The Way of the Wicked
Psalm 52: 1-9
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
Unlike many of our Psalms this particular one is dedicated to a specific event in the life of David. This event is described in full in 1 Samuel 22: 6-23. There we see that this Edomite was ready and willing to do what the soldiers of Saul were unwilling to do. Thus Doeg is personally responsible for the deaths of the priests and their whole families in the village of Nob. Only one priest escaped to report the story to David. Even in his grief David learns a lesson from the wickedness of Doeg. And this lesson is the subject of his instruction here.
In verse one David asks "how can this creature boast of the evil that he has done." After all, he has slaughtered innocent unarmed priests, women and children. Now it is common for warriors in all times and places to tell their tails of conflict with others of equal strength and might. Surely, David wonders, there can be no boasting in this evil deed. This terrible deed is like the treachery of a deceitful razor.
The meaning here can be explained by one of my friend's experiences in Viet Nam. He and a buddy had stopped into a Vietnamese barber. While his buddy was in the chair there was an explosion and commotion out on the street. My friend stepped to the door to see what was going on and heard his friend gasp. Evidently the barber had become overly tense with the razor in his hand. My friend immediately pulled the bolt on his M-16, flipped off the safety and kept a very close eye on the barber as he finished the job of shaving his buddy. Afterwards, his buddy always talked about the closest shave that he had ever had in Saigon! This perhaps is the sense here of one who is supposedly friendly taking deadly advantage of their position. After all our passage in 2 Samuel mentions that Doeg was present when David was with the priests in Nob.
Probably David had thought him at least neutral if not friendly for David's difficulties with Saul. Doeg's deeds now make clear where his mind and heart really are. And it is evident from his actions that he loves evil more than doing good. The psalmist urges us to pause and reflect upon this reality. Selah! Yes, we have to appreciate that there are indeed evil men in our times as well. You do not have to have lived very long to have encountered men like Doeg. While we are fortunate that in our times over very lives are not yet at stake, there are many times careers and business plans very much at risk.
We see there in verse four that these like Doeg love every harmful word. Even if they are not in a position to do personal damage, their boasting sometimes causes us grief and treasure to maintain some form of protection for ourselves and those we love. Unfortunately the world has more than a fair share of these types. But as we move on into our psalm, the mood changes.
In the second division we find that the wicked will have their proper reward. In verse five the certainty of God's righteous justice is affirmed. Doeg and his kind will find everlasting ruin. God will pluck them from their home and remove them from the land of the living. Again the psalmist urges us to meditate on this fact. Selah
Divine justice is more than a match for human sin. David promises that the righteous will outlive the enmity of their enemies. He even predicts that the saints will laugh at the end of their enemies. Within the last few weeks, two students who had been a source of trouble for us at school since September reached the end of their legal rope. They were caught red handed with drugs and a large wad of cash. They were taken out of school in handcuffs! I just had to smile when I heard the news!
In verse seven David returns our focus upon the man Doeg. He it was who gloried not in the strength of God, but trusted in his own might and power. Doeg here is the picture of all the wicked who trust in their own control of wealth and fate. What is to be their fate? We can anticipate the warm reception that Doeg and all others will find in their eternal reward. The instruction that we need to learn in this Psalm is to avoid a like reward. And it is to this hope that David turns in the last two verses of our psalm today.
David's thoughts turn to his own condition. "But I", he says, even while he is being hunted and persecuted "am like an olive tree." Even in the hot climate of the Mediterranean the olive tree can become rooted and draw nourishment from the rocky soil and there produce fruit and strength in abundance. David says that like that olive tree, he is himself safe in the house of God. In the righteousness of God, David was bearing fruit and would continue to do so when all his proud enemies were withered and dead.
In the last part of verse eight we see the source of confidence for David. "I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever." If we like David want to find the same confidence we must learn to trust only in David's God who is our savior through His Son, our very own Lord Jesus Christ.
Our final note here is to consider David's praise for what God has done. Unlike the wicked who perish, David has life in God's unfailing love. And God's mercy is forever. In a like manner so should be our praise because of what God has done for us. In God is life and in Him is hope because He alone is good. Certainly the wicked may boast today. We should not be overcome by their wickedness but hope in the Lord and praise Him for what He will do for us through salvation unto eternal life. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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The Holy
Bible, New King James
Version. | ||
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052a |
15 January 89 & 26 December 99 | |