Vindication

​Midweek 6 – 2024                                                                                LSB 560, 431, 430:1, 7; 878
Text – Psalm 41:7-8
 
VINDICATION
 
 
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.’” 
In our everyday speech,  the word enemy  might seem to overstate our situation.  The devil,  the world & our sinful nature  are certainly mortal enemies; they oppose us with deadly intent.  But those are spiritual enemies,  not physical, human enemies  who look us in the eye.  Not many of us have those enemies these days; King David & our Lord Jesus did.  
Even if there might be loveless people in your life who drum their fingers, waiting for you to die,  so they can have your money,  hopefully they will not scheme to commit murder.  Treacherous, murderous men schemed against David: “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: “The chief priests & the elders of the people... plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth & kill Him.”  (Matthew 26:3–4)   Our situations are measurably different.  
We do not  (yet) have people who directly seek our death.  Most of our enemies are less violent: people who are just plain mean; people who speak evil about us; those who seem oddly gratified by our pain;  people who selfishly take but refuse to give; those who willingly commit injustice & leave us feeling miserable; people who at times 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.   God is patiently waiting.   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  stays dead.   All people shall rise, “some to everlasting life, & some to shame & everlasting contempt.”  (Daniel 12:2)   Jesus spoke the truth that gives shape to all eternity when He declared:
“…I say to you, an hour is coming, & is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,  & those who hear will live...  Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice & come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, & those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.  (John 5:25, 28–29) 
Those words speak the certainty of the resurrection.  David lived in that certainty.  Jesus of Nazareth embodies that certainty.  You have been baptized into 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 shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”  (Romans 6:3, 5) 
The certainty of the resurrection allowed David to live in confidence & hope,  even while his enemies said, “He will not rise again from where he lies.”   David knew very well that he would rise & that knowledge gave David comfort  & power.  
First, his faith in the resurrection indicated that, whatever he might have been required to suffer, it 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 he could pray confidently – & 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,” (Psalm 3:6); &, “I will tell of Your name to my brothers;  in the midst of the congregation I will praise You,” (Psalm 22:22);  & yet again, “I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!”  (Psalm 27:13)   Relief from suffering is only the 1st comfort of the resurrection.  The 2nd comfort is vindication.  Vindication is when all wrongs  are made right.   It happens when those who suffer loss have their loss restored.  
Have you suffered unanswered injustice so that you long for & 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, in Revelation, “O Sovereign Lord,  holy & true,  how long before You will judge & avenge our blood?”  (6:10) 
“All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.”  (Psalm 41:7)  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; you shall be as well.  That is why David could pray – & why you also  can pray with him:
“All my enemies shall be ashamed & greatly troubled; they shall turn back & be put to shame in a moment” (Psalm 6:10); & “His mischief returns upon his own head” (Psalm 7:16); &, 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.”  (vs. 11–12) 
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’ve done to you?  We know this because the enemies of Jesus could not & 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 not “rise again from where he lies” that they posted a guard &
imposed a seal upon His tomb. 
“…the chief priests & the Pharisees gathered before Pilate & 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 3rd day, lest His disciples go & steal Him away & tell the people, “He has risen from the dead,” & 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 & made the tomb secure by sealing the stone & setting a guard.”  (Matthew 27:62–66) 
 
The plan did not work.  Jesus rose from the dead.  God the Father “crowned Him with glory & honor.”  (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7)    Jesus was vindicated in His resurrection, & so shall you.  Those who have committed injustices against you shall not remain unanswered forever.  Those who have harmed you  have only harmed themselves.  
You shall gain back all that has been taken from you.  You shall rise again from where you are finally laid down, & King David shall rise with you,  in the power of God’s Son who rose before both of you.  (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5)   You shall say on that great day,  with David & with Jesus:
“You have upheld me because of my integrity, & set me in Your presence forever.  Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!  Amen & Amen!”  (Psalm 41:12–13) 
 
 
Not all the blood of beasts  on Jewish altars slain  could give the guilty conscience peace  or wash away the stain.     But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,  takes all our sins away;  a sacrifice of nobler name  & richer blood than they.  Amen.  LSB 431:1-2.