Sunday, April 22, 2018

Ps 109 16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17 He loved to pronounce a curse-
may it come on him;
he found no pleasure in blessing-
may it be far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied forever around him.
20 May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me."

We must understand the ot teaching on the curses. When God gave Moses the law it not only defined the standard but also the punishment. So each of Gods laws that are written down for Israel to follow are given with the pronouncement of a curse to those who fail to meet the laws requirements. When we are making a judgement on whether a curse is legitimate or false we judging every word that a person speaks. The Psalms teach that God has created all things by the word of His mouth. In other words the physical creation is a display of Gods attributes. It shows the way that the creator designed and worked in making the creation. Gods work meets the standard of the law which is why it shows the perfect symmetry, unity and beauty. If Gods creation could be destroyed or spin out of order then He would cease to be God. So we can say that all evil is a description that redefines Gods word. This is why sin is.." ra'a', wicked, injurious. From its root, which indicates its nature as breaking up all that is good or desirable; injurious to all others". Companion Bible
God must judge every word that is spoken by man. When Adam sin he began to redefine Gods word. The Psalms teach that God has spoken His word in laws , decrees, statutes, curses, covenants, and promises. God pronounces these parts of the law throughout the Psalms. The Psalms are Gods pronouncements that create the circumstances for Gods kingdom to advance upon this earth. God is showing how He designed and pronounced the creation into existence from nothing.
Now getting back to the curses. We must understand that any time we redefine Gods word we are creating disunity. The Psalms teach that one word that is deceptive is an attempt to introduce violence into the world. We can say that all violence and wars are caused by false teaching.Now here is the problem. Not only is redefining Gods word described as cursing ones neighbor but its not being able to have the ability to measure up to the standard of the law. Because the law requires that we promote the well being of our neighbor by enforcing the work that God has accomplished to support Gods purpose in creating our neighbor. If we failed to perfectly act according to the law then we are acting to prevent our neighbor from glorifying God. This is the standard in which the Psalms define "cursing" ones neighbor.
We must understand when Adam sinned he not only brought evil upon the human race but he sent the world spiraling down under the weight of the curse. Now think about this, since God made us to relate to one another in a way that our actions of love not only benefit our neighbor bur reflect upon our own health then why would anyone in their right mind treat their neighbor with contempt? It would result in self destruction. So this is why sin is so deceptive. Because when the human race spiraled down into the pit of the curse it brought in the inability to act according to the best wishes in creating the success in ones life. We are all in such a bad frame of mind that we curse ourselves.
God had to provide a remedy since man was unable to rise up to his original standard of success in enjoying Gods creation. God had to provide a substitute for His people. If the standard of the law was not met in the God Man then all men would be cursed to eternal destruction. But when Christ met the requirement of the law the judgement for breaking one law was silenced. Christ by His passive and active obedience silenced the curses. This is why Christ practically healed every person in the land at that time. Christ had to become a curse for us in order that we might enter into the covenant promises of grace and be blessed. In the Psalms there are only two types of people. Those who are cursed and those who are blessed.
The only confidence that we have as Gods blessed people is that we are righteous because of Christ incarnation and ascension into the heavens to be the King. The Psalms teach two kinds of curses. The law with the curses has not been abolished but rather upheld. You see here that the Psalmist is speaking a curse against those who have accused him. He describes the wicked as cursing the righteous. In other words because the wicked do not have Christ righteousness the curses remain on them. When the wicked accuse and attack Gods covenant people who are blessed the Psalmist describes this as an evil curse. Gods judgement on the language of the kingdom. But the here the Psalmist is not speaking his own curses but just repeating the curses of the law. God must uphold the curses of the law or the law would be nullified. We find the apostle extending the laws curses to the ends of the earth when he says Gal.1 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"