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Central to this psalm is the hope of praying in advance after stating the current state of affairs to the Lord. In this psalm David brings the deeds of his enemies to the forefront. This psalm shows David first stating the current situation as he sees it, and then later going into prayer in advance of the circumstances he has sighted. Verses 1 thru 5 address the current situation as David sees it. “Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth, Even from birth the wicked go astray, from the womb they are wayward and speak lies, Their venom is like the venom of the snake, like that of the cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be." Within this observation, David is saying that these evildoers are so entrenched right from the get go that even the most skillful and charmed arguments for the good side isn’t going to get through and bring them to the fold. In being compared to cobras, they go beyond that as they are like cobras that can't be charmed. Violence and lies characterize their behavior. David turns in the rest of the psalm to a prayer for judgment and retribution for the wicked deeds of these men and judges. The format of this psalm changes after verse 5. The first 5 verses are descriptive. The remainder of the psalm is a prayer telling the Lord how he wishes the Lord to intervene. The prayer takes the form of an advance notice to the Lord, he is asking the Lord to do something that hasn't happened yet and telling the Lord what he wants to see happen. Verses 5 threw 11 read, “Break the teeth in their mouths, O God, tear out oh Lord, the fangs of the lions! Let them vanish like water that flows away, when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted, Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. Before your pots can feel – the heat of the- thorns- the wicked will be swept away, The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bath their feet in the blood of the wicked, Then men will say, “ Surely the righteous are rewarded, surely there is a God who judges the earth." David is asking that they not get away with it, and that their capabilities for harm be fully thwarted. David is speaking of unrighteous judges, people who have the power and position to do significant harm. They aren't just simmering below the surface but they are popping up to have a significant role. They are like lions in that they have enough power within the jungle to do real damage. Our particular problems may not resonant in the same way, but the concept of first describing a problem or situation, and then asking the Lord to do something about it that hasn’t been done yet can apply to many of our own problems personal or otherwise, problems which may or may not be similar to the one's described in this psalm. While the problems in this psalm were rather large and widespread, this type of approach to prayer could involve small and specific problems as well. The prayer in advance can be applied to any number of prayer situations. A personal example might be using the simple matter of money and wealth which comes across the board for just about everybody. The current state of affairs might be that you have shortfalls of money and you would describe what this situation is like for you. Then you would give advance notice of what you would like the Lord to do about it and describe that even as David describes what he would like to see happen to these unrighteous judges. Just as in this psalm where David says the righteous will be glad when they are avenged, you might be glad when you have the money to do something that you lacked the prior monetary means to do so. In an intercessory prayer for say a foreign country, you might describe what is going on in that country that is concerning, and then state to the Lord what actions you would like to see the Lord take. You are describing in prayer what you would like to see happen in this country, praying in advance for something that hasn't happened yet. It describing what he would like to see happen to these wicked men, a particularly interesting metaphor is from verse 7 where David says," Let them vanish like water that flows away." If you ever have sat by or above a waterfall, it is a beautiful and amazing sight of just how quickly the water runs past and then flows away. This metaphor is quite encouraging in that it could apply to any problem a person might have, problems with relationships, health, money or even in interceding for some larger causes in prayer. There are any number of problems you would like to see vanish like water that flows away. The beauty of this metaphor is that the problems can go away before our very eyes, flowing away in such a manner that they aren't coming back. It's not like we would just close are eyes and wish, we can actually be awake to our problems dissappearing. Right before our very eyes, the water or problems flow away. This verse operates at the level of metaphor but it is also thematic. And if we seem to find God bringing a theme into our lives we can cite that theme in many ways across the board. I can apply the theme of pleasantness for example to any number of prayers. I thank the Lord for giving me a chance to be there and observe a pleasant sunset.while walking along the boardwalk on the beach. I could bring the theme of pleasantness that the Lord brought to me in this moment by the beach into a prayer for healing. Thank you Lord for how pleasant it would be to have a pain free back. I'm describing in advance not only that I would like a pain free back, but also just how pleasant that would feel for me. And I believe because God brought me to a place where I experienced the pleasantness of this sunrset he could also bring me to a place where I could experience the pleasantness of a pain free back. In the final verses of this psalm, David is saying how glad he will be to see righteousness avenged. Here the theme of the prayer is gladness. David is describing in advance how glad he will be if the Lord does bring about this retribution. This is again how we can bring a theme into what we are praying for in advance. This theme could be happiness. As I describe what I want to the Lord to do, I can also cite how happy I believe I would be if this happens. It is interesting that David does bring the idea full visibility into this psalm. He wants to see the wicked to be taken away in his full view, and yet he also asks that their view of the sun be taken away. David as God's arbitrator in the land does represent the cause for righteousness so what he has to say here in this psalm is important for what might happen to the wicked. There in lies one of the dangers of being swept away in the practice of wickedness, the ultimate and even final loss of the sight of God’s good things as David is describing here.
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