Psalm 94: Comfort from the Future

We could also probably write a book on judgment-less Christianity, Christianity that wants only to think about the love of God, only to think about the mercy of God, only to think about the kindness of God. But we have to hear the Scripture that reminds us that God is a God of judgment as well as a God of mercy. There is the horror and tragedy of abortion on demand and many other injustices as the wicked seemingly prosper and violate God's Word.

How does the Christian rejoice in the Lord and have a sense of happiness when we're surrounded by sin? This is the Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind, and I'm so glad that you're joining us today. Our guest teacher is the chairman of Ligonier Ministries, W. Robert Godfrey, and today he'll take a deep dive into Psalm 94. So if you have your Bible with you, you can get it ready. Also remember that if you'd like to study more Psalms with Dr. Godfrey, you can request the entire 12-message study when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org.

But be quick, as this offer ends at midnight. Here's Dr. Godfrey on Psalm 94 and the comfort we can find from the future. We're continuing to look together at Book 4 of the Psalter, the book that is seeking comfort in the face of crisis, and I was making the point in the last lecture that in Book 4, very often, comfort is sought by looking backward, looking backward to God's faithfulness in creation, looking backward to God's faithfulness in His covenant with Moses and the chosen people. And the idea is the God who is so powerful in creation and so faithful in making covenant with the people He delivered from Egypt can be counted on to help His people in the midst of the crisis that they are currently facing. But in this lecture, I'd like us to look at Psalm 94, which breaks with the pattern. One of the things I think is always interesting in Hebrew poetry is that it seems to delight in surprising us with artful variations on the normal way of doing things. So often the center is important and then sometimes the center isn't important.

Or sometimes it's the real center or sometimes it's a verse off center. We'll see that in some other ways perhaps as we go along. But here in Psalm 94, we have the psalmist encouraging God's people in the face of the crisis they've been facing to seek comfort not from the past but from the future. And maybe that connects even better with us as Americans who tend to be future-oriented, always looking forward not backward. We are a people, unfortunately, that are inspired by Henry Ford's statement, history is bunk.

You know, let's get on with it. So this is a psalm maybe more for Americans, looking forward, deriving comfort from the future, from what God is going to do. And here in Psalm 94, once again we see the importance of the center of the psalm.

The center of this psalm is verse 12. Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of Your law. Blessed is the man.

Does that sound familiar? Several times in the Psalter we have statements about the blessed man, and of course the most notable one is the very first psalm, the opening words of the Psalter, blessed is the man. Here in verse 12, it's the same word for blessed as we have in Psalm 1, but it's a different word for man. The words in Psalm 1 are blessed is the male. It is not the inclusive word for males and females, and we could go into that if we had time. I think the reason is that ultimately that blessed man is pointing to the king who ultimately points to Jesus, and that's why while Psalm 1 applies to men and women, the focus is on the man there. This man is again male, but the word is kind of more the young man. Perhaps some of the theme is in the distress that's being faced.

Young men in particular should be looking to the future. Maybe that's over reading it, but anyway, it's blessed is the man. I preached on this psalm recently, and I entitled the sermon, How to be Happy.

I said we Calvinists are way too theological. Why not have a how-to sermon on how to be happy, and perhaps we could sing, although I wouldn't, Don't Worry, Be Happy. You know, we could have a little happy music, happy-clappy music, how to be happy. Well, this word blessed is an interesting word. There are two words in Hebrew for blessed. There's the act of God blessing, which is baruk, or the action of blessing. Sometimes God blesses, sometimes people bless God.

It can be the same word, but it's an action of blessing, whereas here is the word ashrei, which is more the sense of being in a state of blessedness or in a state of happiness. It's good to be the man who knows God and who is loved by God, and in the midst of this crisis, this psalm is thinking about what it means to be a happy person in the Lord. Blessed sounds more spiritual, but happy captures part of the word. It's not just a radically spiritual state. It is an emotional state as well, and it's encouraging us in the face of difficulty still to know that we are a blessed and happy people in the Lord. But the psalm begins with a recognition of the fact that the present is troubled. It begins with these really striking words, O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth.

This is the only place in the Psalter God is called the God of vengeance. And clearly this is a prayer for judgment. This is a prayer for God to come and rectify the mess that is being faced. This is a call for judgment, and in our world sometimes we're very distressed to think of God in judgment.

But the psalmist is not distressed. He thinks it is right that God should come and set things right, and part of what's setting things right is judging the wicked, because the crisis has come upon the godly by the triumph of the wicked. Now, at a deeper level, the Psalms teach and we know that the crisis for the godly has been brought on in part by the sinfulness of the godly.

They haven't listened to God's word. That's the message of Psalm 81. And so God has brought nations against His people to carry them off into exile, and yet God says, those people are also wicked for mistreating My people. And so there is a judgment coming to vindicate the people, and the Psalm ends with a declaration of that. Verse 23, He will bring back on them their iniquity, that is the wicked, and wipe them out for their wickedness.

The Lord our God will wipe them out. That's the judgment that will come. And that's very unpopular in the world in which we live today. There are all sorts of perversions of Christianity. Michael Horton, a colleague of mine at Seminary, wrote a wonderful book called Christless Christianity, the tragedy of churches that claim to be Christian and claim to talk about the Bible and claim to talk about God and never really get around to talking about Christ and who He is and what He's done.

Well, we could also probably write a book on judgmentless Christianity, Christianity that wants only to think about the love of God, only to think about the mercy of God, only to think about the kindness of God. And we need to keep those things balanced, but we have to hear the Scripture that reminds us that God is a God of judgment as well as a God of mercy. And this psalm reflects that, that in the distress of the man who is happy in God, he derives hope from the fact that God will one day appear in judgment. And so he knows God is already a God of righteousness, but his prayer is that God will shine forth in who He is. He's not seeing God's judgment. He's not seeing God's righteousness manifested.

And he wants to see it. He wants to have it manifested. And that's the prayer that he prays here, rise up, O judge of the earth, repay to the proud what they deserve. Well, as we've seen before in other psalms, that's tough language in a lot of ways. But you know, every time we pray, come quickly, Lord Jesus, we're praying for judgment. And we're praying for deliverance, but we're praying for the end of the day of salvation.

And so we have these mixed dimensions to our spirituality. We really want to see the conversion of the wicked. We know that today is the day of salvation. We pray for conversion.

We pray for missionaries and evangelists and pastors in their preaching. But we also pray that one day, this day of salvation, we'll come to an end by everything being set right. But setting things right is also a day of judgment. And we have to let that function in our theology because the Scripture hasn't functioned that way and because it is a message that the world ought to listen to. The world likes to think that it can turn and change, if it wants to turn and change at all, whenever it wants to do that. And the Scripture says to us over and over again, no, don't presume.

Don't presume. I remember in Luke 13, Jesus is asked, is it few that will be saved? It's an interesting question, isn't it? Is it few that will be saved? And remember how Jesus answered?

He said, you strive to enter in. It doesn't matter whether many will be saved or few will be saved. What matters is will you be saved? And so you better be striving to enter in because today is the day of salvation. Don't wait. Because one day the master is going to go into the feast and he's going to close the door.

And you'll knock and try to get in and you won't be able to. What a solemn thing to say. Well, it's kind of in the spirit of this psalm that people mustn't presume on the grace of God. So this psalm is reflecting, as we saw in some ways in Psalm 49, on the importance of understanding. Look at verse 8. Understand, O dullest of people.

That word dullest really probably better would be translated, O brutish people, O animal-like people, people who have no more understanding than an animal, brute. Why don't you understand? When will you be wise? It's understanding that's crucial to being happy. You know, happiness is not just a kind of mindless experience, but this psalm says it's a mind-filled experience. If you know what God's doing, if you know who God is, if you know the tragedy of being outside God, then you're going to be happier because you know the way the world works. And that's really what's happening here. And I think in some ways this is a psalm for our time, isn't it? Have you ever looked around and thought, what a mess.

What a mess. I don't know why this hit me so hard, but recently it was reported in San Diego County that there are 12,000 people in the county who are being humanly trafficked. Now, what does that mean? It means, in effect, that they are slaves of the sex trade. Twelve thousand slaves in San Diego County? I mean, if you put it that way, most of them young women, and where's the moral outrage? You know, there seems to be governmental outrage about all sorts of things going on. Where's the outrage about this?

Where's the action against this? If it's 12,000 in San Diego County, how many is it nationally? I don't know how to extrapolate that.

I think it's possible that there are as many slaves in America today as there were at the beginning of the Civil War. Where's the outrage about that? Well, there's no outrage because people are dull, because people don't have a standard of righteousness. Now, I know we can't drive sin out of the world as nicely as it would be, but to be just sort of indifferent.

You know, the way the news reporters reported on television, and studies have shown today that there are 12,000 trafficked people in San Diego County, and there'll be a fair next week at the fairgrounds. I mean, it's just kind of mindless information, and the psalm gives voice to a sense of outrage about what's going on. Verse 3, O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words, all the evildoers boast.

How long is the world going to go on when the arrogant and the stupid seem to run everything? Now, we have to be very careful at this point, don't we? Because it's easy when we come to moral outrage in the Scripture to allow ourselves to be morally outraged on our own behalf. And the Scripture says, no, no, no, no. You're not to be morally outraged on your own behalf. You're to be morally outraged on God's behalf. Don't let your outrage just be a reflection of your own feelings and convictions and politics or whatever.

Your outrage has to be an outrage on behalf of God and His holiness and His holy law, and then there's some legitimacy to it. Even there, we have to be careful. We don't want to go through life as angry people, do we?

That distresses me in the world in which we live, that a lot of Christians seem angry all the time, and there's plenty to be angry about, but I think above all, we as Christians ought to be characterized by compassion and love most of the time. But that doesn't mean we have to give up understanding. That doesn't mean we have to give up wisdom.

And what does wisdom say? Wisdom says to people who would be happy, don't envy the wicked. Yeah, they may have a lot of influence.

They may have this appalling level of arrogance about themselves. But remember in the first place that they are lawless, and there's always a penalty for lawlessness. Verse 5, They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner and murder the fatherless.

It's not a bad description of abortion in our country, isn't it? Murderers of the fatherless, the defenseless. This is the picture of verse 6, the terrible affliction of the weak who can't defend themselves, who can't help themselves, and so are crushed by the wicked. And God is saying to His people, there has to be a commitment to the holiness of God's law.

We have to have a passion about that. At the same time, we have to see that the folly of the wicked is not only that they're lawless, but to put it in the vernacular of our time, they're also clueless. Listen, They say, the wicked, verse 7, The Lord does not see, the God of Jacob does not perceive. Really?

Really? Is that the position you want to stake your soul on, that God doesn't see, that God doesn't know? Verse 8, Understand, O dullest of the people, fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge, the Lord?

And sort of giving up on the rhetorical questions, he wants a clear answer. Does he who teaches man knowledge, the Lord? He knows the thoughts of man, and what are the thoughts of man?

Breath, breath, vapor, it's just gone. And that's the characteristic of these brutishly unwise, wicked people who think that God doesn't hear, and God doesn't see, and God doesn't rebuke, and God doesn't know. And again, you can see the poetic power here. You could summarize these verses by saying, God knows everything.

And that's true, but to unpack it, if you will, or develop it poetically brings so much more conviction and power and insight to us. And so the happy person, the blessed person, is not the one who wanders off into the lawlessness or the cluelessness of the wicked, but instead embraces the discipline of the Lord. That's what this central verse says. Now, what discipline of the Lord is in mind here? Well, of course, it could be any kind of discipline, but in light of what we've seen in Book 3 of the Psalter, I suspect the discipline is particularly that severe discipline of the Lord where he sent his people into exile. None of us likes discipline. Scripture recognizes that. We prefer rewards to discipline. But here in the wisdom and the happiness and the blessedness of the one who knows God, they said, we appreciate your discipline as you teach us out of your law.

We want to be a learning people. At the same time I was studying this, I just happened to be reading Calvin's lectures on Zephaniah. I know it's a little weird, but I commend them to you. They're really very good. And in there Calvin said very arrestingly to my mind, the beginning of true religion is teachableness.

I like that. The beginning of true religion is teachableness. How many people aren't teachable?

They know it all already. And here the happy man is the one who is willing to be taught by God out of his law. And that person is given rest. I was intrigued to look that up and see, is this Sabbath that's given? No, it's quiet. It's quiet that's given. Sort of as Paul said in 1 Timothy, you know, may we live in quiet and peaceable days.

That's what God is going to give the happy man, the happy woman. Rest from days quiet from days of trouble until a pit is dug for the wicked. That is until the day the judgment comes. And the image of the pit being dug is not that God is inactive, but the time for the judgment hasn't been fulfilled because the pit isn't fully dug. And so, again, if we pause and meditate on that image, when we think God is inactive, in fact, God is preparing the judgment to come. And there is this vision. And then, moving from this concentration on the folly of the wicked, He moves to the fatherly care of God for His people.

And wonderful promises here then are following on. Verse 14, For the Lord will not forsake His people, He will not abandon His heritage. They may try to afflict the heritage of God, but God will not abandon His heritage. He will not forsake them. And that doesn't just mean that He won't forget them, but down to verse 16, Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. So, God is not only knowing, He's also active in the help of His people. And here is that common, recurring, but wonderful word, help.

God is help. In Calvin's Geneva, every service began with the words, Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, a quotation from Psalm 128. And that was not original to Calvin.

It was something he saw was done in the ancient church. And so, in the ancient church, in Calvin's church, in Dutch Reformed churches, through the centuries, the service begins with those wonderful words of promise and comfort and assurance, Our help is in the name of the Lord. Now, who's that God?

The Maker of heaven and earth. If you want help, there's a good place to find help, the One who made heaven and earth. And then he goes on, When I thought my foot slips, Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. And then this wonderful verse 19, When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations, Your comforts cheer my soul. Now, there's a verse worth memorizing.

We haven't talked much about memorizing, and for as good a memory as I have, I have real trouble memorizing things word perfect. And so, I'm not a great example of memorization, but memorization is valuable, and what a wonderful verse to memorize. When the cares of my heart are many, Your comforts cheer my soul.

There's a wonderful promise for crisis. There's a wonderful comfort from the book of comforts. And as we come to the close of this psalm, and not only are we sort of speed driving through the Psalter as a whole, but we're speed driving through most of these psalms as well and not covering everything. But look at that verse 22 as another word of comfort. In this world where the wicked seem so powerful, the psalmist as the happy man is able to say, verse 22, but the Lord has become my stronghold and my God the rock of my refuge. Now, those phrases are to be found over and over again in the Psalter, that God is our stronghold, that God is our refuge. And again, they may become so common that we neglect the force of it, but as we close here, that's a wonderful thing, that God is our protector, that God surrounds us with a stronghold that cannot be breached by the wicked.

And that's the promise that we have from Him. When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul. What a great truth to remember and meditate upon. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, a listener-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. You heard a message today from W. Robert Godfrey, the chairman of Ligonier Ministries, and his series, Learning to Love the Psalms. You can gain a better understanding of Hebrew poetry and the beauty of the Psalms when you watch or listen to this complete 12-message series with the help of the detailed study guide.

In addition to quizzes and message outlines, the study guide contains study and reflection questions to reinforce what you've learned in each message. Request your copy of Learning to Love the Psalms when you call us at 800 435 4343 with a donation of any amount. You can also make your donation at renewingyourmind.org. As you'll have lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide, consider donating the DVD to your church library or giving it to a friend. This is the final day of this offer, so request Learning to Love the Psalms at renewingyourmind.org or by clicking the link in the podcast show notes while there's still time. Be sure to join us next time as you'll hear messages from R.C. Sproul's classic series, The Holiness of God and Chosen by God. That's beginning Monday here on Renewing Your Mind. .