The Inevitable Vindication Text: Psalm 63:9-11
Introduction: The Great Reversal
We live in an age that has inverted reality. Our culture, in its high rebellion against the established order of God, has declared war on all distinctions, on all authority, and on truth itself. It calls evil good and good evil, puts darkness for light and light for darkness. Those who stand for righteousness are called haters, those who speak the truth are labeled liars, and those who seek to build are condemned as destroyers. In this upside-down world, the wicked appear to prosper, their mouths are full of boasts, and they seek the life of the righteous with impunity. It can be a disorienting time for the saints. It can feel like the wilderness David found himself in when he wrote this psalm.
But the Word of God is a great anchor in these tumultuous seas. The Scriptures do not just give us comfort; they give us a ballast of hard, sharp-edged reality. They remind us that God's universe is not a democracy. The votes have not been sent out for a recount. The final verdict is not in question. There is a moral grain to the cosmos, and you cannot go against that grain forever without getting splinters. This psalm, after its beautiful expressions of thirst for God, concludes with a stark reminder of this reality. It ends not with a question mark, but with a period. It ends with the certain, settled, and glorious vindication of God's king and the utter ruin of his enemies.
This is not wishful thinking. This is not "pie in the sky when you die." This is a prophecy of how history must unfold because God is on His throne. The imprecatory statements in the Psalms are deeply offensive to our soft, sentimental age. We want a God who is a celestial guidance counselor, not a conquering king. But these prayers are not expressions of personal vindictiveness. They are prayers for the establishment of cosmic justice. They are prayers that God would be God, that His name would be hallowed, and that His kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. And that coming kingdom necessarily means the displacement of all rival kingdoms. This psalm shows us the end game. It shows us the great reversal that is coming, and that is, in Christ, already underway.
The Text
But those who seek my life to destroy it,
Will go into the depths of the earth.
They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a portion for foxes.
But the king will be glad in God;
Everyone who swears by Him will boast,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be closed.
(Psalm 63:9-11 LSB)
The Destiny of the Wicked (v. 9-10)
David begins this section with a sharp contrast. The first eight verses describe his soul clinging to God. Now he turns his attention to those who are clinging to his destruction.
"But those who seek my life to destroy it, Will go into the depths of the earth. They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; They will be a portion for foxes." (Psalm 63:9-10)
Notice the absolute certainty here. David does not say, "I hope they will go into the depths of the earth." He says they "will go." This is not a guess; it is a statement of faith grounded in the character of God. Those who seek to destroy the Lord's anointed are, in fact, seeking their own destruction. They are digging a pit for David, but they will be the ones to fall into it. This is the law of the harvest, the principle of righteous blowback, woven into the fabric of God's world. Haman builds a gallows for Mordecai and ends up swinging on it himself.
To "go into the depths of the earth" is a Hebrew idiom for death and the grave, for Sheol. It is a picture of utter ruin and descent. They sought to bring David low, but they will be brought to the lowest place. They will be handed over to the "power of the sword." This is not an accidental death. This is the sword of divine judgment. Whether it is wielded by David's armies or by some other providential means, it is God's sword. God is a man of war, and He takes up the cause of His people.
And the result of this judgment is ultimate disgrace. "They will be a portion for foxes," or more accurately, jackals. This is a picture of a dishonorable death. Their bodies will not be gathered and buried by loving family. They will be left on the field of battle, unburied, for scavengers to consume. In the ancient world, this was the height of shame. It was to be blotted out, to have your name and memory consumed. This is the end for all who set themselves against the Lord and His anointed. Their grand rebellion ends as carrion for wild dogs. This is what all the proud boasts of man's autonomy and rebellion come to in the end: a pile of bones bleaching in the sun.
The Delight of the King (v. 11a)
The contrast could not be more stark. From the dishonorable death of the wicked, David turns to the joy of the righteous king.
"But the king will be glad in God..." (Psalm 63:11a)
The enemies of God end in the dirt, but the king ends in delight. And notice the source of his gladness. He is not glad in his victory, or in his army, or in his own cleverness. He will be glad "in God." God Himself is the prize. God is the source of his joy. The defeat of his enemies is simply the necessary consequence of God displaying His own glory and faithfulness. The king's joy is a theological joy. He rejoices because God has shown Himself to be who He said He is: a righteous judge and a faithful covenant keeper.
Of course, David is speaking of himself as the king. But we must read this, as the New Testament teaches us to, with Christ as the ultimate fulfillment. David was a type, a shadow, of the great King to come. Jesus is the true King who was hunted in the wilderness of this world. The rulers of the earth gathered together to seek His life and destroy it. And for a moment, it seemed they had succeeded. He went down into the depths of the earth. But He did so to conquer death, and He rose again in victory. And now, the exalted King, Jesus, is glad in God. He has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High, and He is reigning until all His enemies are made His footstool.
The gladness of the king is the gladness of Christ in His finished work and His ongoing victory. And because we are in Him, His gladness becomes our gladness. We rejoice not because we are naturally optimistic, but because our King has already won the decisive victory.
The Boast of the Faithful and the Silencing of Liars (v. 11b)
The king's gladness extends to all his loyal subjects. The victory is a shared one.
"...Everyone who swears by Him will boast, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be closed." (Genesis 63:11b)
Who are the ones who share in this joy? "Everyone who swears by Him." In that context, to swear by God's name was to declare ultimate allegiance. It was to identify yourself as a covenant keeper, one who belonged to Yahweh. It was to say, "He is my God, and I am His servant." These are the people who will "boast" or "glory." But their boast is not in themselves. Just as the king is glad in God, so the people boast in God. As Jeremiah says, "Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth" (Jer. 9:24).
And what is the final outcome of this great reversal? "For the mouths of those who speak lies will be closed." This is the ultimate end of all rebellion. All anti-Christian worldviews, all secular philosophies, all proud atheistic boasts are, at their root, a lie. They are a denial of the fundamental reality that "in the beginning, God." They are an attempt to build a world on a foundation of falsehood. And here is the promise: one day, every one of those mouths will be stopped.
This happens personally at the judgment seat, of course, where every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But in our postmillennial hope, we see this as a historical process as well. As the gospel goes forth, as the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ advances, the lies of the enemy are exposed and pushed back. False ideologies crumble. Corrupt systems collapse. The lies run out of steam. The truth of the gospel is the great solvent that dissolves the deceptions of the world. And the day is coming when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and on that day, the mouths of all who speak lies will be stopped for good.
Conclusion: The Unstoppable Kingdom
So what do we take from this? We must see that this is the trajectory of history. The wicked are not winning. They may have the microphone for a season. Their lies may be amplified by every cultural institution. But they are on the wrong side of God's decree. Their end is the pit, the sword, and the jackals. Their entire enterprise is doomed.
But the King, our Lord Jesus, is seated at God's right hand, and He is filled with an eternal gladness. And we, who have sworn allegiance to Him, who have taken His name upon ourselves in baptism, are invited to share in that gladness. Our task is not to despair in the wilderness. Our task is to boast in our God.
How do we do this? We do it by living as though this text is true. We refuse to be intimidated by the liars, knowing their mouths will be stopped. We work, we build, we sing, we preach, we raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, confident that our labor in the King is not in vain. We are subjects of an unstoppable kingdom, ruled by a glad King, and the future belongs to Him. Therefore, let us be glad in our God, and let our boast be in Him alone.