Psalm 28

⁰³          Drag me not off with the wicked,

with the workers of evil,

who speak peace with their neighbors,

with malice  in their hearts.

⁰⁴          Reward them according to their actions,

 according to the evil of their deeds;

                        for the work of their hands repay them,

                                    let them have what they deserve!

⁰⁵          Because:   they take no notice,

of the deeds of the Lord

or the work of His hands,

                        He shall destroy them,

                                    to be built up  no more!

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 What of the Wicked?

For the Lord’s Day:  the 12^th of June 2005

 

Introduction:  The German evangelical Delitzsch raises an important idea in the movement from verses one and two to the three verses before us today.  Last week we saw how David viewed a lack of knowledge of the word of God.  Without the hearing of God’s voice – he might as well be numbered amongst the lost.  Delitzsch notes that in verses three and four “the prayer is expanded.”

 

In this description of the ungodly, David outlines their essential character.  “Should he succumb to them, then his fate would be like that which awaits them, to whom he is conscious that he is radically unlike.”  This thought reminds me of the children’s story of the ugly duckling.  You remember the swan egg that somehow turned up in the duck’s nest.  Once hatched the ducklings made great sport of the ungainly duck who was so profoundly different!  At long last the difference was realized and a whole different world opened up before the “duckling’s” eyes.

 

I am reminded of a young lady that I drove with some time ago.  Even though the lived in a tough neighborhood – she had all the attitudes and character of a princess.  It was evident she was someone special, who was only being raised in a kind of moral poverty which would never claim her.  We talked a little about such things, and I encouraged her to seek out a church where she might just be surprised to find a ready made home, where people actually shared her concerns and ideas.

 

I am currently reading a biography of an American General, that Al gave me.  While this modern character was no saint, still he had taken “duty, honor and country” more seriously than many of the leaders he worked among.  And only slowly – in the post Viet Nam rebuilding of the American forces – he came into his own opportunity to lead with distinction.

 

But, of course – David’s realization goes beyond this elemental understanding.  Our “ugly duckling” in the children’s story was in no danger of becoming a duck, even though he might speak their language.  David, of course was in no danger of becoming like those sons of perdition with which he was forced to associate.  However, he does pray that he may not share the life and fate of those who stand in opposition to the God of heaven and earth.

 

Development:  Certainly, we all understand that the worldly and the elect are mixed together in this life, even within the church as well as the culture.  We like David must await the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to live in perfect harmony with all the children of God.  The key difference that David notes between these two groups is to be found in verse five:  “they [the wicked] take no notice, of the deeds of the Lord or the work of His hands.”  In other words, God has remained silent to them.  This is the worry of David in this psalm, that a temporary silence from God could indicate a permanent condition.  Could this worry have been a personal reflection upon the condition of old King Saul, when the Lord’s Spirit as well as Samuel had nothing more to do with the first king of Israel?

 

David does not wish to remain in such a condition.  And as he warms to the force of his prayers, he carefully considers the way of the wicked and where they are bound.  And so he prays:  “Drag me not off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, with malice in their hearts.”  These wicked are double minded men, pretending to support the peace of God, but holding deep inside themselves a real antipathy to the service they must pretend.  My first Christian experiences in the ministry were with such people.  What a sorry lot of backstabbers, adulterers and apostate theologians they had become.  They upheld that which was evil as good and blasphemed the Holy Spirit by declaring that what was good was in effect wicked.  Or at least it wasn’t progressive as they termed their radical realignment of the confessions once near to the heart of the faith once given to the saints.

 

But let us be cautious in our observations, even David’s imprecations are breathed out in the face of persecution.  And David wisely leaves the punishment of those opposed to the God of heaven to God Himself.    Calvin notes that “if the flesh move us to seek revenge, the desire is wicked in the sight of God.  He not only forbids us to imprecate evil upon our enemies in revenge for private injuries.”  Further, in the spirit of God’s mercy, we should “also wish the conversion of those who seem obstinately to rush upon their own destruction.”

 

After all is said and done, every man, woman and child must stand for judgment on the last day.  Therefore, even as we accord the majority of sinners today, we must leave them to the final judgment of the Lord if we and other innocent people are not in jeopardy of life or limb.  So David writes in verse four:  “Reward them according to their actions, according to the evil of their deeds; for the work of their hands repay them, let them have what they deserve!”

 

Delitzsch too captures the fruit of the gospel when he observes that “the right to pray for recompense is grounded in verse five, upon their blindness to God’s just and merciful rule as it is to be seen in human history.  …  The prominent thought in [the psalmist’s] mind is, that they shamefully fail to recognize how gloriously and graciously God has again and again acknowledged [David] as His anointed one.”

 

Thus, in opposing David and his rule, the wicked here stand against the purpose of God Himself.  So therefore, it is God’s case to determine their final fate.  “Reward them, repay them – let them have what they deserve!” – David prays to the Father in heaven.  The injunction here is threefold in its appeal to the justice of heaven.  “According to their actions, the evil of their deeds and the work of their hands,” he aptly describes their crimes.

 

Of course, we like David do indeed acknowledge our own sins, but by the grace of God we have learned how to define them within the sight of God.  The worldlings however have not the light of God to inform their minds and souls.  This fact we see in the last verse before us this morning.

 

Application:  And so, David moves on to argue God’s case and cause:  “Because:   they take no notice, of the deeds of the Lord or the work of His hands, He shall destroy them, to be built up no more!”  I have highlighted the word “because” here, to make certain we know the specific crime the enemies of David’s God are being charged with.  It is impiety of course – they have so little regard for the Creator God that He factors not into any political, military or social equation they may consider while putting forth their own agenda.  At least, Bismark, the German empire builder acknowledged that “man proposes, while only God disposes.”

 

Like the Israelites in the wilderness who heard the voice of the Lord and only supposed it was thunder, these wicked “take no notice” of God’s ongoing actions and revelations in and through creation and history.  But never mind, David’s confidence in the Lord is all encompassing – well he knows that God’s will shall always be accomplished in every area o life.  And at the end of the world, those who were never known by God will reap their just reward.  Like the Jewish cult today that anticipates justice on the last day, that will certainly be accomplished, but in David’s mind as well as all who have come to believe, mercy and grace are more important rewards when that great day comes.  Like David, if we take the scriptures seriously and regard the Christ as the savior of the world, all will be well when all heaven breaks loose at His second coming.  “Come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly.”  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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