THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

VI. Adjusting To God's Use Of Evil Leaders

(Psalm 6:1-10)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

Many leaders we face in today's world are so clearly bad and oppressive, even secular people wonder about it:

(1) On November 12, 2021, radio talk show host Mike Gallagher interviewed David Harsanyi, senior writer for the National Review, and Mike asked him that since President Biden and his administration had proved so early in his presidency to be so incompetent, was there a conspiracy afoot to try to destroy the nation under the guise of mere incompetency. Mr. Harsanyi replied that Biden's incompetency was well-known from his Senate days, that what we now see is his personal incompetency coupled with his administration's inane progressive ideology applied to real life.

(2) The problem is extensive, too: A letter in the Republican-American by Art Ingram of Seymour (November 5, 2021, p. 8A) lamented the "socialism, liberal-media bias, anti-Americanism, high taxes, open borders, abortions on demand, gun grabbing, U. S. Supreme Court packing and defunding the police" attitudes that abound in leftists.

[Not only do we face bias in the liberal media, but false progressive narratives show up throughout society: George Will's column, "Oklahoma vs. derangement," Ibid., Republican-American, November 18, 2021, p. 10A, observed, "Universities, rather than forming sturdy students exercising freedom of speech, encourage student brittleness by providing freedom from unwelcome speech. Churches, having saved sufficient souls, turn to saving society with the sort of social policies approved of by The New York Times, which having perfected journalism, decided to 'reframe' the teaching of U. S. History . . . Because the White House evidently was just kidding in July when it said mandating vaccines is 'not the role of the federal government' . . . [it] has ordered them."]

(3) Some progressive leaders are even acting destructively toward society: A letter by K. David Schultz, Ph. D. from Woodbury "opposed legalizing recreational marijuana before its recent legalization by Connecticut's legislature," for "(a)s a resident, parent and grandparent with 50 years as a psychologist health-care provider-educator," he claimed he had "witnessed the serious negative effects of marijuana's principal psychoactive constituent . . . THC since 1980." (Ibid, November 9, 2021, p. 8A) Some of the negative effects witnessed by Dr. Schultz were the functional and structural impairment of developing brains, poor judgment and compromised reality along with increased crime and devastating risks to developing fetuses when adults who use marijuana conceive children. (Ibid.)

(4) Some leaders are openly corrupt: A letter by Steve Brook of Kent reported, "The Nov. 6 Connecticut Mirror article on West Haven's waste of federal COVID-19 funds on a marching band, show how corrupt or incompetent our government at all levels can be."

(5) Bad leadership often permeates the culture: Chris Powell's column, "Ned Lamont strikes pose against crime" (Ibid., November 5, 2021, p. 8A) told of Governor Lamont's report of a "14-year-old boy from Hamden" who was "fatally shot" and who "had been in trouble with the law." Mr. Powell added, "As is usual, in such cases, there apparently was no father in the home to help keep the boy out of trouble. Lamont didn't address this, and . . . such circumstances cannot yet be discussed in polite company," but "fathers might be less expensive" than raising taxes for "'wrap-around'" services to give "every difficult kid his own special-education teacher, therapist, social worker, police officer, public defender and probation officer -- all unionized government employees, of course . . ." (Ibid.)

Need: So, we ask, "Why has God let us face such obviously bad, oppressive leaders, and how are we to respond?!"

I. When God made His Davidic Covenant, He promised that if the Davidic king sinned, the Lord would punish him "with the rod of men," meaning God would let evil men afflict the king, 2 Samuel 7:14.

II. God had fulfilled that promise, so Psalm 6:1-7 is David's lament of God's use of men to punish him:

A. David asked God not to rebuke and punish him in the Lord's anger, but to show him mercy because of the destructive effects of God's punishment on his physical health and inner man, Psalm 6:1-2, 3 NIV.

B. King David asked God to show him mercy soon lest he die under the intense pain he faced, for that pain had caused David so much grief that he had suffered restless nights, Psalm 6:4-5, 6.

C. This severe divine punishment came by means of God's letting oppressive foes afflict David, Psalm 6:7.

III. When David acknowledged his sin and asked God to deliver him from his foes (Psalm 6:8b-9), David called for his enemies to depart from him and to be ashamed and greatly troubled, Psalm 6:8a, 10 ESV.

IV. In view of Bible prophecy regarding our era of Church History, this psalm has significant application for us believers in Christ today (as follows):

A. We have before taught that our era of Church History was predicted in Christ's message to the Laodicean Church (Revelation 3:14-22), and that in Revelation 3:21, God promised us believers in our era of the Church to be spiritually enthroned by Him on His earthly Davidic throne of influence similar to how Christ Himself had been enthroned by God the Father on God the Father's heavenly throne. (Psalm 110:1-7)

B. If God used "the rod of men" to discipline the Davidic kings, we can then expect Him to do the same with us!

C. God's punishment fits the sin (cf. 2 Samuel 12:9-12), so if evil oppressors afflict us, we should check Scripture to discern if God is exposing sin in us by the afflictions involved that we might repent for God's blessing.

Lesson: In accord with His Davidic Covenant, God used wicked oppressors to punish David for sin, but when David acknowledged his sin and prayed for God to deliver him from his foes, God heard David's prayer, He delivered him from his foes' oppression and caused his enemies to be ashamed and greatly troubled.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) In view of God's program for us today, if we are afflicted by foes, may we examine our path in view of Scripture to see if the affliction exposes sin in us and adjust accordingly.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

We apply this message by viewing the oppressions we face as noted in our introduction in light of Scripture:

(1) On facing incompetency in the president and his administration, (a) we should submit to these leaders like the Apostle Paul directed his readers to submit to Rome's infamously irresponsible Emperor Nero in Romans 13:1-4; Zond. Pict. Ency. Bib., vol. Four, p. 410-412. (b) However, though submitting to their role, we should nevertheless avoid being abused by their rulings, and we achieve this by heeding God's leading to be shielded from such rulings like Joseph did in submitting to the roles of Israel's kings while avoiding harm from their rulings, Matthew 2:13-23.

(2) On facing extensive evil in leadership, (a) we should be very opposed to socialism that Exodus 20:15, 17; 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 directs is sin. (b) We should reject errant media biases [and all false narratives that exist throughout society] and replace them with Scripture truth like Psalm 1:1-6 and 2 Timothy 3:15-17 teach. (c) On anti-Americanism, we should not [like reconstructionists errantly do] view America as God's kingdom, for Christ's Millennial Kingdom is yet future, but realize God let America arise as a land of religious liberty for Christians in fulfillment of His Revelation 2:28 promise to reward Martin Luther's stand for Bible truth before the Holy Roman Empire. (Wm. W. Sweet, The Story of Religion in America, 1973, p. 8; See our Church website URL nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/SundaySermon20171029.pdf) (d) We should pay our taxes (Romans 13:6-7), but trust God to equip us to do so (Hebrews 13:5-6). (e) We should support national borders since Acts 17:26-27 claims God arranged for these borders to create a thirst in man for His salvation through Christ. However, since God's goal for such borders is to lead men to Christ, we should disciple even illegal immigrants who come our way as an act of God's grace toward them (Matthew 28:19-20). (f) We should be very opposed to elective abortion, Exodus 21:22-23. (g) On the government's alleged "gun-grabbing" efforts, we should use guns sparingly anyway, for living by guns leads to being killed by guns, Matthew 26:52b. (h) We should not seek to have the U. S. Supreme Court "packed," for that would weaken respect for the courts, but trust God for justice while appealing to the courts for justice, Luke 18:1-8. (i) We should not seek to defund the police as that would sabotage law and order, but trust God for our safety (Psalm 127:1-2) while influencing society to be lawful and orderly by rearing a godly family, Psalm 127:3-5.

(3) On the government's legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, (a) though such use is now legal, it does not edify, but brings one under marijuana's harmful control, so we should not use it, 1 Corinthians 6:12. (b) We should seek inner fulfillment by not relying on the use of drugs, but by relying on the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18-21.

(4) On leadership's corrupt misuse of COVID-19 relief funds on marching bands, we should not lay up treasures on earth where governing officials can misappropriate and misuse them, but we should lay up treasures in heaven by godly works that God will reward (Revelation 22:12) where no possessions are misused, Matthew 6:19-20.

(5) On irresponsible fathers who foment teen crime spikes that produce systemic evil leadership throughout society, (a) parents should rear their children in the respect and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), (b) teaching them rules in early childhood ("righteousness," sedaqah, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 842) and delegating them the responsibility to make righteous decisions based on those rules in later childhood ("justice," mishpat, Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 23; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1048) to groom them for adulthood, Genesis 18:18-19 ESV.

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life. If afflicted by evildoers, may we evaluate the affliction in light of Scripture to see if God is using the affliction to critique sin in us, and if so, may we adjust as needed for forgiveness and God's blessing.