Verses 1 - 7 are a description of David's enemies and his plea to God to deliver him because of who God is
Verses 8 - 10 are a description of God's character
Verses 11 - 13 describe the action David hopes for God to take
Verses 14 - 15 repeat verse 1-7
Verses 16 and 17 are about God's character again.
Written in a ABCAB structure - repeating certain elements. If I don't remember wrongly in Hebrew this places an emphasis on the unrepeated verses - 11-13. But key points are here:
God's character makes Him judge.
God, being righteous, being the God of all the earth, cannot and will not let sin go unpunished
God is our Strength, our fortress, and His steadfast love in particular is our source of hope.
God's judgement shows the world that God is ruler of all. This is the emphasized point, and this links to the previous Psalm's themes as well.
Application:
We need a clear understanding of God's character to truly understand His reasons for His actions. Okay, maybe not even understand, but accept. It's hard to reconcile a good God meting out such punishments.
We also need to recognise God's judgement as His means of revealing Himself to the world - that by His judgement every knee will bow and every tongue confess He is God. This is actually most clearly seen in Revelation - where on the last day all will submit to Him in fear (rightfully!) for the coming judgement.
The thing is, the same judgement that they see on that day has already been announced. So why the lack of fear, not only among non-Christians but even among Christians who don't seem to realise that Jesus is returning?
Verses 8 - 10 are a description of God's character
Verses 11 - 13 describe the action David hopes for God to take
Verses 14 - 15 repeat verse 1-7
Verses 16 and 17 are about God's character again.
Written in a ABCAB structure - repeating certain elements. If I don't remember wrongly in Hebrew this places an emphasis on the unrepeated verses - 11-13. But key points are here:
God's character makes Him judge.
God, being righteous, being the God of all the earth, cannot and will not let sin go unpunished
God is our Strength, our fortress, and His steadfast love in particular is our source of hope.
God's judgement shows the world that God is ruler of all. This is the emphasized point, and this links to the previous Psalm's themes as well.
Application:
We need a clear understanding of God's character to truly understand His reasons for His actions. Okay, maybe not even understand, but accept. It's hard to reconcile a good God meting out such punishments.
We also need to recognise God's judgement as His means of revealing Himself to the world - that by His judgement every knee will bow and every tongue confess He is God. This is actually most clearly seen in Revelation - where on the last day all will submit to Him in fear (rightfully!) for the coming judgement.
The thing is, the same judgement that they see on that day has already been announced. So why the lack of fear, not only among non-Christians but even among Christians who don't seem to realise that Jesus is returning?
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