Introduction:
How Should I Respond to Injustice? (Psalm 58)
- I should recognize that Corruption is inevitable . (Ps 58:1-5)
- I should pray that God Will Act . (Ps 58:6-9)
Matthew 5:44 - "But I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Luke 23:34 - "Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing."
Acts 7:60 - "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."
- I should rejoice that God is the Righteous Judge . (Ps 58:10-11)
Ezekiel 33:11 - "As I live declares the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live."
Galatians 6:9 - "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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01:07-01:09
All right, so you can turn your Bibles to Psalm 58.
01:10-01:11
Psalm 58.
01:12-01:17
You know, as an observer of the human condition, I love to hear about what annoys people.
01:18-01:25
Because we're all so different, and we all have different pet peeves that really just crawl under our skin and drive us insane.
01:26-01:29
What annoys me may not annoy you, and vice versa.
01:30-01:37
So before I share with you one of my biggest pet peeves, take 20 seconds to turn to the person next to you and share your biggest pet peeve.
01:37-01:38
All right, 20 seconds.
01:41-01:42
All right, all right, I gave you more than 20 seconds.
01:44-01:55
I could unfurl a long list of my pet peeves, but there's one that's really been bothering me lately, and that is junk mail, both virtual and physical.
01:55-01:58
Who else is annoyed by junk mail besides me?
01:58-02:05
I hate when I get home from work, I open up the mailbox and it's packed to the raft with useless nonsense, that's gonna end up in the garbage.
02:06-02:14
But the worst part is I can't just throw the whole bundle in the trash, because interspersed in that pile is things I can't ignore, things I have to look at.
02:15-02:24
So I have to go through this whole process of flipping through the stack to separate the junk from the necessities and the irrelevant from the relevant.
02:25-02:27
All right, we all hate that process.
02:28-02:32
And since misery loves company, We're actually gonna sort through my mail together.
02:32-02:33
All right?
02:33-02:37
And you're gonna tell me if it's junk or if it should be kept.
02:38-02:39
All right, does that sound good?
02:39-02:41
So if it's junk, yell out junk.
02:41-02:42
And if it's a keep, yell out keep.
02:43-02:43
All right?
02:45-02:47
First we have the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card.
02:48-02:49
What do we think?
02:49-02:50
All right, junk.
02:52-02:53
A Lowe's card.
02:53-02:56
I just borrow my dad's tools when I need them, so.
02:57-02:58
I'm gonna say that's junk.
02:59-03:03
A Disney Plus membership that's expired September 20th.
03:04-03:05
Alright, that's junk.
03:06-03:09
Preferred customer private VIP sale.
03:10-03:13
Doesn't even say what it is for, just a sale.
03:13-03:14
Junk?
03:14-03:14
Alright, junk.
03:15-03:18
Oh, a Citi credit card.
03:19-03:19
Alright, junk.
03:21-03:24
Okay, a personal note from my financial advisor.
03:26-03:26
That's probably a keep.
03:26-03:27
Yeah, that's probably a keep.
03:29-03:31
All right, Instacart, get groceries delivered.
03:33-03:34
Junk, all right.
03:34-03:35
Oh, this is nice.
03:35-03:38
The Home Magazine, the Christmas light edition.
03:40-03:40
All right, junk.
03:41-03:45
And last but not least, All Star five cigar combo cutter.
03:46-03:47
Only $16.
03:50-03:51
All right, this one's split.
03:52-03:54
If you want to take this later, I won't judge you.
03:54-03:56
I'll leave it right here, all right?
03:58-04:03
Now you may be thinking, okay Taylor, that was fun and all, but what's the point of all this?
04:04-04:11
Well, I was thinking this past week that so many Christians often mirror this same process in their Bible reading.
04:12-04:22
We flip through the Old Testament and we completely skip over certain sections because they seem insignificant and unimportant to us in 2023.
04:23-04:39
Many of us flip through the beginning of our Bibles and think, oh, I love Genesis, I love Creation account, I love the first chapters of the book of Exodus, but then you get to Moses going on and on about the priest's robes and the Ark of the Covenant, and I just kinda check out a little bit.
04:41-04:46
Speaking of checking out, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, that just, that's a rough go.
04:48-04:50
Doesn't really seem relevant to my life.
04:51-04:58
All that law stuff seems tedious and irrelevant, so we rush through it, we ignore it, we treat it like it's junk mail.
05:00-05:11
Jumping forward to the book of Psalms, we love the laments, the praise and wisdom Psalms, which Pastor Jeff, Mike Wolski, and Matt Cole expertly preached on over the past three weeks.
05:11-05:18
But then we hit an imprecatory Psalm like the one I'm about to preach on this morning, and we have no idea what to make of it.
05:20-05:23
Now you may be wondering, Taylor, what is an imprecatory psalm?
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These are the psalms that are focused on praying that God would punish the wicked, that God would punish those who oppose him, those who seek to persecute his people.
05:35-05:43
Fed up men pray that the hammer of misfortune and justice would fall upon the wicked, would fall upon the unjust.
05:45-05:52
As believers this side of the cross, we look at a psalm like this and we think, This can't possibly apply to my life.
05:53-05:57
This can't possibly be something I should add to my prayer life, right?
05:59-06:08
So we kind of shrug our shoulders and treat the imprecatory Psalms like junk mail that we brush off the tables of our mind and throw in the spiritual trash.
06:10-06:10
But guess what?
06:11-06:13
God's word contains no junk mail.
06:14-06:16
It is all valuable and important.
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We can't skip or ignore any of it.
06:20-06:27
We are a church that preaches the entire word of God without apology, even the difficult and challenging parts.
06:28-06:39
So in light of this conviction, we're gonna focus our attention upon studying Psalm 58 and contemplating how the Lord wants us to respond to injustice as his people.
06:40-06:46
Along the way, we'll discover that we should love what God loves, but also hate what God hates.
06:47-06:56
We must find a biblical balance between possessing a righteous anger and showing the unconditional grace of Jesus Christ.
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And this biblical balance should affect how we live and how we pray.
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So before we dive into Psalm 58, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help because we need it.
07:10-07:14
Father, as we come to your word, I pray that we would humble ourselves.
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I pray that we would submit to you in whatever you say, or that we would remember that you are God and we are not.
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Lord, our opinions do not matter in the face of your authoritative truth.
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So I pray for every single person in this room.
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I pray that you would minister to them in the way that you ministered to.
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Your Holy Spirit would challenge, He would convict, He would comfort as well.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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So the question we're gonna answer this morning is, how should I respond to injustice?
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How should I respond to injustice?
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And firstly, I should recognize that corruption is inevitable.
07:59-08:02
I should recognize that corruption is inevitable.
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So David doesn't waste any time with niceties and fluffy language.
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Instead, he jumps right in to what is bothering him in verses one through two.
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Look at what he says.
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Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
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Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
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No, in your hearts you devise wrongs.
08:24-08:27
Your hands deal out violence on the earth.
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To be clear, David isn't speaking to actual gods in this passage because there is only one God.
08:35-08:40
In the Hebrew, this word for gods can also be translated as mighty lords or mighty rulers.
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So he is speaking to those in a position of authority who are using their platform for evil instead of good.
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So he asked two questions with a very obvious answer.
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As I ask each of David's questions again, please loudly shout out the obvious answer.
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Do you indeed decree what is right, you rulers?
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All right, that was really bad.
09:06-09:07
I'm gonna do that again.
09:08-09:10
Do you indeed decree what is right, you rulers?
09:13-09:14
The answer is no, everybody.
09:16-09:17
I'm gonna give you a chance for the second one.
09:18-09:21
Do you judge the children of men uprightly, you mighty lords?
09:22-09:23
All right, that was okay.
09:24-09:31
He then says they continually invent new ways to wrong others and they deal out violence and oppression on the earth.
09:33-09:41
David is pointing out that corruption is an inevitable fact of life, especially at the top of the leadership ladder.
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There are many men and women in positions of authority who abuse their God-given role to glorify themselves, to lie in their own pockets, and to advance destructive agendas.
09:55-10:02
I mean, in our country right now, we have politicians and lobbyists who continually push for the murder of unborn children.
10:04-10:08
and the gender transitioning of children and teenagers.
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And many in the educational system are lining behind this horrific scheme and indoctrinating children with lies about their identity and sexuality that will leave permanent scars on their body, that will leave spiritual and emotional scars.
10:28-10:29
What about the church world?
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Over the past 10 years, we've been bombarded with story after story and case after case of pastors, church leaders and elders mistreating staff, embezzling funds, participating in and covering up sexual abuse.
10:49-10:54
Those entrusted with the care of precious souls are instead dashing them into a million pieces.
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We so often highlight the injustices happening here in the US, but there are so many leaders across the world right now committing shocking atrocities against their citizens.
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The North Korean government continually shuts down house churches and sentences Christians to labor camps.
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Believers who still remain in Afghanistan must keep a low profile due to the return of the Taliban to power in 2021.
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Did you know that over 5,600 Christians were murdered for their faith last year alone.
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Over 5,600 of our brothers and sisters from Christ were slaughtered because of their love for Jesus Christ, because of their dedication to meeting together and spreading the good news.
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And 90% of these deaths occurred in Nigeria, where Islamic militants are committing brutal raids against Christian communities.
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And the Nigerian government's trying to sweep this under the rug and say that it has nothing to do religious persecution.
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Why is this happening?
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Why is there so much injustice and wickedness on a global scale?
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Well, David goes on to clearly explain why corruption is inevitable and why wicked leaders do wicked things.
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Let's read verses three through five.
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"The wicked are estranged from the womb.
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"They go astray from birth, speaking lies.
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"They have venom like the venom of serpents, but the deaf adder that stops its ear so that it does not hear the voice of charmers rather the cunning enchanter.
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So why is this happening?
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Simple answer, because of sin.
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I know it's a Sunday school answer, but it's what the text says.
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We live in a fallen world that is filled with fallen people and fallen leaders.
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Listen again to what David says in verse three.
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The wicked are estranged from the womb.
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and they go astray from birth speaking lies.
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Contrary to popular belief, we do not come into this world as perfect babies with halos over our heads.
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We then become sinful as soon as we do something wrong.
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No, we are not sinners because we sin.
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We sin because we are sinners.
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We inherited a sin nature from the first man, Adam, and that sin nature leads us away from God and not towards him.
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apart from the miraculous intervention of God, that inherent wickedness in our heart will spread like a weed and choke out the life of everything around it.
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If you put a heart that is hard into the Lord and fill with the poison of pride and a position of power, there is going to be problems.
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There is going to be misconduct.
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In verses four through five, David compares this kind of immoral leader to a venomous serpent that willfully doesn't pay attention to its owner and snake charmer.
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We all know what a snake charmer is, right?
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This is a common form of entertainment back in David's day in the Middle East.
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Snake charmers would have a snake in a basket and a crowd would form around, they would play their flute and hopefully the snake would come under the charm of the flute and sway back and forth kind of like it was dancing.
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But if the snake didn't pay attention, if it willfully didn't listen to the flute, there could be serious consequences.
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The snake could bite the charmer or those who are watching around the basket.
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In a much greater way, the wicked rulers of this world refuse to listen to the call of godliness and repentance.
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They refuse to submit to the Lord.
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They refuse to submit to their heavenly owner.
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Instead of dancing to his glorious and heavenly tune, they go their own way to bite and infect others.
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It's just common sense that a wild and venomous serpent will cause a lot of damage.
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And it's only common sense that an unchecked leader will leave a lot of damage in his or her wake.
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You know, during my tenure as a youth pastor, I went on a lot of missions, trips, and retreats.
15:19-15:23
And if you've been on a missions trip, then you know that you never have five star accommodations.
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Typically on these missions trips, we stayed in school buildings where mice roam free and the AC broke during the Reagan administration.
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It's just part of the entire experience.
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And there were two years in particular where all the guys on the trip were jammed into one room together.
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And let me just say, this wasn't the most hygienic and clean of places.
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Underwear open chip bags muddy socks littered the floor guys would put their wet gross laundry on the fans That were meant to keep us cool and to spread that aroma across the entire room At the end of the workday I would go back into that room and get smacked in the face with an abominable wall of stench It was like all the guys were fighting to see who smelled the worst, but they were all winning But what could I expect?
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Should I have expected that room to smell like a fresh meadow or the candle section at Bath and Body Works?
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No, when you get 20 guys in a room together with no AC, no open windows, after 10 hours in the blaring heat, there's gonna be a funky stench. It's unavoidable.
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What else could I expect?
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In a much greater way, we walk into a sinful world every single day and we are hit with a sinful stench, yet we so often act shocked by this development.
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You know, as a pastor, people often ask me, "Can you believe this is happening right now?
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"Can you believe our culture's accepting that?" And my answer's always the same.
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"Yeah, I can totally believe it.
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"What else do you expect?" The New Testament tells us that Satan is the ruler of this sinful age.
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He is the God of the sinful societies of this world.
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He is hard at work, deceiving, manipulating and twisting what is good.
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Why are we as Christians so shocked that people prefer the darkness to the light?
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Why are we so surprised that lost people act like lost people?
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We should know better than anyone that this world is a broken place and it is filled with many people who are blind to the truth, are blind to the glories of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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At this point, you may be thinking, so I should just do nothing, Taylor.
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I should just throw my arms up in the air and just say, well, corruption's inevitable, that's it.
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Well, that's not what I'm saying, and that's not what David is saying either.
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In the face of injustice, David makes it clear that we should pray that God will act.
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We should pray that God will act.
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Let's read verses six to nine to unpack this a bit more.
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Oh God, break the teeth in their mouths.
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Tear out the fangs of the young lions, oh Lord.
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Let them vanish like water that runs away.
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When he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
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Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime.
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Like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
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Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away.
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Remember those sharp teeth that we were just talking about?
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David asked, God, break those things like glass in their mouths.
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Defang these leaders who run around like wild lions before they can hurt anyone else.
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Let them be washed away from your people like in a ravine during a downpour.
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When they aim their bows of attack, let their arrows be blunted and broken.
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Let them melt away like on a hot summer day, like a snail in a pile of its own disgusting slime.
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And David's harshest comparison is one that's a bit hard to read and even say out loud.
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He asked these crooked leaders to be like a stillborn child that never gets to experience the light of day.
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Finally, may they be destroyed as quickly as a pile of dried up thorns being cooked over an open fire.
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It's easy to look at these verses and think, whoa, whoa, David, calm down, man.
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You must be hangry.
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Sit down, eat a Snickers bar, you'll go back to normal.
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We look at this and it seems like David is out of line.
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But actually, he is displaying a righteous anger, a holy indignation, a godly form of outrage.
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He's not blowing his top because Chick-fil-A got his order wrong.
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He's not losing his temper because he's stuck in standstill traffic like many of us lose our temper about.
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He is outraged that the weak are being preyed upon by those who should protect them.
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That many of the uppermost leaders around him refuse to practice basic human decency.
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that the wicked are flaunting their sin, acting like there is no God, there are no consequences.
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David uses harsh language for harsh realities of life.
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You know, it's a good and godly thing to pray that God would bring his justice to bear in every area of life.
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In 1 Timothy 2, verses one through two, we are called to pray for all the leaders that God has placed an authority above us, even the ones we don't like very much.
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But that doesn't mean that we should pray for their continued victories in future elections.
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We should pray that those who are in office who are abusing their positions would be voted out in the next election cycle and replaced with those who advance godly legislation.
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We recognize that God sovereignly put them in these positions for a reason, but we can also ask that he'll remove them from these positions in the future.
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On the same note, we can pray that the Lord would bring consequences such as prison time upon elected officials and business leaders who continually break the law, lie through their teeth, and abuse the system for their own financial gain.
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We should pray that wicked and violent dictators and tyrannical governments would be overthrown by the one true king of the universe.
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We should pray that abusive and heretical pastors would be driven from their pulpits and replaced with faithful men of God who will humble themselves before the word to preach it and faithfully shepherd the flock.
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We should pray against websites like Pornhub, which continually grease the wheel of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
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You know, there are two adult stores more than 10 minutes of my house.
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And very often when I drive by them, I ask that God would shut these businesses down.
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And there's one in particular that has a sinkhole in the parking lot that hasn't been fixed yet.
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And sometimes I'll drive by and say, "God, at nighttime when no one's in the store, "please open up another sinkhole under the store "and destroy that place forever." We should pray that our holy God would let justice "down like a river, and righteousness "like an ever-flowing stream." But as I said at the beginning of this message, we need to find a balance with these kind of prayers.
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Yes, we should pray for justice to be carried out and for God to frustrate the plans of the wicked, but this shouldn't be our primary aspect of our prayer lives.
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David wasn't praying like this 24/7.
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He wasn't praying like this all day, every day.
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We also shouldn't look at God as our personal score settler.
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God, zap that guy at work who's giving me a hard time.
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God, zap that guy in my neighbor who's doing something shady.
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They deserve it.
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Guess what?
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You deserve it too.
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If you're a follower of Christ, never forget that God didn't give you what you deserve, which is his holy and just wrath for your sin.
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Instead, he gave his own son what you deserve and then gave you what Christ deserves, which is loving acceptance and never-ending fellowship.
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Never forget where you were heading when God saved you and set you on the path to salvation.
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As we express our righteous anger, we must never lose sight of the command to love others and show the same grace that has been shown to us.
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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus himself gives us this command.
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But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
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Jesus didn't just talk the talk, but he actually walked the walk when it came to loving his enemies.
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As he's hanging on the cross in agony, there are some who have the audacity to mock him.
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This is the son of God.
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This is the creator of the universe.
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He could have called down a legion of angels to hack them to pieces.
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He could have summoned flaming hail from heaven to light them up.
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Is that what he does?
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What does he do instead?
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He prays for them and says, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
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In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is stoned for his dedication to preach in the gospel.
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And as he's being pelted with rocks, He looks up to heaven and says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." These passages are so powerful and convicting because they go against the flow of our culture and our own fleshly tendencies.
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These examples from scripture reminded me of a true story that I heard in another sermon several months ago.
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Moses Hall was a Jamaican pastor in the early 1800s.
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And at that time in history, there were African slaves who were in Jamaica.
25:47-25:49
Many of them were Christians.
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And these African Christians would often gather together to worship and to pray.
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And Moses Hall and his assistant David led these times of prayer.
26:01-26:05
The only problem was these times of prayer were outlawed by the slave owners.
26:07-26:12
So unfortunately, one of these prayer meetings is discovered and the slave owners decide to make an example.
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They grab a hold of the assistant David, they kill him, they decapitate him, and they put his head in the center of the village as a warning for everyone else.
26:28-26:46
They then drag Moses in the middle of the village and they point to David's head and they say, "Who is that?" And he says, "That's David." And they say, "Do you know why we did that?" And he said, "For praying." They said, "That's right, and the same is gonna happen "to you if you continue to pray.
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"No more prayer meetings." There's a lot of ways that Moses could have responded in that moment.
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He could have submitted to their demands to never lead a prayer meeting ever again.
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He could have vowed vengeance for the life of his friend.
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And instead, he kneeled down and he said, "Let us pray." And all the African Christians got down with him and they prayed.
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And do you know what they prayed for?
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They prayed for the salvation of these slavers and these murderers who constantly abused and mistreated them.
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How is that possible?
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Because when you truly encounter the transforming grace of Jesus Christ, you can't help but extend it to others.
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It must become second nature for us to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Master as we pray for those who mistreat us, those who oppose us and seek ways to hurt us.
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In this Psalm, it's important to notice that David never asked God to withhold eternal forgiveness from his wicked leaders.
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Yes, we should pray that the unjust would experience immediate penalties for their crimes in this life.
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But we should also pray that the eternal consequences for their sin would be washed away by the blood of Jesus.
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May they be found guilty in the eyes of human courts for the sake of others, but may they be found not guilty in the high court of heaven for the sake of their eternal souls.
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We can pray for both of these things at the same exact time.
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Finally, how should I respond to injustice?
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I should rejoice that God is the righteous judge.
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I should rejoice that God is the righteous judge.
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So several weeks ago, Pastor Jeff kicked off this sermon series by walking us through a Psalm of lament where Asaph is fed up with the reality that the wicked seem to get off scot-free with no consequences.
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But by the end of the Psalm, he comes to the realization that he shouldn't envy the wicked because their end is tragic and sad.
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And David comes to the same exact conclusion at the end of Psalm 58 and verses 10 through 11.
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The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
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He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
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Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous.
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Surely there is a God who judges.
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on the earth.
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Whether in this life or the next, there will be consequences.
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There will be a reckoning for the sins of these wicked leaders.
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Because God sees, hears, and knows all.
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He sees that back alley deal that nobody else sees.
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He sees that wicked pillar of the community doing horrible things behind closed doors.
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He sees the secret intentions and schemes of the heart.
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No one really gets away with anything.
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The Bible is so clear on the necessity of judgment.
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Those who continually resisted the call to turn from their sin and trust in Christ will experience the full weight of the wrath of Almighty God.
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Their shady track record will be exposed, and their secret sins will be shouted from the rooftops.
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What was once openly flaunted will be openly punished.
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God will inflict his righteous vengeance upon those who rejected him and his ways for all of eternity.
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And David says that those who are righteous will rejoice when they see this long-delayed bill come due.
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He says that they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
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Now you may be thinking, Taylor, That sounds really gross and I don't want to do that.
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Well, thankfully it's metaphorical and not literal.
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This means that God's people will share in his victory, like soldiers following a king and general through the streets of a city that has been conquered.
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We will share in the victory of our Lord.
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But right now you may be thinking, "Taylor, you told us a few minutes ago "that we should pray for the salvation "of these wicked leaders, but now you're saying "that we're gonna rejoice at their downfall?
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Is that a contradiction?
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Which one is it?
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Well, to help you unpack this a little bit, imagine with me that one of the worst case scenarios happens to you that we've seen play out in many movies and news stories, as an armed intruder enters into your home.
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After repeated warnings, you unfortunately have to use deadly force.
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You call the police, you do an investigation, "you are fully exonerated of all wrongdoing "because it was a clear-cut case of self-defense." In a sense, you would rejoice that your family is safe and sound, right?
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But let me ask you, would you rejoice about what happened to the intruder?
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Would you be happy about that?
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No, you would feel a sense of weight and sadness that this had to happen.
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You wish that they had listened to your repeated warnings to stop and to leave.
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You wish there had been a different outcome, but there was no other choice in that moment.
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It's the same with God's judgment.
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Yes, we should rejoice that Jesus Christ will return to right every wrong and punish evil once and for all, but we should also feel a weight of sadness that there are many people who willfully reject eternal life, who willfully spurn the gospel.
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We should share God's own attitude from Ezekiel 33, verse 11.
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As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
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That is the heart of our God.
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He does not delight in the punishment of those made in his image, and neither should we.
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Brooming sin and injustice under the cosmic rug isn't an option for God because he is 100% pure and holy, it shouldn't look like a valid option to us as his holy people.
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But since we love God and since we love people, we must live in this tension of both rejoicing and lamenting at the promise of judgment.
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And for those of you who are in this room who are not Christians, Please know that I have been praying for you all week.
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I have been praying that the Lord would cause you to repent of your sin and turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation, to place your faith and trust in him alone.
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Please know that judgment doesn't have to be your future.
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Turn from your wicked way and live.
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You can become a child of God.
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you can become my spiritual brother and sister today.
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I would love to have you in the family.
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If you don't know where you stand with God, please talk to me after the service.
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Please talk to Pastor Jeff.
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We would love nothing more than to talk to you more about this.
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Please don't leave this building today without making the most important decision of your life that will affect your eternity.
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So David closes out this challenging psalm with a word of hope.
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hope that will change our perspective on the present and on eternity.
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Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous, surely there is a God who judges on earth.
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Right now, on September 24th, 2023, it seems like there is no reward for doing the right thing.
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It may seem like there aren't many consequences for doing the wrong thing either.
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But according to this passage, according to the rest of the word of God, there will be a day when every single person will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a God who rules and reigns over heaven and earth.
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And this God is not only a righteous judge, but a righteous rewarder of those who diligently seek after him, for those who persevere in this life.
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And Paul speaks this in Galatians 6, 9, "Let us not grow weary of doing good." Why Paul, why should I not grow weary?
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For in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
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So please do not grow weary of holding on to biblical convictions in a culture that hates what you stand for.
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Do not grow weary of being a man or woman of integrity who always does the right thing no matter what.
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Do not grow weary of loving your spouse when they fail to love you the way that they should.
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Do not grow weary of discipling your children when it seems like they don't care at all about what you're saying or what you're doing.
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Do not grow weary of seeking after the Lord in prayer when it feels like he's not even listening to you.
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Do not grow weary because there is a reward for the righteous.
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Pray for endurance, pray for patience, Pray that the Lord would change your perspective on this life and eternity.
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I sincerely hope that the Lord has used this series and the Psalms to change your perspective on prayer.
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I hope that these sermons have reminded you of the importance of being intentional and pursuing after the Lord.
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We need to be intentional about finding a biblical balance in our prayer lives.
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As we learned over the past month, we should lament before the Lord over the brokenness of this world, but ultimately trust that he is in control.
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We should praise God for who he is, for what he has done and what he continues to do.
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We should ask God for wisdom so that we can avoid the traps of our enemy and walk in holiness.
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And finally, we should pray the Lord to bring his perfect justice because he always does what is right.
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The Christian life will never be easy, but we make it way harder than it needs to be when we choose to be prayerless, when we choose to disconnect ourselves from the source of power, wisdom, and strength.
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So let's put what we learn into practice and pray right now.
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I want you to bow your heads, close your eyes, and go to the Lord for a few minutes and lift up your prayer life to him.
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If your prayers have been few and lifeless lately, ask that the Holy Spirit would reenergize you and give you a greater passion to approach the throne of grace.
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If you've been trying to white knuckle it through the struggles of life, ask that you be given a greater sense of your need for your heavenly Father day by day and moment by moment.
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Also ask that our church's spiritual momentum with prayer and at the end of this month, Bo would continue on.
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Let's come together to pray on purpose today, this upcoming week, and for the rest of our lives.
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Go to the Lord in prayer.
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Father, we come to you and thank you that we can come to you as our heavenly Father.
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Lord, you love us, that you care for us, and that you want us to approach your throne at our time of need, or any time we just wanna talk to you, Lord.
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Lord, we so often ignore this precious gift and we act like it's not a big deal.
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Lord, help us remember we get an audience with our Creator.
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We get to have an audience with the God of the universe.
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Lord, I pray that you would re-energize many of our prayer lives.
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Lord, we would seek after you every single day, that we would pray without ceasing continually throughout the day, Lord, that we wouldn't just rush into your presence with a list of demands, rather than rush out, that we take the time to praise you because you deserve our worship.
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We take time to be thankful for all the good gifts you have given to us, Lord.
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That Lord, we would pray for other people around us, we wouldn't be self-centered, Lord, that we would pray for your justice to come in this world.
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Lord, we know that one day everyone will know that you are the righteous judge.
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all wickedness, all sin will be taken care of once and for all and banished forever.
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We thank you for the victory of Christ, and we thank you that he will return to finalize that victory one day.
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Lord, help us to truly worship you throughout the rest of the service, throughout the rest of our lives.
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In the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 58
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
As you reflect upon the Praying on Purpose series, how do you want your prayer life to change or improve moving forward?
What is an imprecatory psalm? Should we pray imprecatory prayers today? If the answer is yes, how do we find a biblical balance between praying for justice and praying for grace?
What is the difference between righteous anger and unrighteous anger? Which do you often display on a regular basis?
Re-read Psalm 58:10-11 - Why should it encourage us to know that the Lord is a righteous judge as well as a righteous rewarder?
Breakout
Pray for one another!