The coalition of evil

Ps 58  3"Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.

4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,"

This Psalm teaches that all the problems of the world are a result of a failure of leadership. Its both spiritual and political. And you see this universal curse of men going astray put in the greater context of these political and spiritual failures. The Psalms describe evil in the context of Gods war with the forces of evil in the high places. This is why the bible makes distinctions about government, average citizens, and religious authorities. Evil is put in the context of leaders and followers. In this way the bible is not written from mans horizontal view but from Gods governing view as He sits on His throne from the heavens. 

God has established His law as the foundation and back bone of society. It is the only authority that creates spiritual and cultural peace. But men are not necessarily crooked from the universal imputation of sin from the garden but from using their sinful thoughts to become their own gods. There is God in heaven but there are also gods on earth. So the Psalms teach that God in heaven addresses the gods on earth as representing the crooked culture that is established in the context of the average sinner. In this way God always has a single accusation when the Psalms speak of universal evil in societies. We could say that when the Psalms talk about universal evil we are saying that they are in the context of the waywardness of the gods of this earth. This is why Ive been saying that God must work in an indirect way through eternal forces to oppose the opposition of the gods of this earth that hold men under their power. When God over turns their evil power ,grace is established and people are freed.

So there is only one way to oppose evil that is far beyond our pay scale. This Psalm is addressing the evil as God sees it. And really if you have never spoken the curses then your probably seeing the redemptive success from the bottom up. Your probably talking in the context of the threat of evil coming from someone who cannot threaten you. Some sinner who has no power to oppose you. But the bible teaches that sin is so deceptive that its woven in the vary fabric of what we trust in to success, our buying and selling, and our participation in the culture through recreation and arts. We all are biased toward our accepting evil for our profit. But the curse has no favorites. It addresses the evil in the most righteous looking cultural.  The curse rises up above our prejudice and destroys the club mentality and the prejudiced we have in the presence of sinners. 

We have not because we ask not

Ps 143 3 "The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead.

4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed."

This Psalm is teaching if all men were able to act according to Gods standard of creation then there would be no opposition. Each man would achieve Gods design in the perfect holistic experience that would create the ultimate unity and satisfaction. But all men are crooked and self serving.  The Psalms create the reality of the kingdom in turning mans system upside down. Now listen unless the communication rises up to the level of Gods kingdom rule then its an expression of religious hatred. 

You see this here in the plea. He faces the system of man that has overturned Gods word from the beginning of time. God has established His word that cannot be thwarted. The law speaks death to violators. The curse of the law works to destroy the way of law breakers. The communication of this system affects his spiritual vitality. No matter what kind of evil it is, corruption, miss guided religious zeal, depravity at its worse or speaking threatening words, it all deserves the response of the curse. Because the Psalmist is concerned about the spiritual effects and not the actual crime itself. 

 5" I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done."

How does he use his memories of the high points of his life? He concedes to Gods control and creation of his future success. "I remember" is really a wish for God to remember through redemption. Its the same thing as getting a promise from God that has been established in the past and using that promise in his argument to establish future success. But in the christian context the next success is much better than the last one. 

Whatever the opposition..personal sin, guilt, fear, shame and sorrow are motivations to transfer personal anger into Gods universal response to opposition through the curse.11" For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant." For the christian this exposure to the depravity of the system of man the voice of the evil curse. Israel had opposition because there were nations occupied by evil men. God commanded Israel to destroy all the evil nations around them. I do not believe that Israel practiced speaking these laws ,promises, decrees etc and so they never advanced to seeing their enemies annihilated through the ordained agencies. Their passion never rose up to Gods curse. There was never a national will expressed. But in our little world we can create success over time.

Divine satisfaction

Ps 143 1 O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.

God has created the world according to His righteousness and faithfulness. He has created all things by the word of His mouth. We could say that all reality is ordered by God according to His word. In our relationship with God everything that we experience has been order according to His righteousness and faithfulness by His spoken word from eternity past. So the events that we go through are communicated to us in Gods perfect description of His attributes that give us a holistic experience in this life.  We must understand that God creates the experience in His word without us necessarily relying on the event itself. We are who we think we are . Our circumstances do not define who we

God not only has made the physical things but He has defined the reality of those things. This is why we have a partial revelation from God. In this sense we have a limited understanding of the events in our lives. The Psalms are Gods revealed knowledge that satisfies our desires by speaking in the simple way that God has ordered His creation in which the mysterious work that is communicated by God in His attributes consumes our corrupted attributes.  

This is what the Psalmist is praying here. "Relief "is simply satisfaction. "Or satisfy my desires both physical and spiritual." In the Psalmist mind God has spoken everything into existence so that He is completely satisfied with His work but the Psalmist finds Himself with limited knowledge and great opposition. Because God has given us His perfect way that He communicates this order...In His     commands, laws, decrees, promises, covenants and statutes , He has created the reality of satisfaction in describing everything that the Psalmist goes through. The problem is that the Psalmist is corrupted and cannot continual experience this communication in a natural way. The Psalmist must rise in His meditation to experience the description of reality rather than try to understand it by what he can taste, feel, touch and see. This is what we call seeing through the eyes of faith. 

But not only must the Psalmist know through this Divine communication that everything is working according to Gods plan but the Psalmist must also feel the eternal varieties of this Divine order. This perfect revelation contains these words spoken in the desires of the Perfect man. Not only has God established the reality of the Perfect man through His spoken word but He has answered every desire that we have by consuming our desires so that we experience divine satisfaction.













                                                                                                                                                                               

Frustrated Love

Loathing around in time with unfulfilled desires
Lost from the world of breath taking sweet calmness

Her looks of innocence long remembered
Make my despairs a happy endurance

Lost in her eyes , a spell to endure
Sweet longings console this love sick heart

Gods true value

Ps 49 7 No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him--8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough--9 that he should live on forever and not see decay. 

This Psalm is teaching that God is the only one who has explained everything that has been created with correct value. Not only has God looked upon each part of His creation as individually providing all their needs but He proves that they are valuable by the value of the work of Christ. God is absolutely just at all times and He will repay each man according to His work. But financial freedom is tied into the universal establishment of grace through redemption. In these verses there is only One Man who can pay the ransom price for mans eternal freedom. 

We must understand that God has given man value by His grace. God who is free to do as He pleases provides everything for His creatures." He opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing." The order of nations and of all time has been described by God in His perfect value. So Gods reactions to societies , His anger, patience, kindness etc is tied to His payment to His Son as He explains the value of a person or thing. God is always patient , angry , loving etc for the right reasons. 

We must understand that God describes the true value of things in His eternal story. So the reasons that He values one thing over another is both understandable and mysterious. In this way we cannot know absolutely the true value of things because we do not have an eternal moral compass to understand the worthiness of rewards or punishment. But since Gods word is an eternal expression of Himself then it answers our frustration because we are like God in His reasons and reactions. Not only has He given us a partial standard of the true value of things but He has entered into our experience as our understanding measurement is consumed in His eternal measurement. He has spoken the curse and blessing in His eternal voice. 

In this Psalm the problem is described as man having a measurement of the value of things according to his own standards and laws. It is impossible for man to value the things that he possesses as Gods gifts. This is why God raises the value of things to an eternal level..ie grace is both spiritual and political freedom. God must turn mans view of value upside down.  "5 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me-- 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?" God must make men religious and political dissidents by using value system of the world to destroy the power structures.

The blessed man

Ps 1 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Im gonna go through this quickly.

This first Psalm is describing two kingdoms. Gods kingdom and mans kingdom. Gods kingdom is ruled by His counsel or His word.  

 1"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. ""Blessed" as not experiencing the dread of the curse. This blessed state is being delivered from the natural consequences of man under sin and placed in Gods kingdom where He has no equals. The curse establishes success for Gods elect while it works to bring the wicked into judgement. Blessed means that we stand on the side of the law where our anger meets Gods justice and is consumed while the wicked have no recourse but to be swallowed up in their anger. This redemptive experience of our anger is described in the word "delight". We can experience delight in praise or anger. 
The law is Gods perfect vision of our souls and His kingdom gifted to us in His counsel or His word. When we meditate on these Psalms we pronounce Gods success, curse the anger of the wicked, and enjoy the creative spirit in the blessed spirit.This is our freedom as the free flow of our desires.Our identity creates success because God has established His kingdom in His Sons work. As we  express our renewed desires through the Psalms we rule the earth. 

3" He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."The tree is our own power to rule in our domain. Through these pronouncements we overcome all opposition. Our success is integrated through creative acts in which God controls reality. There is always an indirect effect in our success. 

4" Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away."The wicked are controlled by the spiritual effects of the curse. The curse is Gods ability to withhold success. In this sense Gods kingdom is always yea and amen. 

We stand on Gods word

Ps 36 1 You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry--now restore us!

2 You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

3 You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. "Selah"

5 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.

6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.

8 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

10 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?

11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.

12 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

The Psalmist is describing the conditions of Israel in their apostasy. He is describing the terrible consequences of this apostasy in the metaphorical language of an earth quake....burst forth, shaken the land, , quaking , and torn the land open. God has established the perfect language in His creation and recreation. His language is gifted to Israel in decrees, laws, covenants and statutes. Gods perfect acts in the success of the creation of Israel and the upholding of His creation is spoken in His person or aligning and realigning every thing by this gifted language. This is the healthy necessary environment for the successful advancement of Israel. When Gods word is upheld and spoken, every person experiences redemption or the absence of threatening language. 55 11 "Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets." The spirit of the city is this repetition of godless language that is engrained in the culture so that the destruction of the poor and the helpless are used to gain more power. 

The Palmist is describing conditions that are so destructive the righteous retreat from public discourse. When a society becomes godless then those things that are private are paraded around in the streets of the city. Its compared to throwing the helpless child out of the house to be exposed by the evil. Prov.5 16" Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?" In other words the water is the marriage relationship that flourishes in private. But when the communication becomes corrupted then the person begins to search for acceptance in the public domain. I do not believe that Solomon is just focused on the sexual relationship.  "15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well." The communication of eternal life in the marriage relationship.

This "earth quake" is really a metaphor for mans hatred for Gods word. From the beginning of time man has made his plans. Each time a man makes his plans he spreads his world view. 36 4 "Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong." This plotting is not necessarily planning to do something immoral. But its the natural state of mans heart that comes out in his planning. You got to understand that we believe that God has already unified all things and established His law, decrees etc as the basis of unifying society. You need to understand that the elect are always under the power of the vision of this completed unity. In this sense the consequences of the earth quake are destructive to the wicked but not to us because God has established the full effect of the curse as the basis for His justice and not our activity. "Torn open" would be the unhindered effect of the curse that meets the highest evil plans of the wicked. As the anger rises to its highest expression so is the curse established as Gods overruling power to protect His helpless ones. 

 1 "You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry--now restore us! " Complexity is swallowed up by simplicity. Gods anger rises to the level of perfect restoration...or Gods allowing restoration to His people and forbidding success for the wicked. This national prayer "your people or your citizens" as a clear distinction from "but to those who fear you" is the natural cry of Gods people to bring stability until the final judgement.