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Psalm 52:1-9
To
the chief Musician, A Psalm of David,
when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to
the house of Ahimelech
“Why boastest
thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. Thy
tongue diviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak
righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever,
he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the
living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear,
and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his
riches, and strengthened himself in
his wickedness. But I am a green olive tree in the house of
God: I trust in the mercy of God
for ever and ever. I will praise
thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.”
Introduction
“Psalm
52, you’ll see the heading of the Psalm there says, it is “to the chief
Musician” which means, ok, it was sung publicly. It’s a Maschil, which means it’s a song
of instruction, much as a sermon as a song. It is a Psalm of David, he’s the author,
and the timing of it is clear, “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and
said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.” That gives us the timing of this
Psalm. David is probably about 20
years old. The most generous figure
you can come up with is early 20’s, but probably 20-years-old, right in
there. He is fleeing from Saul. Saul has been jealous over his victory
over Goliath, the way the people have rallied around David, and they’re singing ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David
has slain his tens of thousands.’ Saul
has tried to murder him, Jonathan, who was his dear friend, and realize though
almost 30 years older than David, most people don’t realize that, told David, ‘David, you need to get out of town, my
father is determined to kill you.’ So
he flees, and as he flees, he comes to Nob, north of the Mount of Olives, where
Ahimelech is the active Priest at that point in time. And Ahimelech is kind of shocked to see
David, ‘What are you doing here?’ David is not honest with him, Ahimelech,
and says ‘I’m on a secret mission from
the king.’ You know, he was on
a secret escape from the king. And
of course he said, ‘These men that are
with me, there’s nothing to eat,’ and finally Ahimelech gives him the Show
Bread, and he eats, and finally he says ‘Do
you have any weapons here?’ And
he says ‘I have the sword of Goliath,’ which evidently had become some type of a national treasure, and was kept at
the Tabernacle. And he gives him then
the sword of Goliath, which I can’t imagine walking without that dragging on
the ground. And he flees from
there, and he ends up down in Gath, in Philistine country. He figures that Saul’s not going to
follow him there. And as he’s
brought before the king in Gath, he feigns madness, and he starts to drool and
act like an insane person, and scrape the doors with his fingernails now, and
he’s laughing and drooling. And the
king of Gath said, ‘Haven’t I enough
madmen in my council already, and you bring me one more? Just get this guy outa here.’ David flees, he escapes with his
life, and he ends up in the Cave of Adullam. And there it tells us, men began to
gather to David, those who were in debt, those who were discontent, those who were depressed and discouraged. And David at 20 years old, has gathered now an army of 400 to 600 men. Imagine a 20-year-old with an army of
400 to 600 men. And a lot of them
are mighty men, these men, some of them are very
remarkable, older than him. But his
problem at this point, is when he was at Nob, and
Ahimelech gave him there the sword of Goliath, and gave him also the Show Bread
to eat, that Doeg was there and watched that. Doeg is an Edomite, and normally
Edomites were perennial enemies of Israel [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/edom/Edom%20in%20Prophecy%201.html to learn more about the Edomites]. But somehow Saul has drawn him close, and made him the master herdsman
over all of his flocks everywhere. And when David then is safe, and he sent his parents to Moab, Saul is
talking to his men, saying ‘There’s
nobody like me, some of you think of David or somebody else, they wouldn’t give
you herds and flocks like I have, and so forth, like this David guy,’ and
then Doeg says ‘You know, I saw him with
Ahimelech.’ He said, ‘What?’ he said, ‘Yea, Ahimelech gave him food, gave him the sword of Goliath, and
blessed him,’ which wasn’t true (the blessing part), he didn’t do
that. So then Saul calls for
Ahimelech, and Ahimelech comes to him, and he said ‘What’s the deal, you’re a traitor, you’ve turned against me, you’re helping David behind the scenes.’ He said, ‘Master, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If David comes to me and says he’s on a
mission for you, he’s the king’s son-in-law, he’s married to the king’s
daughter, what am I supposed to do? Doubt him and so forth?’ And
Saul of course won’t hear that, and I’ll read to you what takes place from 1st Samuel 22:16-19, Saul
then commands his men to kill Ahimelech. The king said, “Thou shalt surely
die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. And the king said to the footmen that
stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD;
because their hand also is with
David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not
put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.” They’re in awe, they’re in fear. “And
so the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell
upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear
a linen ephod.” So he kills 85
priests and Levites, “And Nob, the city
of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women,
children and sucklings, and oxen and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the
sword.” Doeg then goes to the
town of the priests, and he slaughters everybody, men, women, children, sucking
babes, animals, this is Doeg. So
you kind of get an introduction as we go in here, they should have just taken
the “e” out of this guy’s name, it should be the Psalm
of the Dog. So, he’s here, and
David, as he writes this, remember, he’s 20 years old, just imagine the emotion
here. And he’s going to cry to the
LORD about the tongue of the wicked, how it’s almost inescapable. Look, we find this all through the
Bible, a human tongue that’s under control, can be a blessing. A human tongue that’s out of control is
destructive. James tells us that,
it’s like a forest fire, it destroys. James, the Lord’s half-brother says ‘Look, consider a ship, and a little rudder
steers the whole ship. That’s the
way it is with the tongue.’ He
says, ‘Or a horse, with a bit, bridle, big animal, you
can steer it. Or
a spark, how it starts a forest-fire,’ like Smokey the Bear there in James chapter 3. And he says ‘So it is with the tongue, the
tongue is set on fire of Gehenna,’ he said, ‘and it sets on fire the round of
existence.’ The idea is, there’s people you hang around with, there’s people that are
around you. You know, when you tell
somebody a secret, that’s something you only share with one person at a
time. But you
know, stuff spreads like that. There’s gossip-prayer sometimes, where people love to pray (with others,
obviously) and say ‘Lord, I know we
shouldn’t talk about this, but so and so did this.’ You know, don’t pray out loud about that
stuff. There’s all kinds of ways that the tongue [and now especially with online social networks]
does damage. We would be shocked,
the amount of people that are sitting here this evening, either as a child
growing up in an abusive situation, or in a relationship, or by close friends,
the tongue in the long run can be much more damaging than the rod, if you’re
spanking your child or some other thing, it can cut
much deeper.
The Tongue Can Be Like A Sharp Razor, Working Deceitfully
And
here David says, “Why boastest thou
thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.” (verse 1) speaking of Doeg, a destructive
person. “the goodness of God endureth continually” this young man, David, is 20, as he
realizes that, he says ‘Why are you boasting, here’s the thing that
never changes, the goodness of God endureth continually.’ “Thy tongue diviseth mischiefs; like a
sharp razor, working deceitfully.” (verse 2) Isn’t that true, sometimes? like a sharp
razor. And everybody here has been
cut, haven’t they? If you’re around
human beings, you have. “Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak
righteousness. Selah.” (verse 3) ‘What
do you think about that?’ ‘Who
do you think you are’ he says, ‘boasting yourself? Your tongue’s like a razor, you work deceitfully, you love evil more than good, lying more
than righteousness, but the goodness of God endureth continually.’ He makes that very clear, and he says, ‘What
do you think about that [Selah]? What do you think about that?’
God Is Going To Beat Down And Pluck Out The Wicked From The Land Of The Living
He
talks now, in verse 4 he says, “Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.” Now look, some of the things that
Doeg said were true. Ahimelech did
give him bread, Ahimelech did give him the sword of
Goliath. There are ways that somebody
can say something that’s true, and still do it in a malicious and derogatory
way, and they repeat it, and even though it’s true, because they know it will
hurt or it will do damage. Sometimes it’s better to say nothing. [My wise father always said, “If
you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”] When in doubt, shut up. I mean, for all of us, there’s more
things in my life, when I think back that I wish I hadn’t said, then things I
think back and think ‘I wish I had said
something.’ You know what I
mean? There’s just more times in
your life, that you in retrospect that you think ‘I just wish I had kept my mouth shut.’ Because once it’s out, it’s
out. There’s fewer times I think, ‘You know, I really should have said something
there.’ You know, when you
stand before the Lord, I’m probably gonna hear, ‘I’m glad I’m under the blood of Jesus, aren’t you?’ Because, what’s been blotted out,
there’s more blotting on the things that I shouldn’t have said, than on the
things I should have said, I guarantee you. He says this to the deceitful, the fate
of the wicked, and this man slaughtered priests, this man was wicked, “God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of
the land of the living. Selah.” (verse 5) ‘What do you
think about that, Doeg?’ “God shall likewise destroy thee” the
Hebrew is “beat thee down” like you’re beating down the wall of a city, ‘God
shall beat thee down for ever,” It sounds like God’s going to do some plucking and picking and cutting
down and beating down and rooting out here. Look, the wicked in the earth, we’re not
to be discouraged to the point [about what they’re doing], this world is under
the prince of the power of the air [i.e. Satan. see, http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/TheMatrix.htm]. This city [i.e Philadelphia], this
nation, there are [unseen] principalities and powers that rule. There’s only one piece of real estate in
the Bible that has a Godly angelic power over it, that is the land of Israel,
and that is Michael the archangel,
there’s only one archangel [I thought there were originally three, Michael,
Gabriel and Lucifer, and now there’s only two, Michael and Gabriel. I could be wrong, but it’s not a major
doctrinal point, we’ll learn more in the future about this], and he
specifically has duty in regards to Israel, which is about to begin very soon. Because the Lord himself is going to descend
with a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, because the
Church is going up, and the other ministry is coming down in regards to Israel
and the archangel. That’s why he’s
involved in the rapture. [Comment: The body of Christ
has differing beliefs about the rapture and second coming of Christ. log onto and
read http://www.unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html to see what I’m talking about.] ‘God’s
going to destroy, beat them down, take them away [the wicked, that is], pluck
them out of their place, root them out of the land of the living, Selah’ And then he says, “The righteous also shall see, and fear,
and shall laugh at him:” (verse 6) So verse 6 says the perspective of the righteous in regards to verse 5,
God’s beating down, taking away, plucking out, rooting out, he says ‘the
righteous shall see this,’ somehow we’re going to see, we know the last
chapter, the good guys win in the end. We know it, we’re going to see it. The reaction [of the righteous] is this,
first awe, then scorn. The
righteous shall see it, ‘they will fear,’ you’re talking
about Almighty God, ‘and laugh,’ that is not a laugh of delight, this is a laugh
of scorn, that ‘who do you think you are, boasting yourself?’ in verse 1. He says ‘We’re going see it, we’re going
to be struck with awe, and then after that scorn will follow.’
Where We Stand In The LORD
He
says, verse 7, this is the right
perspective, “Lo, this is the man that made
not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his
wickedness.” This is Doeg, the
wicked, this is what happens. ‘This
is the man that made not God his strength,’ I pray this evening, all of us, that we’re learning to make God our strength, to
make God our strength. You know,
life beats us up as time goes on, and as we get older, and the machine wears
out, and you still have a 16-year-old living inside [tell me about it], like we
all do. We realize that we are
passing through. The right
perspective is, ‘This man, this evil man, he didn’t make God his strength, but he
trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his
wickedness,’ this is what David says, at 20-years-old, here’s the difference,
remarkable, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and
ever.” (verse 8) If you’re the victim tonight of
malicious talk, if I ask you to raise your hand, don’t do it, a lot of hands
will go up. If you’re the victim of
a wagging tongue, malicious talk, slander, gossip, stand here with David in
verse 8. “But I am like a green olive
tree in the house of God.” Now
I know for us, that doesn’t sound real exciting. ‘I
always wanted to be a green olive tree.’ The Hebrew is, “I am like an olive tree
luxurious in the house of God” the picture is of something that is
flourishing, and it’s healthy, and the idea is, David said, ‘this
is in the context of the house of God, I am planted, I have roots, the wicked
are plucked up, cut down, torn out, taken away.’ he says, ‘But
I am like an olive tree luxurious in the house of God.’ What a picture. The reason, he says, it’s not because
anything he does himself, he says it’s because “I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” (verse 8b) that will make you flourish. Here’s his prayer, finally at the end, he says, “I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.” (verse 9) So, “I will praise thee” looking back at God’s faithfulness. And he’s only 20-years-old, just think. “I
will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it:” in other words, ‘I am planted, I am flourishing, though the
wicked are around me,’ “and I will wait” that looks forward, “I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.” You know what? It’s healthy for everyone else, where is
your hope this evening? As we watch
the world, we see what is devaluating besides the American dollar. For you and I,
we have stock in things that are becoming more and more valuable. I don’t know what the Dow Jones is
doing, but 2nd Thessalonians, Revelation and Daniel, Matthew 24,
Mark 13, Luke 21, the value of those has gone way up, hasn’t’ it? And he says here, he says, ‘Look,
I’m going to praise him for what he’s done, I’m going to look forward to, I’m
going to wait on thy name,’ and he said, ‘this is good before thy
saints.’ You know, we’re to
stir one another up to faith and good works. It’s good for us, if we have genuine
hope. We’re to give an answer to
every man for the hope we have. He
said, ‘This is good before the saints, that I am
waiting for him. The wicked are
surrounding me,’ and this is no game, this is somebody who slaughtered
an entire town. But he says, ‘But
I am waiting for you, LORD.’
Psalm 53:1-6
To
the chief Musician, upon Mahalath, Maschil, A
Psalm of David
“The fool hath
said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done
abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my
people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him
that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of
his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.”
Introduction
“It
says, “to the chief Musician,” so it’s for public worship, again it says
“Maschil” there’s instruction here. “A Psalm of David,” “Mahalath”, it’s uncertain, it’s either to the dance, or in dancing. The idea is there is a rejoicing in this Psalm. If you’re a student of the Psalms, you
know that this Psalm is the same as Psalm 14. Ah, slight differences, the last two
verses are put together, verses 5 and 6, from Psalm 14 are put into verse 5,
and verse 7 here is verse 7 in Psalm 14, and if you just read it through it’s
the same. The main difference is,
seven times through this Psalm we have the name Elohim, God is spoken of. In Psalm 14, the name God four times is
Jehovah, and three times is Elohim, that’s the difference. It’s that Psalm 14 is speaking in more
the covenantal context. Here it
seems the picture is for all people everywhere, it’s a Psalm of rejoicing for
sure. Why is it in there
twice? Because we
need to hear it twice, evidently. You ever raise kids? You
have a kid, and you say ‘Do you
understand what I’m saying?’ ‘Mmm,’ you know. And five minutes later
they’re doing something else, and you say ‘What did I tell you!?’ and they just look at you. ‘Did
I tell you something?’ ‘Uhmhum.’ ‘Were you listening?’ ‘Uhmhum.’ ‘What
did I tell you?’ ‘Mmmmm.’ They don’t know. So, there are certain commands
that are repeated, there’s certain things we have in repetition. This is a great Psalm, God decided we
needed to hear this one twice…It’s almost exactly the same. It’s the same as God’s Word tonight, you
know, we live in a different culture, we live in a different time, but it never
changes.
The Fruits Of Saying And
Believing There Is No God Are Evil
It
says here, “The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God.” (verse 1a) Look, different in that
culture than today. When you call
somebody ‘You fool!’ that means one
thing today. In this culture the
fool was someone who could not receive instruction. It is someone who says ‘There’s no God.’ Because (back then) everybody had a god,
even if you had the wrong god, if you didn’t have a god you were a fool. Everybody had a god, the Moabites had a
god, the Ammonites had gods, everybody had gods, the Egyptians had gods, the
Babylonians had gods, if you didn’t have a god there
was something wrong with you. Everybody knew there was a Supreme Being. They didn’t have it straight, the Jews
had it straight. But “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” What’s the fruit of that? Romans 1 tells us that, God gives them
up, they refuse to acknowledge him, his testimony is in nature, they refuse to
acknowledge, we see them given over, 2nd Peter chapter 3 talks about
those who refuse, they’re willingly ignorant. “The
fool has said in his heart, There is no
God. Corrupt are they, and have
done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.” (verse 1) You know, if there’s no God, then there’s no limits to what a human being can do [and we’re
seeing that now in our society]. If
there’s no fear, no sense of awe, there are places around the world where we
have seen, through Communism, Fascism, Marxism, and the things that have come
from those who say that there is no God, some of the darkest things the human
race has ever seen. If You say there’s no God, then corruption follows, they “have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.” (verse 1) “God
looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek
God.” (verse 2) And Paul in Romans of course picks up on
this. “Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (verse 3) God now speaking in verse 4, he says, “Have the
workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not
called upon God.” “who eat up” notice, “my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.” His observation is, that the workers of
iniquity, they have no knowledge, but they know enough, that they don’t like to
hear what the people of God say. I
mean, think of the persecution in our own nation, think of the persecution
around the world, think of what we’re hearing in Egypt and Pakistan, Christians
being martyred, churches being blown up, think of what we’re hearing around the
world. In fact, do you know that
the last century, in the 20th century, there were more martyrs in
the last century than in the 19 centuries before that combined. But we live in such an insular culture
here, it doesn’t get to us, it doesn’t touch us. Around the world, Christians are being
martyred. He says here, ‘the
workers of iniquity, they have no knowledge, they eat up my people as they eat
bread.’ “they have not called upon God.” (verse 4b)
God Steps In And Takes
Vengeance Against Those That ‘Eat Up My People, Those That Say There Is No God’
And
then it seems like David, the Psalmist here in verse 5, “There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for
God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast
put them to shame, because God hath
despised them.” There was
paranoia when there was no reason to be afraid, “God has scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee” and “thee” is either “my people” from
verse 4, or it is God, “thou” from the next word, the idea is “against anything
Godly. “Thou hast put them to shame
because God hath despised them.” Wonderful
ending, “Oh that the salvation
of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of
his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.” (verse 6) And it will, soon (salvation come out of
Zion), “When God bringeth back the
captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.” It says this in Psalm 102, it says, “When
the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory.” You know, we’ve seen Israel reborn as a
nation. Again,
the end, where we are in human history. Don’t let anybody tell you, ‘Oh, they always say that, my parents said
that, my grandparents said that, walked around with one of those boards on that
said “the End is Coming!’ No, there’s two
things that set us aside from every generation of the Church that’s ever
lived. 1) Number one, the rebirth
of the nation of Israel in 1948, a sociological miracle. Every reform guy that wants to can stand
around and say ‘Oh, it’s an aberration, it’s temporary.’ It ain’t temporary. You been to Israel, and talked to a Jew and asked them if they’re
temporarily there? I’ve done
that 19 times [been to Israel]. They have nukes, if they go, the whole Middle
East is going. Right? Nothing temporary
going on there at all. They’ve
been reborn as a nation, it’s a miracle, they’re back in their own land, they speak their own language again. 2) The second thing
that sets us aside from every generation that’s ever lived, is we have the means to destroy every human being on the planet. Never before, nuclear proliferation, we
live in interesting days, interesting days, days that are clearly described in
Scripture, and here the Psalmist says, thinking of all the wicked, and all
that’s done, and the fools that deny the existence of God. “God
bringeth back the captivity of his people,” we’ve seen the beginning of
that in a physical sense. [And we
ain’t seen nothing yet in regards to that. Israel was originally composed of 12 tribes, of which the Jews, Judah
was only one tribe. The other ten tribes, even as the Jews know, became
historically lost. God will return
all 12 tribes to the land of Israel just following the Tribulation. But God will use the Tribulation, World
War III, to repatriate all 12 tribes back into the Promised Land, not in a
particularly pleasant way. Look how
the Lord repatriated the Jews into the Promised Land, it was out of German
concentration camps that most of the Jews came into the Promised Land from, it drove them into the land of Israel. And so it will be for
the remaining missing tribes, all 10 of them, through a future coming captivity
and out of future concentration camps. This is a sobering lesson of history,
recent history, and God wants us to take note of, and not be ignorant of the
times we live in. Old Testament
history shows clearly there were 12 tribes. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html for a fascinating Bible-based study about the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jews coming back to the land of
Israel, the Promised Land, is only the beginning, like the Allied landings at
Normandy, it is only the beginning of God’s restoration of Israel.] “Jacob
shall rejoice and Israel shall be
glad.”
Related
links:
Is
there a God? You can prove there is
a Creator God. Your very life may
depend on you knowing God exists. See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Does%20God%20Exist.html
Who
were the 12 Tribes of Israel in history? See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html
What
is coming on the world, where is the world headed? See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm
Psalm 54:1-7
To
the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A
Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide
himself with us
“Save me, O God,
by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers are risen up against me,
and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah. Behold, God is mine helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine
enemies: cut them off in thy
truth. I will freely sacrifice unto
thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD;
for it is good. For he hath delivered me out of all
trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.”
Introduction: David Is Betrayed By His Own Tribe, His Own People
Psalm
54, “to the chief Musician on Neginoth,” that’s “smiting,” it’s on the harp, so
it was struck a certain way [musically]. It’s “Maschil,” again it’s a Psalm of instruction, so it’s as much a
sermon as a song. It is “a Psalm of
David” and it tells that it went, the timing of it is when the “Ziphims came
and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us.” And we all have Ziphims in our
lives. You may have been Ziphed
today. “when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us.” So, this is a very pronounced Psalm,
smitings, it was to be sung publicly. There’s a lesson to be learned, where back in 1st Samuel
chapter 23, where David comes to the area of Ziph. Now Ziph is from the word that means
“smiting” or “refining.” Ziphites
are refiners. And here’s the thing
about the Ziphites, David came there, and they’re in Judah. They’re part of David’s tribe, David was
from Judah. So this is his own tribe. You know it’s one thing when the wicked, when
the Doeg’s, when the Edomites, when those from far away are murderous, and they
do wicked things. Isn’t it way
different when it’s somebody from your own tribe? You kind of figure you can camp with
your own tribe, take your armour off, and you’re not going to get shot in the
back with you own tribe. Listen,
you come to the Church [Body of Christ as well as your own congregation,
church], and many of us were never loved in the world, broken, we come and we
accept Christ, ‘And wow, brothers and
sisters in Christ, there’s love,’ and we become vulnerable. But there are lessons to be learned in
the Church. And sometimes our
mentor has to be bashed, sometimes our naiveté, you know, we realize the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. That ain’t all. It’s longsuffering,
temperance, enduring under pressure. So, we’re called inside, any of
you who’ve grown up in a family, did you ever argue with your brothers or
sisters while you were growing up? I remember my kids, yelling at them not to fight, we’re driving, they’re fighting and carrying on. And then they sit back there, and like
grab each other’s arm, they’re pinching each other…Ziphites [laughter]. You know, this was hard for David, he’s
a young man, he’s learning. He was
anointed to be king, and it took over 15 years to form him into the king he was
anointed to be. And that would be
by betrayal, it would be by heartache, it would be by some incredibly difficult
things. And the Ziphites was one of
those things that were very hard for David, because he was traveling in that
area, he never injured them or harmed them in any way, he never lifted his
sword against them. And yet they
betrayed him into the hand of Saul. And they were from his own tribe. So the cry, verses
1 to 3 here, is the prayer, and then there’s a “Selah” there, at the end of
verse 3 you’ll see it, and then verses 4 to 7 are the answer to that prayer.
David’s Prayer For Deliverance
David
says this, “Save me, O God, by thy name,
and judge me by thy strength. Hear
my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers are risen up against me,
and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.” (verses 1-3) And the name of the LORD is everything that he is. This is his description of what’s going
on, of the Ziphites, of this circumstance. Again, David, this tender young man at this point in
time. When someone in your
family, someone close to you, someone in the body of Christ that you trusted, a
member of your own tribe you feel has betrayed you, or said something hurtful,
just look at his prayer. “Save me, O God,” look where he turns, “by thy name,” ‘you judge me, I don’t care what
people say, I don’t know who they are anymore.’ “For strangers are risen up against
me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.” ‘What do you think about that?’ the question goes.
Sanctioned Loneliness: There Is A Loneliness In Our Calling, We All Stand Alone In Our Walk With God
Then
he says this, after the pause, after Selah. Now he talks about the prayer he
offered, and the answers to that prayer. He says this, “Behold, God is mine helper, the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.”
(verse 4) ‘Behold, God is my helper, not the Ziphites, not people from my own
tribe, God is my helper.’ Look, every one of us, you
know, are called to a certain place that no one else can step into. Each one of us here this evening go through
certain things that no other human, no matter how close, can be with us. In some ways, this is the loneliest
thing I’ve ever done, pastoring this church. I’m around thousands of people, but I
also stand in a place that my wife can’t step in with me, and really understand
what goes on between me and the Lord. My kids, can’t really, people that are close, there’s part of this
that’s sanctified loneliness, and God loves that place because it’s a place
where he draws us close to himself. There are those places, look, intimacy, there are things with my wife,
not just physical, the intimacy things that I share only with her. And in our relationship with Jesus, in
our intimacy, there’s certain things we share only with him. And we find out sometimes, even when the
closest people from our own tribe kind of hurt us and let us down, when we have
to turn to him, and we say “Behold,”,
you know what, consider this, the whole thing about this? “God is mine helper” Not even sometimes, not even people from
my own tribe. “the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.”
(verse 4b) God is my helper, and you know
what? The people that come close to
me and try to help me, I know the Lord leads them, that’s a good thing. In fact, it tells us here in this
situation, with the Ziphites, when they are being traitorous to David, and they
go to Saul and say ‘David’s in our territory.’ It says, “And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose
and went to David in the wood, in the wilderness, and strengthened his hand in
God. And he said unto him,” Jonathan said unto David, “Fear
not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt be king
over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and that also Saul, my father,
knoweth. And they two made a
covenant before the LORD, and David abode in the wood
and Jonathan went to his house.” David says here, ‘Look,
God is my helper, and the LORD is with them that uphold my
soul.’ David did appreciate, Jonathan came to
him from his own father’s camp and said, ‘David, I know, you’re the one whose
anointed to be king over Israel, and I’ll be right there, I’m going to be your
support.’ And they made a
covenant together. Thank goodness
for those who come alongside and encourage us, and I have a lot of them in my
life, what a blessing it is to have encouragers in your life. You need to have some of those. And they’re there. If you seek the Lord you’ll find them,
in fellowship. And notice in both
places here, it says “Behold, God is mine helper:” “is” not will be, ‘is mine helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.” this is a present God for a
present trial. He’s a very present
help in time of trouble, the Bible tells us. He doesn’t say “God will be,” he says “God is mine helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.”
(verse 4) “He shall reward evil
unto mine enemies: cut them off in
thy truth. I will freely sacrifice
unto thee: I will praise thy name,
O LORD;
for it is good.” (verses 5-6) Now he says, “O
Jehovah”, ‘you’re a covenant God’ “for it is good.” ‘I’m
gonna worship God, I’m gonna sacrifice, those of my own tribe are trying to
betray me, hand me over, but LORD, you’re going to destroy my
enemies, I’m not going to lift my sword, LORD, I’m going to worship you, I’m
going to sacrifice, this is a good thing,’
Faith Is Able To Reach Into A Bright Future And
Pull It Into A Dark Present
“For he hath
delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.” (verse 7) Wait a minute, for fourteen more years
he’s going to be chased like a partridge in the mountains. And David, these are perfect tenses in
the Hebrew, the idea is, “For he hath
delivered me” faith sees it as done, “out
of all trouble: and mine eye hath
seen his desire upon mine
enemies.” Listen, “hath seen”, that’s a perfect tense, “his
desire upon mine enemies.” David said, ‘I’ve already seen it, this has already happened, as far as I’m
concerned, God,’ he says, ‘you have already delivered me, and you have
already dealt with my enemies.’ You
know, faith is able to reach into a bright future and pull it into a dark
present. That’s the hope that we
have. Sometime when everything’s
falling apart here, we go ‘Duh, this is
earth, I forgot, I got way too wrapped up in the present for awhile.’ This is earth, this ain’t heaven [or
the Kingdom of heaven, which will come to earth at Jesus 2nd coming]. ‘But LORD, you have already settled some
things. You have already delivered
me, I’m washed in the blood of your Son, I’m already delivered, I’m signed,
sealed and delivered, I’m a package that’s already stamped, I’m getting there,
you’ve sealed me with your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of promise. And the bad guys are already done, it’s
already written out, the last chapter is in print.’ And when we can take ahold of that on difficult
days, and realize ‘Lord, I can pull the
brightness of the future, the hope of eternity that sits in front of me there,
and I can bring it into the present darkness that I struggle with,’ if
that’s not real, then we get to him on our knees and say ‘Lord, you need to make these things real to me.’ There should be a witness in my
heart and spirit of the things that he Word gives to me about the future. Great Psalm.
Psalm 55:1-23
To
the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A
Psalm of David
“Give ear to my
prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint and make a
noise; because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the
wicked: for they cast iniquity upon
me, and in wrath they hate me. My
heart is sore pained within me: and
the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed
me. And I said, Oh that I had wings
like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in
the wilderness, Selah. I would
hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in
the city. Day and night they go
about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her
streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: but it
was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. [cf. 2nd Samuel 15:12] We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in
company. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into
hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. As for me, I will call upon God; and the
LORD shall save me. Evening, and
morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from
the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even
he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore
they fear not God. He hath put
forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The
words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his
words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden
upon the LORD,
and he shall sustain thee: he shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live
out half their days; but I will trust in thee.”
Introduction
“Psalm
55, this is a remarkable Psalm, it says “to the chief Musician”, public
worship. “Neginoth” this is
“smitings” again, so it had a certain temper to it. It’s a “Maschil,” it’s another Psalm of
instruction, so it’s as much a sermon as a song. And this is one of those particular
places, if you look down in verse 6, it says, “And I said, Oh that I had
wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at
rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my
escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
(verses 6-8) If you look in
Psalm 56, see the introduction there? And it says “To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim,” you see
that? Say that five times
fast. What that Hebrew phrase means
is, “The silent dove of far off,” or “The dove of the distant teribinth.” So most scholars feel that is a
postscript to Psalm 55, because there’s nothing in Psalm 56 about doves. So, it is the song of the silent dove
far off, or is the song of the dove afar off in the teribinth, it’s a beautiful
picture, as we get into it you’ll understand some of that. First 8 verses, the Psalmist David
speaks of his distress, then from verses 9 to 15 he gets angry. Ever do that? And then from 16 to the end he speaks of
his confidence. So, the first 8
verses, in his distress, it’s all about himself, verses 9 to 15, it’s about his
enemies, his foes, and then in verses 16 to the end it’s about his confidence,
so it’s about his God. Here’s the
backdrop. We’re now in 2nd Samuel chapter 15, David is an old man. He’s already committed adultery with Bathsheba, he’s murdered Uriah the
Hittite, his family is disintegrating, his son Amnon has raped his half-sister
Tamar, who was Absalom’s full sister, different moms, David was the father. David is so weakened by his own sin that
he can’t challenge Amnon about raping Tamar, because he had sex with
Bathsheba. And then Absalom’s going
to kill Amnon, and David can’t really say anything to him because he murdered
Uriah. And his sins are forgiven, 2nd Samuel chapter 12, the prophet Nathan says ‘Your sins are forgiven, they’re done,
they’re gone.’ But as quite
often is, the repercussions, the consequences still roll out, though the sins
are forgiven. In this circumstance
here, Absalom’s rebellion has begun. And Absalom has driven David out of Jerusalem, wanting to kill his own
father. Ahithophel, who is the
grandfather of Bathsheba, is bitter over David’s sin, and he was one of David’s
best friends, he was David’s best counselor, and he has joined Absalom in
rebellion against David, and these things are breaking David’s heart. But imagine what’s going on, because
he’s finding out that Absalom took all of his concubines and had sex with them
on the roof, you know, because of Ahithophel’s counsel to mock David, to tear
him down in everybody’s mind. But
Nathan the prophet told him, ‘This is going to happen, David, because the
way you’ve sinned against me [i.e. God], all of the things I gave you, David,
and you sinned anyway, this is going to happen in your house, the sword’s never
going to depart, these are the difficulties you’re going to see, but I’ve
forgiven you, David, your sins are forgiven.’ (God speaking through Nathan) ‘But you
started a ball rolling here.’ Let
me tell you something, sin makes a mess. Nobody sins for the better, nobody sins and helps anybody around them,
sin makes a mess. So the heart of
this Psalm, if you sit alone with this, it is hugely emotional. Because David is saying ‘LORD, I’m the one who was anointed
king over Israel, I can’t fight for it anymore, I’m done, I got nothing left,
my tank is empty, and LORD, I come to you, I’m asking for
your help, but I’m doing that with my own guilty conscience, LORD, I’m the one, I sinned, I
started the ball rolling here, I did so many things wrong. But this is adding insult to injury,
this is all wrong, LORD, would you step in? Would you be everything you said you
are?’ How often do we find ourselves in a
situation maybe where we did something stupid, now there’s a mess, we’ve gone
to the Lord in repentance, we know from the New Testament that he forgives us,
our doctrine is good, we believe in his grace, and yet so often we still
struggle and say ‘Lord, I made this mess,
Lord. Lord, please I’m not coming
in arrogance or pride, I don’t have any right, I’m approaching you in your
grace, I’m asking you for your mercy.’ There is incredible emotion in this Psalm. So, again, let’s look as we go in here.
David Speaks Of His Distress
David
says, “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and
hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me:” listen, “I mourn in my complaint and make a noise;” ‘I’m groaning, LORD, I’m coming to you, I’m in the
middle of all this, my son is turning against me, he’s my own son, trying to
kill me, my best friend, trying to take me down. LORD, I messed up, LORD, I’m coming to
you, I mourn in my complaint, make a noise,’ “because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon
me.” (verses 1-4) How do you feel when your own
son is trying to kill you? And he
loves Absalom. When Absalom ends up
dead, he’s crying ‘My son, Absalom! My son
Absalom! O Absalom! Absalom!’ Joab finally has to come and say ‘Knock
it off, David! He was wicked, he
was the enemy of the LORD, he’s dead, you need to stop.’ He loved Absalom deeply. He says here “My heart is sore pained within me” (verse 4a), imagine you’re
running, you’re leaving your throne, you’re leaving the Ark of the Covenant,
you’re leaving all of the gold that you stored up to build the Temple, the
priests are trying to bring the Ark along, and David is saying ‘No,
just leave it here, leave it here. God knows, I’m not going to do that.’ And then Shimei as he’s leaving, is
cursing him and throwing stones at him (cf. 2nd Samuel 17:13).
Abishai says ‘Let me go kill that sucker.’ And David said, ‘No, I deserve it, he’s only
telling the truth, I am no good, let him spit, let him throw rocks, just let
him do it.’ David’s so broken as he’s
leaving. But he says “My heart is sore pained within me:” I can’t imagine, if Mike or Josh were
trying to kill me, my sons. “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon
me. Fearfulness and trembling are
come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” (verses 4-5) He’s leaving the kingdom, he’s leaving
his wives, he’s leaving Abigail behind, he’s leaving Michal behind, he’s
leaving Bathsheba behind, the remnant of his family is broken, those that he
loved, he’s leaving all that behind, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle,
the place of worship he’s leaving. He says ‘I’m overwhelmed, I’m done, I got nothing left.’ And now, verse 6, just imagine, “And
I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and
be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.” (verses 6-7) ‘Nobody would find me, I would remain in the
wilderness. What do you think about that?’ “I
would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” (verse 8) Let me tell
you what he’s saying there, ‘If I could I would get in a car, I would
fill up the tank, I would step on the gas, and I would be gone! And I’d get somewhere in Montana in the
wilderness, and I would just stay there.’ Ever have one of those days? If you haven’t I want to know your
secret. Because, man oh man I have
had those days. You just think, ‘I got nothing left. I don’t know if I want to do this 20
more years, it hurts too bad. If I
could just drive west, could fill it up, could just drive west, I know people
with cabins out there in the middle of no-where where I could just disappear,
leave my cell-phone, if anybody wants it, it’s a flip-phone, they could use it.
[laughter]’ One time I was
talking with Rob, and I said, ‘I just
feel like filling up the tank, getting in the car, stepping on the gas, heading
west,’ he said, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming with you.’ You know, we’re laughing, but that
is the point of despair and brokenness that I think every human comes to,
sometimes you just feel…he didn’t have a car, so he said ‘If I had the wings of a dove,
just to fly away, I would fly away.’ And I’d be at rest somewhere. I’d wander off, and get to the
wilderness, and I would stay there. That’s a good place for a Selah, ‘what do you think about that?’ He puts it in [Selah, that is]. These are real emotions, a real human
being.
David Expresses His Anger, Describes What’s Going
On In Jerusalem
In
verse 9, now his anger, his indignation comes in, he thinks of what’s wrong
with everything. And he uses seven
words here, if you look in verses 9, 10 and 11, violence, strife, mischief,
sorrow, wickedness, deceit and guile, he looks at the problem from all those
angles. He says, “Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in
the city.” ‘Finally, I can’t fly away, I can’t even…LORD, just deal with this, LORD, destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues,’ because he knew, he left
Hushei there to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, he says “Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in
the city.” (verse 9) This isn’t just, you know, ‘Their mad because I failed,’ there’s
something bigger here, “I have seen
violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.” Sounds like the news a little bit, “Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” (verses 9-11) ‘It
never ends in the streets of Jerusalem now, things have so crumbled, and so,
the disintegration is just beyond what I can bear, LORD, you deal with it.’
David Is Discovering The Fellowship Of His
Suffering
And
then he says this of Ahithophel, who had been one of his best friends, “For it
was not an enemy that reproached
me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then
I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine
equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” (verses 12-14) Wow, those are the ones that really
hurt, because those friends like that are few and far between. How can you serve the Lord with somebody
for, you know, two years, three years, five years, a decade, ten decades, and
then they end up turning? They go
to the dark side. They end up
badmouthing you. He said ‘It
wouldn’t have mattered if it was an enemy that reproached me, I could bear
that, if it was somebody who hated me, I understand, but it was this man, my
equal, my guide, my acquaintance, we took sweet counsel together, and we walked
into the house of God in company.’ You ever have one of those that close? It hurts that bad. Listen, the Son of God, who left his
place in glory, the Almighty, Omnipotent, All-powerful, All-knowing, he came,
gave his face to the smiters, those who plucked out the beard, and it was his
Judas, who I think he loved. He was
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. We don’t get a pass on this stuff, there is hurt in this life. And yet we’re told in Philippians, Paul
says ‘That
I might know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his
suffering,’ David is discovering that, the fellowship of his
suffering. He had left on the same
hill Jesus had been rejected on, went up the Mount of Olives, David went up the
same path. And now Judas would come
and kiss Jesus in Gethsemane to identify him. You know, there’s something here, even
in this, there’s a lesson. He says, “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into
hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.” (verse 15) Now this is not a Christian prayer,
verse 15, in case you’re not sure. I’ll just clarify that. You’re thinking ‘Yea, somebody has
done that to me,’ well you can’t pray this prayer, ok? We’ll read it. “Let
death seize upon them, and let them
go down quick into hell: for
wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.” You might think it, you can’t pray
it. [You can if you believe the 2nd resurrection is a resurrection for all the “unsaved dead” where they receive
their first opportunity for salvation, cf. Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Revelation
20:11-13, then you can pray it.] It’s not a Christian prayer.
David’s Confidence Reappears As He Sees God’s
Coming Intervention
Here
David’s confidence reappears, then he looks back to his God again, and it
brings everything into perspective. “As for me, I will call upon God;
and the LORD [Jehovah, the covenant God] shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will
I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall
hear my voice.” (verses 16-17) interesting, when we’re in a really tough situation, we tend to pray, evening,
morning, middle of the day, our prayer life increases. Doesn’t it? “He
hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.” (verse 18) you know, as David was up
there in Mahanaim, and he’s taken into hospitality and he finds rest (cf. 2nd Samuel 17:24, 27-29). “God shall hear, and afflict them, even he
that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes,” because
nothing’s going wrong in their lives, “therefore
they fear not God. He hath put
forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.” (verses
19-20) now this is talking about the wicked, Ahithophel, Absalom, “He hath put forth his hands against such
as be at peace with him: he hath
broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother
than butter, but war was in his
heart: his words were softer than
oil, yet were they drawn swords.”
(verses 20-21) No doubt he’s
talking about Ahithophel again, the wisest counselor in the land. They said his counsel was like the
oracle of God, that’s how wise he was. “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (verse 21) “His words were softer than oil,”
hey, how soft is that? “his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden upon the LORD,
and he shall sustain thee: he shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live
out half their days; but I will trust in thee.” (verses 22-23) ‘Cast
thy burden upon the LORD. and he shall sustain thee’ now we got a great license
plate or plaque or something right here, that would be a good one,
bumper-sticker. Listen to this last
verse now, “But thou, O God, shall bring
them down into the pit of destruction:” listen to what he says, “bloody and deceitful men shall not live
out half their days: but I will
trust in thee.” Bloody
and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. When Ahithophel realized that Absalom
had listened to the counsel of Hushei instead of him, Ahithophel had said,
advised Absalom, ‘Gather all the troops
right now, today, right now, while you can be hot on David’s trail, go get him,
you’ll slaughter him.’ That
would have been true. But Hushei
said ‘No, no, Absalom, let’s not rush
in. Take your time, gather the
troops, make sure everybody knows, do this wisely.’ And Absalom said, ‘You know what, I think the counsel of Hushei is wiser than the counsel
of Ahithophel,’ and it said the LORD had made it happen that way,
and Ahithophel when he saw that, it says he went out, he put his house in
order, he wrote out everything, and he hung himself, he committed suicide, like
Judas, he committed suicide. Absalom then goes, by then others have joined themselves to David, David
has a smaller army, but they are studs, Abishai, Joab, Benia, guys that can
kill 200 people by themselves on a battlefield. You know, they’ve gathered around David
again, and of course they destroy the army that comes with Absalom, and Joab
pursues him, and Absalom gets hung up in a tree by his hair, he was always
proud of his hair, he got caught in a branch, he was dangling there, and Joab
finished him off. ‘Bloody
and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,’ neither one of
them did. David probably wrote this
before he heard about them. Probably put his quill to the page as he was fleeing, he was up in the
highlands, when he had some rest.
In Closing
So,
songs to sing. Some of them have a
meter, they’re short, they’re sweet. Ah, don’t be shocked when the wicked, the Doeg’s then, the Dogs are
around, that want to eat you up, and they think nothing of slaughtering God’s
priests and God’s Levites and God’s people, they’re out there. But David says ‘But you know what? Me personally, I’m like a luxurious
olive tree planted in the courts of God’s house.’ Just think, think how insane it is out
there, and then you come here on a Wednesday night, and sing songs about Jesus,
and read the Bible. You ever think
that was going to happen? You know,
when I was 16, 17 years old, I was taking drugs, I was lost. I went to church on Christmas Eve to get
in from the cold, and was half pickled when I got there, I just sat way in the
back to get warm. If anybody would
have told me then, ‘You’re going to go to
church three times a week, sing songs, study your Bible,’ I’d have thought ‘What are you takin’ man? Because it’s better than what I’m
taking.’ And if they’d have
said to me ‘You’re going to be a pastor,’ I’d have punched them. Think how
crazy the world is. Here we are,
like luxurious olive trees, planted in the house of our God, here we are,
planted. Everything else is going
to be plucked up and rooted out. Isn’t it wonderful to be here, part of the family of God, to have hope,
as you see this world? [loud
applause] If it’s a Ziphite that’s
giving you troubles, somebody from your own tribe, you know, think about the
hope that we have, and pull it into the future where the pain is, you just
bring it there. You say, ‘God, I know you hear my prayer, I trust
you, you are a present help,’ not ‘you will be’, God is, right now. Because sometimes, you know, sometimes
it’s done on purpose, sometimes it’s done because we did something stupid to
invite that kind of a thing, sometimes it’s unintentional. I hate having to referee emails. I tell the people in staff, ‘Walk to the other end of the building, look
into that human being’s face, and talk to them.’ [loud applause] You know why? Because we’re made to interact with
other human beings. You know, human
being’s eyes, it isn’t just a receiver, it’s a transmitter. My wife can tell me all kinds of things
with her eyes, without opening her mouth. She’s transmitting signals all the time [chuckles]. So, if you just get an email, then Satan
is going to tell you the tone of it. ‘I was hoping that I was going to
see you yesterday,’ and Satan’s telling you ‘I was hoping I WAS GOING TO SEE YOU YESTERDAY, BUT YOU DIDN’T SHOW
UP, YOU JERK!’ He’s going to
tell you the tone of it. You can’t
tell it from reading it. If you
walk up and look in a human being’s face, and say ‘Man, I missed you yesterday, I was hoping I was going to see you.’ It’s so different, it’s so
different. So, sometimes it’s
somebody from our own tribe, sometimes we misinterpret whatever, it’s still, we
turn to the Lord, he’s our strength, he keeps us, he upholds us. And when those days come, I don’t want
the wings of a dove, because they’re too slow. I want my tank filled, and I’m outa
here. When I get in the woods, you
ain’t never going to see me again, when those days come, settle down, get with
your God, he loves you. He’ll
embrace you, he’ll sustain you. Pray for me, [I’m a] high
priority target…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Psalms 52:1-9;
53:1-6; 54:1-7 and Psalm 55:1-23, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of
Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
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