sounds rough. That sounds maybe vindictive. But let me ask you this. What reasonable or just person wouldn't pray for the end of a reign of terror? Who wouldn't pray for the end of a leader like Joseph Stalin in Russia, who was responsible for approximately 20 to 30 million deaths? Or Mao in China, who was responsible for approximately 40-70 million deaths. Or Adolf Hitler in Germany, who was responsible for the Holocaust of 6-8 million Jews. Under such circumstances, it would be right, it would be just to pray, may his days be few, may another take his office. Actually, in Acts chapter 1, the Apostle Peter cites this verse here from Psalm 109 in reference to Judas, who betrayed the Lord Jesus. And Peter called the church at that time to appoint another to take Judas' place among the disciples. You see, the apostles understood the enemy of David in Psalm 109 to typify the enemy, the betrayer who was to come, who would betray David's greater son, the Lord Jesus. Andrew Bonar wrote, we consider the terrific utterance of doom from verse 6 to verse 20, which encapsulates all these curses. as a copy of the father's sentence upon the traitor who sold the beloved son for 30 pieces of silver. Christ declares it and consents to it. Let it be even so." So the experience of David here is ultimately fulfilled in his greater son, who faces an enemy, a betrayer, which leads to his death. Notice in verses 9 through 15, David prays for the demise of his family. So he prays for judicial justice. He prays for the termination of his office. He also prays for the demise of his family. And as you scan those verses there, verses 9 through 15, some might say, well, how could David pray that this man's wife would be a widow, that his children would come to ruin? You know, earlier this morning we prayed for Afghanistan, and I wonder, after Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind 9-11, and after he intentionally targeted noncombatants to kill them, after he contributed significantly to a reign of terror in Afghanistan that caused horrible oppression for millions of Afghans. I wonder how many of those who suffered his oppression, how many of those who were killed mercilessly by him, I wonder how many of them grieved when they heard of his death because his wife was a widow. None, right? And of course not. You say, well, but how about his children? How can David pray against this man's children? Remember, my friends, in David's time, the son of a military leader or a king would often replace their father, right? So if you had a father and he was a king, he was a military leader, he died, then the son would replace him. Much like Solomon replaced David when David died. And if the man who was ruling and reigning was wicked, if he was ungodly, and he had a son, then when he died, oftentimes the son would perpetuate the same policies of terror and death. And so David prays, do not let him gain favor. Don't let him gain status among the people. Remove his children from their position of authority. Strip them of their riches and of their power. Cause them to beg so that injustice will not continue through their reign. We've actually seen something like this recently even in modern history. Saddam Hussein was the dictator of Iraq for almost 25 years. Of course, his record of atrocities, of terror, and torture, and death were well known. And when Western forces determined to depose him, one of the greatest concerns was that his two sons, Qusay and Uday, who were just as feared or more so than him, that they would ascend to power and continue his reign." So in fact, when Western forces went in, actually, U.S. forces killed Qusay and Uday before they were even able to capture and try Saddam. So what we see here is that given the circumstances, given the nature of the evil that David faces, we see here in these verses that David prays for judicial justice. that this wicked leader would be found guilty. He prays for the termination of his office, that his rule would come to an end. And he prays for the demise of his family, that his reign of terror would not be perpetuated through his family line. Notice in verse 16, the psalmist then further explains the crimes of his enemies. He says, for he did not remember to show kindness Here it is, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to put them to death. Again, this is a reminder that his crimes were not minor. He despised kindness. He preyed on the weakest and the most vulnerable, and his actions resulted in the death of the innocent. And David goes on in verses 17 to 20 to pray that his enemy's words of deceit and cursing would come back upon him. Now again, how should we understand these words? How should we understand them in terms of Jesus and His ethic that we are to love our enemies? Well, as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, We recognize that maybe there's not as much of a difference between David's expressions here in Psalm 109 and the life and the teaching of Jesus. It is true that David's greater son, Jesus, prayed for his enemies on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But it is also true that when Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus warned that it would have been better for the person who betrayed him to have never been born. In addition, Jesus tells a parable about a widow. who incessantly knocked at the door of a judge and she pled over and over again, give me justice against my adversary. And as Jesus tells this parable of this widow who's begging and pleading for justice over and over and over again, Jesus does not rebuke the widow. He doesn't say, she shouldn't have prayed that. Insisting on justice in this way is not an act of love. Rather, Jesus holds the widow up as an example. of persistent prayer and assures his disciples that if they too, like the widow, will pray for justice, then God will vindicate them against those who persecute them. In fact, Jesus promises that one day he will return again and he will come to judge all humanity and to establish justice on the earth. And so in a very real sense, every time we pray, come Lord Jesus, we are praying for God's justice. You see, it's not as though Jesus didn't care about justice and righteousness. Instead, like his father, Jesus was on the one hand loving and forgiving, and on the other hand, he was just and he was righteous. You remember what God said to Moses when he revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7? We read, the Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation. And so the God of the Bible is both loving and forgiving, and He is just and He is righteous, and so is His Son, the Lord Jesus. And in fact, it is oftentimes our confidence in God's justice that enables us to forgive and to love others. This was true for Jesus Himself. Listen to the words of Peter in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 23. When Jesus, when He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. So He was slandered, He was accused, He was reviled, but He didn't respond in kind. He suffered on a cross, but He did not threaten those who were violently attacking Him. But how did He do this? When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. But He continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. That's how Jesus forgave. That's how Jesus loved. He entrusted Himself to His Father who He was confident would make all things right. And this is the same logic Paul uses when he tells us to live and to love like Jesus. In Romans chapter 12, verses 17 to 21, Paul says, Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. There are times where maybe we are hurt in terrible ways, where we are sinned against, and there is a sense that we have within ourselves this needs to be made right. Justice needs to be served. And this can be so difficult to do, and oftentimes we fail, but how do we, in that situation, not respond sinfully to try to equal the balance? but respond with forgiveness and love. In part we do so, Paul says here, by entrusting God. He will take care of justice. I can trust Him with justice, therefore I'm free to forgive in love. This leads us to the third part of our psalm, which is captured in this prayer, help me, oh Lord. So be not silent, let curses come upon him, and then help me, oh Lord. We see this in verses 21 to 31. In this final section, we see that David's eyes turn from his enemy and turn to the Lord. And now he calls upon the Lord for salvation. And notice that David appeals in this section both to God's glory and His steadfast love as he cries for help. You see it there in verse 21, but you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your namesake. We saw this last week, a similar idea in Psalm 108, but it's basically this idea that David is praying for salvation based upon the name and the character of God. Based on who you are, God, will you not deliver me? Show yourself to be my deliverer, my salvation, as you intervene and as you help me. And then he goes on to say, because your steadfast love is good, deliver me. In other words, not finally because I am good, but because your steadfast love is good. David prays a similar prayer in verse 26. Help me, O Lord, my God. Save me according to your steadfast love. And then notice that David ends the psalm with these words in verse 31. Now here actually David is picking up on a number of ideas that have already appeared in the psalm, in particular back in verse 6. So if you look back at verse 6, we read, David is praying in reference to his enemy. He says, appoint a wicked man against him, let an accuser stand at his right hand. So David's enemy has accused him, has condemned him falsely, and David is praying, let an accuser stand at his right hand and accuse him. And now David takes hope in the fact that God stands at the right hand of the needy who are accused and falsely condemned to death. And God's determination to stand by the needy was ultimately fulfilled in the life of David's greater son, Jesus. Jesus himself, like David, was falsely accused, right? Jesus was, in fact, condemned to death. But God stood by his side and vindicated him by raising him from the dead. And now God does the same for all who trust in Jesus. Because the accuser, Satan himself, accuses us, the Scriptures say, day and night. And not just with made-up sins, not just with imaginary sins, but real offenses that we have committed against God and against His law. And in the person of Jesus, God stands by our side. He stands by the side of the needy, as Jesus offered Himself on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And Jesus offers before the Father the merit of His sacrifice so that we might be forgiven and we might be received by God. And then God in Christ commits Himself to defend and to bring justice to all His children who are in Christ, to all who would persecute His church. So David concludes this psalm that's full of lament, that's full of grief and curses, he concludes this psalm actually with praise. He began with praise, O God of my praise, and now he ends with praise. You see it there in verse 30. With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord. I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. And my friends, do you know what this means? This means that if Psalm 109 does not cause us to praise If it doesn't lead us to thanks, then we are not understanding Psalm 109 as we should. Because God's justice is not only to be feared, it's not only to be reverenced, but it is to be praised. In a world that is so often characterized by evil and barbary and death, it is God's justice that here, like David, often sustains us. and gives us hope. So these are the three sections in the Psalm. Be not silent. Let curses come upon him and help me, O Lord. I'll share with you this morning that this is actually not the first time I've preached Psalm 109. Actually, when I was in my early 20s, I interned at a church in Washington, D.C. The name of the church is Capitol Hill Baptist Church. And the pastor was very gracious to allow me to preach a few times on Sunday mornings. And it was either the first, I couldn't remember, but it was either the first or the second time that I preached on a Sunday morning at Capitol Hill that the pastor assigned me Psalm 109 to preach on a Sunday morning. Now I'm in my early 20s, I'm in seminary, and I was thinking, oh great. I get to preach before the entire church on Sunday morning, and you assign me an imprecatory psalm, and perhaps the most intense of all the imprecatory psalms in the Bible. But I preached it, and by God's grace, we made it through. I will also say that I learned this week that sermons that I wrote 20, 25 years ago are not all that much of help to me now. I basically started from scratch and rewrote the entire sermon. I do remember at that time though struggling to figure out how I could help people understand the kind of evil that David may have been facing when he was writing Psalm 109. And at that time the country of Sudan was in the midst of a civil war between Muslims in the north who were attacking and terrorizing Christians in the south. And World Magazine wrote an article about the persecution of Christians in Sudan that was entitled, We Have Nothing, But We Have Everything. And the article described an attack that had taken place in a Christian town named Chali. I'm probably pronouncing that wrong. And I just want to read you a little bit of the description of what had taken place in that town. And I'll warn you, this is a little bit long and it is disturbing. The article reads, quote, the signs of defeat punctuate the landscape today. Government tank rounds have destroyed roofs across the former S.I.M. compound. That was a missionary compound. The school building is rubble. Houses are hard to find or impossible to visit because of landmines. The church is a roofless maze of destruction. One solid wall of it remains, the one with a stone cross punctured by bullet holes. Government soldiers took the bombed church apart piece by piece. They ripped Bibles page by page from their bindings and used the pages of Scripture to roll cigarettes. Other pages showed up later as food wrappers in the local market. The invaders burned Uduk houses and crops and loot their livestock. They landmined the church building to ensure that no one was able to rebuild it. According to one Chali resident, Bala Siddique, soldiers collected some Christian believers and placed them in one room of the church. The soldiers closed the door and set fire to it. Sex was, quote unquote, compulsory, according to another villager who describes how soldiers raped women and girls in the church. Soldiers killed most of the men immediately crucifying some they carried others to prison end of quote. And Christians are persecuted like this in various parts of the world today. And so my friends, I believe that before we, with kind of our modern, Western, oftentimes secular minds, condemn David for what he wrote in Psalm 109, we should also consider that there may be kinds of evil and levels of suffering in this world that we know very little about. And I imagine for those Uduk Christians in Sudan, after they suffered those atrocities, that the words of David in Psalm 109 did not seem extreme, but were a source of immense comfort and hope. In fact, it was about that same time at Capitol Hill Baptist Church that some missionaries who were related to the church had recently served in Albania And they testified to the fact that the lawlessness and the poverty and the corruption was so extreme in Albania at that time that it was Psalms like Psalm 109 that got them through. You see my friends in a world characterized by this kind of evil and suffering you cannot have a God of love unless he is a God of justice. And the great hope that we have as Christians is that the God of the Bible is a God of justice and he will not be silent. But one day he will make all things right. He will stand at the right hand of the needy one to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. Let's pray. O God, with fear and with trembling and with hope and rejoicing, we bow before you and confess that you are our God, a God of justice and righteousness, and we praise you. Father, we thank you that in a world that is oftentimes characterized by terrible suffering and sin, that we have the hope of a psalm like Psalm 109. Lord, we pray that you would fill our hearts with this hope, that we would be faithful as we trust in you, God of justice, that we would be faithful to then love and serve and forgive and lay our lives down for others and look with hope to the coming of your son, the Lord Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.