Okay, so yes, we are in Psalm 41. And so if you would please turn to that Psalm and stand for the reading of God's word, we will read the whole of Psalm 41. Psalm 41, this is the word of the Lord. To the choir master, a psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive. He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him in his sickbed. In his illness, you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, oh Lord, be gracious to me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish? And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst of me. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up that I may repay them. By this I know that you delight in me, my enemy, who will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen. You may be seated. May God bless His word as we consider it today and may it find meaning in your heart and life. So yes, we are at Psalm 41, and having come to Psalm 41, we're at the final Psalm of what is called Book One of the Psalms, and we've talked about in the past at various times how the 150 Psalms have been divided into five books, and we're not gonna go over all that today, but I do want to mentioned that this division of books is not something that was just arbitrarily chosen. Somebody didn't just say well that looks like a good number of Psalms let's call that book one and here's another good number of Psalms and that's going to be book two. No, these books, though they vary, actually do, they vary in size. We have 41 Psalms that make up Book 1. There's like 44 that make up Book 5. Those are the long books. A couple of the other books, Books 3 and 4, are just 17 Psalms long. And one of the aspects is they do have themes within them, and we've talked about that. identifies the end of every book is the fact that they end with a doxology and or a benediction. A doxology, a particular final song of praise. You know, we've sung the doxology as we call it at times here. Or a benediction, a word of blessing. And that's actually what identifies the end of the books. And I thought it might be good to just do kind of a quick review or survey, I guess, of the endings of the books. And we'll start at book five and work our way back to book one. Book 5, which ends with the 150th Psalm, really the whole 150th Psalm is a doxology, but it has that final verse. In verse 6, it says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord. You know, that's a way of bringing to culmination and ending If we back up then to what would be considered Book 4, we find at the end of Psalm 106, a very long psalm actually, and it culminates again in praises of the Lord and a final amen. At the end, in verse 48, it says, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say amen. Sounds similar to what we just read in Psalm 41. Backing up to book three, it ends with Psalm 89 and verse 52. And again, the doxology is given, Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and amen. Book two, the doxology and benediction is seen in the final two verses, 18 and 19 of Psalm 72, where it says, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. And so that backs us all the way up to where we are today. Book one, the ending of book one, which is found in verse 13 of Psalm 41. And we've read it, and it ends with, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting amen and amen and it's with those type of benedictions and doxologies that these psalms are brought to a close and it's with this one that or the books of these psalms are brought to a close and it's with this one in book one it is brought to a close A few other observations I'd like to make concerning Psalm 41 before we delve into it in greater detail. As you saw here, Psalm 41 opens and closes with a proclamation of blessing. It opens and closes with a proclamation of blessing, and that's how Book One opens and closes. It, too, opens with a blessing and closes with a blessing. Here in Psalm 41.1, it opens with the blessing that blessed is the one who considers the poor. here in this final chapter, you might say, of Book I. Well, Book I started with a blessing as well. It started with, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. So both the first of Book I and the first of the final chapter of this book begins with this proclamation of blessing, and it's a blessing upon man, upon a man. upon a person who has a certain godly disposition. It's the one who does not submit himself to the counsel of the ungodly or the wisdom of this world that is blessed. And it's the one who considers another, who considers the poor, a person who is in need. Those are the character types here that are articulated. They're the type of disposition of an individual who is truly blessed. And, of course, Book One and the final chapter of Book One end with a blessing. We know that because the final verse of Psalm 41 is the final verse of Book One, and it, too, is that blessing that we've already looked at, that doxology that says, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. So, Book One of the Psalms begins with a word of blessing, ends with a word of blessing. The last chapter does the same. And both Book One and Psalm 41 begin with a declaration of a blessing towards men. A declaration that's horizontal. It's spoken out to other men. Book one of the Psalms in this last chapter ends with a declaration of blessing that's vertical. It's a blessing proclaimed towards God and of God, to God. So you see these similarities of book one, really Psalm 41 has to the whole book that it is coming, bringing to a close. In fact, Psalm 41 as a whole models the whole Book I of the Psalms. It models that book. Not only does it begin with a blessing toward man and end with a blessing towards God, just as the whole of Book I does, but it walks through much of what Book I has It walks like a good summary. It's like a well-written literature here in which the last chapter or the last of a well-written essay is actually a summary of the key points, the key ideas that have been taught and stressed in the book or in the writing. Following that opening praise, the psalm transitions into a call for the Lord's sustaining and healing in Psalm 41. And it's due to an illness of the psalmist, maybe even due to the fact that it's a consequence of his sin. We saw that in various Psalms of Book 1. Following that comes a rather large section of lament in Psalm 41. As it looks at the attitude of others toward him and their treatment of him, particularly in this situation, and that was a regular part of Book 1. There were various laments within it. And toward the end of that lament of Psalm 41, there's a unique declaration made about something in the psalmist's life which is actually messianic. It applies to Christ and his situation. And we also saw some messianic Psalms or parts of Psalms that were messianic throughout Book One. And in fact, we also saw some complete Psalms like Psalm 22, 23, and 24, that whole series in there, which is all about Christ. And this is followed in Psalm 41 with a touch of an imprecatory prayer. We saw those periodically in Book One as well, in various parts of some Psalms in Book One. And finally, the Psalm ends, as many of the Psalms do, with a declaration of assurance of God and his care and praising God for who he is. And so here in this psalm, as we walk through it, we summarize much of what was taught and we observed in the first 40 verses, 40 chapters of Book 1. Maybe to get a little better grasp on Psalm 41, we can section it in verses here. We can give ourselves kind of an outline of this psalm. The first three verses will speak of the assurance of the Lord's deliverance for one who has been merciful to others. And we're actually going to spend the bulk of our time in the first three or four verses. of the psalm, though we will cover it all. The second section, which is rather lengthy, four through nine approximately, deals with David's distress, his lament. He comes out of that with a declaration of renewed hope in the Lord. That the Lord will be gracious to him, verses 10 through 12, and then the closing doxology. And so that gives you kind of a breakdown of the song. So let's take a look at this final chapter of book one. Blessed is the one who considers the poor in the day of trouble. The Lord delivers him. As we've noted, the psalm begins with a proclamation of one who is blessed. And as I introduced this message to you, I pointed out that the final psalm of book one begins much like the first book of the first Psalm of Book One. The very first verse of the whole Book of Psalms begins, as we said, and saw the declaration of one who is blessed. The identification of the first verse of Psalm 41 with the first verse of Book One of the Psalm is actually closer than you might think. There's a greater identification here than the fact that it's just a proclamation of blessing and blessing of who? of the man who will receive this blessing for the very word blessed used in Psalm 41.1 is the very word blessed used in Psalm 1.1. You might say, okay, well, remember Hebrew is a little different than English. In English, we say blessed and we mean blessed. We might use happy as a synonym. But there's more than one word in Hebrew that is used for blessed and are purposed in how they are used. There's at least two primary words and the same word esher is the Hebrew word here that means blessed or happy. That's being used by David here in Psalm 41, 1. And it's also the same word he used in Psalm 1, 1. You'll notice we have the word blessed in verse 13 of Psalm 41. That's a different word. That's a different intent. Let me get that, we'll find out what that is. That's just to show you that different Hebrew words could have been used and David used the same, helping identify Psalm 41 with Psalm 1. Here back in verse 1, we see the word blessed, the same as in Psalm 1-1, and the same direction of blessing. It's directed toward man. He's the object. He's the one to be blessed. The blessing is of man, and this horizontally proclaimed blessing is spoken about the man or person who is or who does a certain thing. Well, at that point, there's some divergence now between Psalm 1-1 and Psalm 41-1, and they're important to see. There's a difference that comes up. In Psalm 1-1, the one who is blessed is the one who abstains from a thing. And in Psalm 41.1, the one who is blessed is the one who engages in something. Okay? Psalm 1.1 is addressed to the internal character of the individual. And Psalm 41.1 is addressed to the external fruit and actions of that person. The whole book moves from the inside out, you see, in the person's life. You may remember that I said the five books of the Psalms can be likened to our walk and growth in Christ. And Psalm 1 starts that walk. Psalm 1 starts that walk. It starts where we all have to start our walk with the Lord. We all start with the declaration that He is our Lord. Okay, that Jesus is our Lord. It's an internal position of the heart. It's an internal submission of the heart to His Lordship. That's seen in Psalm 1 by the actions of the individual there who is blessed because he's turned away. He's turned away from the counsel of this world. He's turned away from the wisdom of the world to the counsel of the Word. And Psalm 1 verse 2 says, his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. And that's where every believer has to start is that internal submission to the Lord and a turning away, a repentance, a turning away from the world and to the Lord. Well, in Psalm 41.1, it tells us of the fruit that comes from such a man. It's telling us of that which grows and now flows from that individual that comes out of his life because of the heart change that has occurred. And that person's life should be one that's blessing those in need. That's what Psalm 41 is telling us. Blessed is the man who considers the poor. That word poor. It can mean weak, needy, sick. But when we hear those definitions, we shouldn't limit ourselves just to the economic and the physical, okay? It's used for those who are spiritually poor, spiritually needy, spiritually sick as well. In other words, the first book of Psalms which depicts The Christian's early walk in life tells us that all begins with you being blessed of the Lord as you submit to him and his word, and that then flows and grows in you and flows out of you to be a blessing to others and their physical and their spiritual needs. What these two Psalms bookends of book one are doing are presenting to you really the Abrahamic covenant. It's to be played out in your life. If you turn to Genesis 12, in Genesis 12, God makes a promise to Abraham. We begin reading in verse two, of Genesis 12. We read the Lord telling Abraham, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. There's the covenant promise to Abraham that I will bless you so that, here's the reason, so that you will be a blessing. God's people are blessed to be a blessing, okay? God's people are blessed to be a blessing. to others. That's what God declared to Abraham. That's what Book One of the Psalms is telling us and showing us. In fact, Paul draws upon that same portion of scripture in Genesis 12, 2 and 3 to state that that's the gospel. All right, that's the gospel. If you were to turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 and verses 7 and 8, we read these words. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. Paul grabs that last summary statement of the words that the Lord spoke to Abraham, which of whole were this, I will bless you so that you will be a blessing. In fact, the whole nations will be blessed. Yeah, you're to be a blessing. You are blessed to be a blessing. And as David continues in this song, we see that by being a blessing, you should have every expectation that God would bless you. You are blessed to be a blessing, and by being a blessing, you are blessed. There's the picture. You are blessed to be a blessing, and by being a blessing, you are blessed. Let's go back here to Psalm 41 and verse 1. He says, blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. That expression, the Lord delivers him, literally means, or excuse me, that expression, one who considers the poor, literally means this, one who acts wisely toward the poor. You know, it's not just a mental consideration here. It's actually action. And it's action that biblically would be considered wise. It's one who acts wisely toward the poor. And how do we act wisely toward the poor? We act in accordance to the Book of Wisdom. We act in accordance to the Word of God and in a loving way minister to them. through the Word of God. That's acting wisely toward the poor and such a person who behaves in such a way toward the poor, the sick, the weak, the needy. And again, not just physically, though we ought to reach out to care for the physical needs of others, but spiritually as well. That individual who does can have the assurance that when such a condition falls on them, The Lord's going to be merciful to them. The Lord, by means that He has provided His Word, His Spirit, the body of Christ itself, will deliver that person out of their troubles. So why do we have this assurance? Why do we have this assurance? Why could David say these things? Why will the Lord respond to the merciful in this way? Well, because to assist those in need, to provide for them in their need, pleases God. It makes God smile. It's pleasing to the Lord to do that. In Hebrews 13, 16, look what it says here. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. To those who show mercy, God will be merciful. That's exactly what Jesus taught, isn't it? It's exactly what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes. And what we have marked is verse 7 of Matthew 5. Jesus very succinctly and precisely said those things. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. That's what the psalmist is resting on. That's what the psalmist is holding to. And this psalm, and especially in these first four verses, are an application of that beatitude by David to his life. So let's read through those verses and capture what is said there under that understanding. Verses 1 through the first part of verse 4, it says, blessed is the one who considers the poor In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive. He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed. In his illness, you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, oh Lord, be gracious to me. Look at that verse four, what we just read there. I said, O Lord, be gracious to me. That word is be merciful. That is the word merciful. The King James, New King James, I think captures the spirit and essence of really what's here. This is blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. David has said, I've been merciful. Lord, show me mercy. That's what he says in the first part of verse four. How is the Lord merciful to those who are truly his children? David has depicted a number of ways here, but we have to get the right perspective on what he says here as we walk through these declarations in the first four verses. He lays out a number of ways in which the Lord is merciful. And it begins with what I would call general truths. By general truths, I mean this is God's common way of dealing and caring for His children. In general, this is how God does care for those who are merciful and how He shows mercy. He delivers them from their troubles. The day of troubles, the Lord delivers him. And the Lord protects him and keeps him alive. Many of us bear testimony to ways in which God has protected us and saved us from even physical danger or from other type of trials. But let's not take this, he keeps us alive as the absolute for all times and every time because the whole of God word teaches that it is appointed unto man once to die. And sometimes those deaths come as we age and our body runs down and just doesn't work anymore. And sometimes, as we have experienced here more than once in a very short time, we've been reminded that it can happen tragically. Okay. Because God is appointed. a time for men to die. None of us, you have to realize, is contrary to popular teaching. None of us are guaranteed never to be sick or to always get well. None of us are guaranteed to never suffer. None of us are guaranteed to never die. But there is a guarantee that's ever there, never changes. All God's children are guaranteed to never perish. That's the guarantee. You know, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish. but have everlasting life. Jesus told, was it Martha, that though a man die, yet shall he live. Yeah, in Christ we do not perish. So generally, yes, he delivers us from troubles. He protects us and keeps us alive. He does these things and others call us blessed. In general, often, even those who are not believers will recognize there's something about you. There's something in your life. You seem to be blessed in a unique way. They notice that in believers' lives. They don't always say that. Sometimes they're pretty cruel and mean and say some pretty nasty things. And David's going to share that with us in his life. Yet he knows what he's about to write. He knows he's about to write all the nasty things that his enemies are saying, but yet he knows the fundamental truth here that is so common in believers' lives. But yeah, here in this psalm, David, who's going to be deathly ill, is going to be attacked by those who are not gods and who hate God and often take it out on God's children. There's other truths expressed here that I would call absolute truths. These don't change for God's children. They're not just the general providential care of God, it is the way God is. When David says, you do not give him up to the will of his enemies, that is absolutely true, even when it doesn't look that way. Because those who are God's children are always in God's perfect will. They are always in God's perfect will. They can know that it is God's will that that which has been done has been done in their life. Even if it looks otherwise. Think about Jesus before Pilate. It looked like he was under the will of his enemies. But Jesus knew that wasn't the case. And what did he say to Pilate? He said, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. He knew that he was in God's will. And that is absolutely true for all of God's children. The Lord sustains him in his sickness. Yeah, the Lord is the one that keeps you strong through your sickness. And in fact, if it is a sickness unto death. The Lord is always there. And walks with you through that. And sustains you. That's why the psalmist wrote in Psalm 23, that yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. In other words, you sustain me through the very veil of physical death to new life. This is an absolute truth. God always sustains us in our sickness, whether it be to physical health or unto spiritual life. strength you have is from there. And not only that, in your sickness, he provides a very special care for you, a very special care that comes on the second half of this verse. And the ESV misses it. We've read it here, and in the ESV, it says, do I have it up here? In his illness, you restore him to full health. That's not what it says. Now it's true that if you do recover to full health, he did it. But that's not what it says. They have grabbed too much. That's misleading. No, what it says literally is this. In his illness, you turn all his bed. That's what it says. You turn all his bed. The image here is this of a most loving, tender nurse who calms and cares and prepares and changes the bed and helps the person in their comfort. in their lying in comfort during their time of distress and pain. That's the image picture of what was said there. And what it means is that God will help and will mitigate or lessen your pain as he carries you through that trial. and He'll move you from distress to tranquility. That's what is being said there. And that's an absolute truth. God will do that. And that brings us to verse four. Well, the promise of the beatitude is proclaimed, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. What David has said is, I was merciful to others. And now he says, as for me, I said, oh Lord, be merciful to me. And what does he ask for? Well, we read, heal me. That he asked to be healed. But again, I think we missed what he actually asked for. If we take the literal and the context here, He wasn't really asking to be physically healed. That was not his first request. He is going to ask for that later. But literally what he said was, heal my soul. Heal my soul, he said. David will later say, raise me up, and that's where he asked for the healing. But here, he says, heal my soul. You see, that's primary, that's first. Heal my soul, for I have sinned. Now that may mean that David sees his illness as a consequence of sin. We need to realize that God does do that. bring about physical illness because of sin. He can and does that sometimes. That doesn't, don't say the converse is true. Every time you're physically ill, it's because you sinned, okay? No, that's illogic, not proper logic. But that doesn't even necessarily mean what David is saying here. You know, It's not unusual when you are in a physical illness and maybe one that is threatening your life. It's not unusual for people to reflect on their lives and realize where they stand before God and what is in their life and the sin that does dwell in them. And they ought to use those times to call unto God and say, heal my soul. God, heal my soul, I have sinned before you. Bring me to spiritual health. That's what David first is crying out for. That's what we should be crying out for. First and foremost is our spiritual well-being before God. Our internal, our spiritual condition is far more significant, far more important than our external physical condition. In fact, many times, a change, a refreshing, a renewing, a restoring of one's internal spiritual well-being has very good benefits in the physical and the health of an individual physically. Having laid all this out then, which I think is the most significant aspect of this that needs to be carried now with us as we walk through at a more rapid pace through this psalm, we read of how David's enemies are treating him in this illness. In verse five, we read that they wish for him to just die. and for his legacy to be cut off with him. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish? Then there are those that play the part of the sympathizer, the sympathetic one, and they come and visit him. Their heart's really not there for that purpose. That's not what's in their heart. They're just playing the part of the sympathizer. And that's what verse six depicts for us, those who feign sympathy. They want to see what his conditions really like so they can spread the rumors. David writes it this way, and when one comes to me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad. Oh yeah, they said the proper things when they were visiting him, but they were empty. He wanted, this visitor wants to find out how sick David is so that they can generate the hope of his enemies and tell how bad off he is to others. And then in verse 7, he speaks of the talk that they give. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. David is significant in Israel because he's the king. A change in the king can make a change in the nation. If he is suffering a physical ailment here, as it sounds like, and one threatening his death, there's those who would like to usurp his kingdom. They're spreading the rumors that the king's going down. They're not going to pray for his health. They're going to wish for his downfall and demise. Then in verse 9, we see that even a very close friend has turned against him. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. This verse has led many commentators to think that this psalm, at least this part of the psalm, is drawn from events in David's life that are found in 2 Samuel chapters 15 through 17. And I just encourage you to read that on your own. We don't have time to go through the details there, but basically Absalom is turning the kingdom against David. He's come back to Jerusalem and for about a four-year period, he kind of puts himself in prominent positions so that those who are coming for judgment from the king, he kind of steps in and he always offers a favorable judgment to the individual. So they kind of start liking him and he starts winning over by essentially bribery the hearts of Israel to him and against his father. as he conspires against David. Then Ahithophel turns against David. Ahithophel was David's private, trusted advisor. He was his closest confidant in his kingdom, the one he would go to, the one who would sit at his table. honored by David to be sat at his table and have a meal with him and discuss the kingdom and David would listen to his advice and trusted him and he goes to follow Absalom. He turns on David That's likely the close friend who's turned on him. And here in Psalm 41.9, David expresses the anguish of being betrayed by this close friend, this close advisor who goes and plots with Absalom and offers a way to bring David down. And yet, in doing so, And David uttering this expression right here, he actually utters what becomes a messianic expression. Jesus drew these words, took these words there at the Last Supper after he had washed his followers' feet. And he began to speak to them, and in verse 18 of John 13, Jesus says, and now I'm not going to speak about all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scriptures will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. And you know who Jesus was talking about. He was talking about Judas, one who had walked close with him, one who had sat at table with him. A close confidant, in a sense. Jesus spoke of Judas. He was the one who would betray him, who lifted up his heel against Jesus. This was a messianic utterance, even though for David it was expressing an experience of his own life. And so, in type, in the type of a Judas-Jesus relationship. Here David, a type of Christ, had Ahithophel who betrayed him and lifted up his heel against David. What's really interesting, another interesting aspect of this typological relationship that is here is that both Judas and Ahithophel have the same end. They both hang themselves. In Matthew 27.5, we read that Judas hanged himself and died. In 2 Samuel 17.23, Ahithophel does the same thing. Well, following this messianic expression, we come to verse 10, which can be a very disturbing verse, okay? And not just because of its imprecatory nature, but because of the way in which David is calling for the judgment upon his and God's enemies to be carried out. Listen to this. But you, O Lord, be gracious to me. Here, be merciful to me and raise me up. There's a call for his physical healing. Why? That I may repay them. That I may avenge myself. that I may repay them. It's in this verse that he not only prays for his physical healing, and that word gracious again means merciful, as it did in verse four, but David's calling for God's mercy upon him for a purpose, that I may repay them. He prays to be raised up that he could exercise vengeance upon his enemies. That doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound right, does it? Does it sit well with you? Does it sound right to you that David would pray that, could pray that? I asked the children, how do you behave towards another who doesn't treat you well? And they rightly said, you do good unto them. What is this? for David to pray this prayer. We know from Romans 12, 19 that it's the Lord who is to carry out vengeance. It says in verse 19, Beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Okay, how can we understand David's prayer when we have that clear word? In fact, Paul is citing Deuteronomy 35, 23 I think it was, 32, 35, he's citing 32, 35, where similar statement is made. So how do we understand this request of David? Is he out of line saying these words? Last week, I told you that some of the Psalms should definitely be read, and I use the word existentially, meaning you identify your own experience in it. Several Psalms are that way. Some and much of God's Word needs to be read with the understanding of who it is that's talking and what they're talking about. And in principle, there's things to learn, but that very exact thing may not be for you. Many Psalms are not to be read in the existential or self-experiential way, where you personally apply literally the thing to yourself. In fact, it's improperly to do so, and misinterpretation can come because of that. And here's a passage that needs to be understood. You don't read it as written about your experience. To read this verse as if you or I could pray that prayer and make this particular request would violate the fundamental truths of God's Word and the fundamental attitude and perspective that we are to have towards others because it's not ours to repay. So how could David pray this prayer? How could he pray this prayer? Well, if you happen to have turned to Romans 12, 19, let's continue on here. I'm not going to read everything. I'm going to summarize what is said here. You've got to remember, Paul wrote a letter. to Romans, to the Church of Rome. He wrote a letter. We divided it up into chapters and verses for referencing and convenience sake. Let me summarize what the remainder of chapter 12 and the first part of chapter 13 says. In chapter 12, 19, we're instructed to not act personally in vengeance toward those who are evil towards us because vengeance is to be left to God. And the rest of chapter 12 actually continues to instruct us to treat other individuals with kindness and to endeavor to overcome evil with good. As you get into chapter 13 in the first two verses, he presents the principle that powers that exist in this world are ordained of God. And he has appointed authorities that exercise those powers and that we aren't to resist those powers because they are of God. And it would be to resist God. So now listen to verses 3 and 4 of Romans 13. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant. for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, hear these words, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. There's the key to understanding this. The civil magistrate is a servant of God to operate and carry out God's vengeance. David could pray this prayer, okay? David could pray this prayer just as any believing civil magistrate could pray this prayer because he was in the office that God had ordained as his instrument of vengeance. You and I can't pray that prayer. We can pray that God's vengeance be carried out. We can join experientially with David's imprecatory prayers that God would act in vengeance upon his enemies. But we can't pray that we'd be raised up in order to be God's instrument of vengeance. God does act in his time upon those evildoers, sometimes by divine intervention and sometimes by the proper use of his ordained civil magistrate, his ordained instrument of vengeance in the culture. But unless we're in that position, unless we are given that God-ordained authority to hold that civil office, that's not our prayer. As David has prayed it here, it's not our responsibility to carry that vengeance out, but rather, our doing is good to overcome evil. Finally, David closes the psalm with a song of expression of God's assurance, or his assurance in God in his life. In the final verses of this song, verses 11 and 12, he writes, by this I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me, but you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence. David rests confidently in God's deliverance because he knows he's God's child. God has placed him in his very presence. You know, only one who is righteous can stand in the presence of God. And that's what David means when he says, you have upheld me because of my integrity. We don't read that. David's saying, look how good I am. And so you have upheld me. We've come across this expression previously in the Psalms, and we've addressed it, that David is claiming the integrity imputed to him by God and being developed in him through the sanctifying work of the Spirit in his life. He has this by God's gracious act, yet he can claim it. because it says God sees him. He's laying claim to the righteousness that God has imputed to him by faith. David's faith and God's grace is the basis for this. David knows it's all of God and it's all of God's grace. It's all on God's terms. That's why he says, and you set me in your presence forever. David could never of himself enter God's presence. David could never have come into the courts of the Lord by his own doing. It's only if God brought him and set him there. And he did. David had no basis of his own to enter the presence of the living and holy God. And we don't either. Not in and of ourselves. It's by God's grace, through faith. And that's not of yourself. It's his gift. That's how you're saved. He closes with the doxology. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen. Here's that other blessed. It's a different word. It's not Asher. It's Barak. When the word Barak is used, it is used to blessing God. It's the word for the vertical blessing towards God. It literally means to kneel. David, in essence, is saying, I kneel before the Lord. I kneel before the Lord. By that expression, blessed, he's saying I am fully submitted to you, God, for who you are. I recognize your full authority and kneel before you. You bless God when you declare he is your very source of life and blessing. That's how you bless God. You can't give him anything except his praise, your praise. That's how you bless God. You acknowledge Him as the source of all blessing. You recognize your total dependence upon Him. You kneel before Him, proclaiming He is the only true, He is the only living God. From eternity to eternity, He is God. That's how David blessed God. That's how we can bless God, recognizing who He is in all His glory. And David assures that that's his position by saying amen and amen. It's repeated to emphasize this is my conviction. This is my conviction. You've heard various renderings of what an amen can be. I agree. So be it. Here I think he's saying, I believe this. I believe it. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. You're the God from eternity past, before time was ever to eternity future, when there will be no time. And I believe it. I believe it. That's what David is saying here. I pray that's what you can say of God. I pray that you have that relationship with him. I pray that you have said, Lord, heal my soul. make me your child, impute to me the integrity of your son, and place me in your presence. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and what it has taught us this day. We thank you for the book of Psalms and this first book, which opens life to us, life in you. life through your son. And Father, I do pray that that is life that we all here experience. If any are in doubt, Father, draw them to you. I pray they confess their sins and they receive that assurance through the presence of your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.