Well, we return this morning to take up our series through the Songs of Ascents, those psalms that were sung by the people of God on their way to Jerusalem for their times of meeting with the Lord in His temple. We turn this morning to Psalm 129. You know by now these are found almost in the very middle of your Bible. You'll find Psalm 129 on page 658, 658 in your pew Bible. Last time we considered Psalm 128, which was a beatitude for the God-fearing. And today in Psalm 129 we consider the flip side, an imprecation against the God-hating. The opposite of a beatitude, which is a $20 word for blessing, is an imprecation. That's a $20 word for a curse. But it's a biblical word. It's a word that we should understand when we hear it, even though we may not use it in our everyday language. But both a beatitude and an imprecation call on the Lord to act. They call on the Lord to render judgment on people according to His standard, according to the stipulations of His covenant that He has made. And so in the background here of Psalm 129 and 128 is Deuteronomy. chapters 27 and 28 where Moses laid out the terms of the Lord's covenant with Israel. Blessings for obedience. Psalm 128. Cursings for disobedience. Psalm 129. Now we hear this psalm as Christians today knowing that God's will for us is what we heard in Romans 12 this morning and we heard it clearly. Bless those who persecute you. bless and do not curse them. And why does Paul write this? Because of what Jesus himself commanded in Matthew 5. He says, you've heard it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. So we come to a psalm like this, Psalm 129, and we have to ask, how are we supposed to deal with this? What are we to do with this, or any other such imprecation or curse that's uttered in Scripture? Well, some say they have no place in the New Testament church, that we should not deal with them. Others say they should have never been included in the Old Testament. God is love, don't you know, and this just doesn't belong to God. Well, contrary to the opinions of men, the Apostle Paul writes that all of Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable. And Jesus says that everything written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms about him must be fulfilled. So our choice is to heed the opinions of men or to heed the word of God himself. And so, we will not skip over Psalm 129 this morning. We're going to dive right in. It's said in two stanzas, this imprecation against the God-hating. Verses 1-4, we find them described as those who afflict the Lord's people. And in verses 5-8, we find the prayer against them, whom the Lord will repay. So an imprecation against God-hating, who afflict the Lord's people, whom the Lord will repay. So hear now the word of God, Psalm 129, a song of ascents. Greatly they have afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say, Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back, and they made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous, he has cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward. Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, With which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor the binder of sheaves his arms. Nor do those who pass by say, the blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord. Here ends the reading of God's word. Like all the songs of ascent, this song was given for God's people for their time of assembly and worship. As a corporate body, as we have gathered here this morning. In verses 1 through 4, the congregation brings a charge against those who are God-hating, those who afflict the Lord's people. And here, as in Psalm 124, which we considered a few months ago, the psalmist invites the congregation to join in saying or singing this song. So we did this morning. In verse 1, the psalmist begins, Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say, and in verse 2, the congregation joins in to repeat and to complete what was started. Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. Now as a note, this is not the main point of the sermon, but I can't let it pass. Note the assumption of this psalm, that it is spoken in one voice. It is spoken as by one person, Israel. even though it is spoken by many that have gathered together. And it's an assumption that we in our day have a hard time holding on to. It's an assumption that in the biblical world was just understood. And that to be engrafted into the body of Christ, to be brought from the world into the kingdom of God, is to be brought into unity with Christ and therefore with one another, and that we are one body. We are called, the law is all about calling us to live as one, to love as one, to grow as one, to be as one, to speak as one. And I know how that grates against everything in us. But this psalm is spoken by the congregation in the singular voice. And I needed to press that home on us today. So that is what we're called to as the church of Jesus Christ. That kind of unity. And we hear it all through the scripture. But now let's proceed. We have to ask the question, who are they? Who are they that have afflicted Israel? Israel names no names. But he gives us some clues. First, he tells us that they have been at it from my youth. Hosea chapter 11 suggests that this means that they've been at it ever since Egypt. For to that prophet, the Lord revealed that when Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt, I called my son. I believe that to the Israelites, that's what was in mind here. This is an affliction that's been going on ever since the people of God were formed in Egypt and called out as we've studied in Exodus with Pastor Gordon. Then Israel calls them out in verse 4 as the wicked who are opposed to the Lord who is righteous. You see the contrast. And in verse 5 he calls them out as all who hate Zion, which is to hate who lives there. If you hate Zion, you hate Israel. If you hate Zion, you hate the Lord. So they, the wicked, all who hate Zion, hate God. They're God-haters. Now they're described in lots of ways throughout the Bible, but the way the scriptures sum them up best is in the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world, the nations, and their so-called gods had always afflicted Israel. But they're not the only ones. Israel's own sinful flesh afflicted Israel. Remember all that we have seen unfold in the book of Exodus, how the Lord was right to call them a stiff-necked people, wanting to go their own way and have their own way, But standing behind all other God-haters is Satan, the ultimate God-hater. He hated God ever since he fell, and he's hated his people ever since the garden. And the Lord put enmity between Satan and the woman, between his offspring and her offspring. And out of hatred, Satan greatly afflicted Israel all her days. And why? because it was through Israel that the Son of God would come, that the seed of the woman would come, that would crush Satan's head, even though Satan might bruise his heel. So he afflicted Israel all their days. In verse 3, Israel portrays scourging by whips in the image of plowers of a field. Israel, a common scene, the open field. freshly turned over. An image that came right to mind. Some of us have those memories from life on the farm, but some of us don't. He calls to mind the image of plowers who sharpen their blades before hitching them to the oxen that pull them through the field so that the blades cut deep and the furrow runs long and that runs over the field again and again from end to end until the entire field has been sliced through and turned over. And with that image, he says, the plowers have plowed upon my back. They made long their furrows. And yet, verse 2 says, after generations of that kind of affliction, Israel could say they have not prevailed against me. And we have to ask the question, how can that be? how could that be? The scriptures say it's not because of anything in Israel. They were few in number, they were weak in power, they were rebellious against the Lord. There was nothing in them that accounts for their survival. Rather, according to verse 4, we find that it's because the Lord is righteous. The Lord is righteous. Now we know from Psalm 145, the Lord is righteous in all his ways. But here the psalmist and Israel have in mind a particular way, the way that he shows that he's righteous, and that is by keeping his promises. Nehemiah offered praise to the Lord in his book, chapter 9 of his book. He said to the Lord, you have kept your promise to Abraham. And then he gives us the reason. Because you are righteous. If you remember, when the Lord told Abraham that his offspring would be enslaved for 400 years, he offered a promise. He promised, I will bring judgment on that nation that they serve, and afterward, they will come out with great possessions. The promise was, I will bring a curse upon that nation, and I will bless your offspring. And here the psalmist has that in mind, and he says, the Lord is righteous. He kept his promise. He saved Israel. Not only from Egypt, but later in Babylon, and from countless others across the ages that wanted to see Israel undone. They may have been oppressed and afflicted, but they were never undone by anyone. Their undoing was at the hand of the Lord. And so, verse 4 says, the Lord is righteous. He has cut the cords of the wicked. He has cut the plow from the oxen to stop the plowing. He has cut the whip from the handle to stop the scourger. But that did not leave Israel without scars. They bore on their back the marks caused by sin. Sin not their own. Sin committed against them. But also sins of their own, committed against God and against one another. We remember from Exodus, how after being informed that they would receive blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience, they swore, all that the Lord says we will do. In Deuteronomy, it was repeated again, and they said, amen, amens, so be it. We agree, but we know from Exodus and we know from the rest of Scripture that they did not. And they could not do all that the Lord had said. But what Israel could not do, God did. By sending to Israel the Savior he had promised from the very beginning, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the son of David, the son of Mary, Jesus. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. To live the life of perfect obedience that would earn and merit all of God's blessings. And to bear all the curses against sin. All that sins deserve for sins not his own. Isaiah described his saving work. In particular, Isaiah 53 comes to mind. And there we read that surely he, he has borne our griefs. and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. Or as other translations put it, by his scourging we are healed. By his stripes we are healed. By the furrows on his back, we are healed. Listen to the voice of Jesus say, Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. God-haters took Jesus Christ to the cross. They put him to death, thinking that he was done, but only to discover that he had laid down his own life in order to take it up again on the third day. Satan bruised his heel but Jesus crushed Satan's head. And by his life and death and resurrection Jesus has cut the cords of the wicked. He set free everyone who's joined to him by faith to inherit the blessings and to escape the curses. That's why we confess, children. That's why we want you to learn, Heidelberg number one, that with his precious blood he has set us free from the tyranny of the devil. And Christ is building this church. And he's promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And while that's true, it does not mean that until Christ comes back there won't be God-haters to afflict the church. The church is still under attack. You are still under attack. We are still under attack. The world hates you. Because Jesus chose you out of the world. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, Peter says, seeking someone to devour. And the desires of the flesh, they continue to rage against the desires of the spirit. Like Paul, the church of Jesus Christ will be afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. And why can that be? How can that be? Because nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In Romans chapter 5, Paul says that through Christ we have already obtained access by faith into the grace in which we now stand. And we already rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, looking forward to the resurrection and the life everlasting. But we have not yet entered into the fullness of that hope. That hope is still set before us. It's something still not seen. Therefore, while we wait for Jesus Christ to come again, he also says that we rejoice in our sufferings. We rejoice in our affliction. And we keep our eyes fixed on the horizon, waiting for the Lord to come in judgment. Praying as we often sing, O Lord, haste the day when my faith will be sight, when the clouds be rolled back like a scroll. Where we sing Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders. That's the horizon toward which we move. That's the horizon that gives us perspective in the sufferings of this life. That's the horizon toward which we pray, as we're taught to pray in the second half of this psalm. A prayer of imprecation. In verses 5 through 8, the psalmist leads Israel in a prayer against the God-hating. Whom the Lord will repay. In this prayer of imprecation, Israel calls on the Lord to bring vengeance, to bring vengeance against those who hate Zion. Vengeance. Strict justice. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to us. He says of himself in Deuteronomy, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. Which Paul repeated this morning in Romans 12. And Paul applies in Romans 12 what the Lord says in Proverbs 20, verse 22. Do not say, I will repay evil. Wait for the Lord, and He will deliver you. To pray in this way, in this way of imprecation, is to ask the Lord to pay back the wicked. To pay them back with compound interest for all that they have done against him and his people. I like the way Hosea says it in Hosea chapter 8. Speaking of the wicked, it says, They sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. Paid back in kind, but as we might say, paid back in spades. And beginning in verse 5, Israel prays. Israel prays, may all who hate Zion be put to shame and turn backwards. They've sought to make a name for themselves at the price of God's people and at the expense of your glory, Lord. Repay them with utter defeat. Turn them back that they run away and try to hide even though they can never hide from you. Shame them by exposing them. How futile their efforts. How wicked their hearts. And in verse 6 he continues, Let them be like the grass on the housetops. Another image that is foreign to us. But in Israel the houses were grooved with beams and branches and a layer of mud. And when it rained this time of year, seeds would sprout and grass would begin to grow. But when the rain stopped, the sun came out, the grass was reduced to stubble. It's not the place to grow a crop, in other words. So imagine trying to grow a crop of wheat on that kind of roof here in Escondido. You get the picture. And the prayer is, let them be like that. Let them be that desolate. Keep them from every success. Cause them to fail before they get started, verse 6. Like the grass on the housetops that withers before it grows up. Keep their efforts fruitless, no gain for all their pain, verse 7. Like the grass on the housetops with which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor the binder of sieve fill his arms. There is no return on their efforts. Keep them from your blessing, verse 8. Nor do those who pass by say the blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord. Again, calling to mind a harvest that does not occur on the rooftops. This expression here called to mind for Israel, a very familiar story. You might know the story of Ruth. You know the story of Ruth. Chapter 2, we find her in the field. Gathering up the leftovers that the reapers and the binders of sheaves have left behind. It's called gleaning, picking up the scraps. And while she's doing that, Boaz, the Lord of that harvest, came and greeted the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered, The Lord bless you. The picture here that the psalmist is calling to mind is, Don't do that for the wicked. Give them no blessing. Reserve your blessing for your people. So in verses 5 through 8, Israel prayed to the Lord who is righteous and who promised, I will take vengeance on my adversaries. I will repay those who hate me, calling on him to act. Now Israel prayed this prayer looking forward to the coming of Christ in glory and in judgment. They thought that's how he was going to come, not understanding that he had to come first in humility to accomplish the salvation of his people. But we read this psalm in light of the cross and we recognize and we believe and confess that Christ has already come in humility to save, to save the likes of us. And that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and he'll separate his enemies from his family. And the God-haters will go to that place the Bible calls hell. And the God-fearers who love Jesus Christ will be brought to him into the glories of heaven. That day is coming. It's very real. And to pray a prayer like this is to pray for that day. That the Lord has said it all right. But until that day, Peter tells us in his first letter, chapter 2, that we ought not be surprised that we still have trials. We ought not be surprised as though something strange were happening. Judgment hasn't come yet. God-haters are still afflicting Israel, Jesus, his people. And Paul tells us in chapter 1 of 2 Thessalonians, follow this, he puts this all together. He says, in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring, your steadfastness and faith is evidence of the righteousness of God. How so? Because God considers it just. God considers it righteous. To repay with affliction those who afflict you. And to grant relief to you who are afflicted when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven. That's the perspective that we're called to have in light of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, the promise of His coming in judgment, to live in that way, understanding that we will be afflicted as the body of Christ. When I say we, that's not just here. That's not just in the United States. That's around the world with our brothers and sisters who are one with us. And we know that they know affliction more than we do. And yet we can pray for the body of Christ. We can pray this prayer for the body of Christ. That the Lord would come to relieve his people. And in the meantime, we wait. We wait, living each day, trusting Jesus' final promise, Revelation 22. He says, behold, I'm coming soon. We remember that. And I'm bringing my recompense with me. To repay each one for what he has done. And that, for anyone outside of Christ, is strict justice. The whirlwind. And we live each day loving and praying for our enemies. Loving them by not taking vengeance into our own hands. Not repaying evil with evil. In the contrary, we bless when we're cursed. We give for their need. And we pray for their salvation. We pray that God will show mercy to whom he'll show mercy. And that he'll grant repentance and faith to that sinner like we are. That they might escape the judgment to come under the blood of Jesus Christ. We pray for the salvation of our enemies. And at the same time, we pray that the Lord would bring judgment on all who hate Zion. For all those who will not repent and believe. For all those who continue to strive against Christ in his church. That he will put them to shame. That he'll turn them back. That they will be utterly defeated and kept from every success and devoid of every blessing which the Lord reserves for his people alone. If we're not praying in this way be instructed by God's word today that it is right and it is proper to pray that the Lord would act according to his justice in his time in his way against all who hate Christ and his church. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your word that calls us to a task that is difficult for us to grasp at times, Lord, for by our own sinfulness we want to take vengeance into our own hands. And we can misunderstand what you've given us here as license for us to call down judgment on people. Help us, Lord, to pray this type of prayer to you, for you to act according to your standards. according to your timing, according to your judgments about who is and who is not against you. And Lord, as we wait for the day when our faith will be sight and the Lord comes to divide once and for all between those who are against and those who have been made for Him, that we would do so with the confidence that that day is coming and to live in the meantime as those who are called to love and to pray for our neighbor. Even our enemies, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.