Genesis 9:18-29; Psalm 7

Genesis 9:18-29
Here we come to one of the darker incidents in the lives of otherwise godly men. God is an honest biographer! He records people's failures as well as their successes. Here we see Noah succumb to drunkenness and humiliation. The Bible repeatedly condemns drunkenness, and our common sense tells us that nothing good comes from drunkenness! Bible scholars have various opinions about Ham's sin when he saw his father's nakedness. But one thing is clear, and that is that Ham was disrespectful toward his father. It was not a case in which he accidentally saw his father and quickly retreated, preserving his father's dignity. Rather, he seemed to relish in Noah's humiliation, and he even tried to include his brothers in his ridicule. However, his brothers were not disrespectful to their father, and they acted to preserve his dignity.

As a result, Noah "cursed" Canaan, Ham's son and his descendants and "blessed" his other sons Shem and Japheth and their descendants. As New Testament believers, we find this puzzling indeed. We know that God is just as well as gracious and merciful, and we trust His judgments. We know that Shem became the ancestor of Israel (Semites), and Canaan became the ancestor of the Canaanites. These people became perpetual enemies to this day, battling over the land that God later promised to Abraham.

Psalm 7
As we saw last time, this psalm is David's prayer for vindication in the face of false words and dangerous actions from a man named Cush. Let's see if we can find a pattern to follow in cases in which we may find ourselves.

• First of all, David articulates his trust in the Lord! What a great first step and important lesson! v. 1
• He expresses his anxious thoughts to the Lord and asks God to save him. Notice how he compares his enemy to a vicious lion! God wants our honesty. vv. 1-2
• He confesses his sin, even if he was unaware of it. Then he continues to ask for God to work. vv. 3-8
• He expresses confidence in God. vv. 9-17 This is very important. We don't always understand what God is doing, and He hasn't promised us an explanation. However, He does expect our trust.
• The righteous God tests the hearts and minds. v. 9
• God is our defender. v. 10
• God is a just judge. vv. 11-16
• God is righteous. v. 17
• He is worthy of our praise. v. 17

"I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High." Psalm 7:17