Psalm 14

⁰⁴          Have all the evildoers no knowledge,

      who devour my people as they eat bread

And do not call upon the LORD?

⁰⁵               They are [united] in a great fear,

                 for God is present with the company of the righteous.

⁰⁶             They would shame the council of the poor,

                 but the LORD is their refuge.

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Contention with the Elect

For the Lord’s Day:  the 23^rd of November 2003

Introduction:  Here in this section of the psalm we see the united opposition of the wicked and worldly to the very people who should demonstrate the love of God and show the charity of His mercy in their service.  Years ago, I remember hearing a story of an African dictator who proposed new regulations of and confiscations from his Christian minority.  A denominational officer from the ranks of the African clergy managed an appointment to discuss the improved methodology of the confiscation of wealth.  In his discussion he was able to convince the dictator that of all the subject tribes and groups, it was the Christian ones who consistently paid their taxes, obeyed the laws and refused armed rebellion.  Why, he asked, would an enlightened despot seek to destroy his most loyal supporters?  Reportedly, the dictator relaxed his efforts of suppression and became more appreciative of the loyal opposition to his tyranny.

 

Not always has any government been so convinced of the wisdom or sharing the ordinary prosperity of hard working Christians.  Some deplorable perverts seek to destroy any and all who might remind them that God is indeed in heaven and that He judges the people and grants some the common blessings that usually occur because they belong to Him. 

 

“Have all the evildoers no knowledge, who devour my people as they eat bread.”  Calvin invests a similar tone in his analysis of this psalm portion:  “This question [in verse four] is added to give a more amplified illustration of the preceding doctrine.  The prophet had said that God observed from heaven the doings of men, and had found all of them gone out of the way; and now he introduces him exclaiming with astonishment, what madness is this, that they who ought to cherish my people, and assiduously perform them to every kind office, are oppressing and falling upon them like wild beasts, without any feeling of humanity?”

 

We have to remember that these particular evildoers are of the same nation and tribes as those who are being oppressed!  Delitzsch weighs in with this observation:  “It ought at least to have been different in Israel, the nation of the positive revelation.  But even there wickedness prevails and makes God’s purpose of mercy of none effect.  The divine outburst of indignation which the psalmist hears here is applicable to the sinners in Israel.”

 

Well can I attest from long experience that the psalmist is not just describing an unusual circumstance within the general body of God’s people.  Were it not for God’s calling me to service, I would have abandoned the contemporary churches several times over for the unregenerate attitudes, the often severe back biting and ongoing political plotting that so well characterizes every human institution.

 

Development:  It is of course in such circumstances that God’s people are tested and prepared for the often hard service so common in our day.  Like the nominal atheism I mentioned last week, a lot of what goes on is thoughtless and unpremeditated because the vast majority of hangers on to Christ’s Church never take the trouble to study the word and hold themselves accountable to the generous mercy and grace perceived.  How aptly is the third line of verse four phrased:  “And do not call upon the LORD?”

 

Delitzsch likens this unthinking crowd as worse than the atheists who might rally them to action against the Lord’s anointed leaders and the elect of all the earth who submit willingly to both godly leadership and the sovereign God of heaven.

 

But, we have forgotten a line in this consideration?  The whole pack of atheists and sympathizers would consume the Church of the Living God if it were possible and while they cannot get their hands on God Himself, pity the poor vulnerable believer who happens into their control.  Even as the Lord observes, the wicked would “devour [His] people as they eat bread.”

 

This expression can mean one of several things.  Now we should not take this too literally, even though a group of Fiji Island natives recently gained world wide attention for a belated apology for having consumed missionaries some decades past.  The first possibility for understanding this phrase is in the sense comes from the insight of Calvin:  “the heinousness of the proceedings condemned is not a little aggravated from this circumstance, that it is the shepherds themselves, whose office it is to feed and to take care of the flock, who cruelly devour it, and who spare not even the people and heritage of God.”

 

I am reminded of at least two similar stories of “Shepherds” gone bad.  In once case the founding pastor of a large and successful church, simply drove people out when it came time to retire and then sold the edifice and contents for his retirement package.  Another founding pastor refused to share any power with his appointed underlings and thereby crashed the congregational will to support and preserve the body.  An empty building worth $600,000 was left for the mortgage holder to sell as best they could under the circumstances. 

 

A second possibility for perceiving the sense of this line is within Spurgeon’s experience concerning: “men who having no saving knowledge of divine things, enslave themselves to become workers of iniquity, have no heart to cry to the Lord for deliverance, but seek to amuse themselves with devouring the poor and despised people of God.”

 

In this regard I remember several self advertised “Christian businessmen” who preyed on the people of God.  Please note, that the prey here mentioned is spelled with an “e” and not an “a”.  You see there is a whole subclass of perverts who would profit from Christ’s Church by any means.  One reason we are so careful with outside requests for diaconal aid is that such enquirers tend to run in packs and if you help one, all of a sudden you have half a dozen who want to participate in the presumed generosity.  Once we even had a successful family of recipients bring another couple of beggars with them.  I was in the act of loading some baggage into my truck when I turned them down.  Cheerfully, one of the three offered to help me carry my stuff to the vehicle.  I quickly declined, because I figured they could just as easily fall down and pretend to hurt themselves at the expense of the church.

 

You see there is more than one way to eat out the prosperity of any enterprise.  The leaders as in the Enron case can carry away not only the profits of enterprise but also collapse the regime so as to leave the stockholders and employees holding the bag.  By contrast, greedy labor unions can ruin a whole national industry by demanding tariff protections since they are unwilling and even unable to restructure their trade to remain in business.  Our own American steel industries are the losers in this regard.

 

Churches and countries too can fail by either method or means.  The former Soviet Union collapsed from troubles at the top.  Contemporary European Socialists must eventually collapse from the greed of their populations for an ever increasing welfare state.

 

Application:  Am I being too political in my analysis?  However we contrast the enemies of David with the house of God – the supreme reality is that there continues and ongoing opposition to the Church of the living God.  And that contention is summarized in verses four and five, where both verses contrast the two kingdoms or cities, line by line.

 

Calvin encourages us “with the best of all consolations, namely that God will not forsake his people even to the end, but will at length show himself to be their defender.”  Therefore, in verse five we read:  “They are [united] in a great fear, for God is present with the company of the righteous.”

 

Now, this verse is somewhat obscure in linguistics and difficult to translate, as I alluded last week.  But let me try to get at the essence with this example.  One reason that there is ongoing opposition to the American presence in Iraq is that those who plot and guide the campaign of terror are so afraid that we will stay and create a modern liberal regime that they cannot control and manage.  And so the disparate groups of former officials, professional terrorists and common thugs are united in their ongoing opposition.  For the same reason, all manner of the worldly and wicked will oppose Christ and Church for no other reason than they must – in order to legitimize their own system of rebellion and sinful desires. And so they keep on rebelling to protect their already putrid investment.

 

Our last verse for today, should by all admission be an impossible dream for the worldly crowd.  After all it is their creed to absolve themselves of all shame for every act and desire that demeans the reality and revelation of our God.  “Have you know shame?” is now a time worn phrase that the worldly are too thick skinned to comprehend any more.  Once it was enough to perplex the sinner somewhat and remind them that they were outside the law and love of God.

 

However, the wicked are so progressed in their habits that very many actually expect the elect to be ashamed of our precious Lord and Savior. ^“They would shame the council of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.”  How much of the church is willing to go along with the worldly agenda?  Very much it would seem, apologies for all manner of essential doctrines abound far and wide.  It is almost expected in our time that Christians must agree that any and every religion may advance the cause of the believer.  In addition, sin must never be condemned since everything is now relative to the beliefs of the sinner and not to the absolute and final holiness and authority of the One true God of heaven and earth.

 

The psychologically impoverished today are none other than the elect of all the earth who actually believe in God’s word and therefore in gratitude for the salvation He has given through grace, they go on and attempt to live a life pleasing to Him.

 

So much of the church in the last hundred years or more has caved into the cultural mandates that any denomination, pastor or believer who refuses to bow before the worldly icons is persecuted in more ways than you can ever imagine.  Given such a situation as is well described by David in his time, we can better appreciate the necessity to hang tough on all the essential doctrines and continue to uphold the lawful commands and instructions of our sovereign God, come Hades or high water!  We can almost see the future of “hate crimes” being delineated for the amusement of the wicked, first in Europe, now in Canada and coming very soon to a State and municipality near you!  Will we be ashamed at the doctrines of Christ before a hating world, or will we like David depend all the more upon our sovereign Lord?  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

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