August 1, 2019 
The word Sabbath means to cease.  So as Dr. Brooks is away on sabbatical, we will be using his original devotionals from 2009 on the book of Psalms.  He will resume The Bible Project devotionals upon his return.  Thank you for reading with us and praying for him as he replenishes his soul for the next seven years of ministry.
Psalm 58
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
    Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
    and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
    however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
    like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”

New International Version (NIV)
Psalms 57, 58 and 59 were all sung to the same tune, “Do not destroy.”  The sentence needs an object doesn’t it?  In all three, it is clear that David is asking God not to allow his enemies to destroy him.   In another imprecatory psalm, David calls upon God to deliver him from unjust rulers who are like unheeding cobras refusing to be charmed and savage lions ready to clamp down on their prey.  David just wants them to go away, so he asks for God’s help.  It would be fine with David if God just defanged the lions or made them melt away.  Can you believe David imagines walking through the cemetery of his former foes?     

Often when we read these psalms, we wonder, “Does God accept prayers and songs like this?”  Perhaps we think these thoughts, but would we put them in words which would find their way into the Bible?  I agree with Philip Yancey.  The only safe place to bring this kind of anger is before God.  If I keep it in, it destroys me.  If I share it with others, I run the risk of gossip or inciting others to anger which does not concern them.  But God is a safe audience.  He doesn’t have to agree with me, but he will hear me out.  At the same time, we know from Matthew 5 that God wants us to love our enemies and pray for them.   This moves us beyond the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth lex talionis of the Old Testament.   

David’s conclusion is worth remembering.  The righteous will be rewarded.  And there really is a God who judges the earth.  In the end, David’s prayer is answered.  God will not destroy his people.  Until the day the righteous are rewarded, we wait for God.  That day is not necessarily today.  But it will come.   Paul tells us on that day the whole world will see, “There is a God.”  Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Why wait?  Let us bow and confess today. 
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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