The Lord takes delight in peace.

 

Sermon for Sexagesima, February 8, 2026

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  All who do his precepts have good understanding.  Amen.

Psalm 35:11-28  ¹¹Malicious witnesses arise.  They ask me about things I do not know.  ¹²They repay me with evil instead of good.  They rob my soul of happiness.  ¹³But when they were sick, I dressed in sackcloth.  I afflicted myself with fasting.  My prayers returned unanswered.  ¹⁴I walked around mourning, as if mourning for a friend or for my brother.  I bowed down, dirty with ashes as though mourning for my mother.  ¹⁵But when I stumbled, they were happy.  They gathered together.  Yes, attackers gathered together against me though I did not expect it.  They ripped me and were never quiet.  ¹⁶Like profane mockers, they gnashed their teeth at me.  ¹⁷Lord, how long will you look on?  Restore my life from their devastating attacks, my precious life from these young lions.  ¹⁸I will give thanks to you in the great assembly.  In a large crowd I will praise you.  ¹⁹Do not let them rejoice over me—those who are my enemies without cause.  Do not let those who hate me without reason mock me.  ²⁰For they do not speak for peace, but they devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.  ²¹They also open their mouth wide against me.  They say, “Ha!  Ha!  We see with our own eyes.”  ²²Lord, you have seen all this.  Do not be silent.  Lord, do not be far from me.  ²³Wake up and rise up to my defense!  My God and Lord, rise to my cause. ²⁴Judge me according to your righteousness, O Lord, my God.  Do not let them rejoice over me.  ²⁵Do not let them say in their hearts, “Aha!  Just what we wanted!”  Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him.”  ²⁶May those who rejoice over my trouble be put to shame and disgrace.  May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and contempt.  ²⁷May those who are pleased by my acquittal shout for joy and be glad.  May they always say, “The Lord is great.  He takes delight in the peace of his servant.”  ²⁸My tongue will report your righteousness and your praise all day long. (EHV)

The Lord takes delight in peace.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            A good share of our text recounts the pain David felt as he recalled the many ways in which the Eighth Commandment had been broken against him.  He tells of those who mocked and attacked him without cause and the maliciousness of their devious attacks.  David recounts how even though he had expressed kindness and concern for the downtrodden, some turned against him and rejoiced at his pain. 

We are not told when David wrote this psalm, but certainly, it could be when recalling King Saul’s maniacal rage against him and how the king sent whole armies after David while trying to destroy the man who had won many victories on behalf of his king.  Or, it could be when David’s own son, Absolam, tried to turn the people against David in order to steal his throne.  It could have been a time when any number of enemies conspired against David, especially later in his long reign.

In David’s recounting, we see a foreshadowing of the treatment Jesus would endure at the hands of His enemies.  Even though Jesus walked this earth in perfect obedience to God’s commands and with perfect kindness and service of His neighbors and those who came to Him, or were brought to Him, for healing, Jesus’ enemies often falsely accused Him.  They insinuated that He was in league with the devil and that’s what gave Jesus power over the demons.  They accused Jesus of conspiring to lead a rebellion against Rome, even though Jesus never showed any political ambitions.  The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus for claiming to be the Son of God, because they had decided in their hearts that Jesus was threatening their own power and political prestige.

At the same time, we may perhaps recognize some of our own sorrows as we read of the ways David was slandered and attacked.  You may have been personally slandered by those who consider the Christian faith useless or offensive.  Many in our world arrogantly announce that Christians are hypocrites because they imagine that we don’t love our neighbors as they would want us to.  You will likely be judged harshly in public opinion for any sin you commit or any weakness you might display.  The judgmental nature of the non-believer also assumes a personal righteousness that simply isn’t found in any sinner.  Yet, it is widely assumed among the wicked.

On the other hand, how often have we too been guilty of slandering another person, race, or nationality?  How often do we presume the guilt of someone else without taking into account that person’s intention or circumstance?  How often have you and I failed to put the best construction on everything?

With this text, we are also reviewing The Eighth Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  What does this mean?  Martin Luther taught, “We should fear and love God, so that we do not lie about, betray or slander our neighbor, but excuse him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.”  In all honesty, it is truly common for this commandment to be not only broken, but shattered in our everyday existence, if not by actual deed, then for sure in our thoughts and emotions.  Social media, no matter which side we are on, is rife with slanderous accusations or insinuations, and almost all of us get caught up in those lies whether intentionally or unawares.

Like David, we pray for God’s intervention, both against those who maliciously seek to hurt us and in repentance for our own guilt.  In his despair, David pleaded, “Lord, how long will you look on?  Restore my life from their devastating attacks, my precious life from these young lions.”  He further pleaded,

Do not let them rejoice over me—those who are my enemies without cause.  Do not let those who hate me without reason mock me.  For they do not speak for peace, but they devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.  They also open their mouth wide against me.  They say, “Ha!  Ha!  We see with our own eyes.”  Lord, you have seen all this.  Do not be silent.  Lord, do not be far from me.  Wake up and rise up to my defense! 

David was fervently hoping for peace, a respite from the attacks and false accusations.  He desired peace with his enemies, but especially peace with God.  For this reason, we are taught here that The Lord takes delight in peace.  The Lord our God desires that we be at peace with each other, but more importantly at peace with Him.  That’s why He gave us the Eighth Commandment, so that every thought in our heads and ever word that comes off of our lips would honor that peace with God and neighbor.  Yet, we see how little we, or anyone else, is able to keep that peace.  Our human frailties make us too easily angered, too selfishly concerned, and often too self-righteous to put the best construction on everything. 

It appears that David was pleading for a solution in the here and now.  He said, “Do not let them rejoice over me.  Do not let them say in their hearts, ‘Aha!  Just what we wanted!’  Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed him.’  May those who rejoice over my trouble be put to shame and disgrace.  May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and contempt.”  You and I likely feel that way at times ourselves.  While we plea for mercy, we may inadvertently also pray for revenge.  It is because of this great weakness that God answers David’s plea in a most unexpected way.

You see, God didn’t rain down a burning sulfur fire of judgment upon David’s enemies, nor did He do that for His Son here on earth.  Meanwhile, we can sometimes see God’s hand moving against the enemies of His people, and for sure that justice will be completed on Judgment Day.  Still, notice the heart of David’s prayer, “Restore my life from their devastating attacks, my precious life from these young lions.  I will give thanks to you in the great assembly.  In a large crowd I will praise you.”  And again, “Judge me according to your righteousness, O Lord, my God.  Do not let them rejoice over me.”  It is in answer to these prayers that we see how The Lord takes delight in peace. 

Rather than sending His Son to judge the world and condemn the wicked and abusive among us, God recognized that we all need a Savior, and that is what God sent, His own beloved Son to save us.  Jesus came into our world experiencing the same flagrant abuse so common in the world, and even more, because He was truly holy and without sin.  There was never any good reason to accuse Jesus, and yet He bore those accusations without complaint.  Isaiah prophesied, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)  Encircled by rabid accusers attacking Him like young lions (as David called them), Jesus stayed silent and gave no answer to the wicked accusations against Him.  Though He had no fault or sin of His own, Jesus bore those accusations for you and me.

Instead of rendering the judgment we all deserved, God chose mercy for us, and He did that by meting out the justice we deserved upon His own dear Son who took upon Himself all the slanderous attacks you and I have ever committed.  You see, in our place, Jesus was bearing all the guilt of the slanderous accusations of all sinners.  He carried our sins as He journeyed to the cross so that the Father could deliver the death sentence the wickedness of the world deserved.

Because The Lord takes delight in peace, we plead along with David, “Judge me according to your righteousness, O Lord, my God.  Do not let them rejoice over me.”  As we look around this room, it may not appear that we are a great, huge assembly of God’s people, but we need to remember that as we gather together, as we bow in repentance for our sins, we confess before God the faith we have in Jesus as our Savior.  We gather together with all the faithful the whole earth over and with those who have entered God’s presence in heaven, praising God for His merciful kindness for He covers us with Jesus’ righteousness.

Because of Jesus, we now join in response, “May those who are pleased by my acquittal shout for joy and be glad.  May they always say, ‘The Lord is great.  He takes delight in the peace of his servant.’  My tongue will report your righteousness and your praise all day long.”  This is the song of faith that unites Christian believers, that Jesus lived, died, and rose again to remove the stain of our wickedness and the shame of guilty consciences.  Jesus lived, died, and rose again to open the gates of heaven to those of us who are assaulted by the slanderous accusations of the devil and his minions. 

Dear friends, as we consider how to live according to the Eighth Commandment, may we let David’s words from Psalm 19 be our guide and inspiration, “May the speech from my mouth and the thoughts in my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:19)  By the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, we are given saving faith in Jesus, because The Lord takes delight in peace.  Amen.

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.  To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.