Tenth Sunday After Trinity (B C P). Series

Psalm 17:1-8, Jeremiah 7:9-15, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Luke 19:41-47.

A). UNDER THE SHADOW OF THY WINGS.

Psalm 17:1-8.

PSALM 17:1. How can a man, born dead in trespasses and sins, plead with the LORD to “hear the right?” Well, it is as Abraham said, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25). When we use this Psalm, we are not appealing to our own self-righteousness, but to ‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 3:22-23).

“My cry” comes first, and then “my prayer.” The parent hears the cry of the child, and will respond to them, even before those cries have been articulated into a known language. The LORD knows the sorrows of His people, and hears their cry (cf. Exodus 3:7). The Lord hears and answers the prayers of His righteous people (cf. 1 Peter 3:12).

PSALM 17:2. The Psalmist makes his appeal to the highest court of all, and is bold to call upon God to vindicate him. This is faith indeed: ‘if I have done any wrong, then let me hear sentence from the mouth of God.’ We can be so bold, because we know that God holds the scales of justice, and that the blood and righteousness of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, far outweighs all of our sins (cf. Romans 3:25).

PSALM 17:3. It is the LORD who searches the heart (cf. Jeremiah 17:10). We can make our plea with Peter, ‘Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee’ (John 21:17). If we have the love of God in our hearts, then the judge Himself will be our vindicator (cf. Job 23:10).

PSALM 17:4. The desire of the believer is that we should keep ourselves away from “the works of (carnal) men.” The grace of God within us enables us to accomplish this by applying “the word of His lips” (Scripture) to keep us from “the paths of the destroyer.”

PSALM 17:5. Having forsaken the paths of evil, we can call upon God to uphold us in His paths. The Lord keeps our feet from slipping, and shall at last ‘present us faultless before the presence of His glory’ (cf. Jude 1:24-25).

PSALM 17:6. Experience tells us that God will hear our prayers. It is this confidence which seals our appeal: “incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.” Persevering prayer produces results (cf. James 5:16).

PSALM 17:7. “Show” what I know you to have: “thy loving kindness.” It is an appeal for the LORD to show anew His covenant grace wherewith He first loved us. The LORD continually extends to us the right hand of refuge.

PSALM 17:8. “Keep me as the apple of the eye.” The eye blinks to guard its pupil, its “apple.” In like manner, LORD, protect me.

“Hide me under the shadow of thy wings” – for it is under the metaphorical “wings” of the LORD that we seek refuge (cf. Ruth 2:12).

B). THE VAIN CONFIDENCE OF THE DISOBEDIENT.

Jeremiah 7:9-15.

As Paul unfolded his doctrine of justification by grace through faith in his Epistle to the Romans, he uttered the phrase ‘But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ (cf. Romans 5:20), and he realised that he had to square up to his detractors on this point. Paul knew perfectly well how they would twist it, and both anticipated and answered their accusing sneer: ‘Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?’ (cf. Romans 6:1).

This elicited an emphatic negation from Paul, the dynamic of which is caught in various translations: ‘God forbid!’ ‘Certainly not!’ ‘By no means!’ ‘What a ghastly thought!’ ‘No way!!!’ (cf. Romans 6:2).

It is vain and presumptuous, and downright sinful for men to imagine that they might cover their sins by the appearance of worshipping the one true God (JEREMIAH 7:9-10). But these men in Jeremiah’s day basically claimed to be “delivered” in order to go on sinning! We might hide our sins from men, but God knows our hearts (cf. Psalm 44:20-21).

Three times the LORD emphasises that “this house” (i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem) “is called by my name” (JEREMIAH 7:10-11; JEREMIAH 7:14).

Among other things the LORD asks, “Will ye steal?” (JEREMIAH 7:9). Then He says, “Is this house, which is called by name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it,” saith the LORD (JEREMIAH 7:11). Jesus says, ‘My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves’ (cf. Luke 19:46).

Now the LORD points to “Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel” (JEREMIAH 7:12). This was a town where the ark of the covenant had once rested (cf. Joshua 18:1). Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines, who also at that time removed the ark (cf. 1 Samuel 4:17; Psalm 78:58-64).