THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

CXLIII. Responding To God’s Discipline For Sin

(Psalm 143:1-12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Sin is great and universal, and knowing that God must punish it, we may wonder how to respond to it all:

(1) Academic abuse and its resulting financial abuse of children abounds in many state schools and homes in Connecticut: “(T)he state is not on track to meet its pledge to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50% from the 2021 level by 2027 . . . (for) (w)hy should parents and students believe the teachers, administrators, and social workers about the importance of education when they know . . . students will be promoted from grade to grade and given a high school diploma even if they learn nothing . . . that Connecticut will never hold parents responsible for their children’s misbehavior . . . (and) that educators and state legislators care about achieving a high graduation rate only to conceal a low rate of actual education. The result is generational poverty, and it is largely government policy.” (Chris Powell, “Why go to school?”, Republican-American, October 21, 2025, p. A6)

(2) Hatred exists in our state legislature and abounds in the general public: “Among the . . . anti-Trump . . . placards . . . at the No Kings rally at the state Capitol . . . state Sen. Saud Anwar chose to pose with one that poked the president’s famously unhealthy diet – with what some took as a hopeful hint at Trump’s death. ‘CHOLESTEROL, DO YOUR JOB,’ the sign said, with images of a burger and fries, and a bucket of fried chicken. The South Windsor Democrat, smiling, held the sign with an unidentified woman . . . and posted the photo on his Facebook page. Gov. Ned Lamont was not amused. He suggested Monday that Anwar should apologize . . . Senate GOP Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, called for Anwar, a medical doctor, to resign or be stripped of his role” as co-chairman of the legislature’s Public Health Committee. (Dan Haar, “Lamont suggests Anwar apologize for posing with anti-Trump sign,” Ibid., October 22, 2025, p. A4) Commentator Dan Haar added, “(But) I’ve heard countless Trump detractors who would never wish him assassinated express the hope that he dies of natural causes, or perhaps an accident . . . I would imagine some Republicans wished the same fate on former presidents Obama, Clinton or Biden.” (Ibid.)

(3) Immorality abounds with the British royal family as well as with commoners: “(A) memoir by Virginia Giuffre . . . ‘Nobody’s Girl’ is being published posthumously after Giuffre died by suicide in April. Giuffre had for years accused (Prince) Andrew of sexually abusing her on multiple occasions when she was under 18 years old . . . Andrew . . . denied that he had ever met Giuffre or had sexual contact with her and said he had ‘absolutely no memory’ of a now infamous photograph showing him with his arm around her waist in 2001.” (Sylvia Hui, “Memoir by Prince Andrew’s accuser reignites scandal that has long dogged UK royals,” Ibid., p. B11)

(4) Gambling abuse abounds with the Mafia, with some professional basketball players and with many poor people, and it is even sanctioned by the U. S. Supreme Court: (a) “The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested” recently “with more than 30 other people in two cases alleging sprawling . . . schemes . . . by rigging sports bets and poker games involving Mafia families . . . ‘The fraud is mind boggling,’ FBI Director Kash Patel (said). ‘We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars’” as “organizers sometimes used robbery, extortion, and assault to get debtors to pay.” (Alanna Durkin Richer, Tim Reynolds and Philip Marcelo, “NBA coach, player charged in gambling schemes,” Ibid., October 24, 2025, p. A12). (b) “Charles Lehman of the Manhattan Institute” added, “‘The rise of sports gambling has caused a wave of financial and familial misery . . . that falls disproportionately on the most economically precarious households.’” (Rich Lowry, “America’s gambling problem,” Ibid., October 27, 2025, p. A6) (c) However, “(s)ports betting . . . mushroomed when the Supreme Court struck down in 2018 . . . a ban on sports betting called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act,” so “sports betting is now part of the American mainstream, and we haven’t seen the last of the scandals.” (Ibid.)

Need: So we ask, “If sin is great and universal and God must punish it, how can we beneficially respond to it all?”

I. Psalm 143:1-12 is a lament psalm composed under duress of God’s discipline when David poured out his petition, shifting abruptly from topic to topic due to the intensity of his personal distress.

II. By organizing the psalm’s topics, we observe the following instructive structure of the psalm’s contents:

A. In Psalm 143:1, 3-4, 7, 9 and 11-12, David repeatedly called for God to deliver him from oppressive enemies.

B. The cause of David’s plight was God’s use of troubling people to discipline him for a sin he had committed:

1. In Psalm 143:2, David implied that he had sinned in some way since he there asked God not to punish him because no man alive could justify himself in God’s viewpoint.

2. God’s Davidic Covenant at 2 Samuel 7:14 predicted that if David or any of his descendants who sat on his throne sinned, God would discipline him (figuratively) “with the rod of men,” so in the case of Psalm 143, God was fulfilling His 2 Samuel 7:14 promise by allowing human enemies to afflict David for his sin.

C. The solution to David’s distress in Psalm 143 was twofold (as follows):

1. First, David expressed faith in God to deliver him from his enemies’ oppressions, Psalm 143:5-6, 8a.

2. Second, David asked God to teach him how to live rightly that he might avoid God’s discipline, v. 8b, 10.

D. The way God’s discipline would work to instruct David is noted in other Scripture passages (as follows):

1. In Deuteronomy 17:16-17, God had told Israel’s king not to multiply horses, wives or riches unto himself, for (a) multiplying horses led a king to trust in human military might rather than the Lord, (b) multiplying wives led a king to be influenced by pagan wives to turn unto false gods and (c) multiplying riches led a king to rely on his wealth instead of the Lord. Thus, God’s discipline worked to teach Israel’s kings to keep trusting in the Lord and adhering to Him instead of following after false gods or resources to succeed.

2. In Deuteronomy 17:18-20, God had directed that Israel’s king read from Scripture daily that he not consider himself better or more valuable than his subjects, but that he remain humble. Thus, a king could easily view his position as implying that he was more significant or valuable than his subjects, leading to his committing sinful abuses against his subordinates that God’s discipline would work to counter.

3. When God gave David a choice of being disciplined in various ways for sinfully numbering Israel for David’s relying on numbers of people versus the Lord, David asked that God Himself discipline him, that He not use human foes since God was merciful unlike human enemies, 2 Samuel 24:14. David had learned by God’s past disciplines the value of being merciful as a king in dealing with his subjects, so God wanted to make the Davidic kings learn to be considerate of their subjects in how they used their power.

Lesson: When the Lord let David’s enemies oppress him for his sin in accord with God’s Davidic Covenant, David called on the Lord for deliverance, facing up to his sinful failure, and asking the Lord to instruct him in the way of righteousness that he might avoid future discipline. That instruction involved God’s directing David to keep trusting in and adhering to the Lord as God and to be humble and considerate in how he dealt with his subjects.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) If we face oppressive enemies, (a) may we check to see if we have sinned, and if so, may we confess it to God for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). (b) May we also learn from the affliction we face in God’s discipline to trust in and adhere to the Lord alone as God, and to be humble and considerate of other people, especially when we relate to our subordinates.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and/or provide additional guidance . . .)

We view Scripture passages that address the issues of concern mentioned in our sermon introduction:

(1) On the academic abuse of children in state schools and homes, (a) we parents must oversee the education of our own children, whether we use home schooling, a Christian school or public schooling, for we parents are accountable to the Lord for the rearing of our children, Ephesians 6:4. (b) If we are a child, and we do not get adequate help from teachers or parents, we like the child Samuel can rely on the Lord for His help, 1 Samuel 3:1-21.

(2) On the hatred in officials or in the general public for political figures, (a) God calls us to love all people (cf. Romans 13:8, 10). (b) 1 Peter 2:17 directed early Christians to honor the king, and when Peter wrote these words in A. D. 63, the Roman Emperor over Peter and his Christian readers was Nero, the ruler who produced the first empire wide persecution of the Church (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., vol. Four, p. 410-411). So, regardless of our political views and the political views of those in leadership over us, we must honor our leaders because of their office.

(3) On the immorality at all levels of society, (a) Ephesians 5:3 calls us to avoid this sin, (b) Ephesians 5:15-17 calls us to live wisely to avoid getting into sinful trouble and (c) 1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV claims, “Bad company corrupts good character.” Virginia Giuffre’s memoir tells of her agreeing in her teens to be allegedly trained to be a massage therapist, a career notorious for sexual abuse, only to suffer abuse by influential people. Had she heeded Ephesians 5:3, 15 and 1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV, she would have avoided the tragic life that she experienced.

(4) On the sins of gambling abuses, Proverbs 28:19 NIV states that those who work their land will have plenty of food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty. Gambling casinos make millions of dollars off of gamblers, so gambling for a livelihood makes one a chaser of fantasies. One must look elsewhere for a livelihood.

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. If facing God’s discipline, may we repent, confess it and learn God’s lessons on living righteously.