Vindication :: Psalm 41:7-8

David prayed in Psalm 41, All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, ‘A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.’ (vv 7-8)

1. 

In our everyday speech, the word enemy might seem to overstate our situation. To be sure, “the devil, the world, and our sinful nature” (SC Third Petition) are certainly mortal enemies; they oppose us with deadly intent. But those are spiritual enemies ... they are not physical, human enemies who look us in the eye. 

Not many of us have those sorts of enemies these days. But King David and our Lord Jesus did. Even if there might be loveless people in your life who drum their fingers ... waiting for you to die so that they can have your money ... those people will hopefully NOT scheme to commit your murder. 

Treacherous, murderous men schemed against David ... David wrote, They imagine the worst for me. They say, ‘A deadly thing is poured out on him.’ 

Christ Jesus, our Lord, likewise endured the deadly designs of murderers, as we heard in our Gospel reading ... The chief priests and the elders of the people ... plotted together in order to seize Jesus and kill Him (Mt 26:3–4).

Your and my situations are measurably different. We do not (yet) have people who directly seek our deaths. Most of our enemies are likely less violent ... people who are just plain mean ... people who speak evil about us ... people who seem oddly gratified by our pain ... people who selfishly take but refuse to give ... people who willingly commit injustice ... people who leave us feeling miserable ... people who sometimes make us wish we actually were dead. Perhaps the worst thing about such people is that they seem to get away with it. Rest assured: those who treat you badly will NOT get away with it.

2.

David’s enemies thought that they would get away with their injustices against him. They poured out a deadly thing for him, then foolishly said concerning him ... He will not rise again from where he lies. They were wrong. 

No one who dies ever stays dead. All people shall rise, as the Prophet Daniel wrote ... these to everlasting life, and those to scorn and everlasting abhorrence (Dn 12:2). Jesus spoke the truth that gives shape to all eternity when He declared ... Amen, Amen, I say to you, an hour comes, and it is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those hearing will live. ... Do not be amazed at this, for an hour comes when all those in the tombs will hear his voice and journey out, those who have done good into the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment (Jn 5:25, 28–29).

Those words speak the certainty of the resurrection. David lived in that certainty. Jesus embodies that certainty. And you who have been baptized have that same certainty. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ... If we have been united with Him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like His (Rm 6:3, 5)

The certainty of the resurrection allowed David to live in confidence and hope, even while his enemies said, He will not rise again from where he lies. David knew very well that he would indeed rise. That knowledge gave David comfort and power.

First, David’s faith in the resurrection indicated that ... whatever he might have been required to suffer ... his suffering would not last forever. David’s psalms are full of the hope of the resurrection, even while he teetered on the brink of death. The resurrection is why David could confidently pray ... and why you also can pray with equal confidence,

• I will NOT be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around (Ps 3:6); and,

• I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You (Ps 22:22); and yet again

• I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! (Ps 27:13).

Relief from suffering is only the first comfort of the resurrection. The second comfort is vindication. Vindication is when all wrongs get made right. Vindication happens when those who suffer losses get their losses returned to them. 

Have you suffered unanswered injustice so that you long for and await vindication? 

You are not alone. The souls of countless Christian martyrs wait with you. They loudly cry out from the pages of the Word, How long, O Sovereign Lord, the Holy and True One, before you judge and avenge our blood? (Rv 6:10).

David knew that although his enemies might win a battle here or there, they could NOT win the war. David knew he would be vindicated ... and you will be too. That is why David could also pray ... and why you also can pray with him:

• All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment (Ps 6:10); and

• His mischief returns upon his own head (Ps 7:16); and again,

• in Psalm 41, By this I know that You [Lord] delight in me: my enemy will NOT shout in triumph over me. But You have ... set me in Your presence forever (vv. 11–12).

3. 

How do we know that David’s enemies did NOT finally get away with it? More to the point, how do we know that your enemies will NOT get away with what they have done to you? 

We know these things because the enemies of Jesus could NOT and did NOT get away with their plans against Him.

Psalm 41 speaks in the voice of The Christ, as surely as it speaks in the voice of King David: All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, ‘A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.’ 

The enemies of Jesus were so desperate that he would not rise again from where he lies that they posted a guard and imposed a seal upon the tomb. The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while He was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard (Mt 27:62–66)

The plan did NOT work. Jesus rose from the dead. God the Father crowned Him with glory and honor (Ps 8:5; Hb 2:7). 

Jesus was vindicated in his resurrection ... and you shall be too! 

Those who have committed injustices against you will NOT remain unanswered forever. Those who have harmed you have truly only harmed themselves. You will gain back all that has been taken away from you by selfish hands. You will rise again from where you are finally laid, and King David will rise with you, in the power of the Christ who rose before both of you (Col 1:18; Rv 1:5). And you will say on that great day, with David and with Jesus, You have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in Your presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen (Ps 41:12–13).