Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 14:1 (Spring 2017)
Article: Sermon: O God, Break The Teeth In Their Mouths
Author: Russell L. Meek

JBTM 14:1 (Spring 2017) p. 13

Sermon: O God, Break The Teeth In Their Mouths

Russell L. Meek

Russell L. Meek is assistant professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.

The wicked are estranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, break the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

Let them vanish like water that runs away;

when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges on earth.” (Ps 58 ESV)

Introduction

When I was six years old my father left my mother after a years-long affair. From then on I spent the majority of my time with my grandmother, Mimi, a devout Christian woman whose witness eventually led to my repentance and faith in Christ. She passed away from cancer when I was twelve, but not before I saw her, her hair nearly gone, sing “Amazing Grace.” I couldn’t understand how she loved and trusted God. It just didn’t make sense to me. After my grandmother passed away, my mother married a very angry, abusive, Christian man. I blamed my father for not being around to protect us. All this, plus a consistent problem with drug and alcohol abuse, combined to create an angry, hard-hearted young man.

JBTM 14:1 (Spring 2017) p. 14

I became a Christian when I was eighteen years old. I distinctly remember thinking of that time I heard my grandmother singing, and the Holy Spirit moved in my heart to call me to him. I wa...