Onan threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer. The sound of the harpist and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer. And no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer. The sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer, and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer. And the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer. Your merchants were the great men of the earth because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery, and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been swain on the earth. After these things I heard as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God because His judgments are true and righteous. For He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond servants on her. The second time they said, Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah. The voice came from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bond servants, you fear Him the small and the great. And I heard as it were, the voice of a great multitude, it is the sound of many waters, it is the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Psalm 109. Begin our reading with verse 6. Psalm 109. Verse 6. A point of wicked man over him and let an accuser stand at his right hand when he is judged let him come forth guilty and let his prayer become sinned. Let his bays be few, let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg and let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has and let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend loving kindness to him nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off in the following generation, let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let then be before the Lord continue like that he may cut off their memory from the earth. Because he did not remember to show loving kindness but persecuted be afflicted and needy man and the despondent in heart to put them to death. He also loved cursing so it came to him and he did not delight in blessing so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment and it entered into his body like water and like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself and for a belt with which he constantly girds himself. Let this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord and of those who speak evil against my soul. May God bless to our hearts the reading of his Holy Word. Please be seated. Many years before this soul was written, Lord in his covenant with Abraham had told Abraham, but all who would curse him, God would curse and all who would bless Abraham, God would bless. Later on we see in the books of the Bidicus as well as Deuteronomy those great passages which speak to us of the covenant of our God and the blessings which come upon those who are obedient, the curses which come upon those who are disobedient. We've been applying these things or trying to apply these things to the matter of prayer, particularly the matter of prayer with regard to what we are to do in our Christian warfare, that warfare which God has given to us in taking the gospel to the four corners of the earth and particular in standing against the kingdom of this world and promoting the kingdom of Christ. One of the things that we must have is we must have a hope of salvation and the other thing that God gives to us in which we've been kind of taking off from here from the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians is that we are to be always in prayer and we've looked at some of the positive aspects, albeit rather briefly. And now we are looking at this song because we are not going to pray for the advance of the kingdom but we are to pray for the defeat of this world's kingdom. Our prayers are to be ordered according to the will of God. Your prayers should not originate in your imagination, but you are to determine the will of God to ask that his will might be done in earth as it is in heaven. And we are told by the Lord himself that if we ask anything according to his will, we will have our request. So for this reason we have been preaching on the proper use of imprecatory prayers. What remedy I ask you do Christian people have against oppression by wicked men if we do not avail ourselves the remedies that are given to us in the scriptures? This is one of the remedies that God gives to us. And we've already looked at this song and portions of it and we pointed out that this song and others like it are legitimate in every age. But we are not only to pray for the salvation of the elect but we are also pray for God's judgment upon the notoriously wicked. These prayers should be offered by those who are qualified to do so by their relationship with Christ and their walk with him and who have the character of Christ as well. And we are to pray these prayers against people who are incorrigible in their unbelief and in their hatred of the gospel. Now this morning we want to consider not all of them, but some of the particular petitions that we are to pray and ask God to answer concerning the enemies of Christ, the incorrigible enemies of Christ. Let's look at these things then. We'll begin with verse six and really just look at six through eight here. But I want to point out some general things first. When you pray in Precordory petitions, you ask God to deal with the wicked covenantally. That's what you're doing. God has ordered His covenant and a covenant is simply the revelation of the way God deals with His people. Covenant's govern relationships. It determines the obligations, the mutual obligations. And if one does one thing, how the other will respond. That's what a covenant is. It's very simple and yet a very profound concept. And when we pray, we pray covenantally, according to that which is revealed in the Word of God, how God relates to people, how God relates to man. So God's covenant, first of all, is His revelation of how He relates to man. And we don't have time to look at it. But if you were to go to Leviticus, chapter 26 and Deuteronomy, chapter 28, you can see those passages which I spoke to you before in the opening here. The God says, if you do certain things, I will do the other. And particularly there are a list of blessings and of persons. God says, if you obey me, then I will bless you in spiritual things, in material things, in your family, in your work, in your congregation, in your nation. If you respond to me in faith and obedience, then there are going to be blessings. So God's God-covenants to bless faith and obedience. But God-covenants to curse unbelief and disobedience, if you fail to believe me, if you fail to obey me, then those things in which I otherwise would have blessed you in your obedience, you're going to be cursed. You're going to be cursed in your individual life. You're going to be cursed in your family. You're going to be cursed in your nation. You're going to be cursed in your work. That's what God says. That's the way God governs His universe. God's covenant is His revelation of how He relates to men. God's covenant, therefore, governs imprecatory prayers as well or petitions. Your petitions are to coincide with God's curses upon disobedience. When you pray the imprecatory psalms, when you pray these particular petitions, and they are rather serious petitions, all you are doing is you are recognizing that God has already decreed that these things must come about. He has revealed these curses as a warning upon the wicked. And for those who have refused and rejected that warning while you are doing if you are coming to God and you're saying, God, do what you promised to do. That's a sacred prayer. And our problem is, we become a little bit squeamish about these is because we've forgotten that we serve a God who hates sin and who will indeed by no means clear the guilty and who shall indeed cause His Word and His Kingdom to prevail upon the earth. That's the God we serve. We forget the holiness of God and He would have us to be holy. And so, as we pray, we are not violating God's covenant. If these things which we talked about previously are true about us, that we have a right relationship with God, we have a right heart and a right character before Him and have a heart for the growth of His Kingdom. But our petitions, therefore, as we pray these things, are to coincide with God's curses upon disobedience. And your petitions, therefore, must not arise from your vain imagination. I don't want you to think when you read these petitions and they are frightening petitions and you read them. I hope you pick that up. It isn't something that causes your heart to rejoice as you read these things. But David did not lie awake dreaming up what he would like to have God to do to his enemies. As David prayed this prayer, what he was basing this prayer upon was the covenant that God had revealed to man. He asks nothing that is apart from that covenant but everything in accord with it. And one other thing that I want to point out to you, and that's why we ought not to treat these things lightly, is that God's covenant guarantee is answer to your prayers. I want you to understand the curses of God's covenant are just as reliable, just as certain as the promises of the covenant. In Jeremiah chapter 31, the Lord there reveals to the people of Judah his covenant with David, particularly that David should not lack for a descendant to sit upon the throne. And that promise, of course, is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Jeremiah talks to the people of Judah who doubted that God would ever come through with that covenant promise. And Jeremiah reminds me, says, I'll tell you what, just as soon as the sun stops rising in the east and setting in the west. As soon as the seasons cease coming in their order, if you can change any of these things, then that's when the covenant will be broken. Now, that's a promise, but I want you to understand that just so are the curses of the covenant. You can to thank in those terms, and so when we pray we must understand that the curses of the covenant are just as certain as the blessings, and that ought to cause us to tremble. It ought to cause us to understand that we cannot indeed so to the flesh and expect to reap blessing, the one who soes the flesh shall reap corruption, and it is just as certain as the one who puts his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. So when you pray in precatory petitions, you ask God to deal with the wicked covenantally. Secondly, when you pray in precatory prayers, you pray for the execution of justice. Now, the reason that I'm going through this is again, because we do tend to be a little bit squeamish about praying these petitions. And I want you to understand there's nothing irregular about them when has God forbidden us to pray for the justice of God? There's a sense in which, and indeed a very important sense, when you come to the Lord and you ask for forgiveness upon the basis of Christ's work for you, that you are asking God's justice to be done in accord with that covenant that he's made with you for the Lord Jesus. So you're not doing anything here. There is no overkill in these petitions, rather the principle of justice is applied. And when you read in the scriptures, that in judgment, the principle of the law of the talent, the less tallyonus is what it is called, the idea of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a bruise for bruise, et cetera, et cetera. That is a protection in the judicial system, in the sense that the punishment simply is to match the crime, that it's something for which we ought to desire. And here in these in precatory prayers, what is asked for is in accordance with justice. It's not an overkill, it's not an overreaction, it is simply an agitation that God would act in justice. The sanctions you request are just because they come from the heart of the just judge, the heart of God himself. I want you to understand that if David is unjust in asking these petitions, then God is unjust in condemning sinners. Do you understand that? If David is unjust in asking, in requesting these petitions, then God is unjust in condemning sinners. And of course he is not. The sanctions you request are good because the execution of justice is good. Again, one of the problems that we have is that we have had our minds changed, we have not thought God's thoughts after Him, and we have insisted that we are the ones who ought to be the ones who determine good and evil. The execution of justice is good. A gustan said this, the judge when he punished it, does not return evil per evil. Since he returned up just to the unjust, and what is just is surely good. Do you understand that? When a judge sits in judgment and returns justice for injustice, that is not returning evil for evil, that is returning good for evil. Now that's where we have to have it in our minds. A judge who releases criminals to afflict their communities is not good and benevolent. He is returning evil for evil. A judge who executes the law and who punishes the evil doer returns good for evil. Now I hope that helps you to put this into perspective. As you come to these petitions, that's a little bit easier to see which is what we come to now, what we ask God to do. And remember, we are not talking about the casual sinner. Now if we look at it in its clearest presentation, I hope you recognize that these petitions, these requests which are simply a repetition of what God covenants to do to sinners apart from the work of Christ is what we deserve. You see, we deserve these things to happen to us because we're covenant breakers by ourselves. It is only in Christ that we stand. It is only in Christ that we have our sins forgiven and these things don't apply to us any longer. There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. But there is still condemnation for those who are apart from Him. And so I would urge you as you look at these things, don't look at them in the abstract. But those of you who are believers, I would urge you to rejoice in the great salvation that God has given to you in the Lord Jesus Christ and be eternally grateful to Him. That you would also be mindful of the great danger that the lost are in, and if you're apart from Christ today, that you would not leave this building without committing yourself to Him and calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy because these things shall come about. God has promised and He does not lie that if you are yet in your sins, the Christ shall visit you with every one of these judges. And that is a solemn thing. And I do not say that with any particular joy, but I say it with a great concern because it is so. And as you look at the sum of these petitions, beyond those that we're going to look at this morning, but those beyond, the sum of the petitions is the total obliteration of wickedness and rebellion from the face of the earth. That is what God is going to do. God is indeed when He comes again, and the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, is going to obliterate all wickedness and rebellion from the face of the earth. And He's going to do so progressively in our lifetime, or He must ring until every enemy is put under His feet. He is in the process of putting every enemy under His feet. And for that, we have the privilege and the obligation to pray. And I would say that if you don't want the enemies of Christ put under His feet, then you are opposed to the great purpose of God in Christ and you better repent. If you don't want the Lord Jesus Christ to reign upon the earth, then you stand and defines the purpose of God in redeeming a world. And that's why again, we need to think God's thoughts after Him and not be confused by our own biocistic emotionalism. I must understand that when Christ gave Himself to the purpose of redeeming a lost world and of subduing the world to His rule and to His reign. And when you look in the book of Revelation and you see God's judgment upon those notorious opponents of Christ in His kingdom, I believe it to be apostate Judaism in Israel. And what do you see? You see those who are in heaven bowing down before the Lord and lifting their hands and praising God and saying, Arruya, for God reigns. The judgment of God upon the notoriously wicked is the exaltation of His holiness and His justice and His truth and the vindication of His kingdom. And that ought to cause us to rejoice. My heart was lifted up when I was reading that this morning. I hope yours was. But what a great thing it is when God causes the wicked to fear because you know that's how you came to Christ, isn't it? It was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears really. How precious did that grace appear? The hour I first believed. It's grace that causes the nations to fear. Yes, God is gracious even in His judgment upon the wicked. Gracious to His elect and brothers and sisters we need to pray for that grace upon this sin-stricken world. Doesn't your heart bleed? Doesn't your heart aid? Doesn't your heart desire to see nations fearing God? One of the great curses upon any people is there's no fear of God before their eyes. And we live in a nation before whom there is no fear of God. So brothers and sisters, when you pray this prayer you are asking God to so bear His arm and come down and visit His observable judgment upon men that nations may learn to fear God. And when that happens, the saints will raise their hands and say, oh yeah, for Jesus reigns. Now let's get to the petitions. I hope I said it out. I want to get you the whole picture here because I think we can kind of get taken away when we just look at these others. But what do you pray for then? For the individual. You pray for that which God has determined to do. And there are three things that I want to point out to you. You pray for God's retribution on the abuse authority. This will be fulfilled in time and in eternity. We read in Romans chapter 13 that civil officials and those are just one class of people for whom these petitions may indeed apply. But that civil officials are the ministers of God for the execution of justice, punishing the wicked and protecting the innocent. When you see, as we saw last time, those who take that and turn it on its head and call good evil and evil good and self-consciously oppose everything with everything that is within them turn their responsibilities to protect the innocent and to punish the wicked. And turn it on its head then it's going to be the time to pray these petitions. So what does he say here in verse 6? A point of wicked man over him and let an accuser stand at his right hand. What do you think would be the application of the principle of justice and eye for an attitude for two? If you've abused your authority if you've been an oppressor of God's people the petition is those who do so those who abuse authority deserve wicked rulers. A point of wicked man over him. Brothers and sisters, this is not just theoretical but I would have you to go back and read the books of 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles and see what God did to wicked rulers in Israel. When wicked rulers oppressed the people of God God said, okay, you're going to be oppressed by wicked rulers. And he brought it about. William Penn wrote this. I don't know if I have it exact. Some words the effect of men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants. Mark it down. You're either going to be governed by God in his word or you're going to be ruled by tyrants. Again, if you'll go back and look with me in the scriptures and look at the book of Leviticus, verse 26. Chapter 26 I should say. And again, I'll show you that you're just praying for that which God have already determined to do. Leviticus 26 and verse 17. Oh, yeah, wait a second. It may be because I'm learning to do it or not. It may be right still. Don't hang in there. Leviticus 26 and verse 17. This has to do with the curses on disobedience. Verse 17, I will set my face against you so that you shall be struck down before your enemies and those who will hate you shall rule over you and you shall flee when no one is pursuing you. You disobey me. You abuse the authority that I have given to you. Those who disobey God are going to have deserved the wicked, the rule of wicked rulers. And you can see the same thing. The cruelty of Israel was repaid by the cruelty of the Assyrians. And Don it goes. The cruelty of apostate Israel was paid back in time by the cruelty of the Roman armies as they raised Jerusalem to the ground. It's smoke going up. So we pray for the retribution, God's retribution on the abuse of authority. We read there a point of wicked man over him and let him accuse her. Stand at his right hand. Those who are false witnesses deserve to be accused. Only in this case it's not a false witness but it's a true witness. But again, notice back to show you what is being spoken of here in Psalm 109 verses 2 following, says, for they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me and fought against me without cause and returned from my love. They act as my accusers, but I am in prayer. False accusation? What's the response? They're going to false the accuser. Let an accuser stand at his right hand before the judgment of God and that accuser will be Satan. And he can make just accusation. Indeed, Christ himself will be the one who brings that accusation. So when we see that abuse of authority and privilege that calls good evil and evil good, we pray a point of wicked man over him and let an accuser stand at his right hand. Lord, fulfill your covenant. We then pray for God's justice in trial verse 7. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty and let his prayer become seen. Now again, that sounds a little bit harsh to us, doesn't, but don't remember the fees for who we put. We pray these prayers are incorrigible in their rebellion against God. And all we are asking in this is that justice might be done in the great courtroom of God's throne room. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty. Let me tell you something, folks. I don't know how you are, but I have been grieved by the travesty of justice that takes place in our courts on a daily basis. It is an abomination. We no longer are concerned with innocence or guilt. All we are concerned with are the technicalities. Well, let me tell you, when you stand before the judgment bar of God, there's going to be no release on the basis of technicality because all the technicalities are going to be taken care of. It's not going to be a judgment apart from the law of God but there's going to be no release of guilty people. There will be no release. And you ought to pray. And out of fact, we ought to pray that God will give us that kind of a system once again. We ought to pray that for our church courts. We ought to pray that for our civil courts. That when guilty men are brought before the judgment seat, they will be found guilty. Deuteronomy 26, you can see the repetition of seven times. You go back there again, Leviticus 26. You will see there that as you read through the passage, particularly with regard to the covenant, curses, or have a trouble planning Leviticus. I keep on ending up with Deuteronomy numbers. Leviticus 26, one of the passages which speaks of the blessings and cursings of God. If you start reading through there, verse 18, if also after these things, you do not obey me that I will punish you seven times more for your sins. You go down a little bit further. Verse 21, if you then act with hostility against me and on our own willing to obey me, I will increase the plague on you seven times, according to your sins. Verse 24, then I will act with hostility against you and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. It keeps on talking about seven times. You don't listen to me. I'll strike you seven times. And what it's speaking of there is the repetition of that throughout Leviticus 26 refers to perfect justice and retribution of God. That's what he promises. And so we pray for God's just verdict on sin. That's what we pray for. And we also pray for God's rejection of groundless pleas. Now again, this ought to be something which causes us to tremble because the Word of God tells us that there is a timeframe for repentance. And in this point in time, the place for repentance is not before the judgment. See, that point in time, it's too late, God tells us. We are told that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us. We read indeed that there is a time in Proverbs chapter one where the writer, the proverb urges people even as I do today to be wise and to submit to the rule of God in Christ. Let me read this portion to you. Verse 23 of Proverbs 1, I will turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. No, that is true. When we turn to the Lord in repentance and put our trust in Christ, He says, I'll pour out my spirit on you, and I'll make my words known to you. You'll receive my blessings though you were sinners in my sight. It's your turn. This is what I'll do. Verse 24, because I called and you refused. I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention and you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof. I will even laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come on you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my proof, reprieved, so they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices for the waywardness of the naive shall kill them and the complacency of fools shall destroy them. That's what you pray for. You pray that when they stand before God and having hardened their hearts against the preaching of the Word of God and of the offers of mercy and Christ when it comes time for judgment that God won't listen to their pleas because it will come out of an abominant, it's an abomination to God by regard toiquity in the heart, if I regard toiquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. You see, that's not a prayer for the grace of God. That is a prayer for being caught with your hand in the cookie jar and you just want to get out of the consequences. So we pray for God's justice and trial and we pray for God's limitation of wickedness. The fifth commandment says, honor thy father and thy mother by days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveeth thee. And we know from that commandment that what is included in it is obedience and submission to all lawful authority and ultimately we understand that the ultimate authority is God and His Word. You want to live long on the land. You want to live long in the earth. You obey God and you obey those whom God has placed in positions of authority. But with a heart for God, that is ultimately it. And so a person who will not obey God does not have the promise of long life. And so we read in verse eight for those who are self-consciously the enemies of Christ in this kingdom let his days be healed and let another take his office. You pray for the limitation of wickedness. You pray that God would limit wickedness by cutting off the lifespan of the wicked. Don't let him live any longer to do the damage that he has done on the face of the earth. Don't let him live that long. And you pray for the limitation of wickedness by replacing wicked officers with faithful ones let his days be healed and let another take his office. Does that seem harsh? Well, I want to ask you the question again upon whom would God have us to show mercy? Would you have us to show mercy to those who kill the innocent? Would you have mercy upon those who reject the grace of God who hate him and who bring great misery to the world who frustrate the gospel of Christ or who attempt to do so? Or would you have us to show mercy to the victims of those? That is the question. What I want to point out to you is that when you pray these prayers and we do need to pray that we would see retribution on the abuse of authority and God's justice and trial and the limitation of wickedness for what purpose? That's not an end in of itself. The end is the goal that we have in mind is the salvation of God's people and the promotion of God's kingdom to the end of the earth. You are asking the light of the gospel to disperse the darkness, the kingdom of this world, that Christ may rule and reign and that men might fear the Lord. That's the end for which we pray. Now again, I urge you to apply these implications these curses to yourself. This is what we deserve apart from Christ. Humble yourself to ask for the mercy of Christ in him by submission to him and rejoice in the Lord Jesus who bore your punishment. This is what Christ endured for you. Isaiah says he was cut off in the midst of his days. Why? Not because he sinned because you did. Only in this case, Christ's death did not mean that another would come and take his place. It meant that Christ ascended the very throne where he does indeed rule and reign. But I would also ask you if you have a heart for the kingdom of God in the Lord Jesus Christ who would humbly call upon the Lord to execute his covenant sanctions and the earth that you would pray with all of your heart by kingdom come. By will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And what is the will of God in heaven and on earth? Well, the will of God is that you first of all believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the will of God. God commands all men everywhere to repent and to believe for those who stand opposed, self-consciously who drove to the kingdom and to afflict the church of God and Christ himself. And when we pray by kingdom come and I will be done, it means, indeed, that God's judgment and justice will be known in the earth. That is the remedy that we have in a wicked world. May God be pleased to put it upon our hearts to pray not self-righteously but humbly. That God would indeed deal with the obstinate and incorrigibly wicked that fear might come upon all men and the gospel be received by the hearts of Trimble before the Lord before His awesome majesty and holiness. Let's pray together. Almighty God, our Father, we pray that You will hear we know Father that we are the ones who deserve these things in and of ourselves. We want to thank You therefore for the great salvation that is ours that indeed You do hear our plea for we do not regard iniquity in our hearts by Your grace, You have given us new hearts. Our plea is not in ourselves but our plea is in the satisfactory work of Lord Jesus Christ. But we do pray that You would take note of those who deceive and who lie, who oppress, who kill Your people because they are faithful to You. That You would take note of those who would seek to eradicate the name of Christ and His rule from their own domains. We pray, O Father, that You would laugh and hold them in derision. Remind them that You have placed Your king upon Zion's hill and may we see, O Father, Your mighty arm beared as You bring justice once again to the year. If we know that the Lord Jesus will not grow weary or become disheartened until He does cause justice to go forth to the nations, we beg that You would bring that about but we ask it in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen. Turning Your Salter's place to Psalm 83B as we conclude our worship this morning. Is that right? Did I get that right? Did You all practice A3B? That's what we're singing then. I just put the wrong number down. Oh, now, my God. This is the one I had selected. I just forgot to change the words. Okay, 83B. Let's stand together as we sing. Personal in that addiction of Your God and now may the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with You and rest upon You, both now and for all eternity. Amen.