WWUTT 1039 Why Do You Boast of Evil?

David’s Grief Over His Own Sin in Psalm 51

In the psalm that we looked at last week, David experienced grief in his heart over his sin. In the psalm we're looking at today, David again experiences grief in his heart, but this time over someone else's sin, when we understand the text.

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Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the psalms and picking up where we left off last week would put us in Psalm 52. If you wanna open up your Bible and join with me there, we continue with the David Psalms.

Last week, we looked at Psalm 51. This was the psalm that David prayed once Nathan, the prophet, had shown to him his sin, that he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, murdered.

And so David prayed unto the Lord for forgiveness. And that's what we have in Psalm 51. There's quite a backstory behind Psalm 52 as well. We'll read through it first and then talk about what inspired this psalm.

Doeg the Edomite and the Backstory of Psalm 52

You'll notice the title at the top, to the choir master, a mascal of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, David has come to the house of Ahimelech. Let's start in verse one. Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down forever. He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him saying, see the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction.

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever because you have done it. I will wait for your name for it is good in the presence of the godly.

Such a beautiful Psalm and the outline of the Psalm is set from the first line, Psalm 52 verse one again. Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. So you have the first part of the Psalm addressing the evil man.

And then the second part of the Psalm praising God for his goodness. But what would have inspired this particular Psalm? Who is the evil man that we are talking about here? And for this story, we go back to first Samuel chapter 21.

David was fleeing from Saul. He had no food. So he goes to see Ahimelech, the priest at the tabernacle and asks for the bread of the presence. He also doesn't have any weapon. And Ahimelech says, well, the only weapon that's here is the sword of Goliath, the very sword that David used to cut off Goliath's head.

It was there in the tabernacle behind the ephod. So David took that and fled to Gath, which was actually the very Philistine city that Goliath was from. That probably wasn't a smart move. And David barely escaped with his life.

Then in chapter 22, he fled to the cave of Adullam. Now there was a guy there at the tabernacle when David had this exchange with Ahimelech. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was one of Saul's chief herdsmen.

Saul was upset that none of his men had disclosed to him what David was doing and where he was. He even felt betrayed by his own son, Jonathan, who had made a covenant with David instead of telling him where he could find David.

And so Doeg the Edomite speaks up and says, ha, I know where David is. I was there in the tabernacle when Ahimelech had this little exchange with David, when he gave David provisions, food, and even a weapon.

So we pick up in chapter 22, verse 11. Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all of his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king.

And Saul said, here now, son of Ahitub. And he answered, here I am, my lord. And Saul said to him, why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him so that he has risen against me to lie in wait as at this day?

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and who among all your servants is so faithful as David? Who is the king's son-in-law and captain over your bodyguard and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him?

No, let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all of this, much or little. And the king said, you shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.

And the king said to the guard that stood about him, turn and kill the priests of the Lord because their hand also is with David. And they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

They knew better than to do something like that. Then the king said to Doeg, you turn and strike the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. And he killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen ephod.

And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword, both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. It was a massive slaughter. And all of this because Saul hated David that much.

And that is what inspired this Psalm. When David had heard about the people that were put to death because Saul was seeking him. What mourning, what anguish David experienced in his soul. This was a righteous anger that he felt and a hurt that he had for those who had been harmed.

Now, David certainly felt an anguish in his soul in Psalm 51, but this is certainly a most different anguish that he is experiencing in Psalm 52. He is gritting his teeth at the evil man for what he has done.

But David's body relaxes to know the steadfast love of the Lord, that all things are indeed in his hand and God's justice will prevail. So we start again in Psalm 52, verse one. Why do you boast of evil, oh mighty man?

Doeg the Edomite just could not keep his mouth shut. He knew exactly what Saul wanted and what Saul wanted to do to David. And yet Doeg was willing to gab. He was willing to say, I was there. I saw him elect give David provisions.

And he boasts in the fact that he knows something and is willing to do something that none of the other men are willing to do. And then the next line, the steadfast love of God endures all the day. So you see the contrast between the evil of man and the goodness of God.

Man's evil will last but a short time. Believe it or not, I know it's hard to fathom. I know it's hard to consider, but the evil of man will not last on this earth. God's steadfast love will endure for all time.

Verse two, your tongue plots destruction. So like I said at the start, we have this outline first addressing the evil man and then addressing the good God. So your tongue talking to the evil man plots destruction.

What you say, you mean harm to other people. Like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. And as Jesus said in Mark chapter seven, it's what comes out of the heart of a person that defiles him. It's not what goes into his mouth that defiles him.

It's what comes out of his mouth because it flows from a sinful heart. So this wicked man exposes his wicked heart in the words that he says. He plots destruction and his words are like a sharp razor.

Surely you've heard the rhyme, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I hate that rhyme. And that is certainly not the way that I felt as a kid when I got picked on by the bullies, right?

The kids that were older than me and looked down on me because I really was kind of a little nerdy, geeky kid. And so they would make fun of me. And that's what I went home crying about. Not that I got pushed down into the dirt, but that these words still stung so bad.

The wounds that were caused on my body would eventually heal, but I would never forget those words. And even to this day, I have not. I can still remember the taunts of kids that picked on me. And I would even have acquaintances and friends later on in life, people that I thought were my friends that would bring words of harm against me.

And I never forget those words. We don't get into fistfights or any of that kind, but the words remain. The words stick. And it's like it is painted on your soul and you never seem to get rid of it. Well, here in this particular case, we're talking about words quite a bit worse than what somebody might gossip about you.

We're talking about words that actually, literally lead to a person's death. And that's what Doeg the Edomite did. Now, he may not have necessarily lied. Like what he said was not the opposite of truth, but what he said was nevertheless bearing false witness against somebody because of the tone about which he talked about Ahimelech.

He didn't talk about Ahimelech doing something righteous as in helping the servant of God, the king's own son-in-law. He talked about Ahimelech as doing something traitorous. So indeed it was being said of Ahimelech, something that he really did do.

He really did give provisions to David and he really did give him a weapon. Yes, yes, he did those things. But it was still dishonest, what it was that Doeg the Edomite said because he used the truth and bent it to make it look like Ahimelech was actually a traitor.

Still the same word. It's kind of like, it's almost like a difference in tone. You can say something that's true in a very harsh way, right? And it almost kind of changes the message because of the tone of your words.

Well, that would have been the case here. Not necessarily in tone, but certainly in intent in what Doeg the Edomite wanted to accomplish with what he was reporting to Saul. Therefore his words plot destruction and they are like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

It's not that he lied in the sense that he said the opposite of truth, but he was deceitful in the sense that he spoke truth as if the truth were evil. You worker of deceit, you love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right.

Once again, Doeg the Edomite did say what actually happened, but he was bearing false witness because he was trying to paint Ahimelech as a criminal and not the righteous man of God that he was. And what we have there after that in verse three, we have Selah, okay?

That's that word that gives pause. It is a time in the Psalm where you kind of reflect on what it was that was said, or maybe if accompanied by musical instruments, the music would be playing in that particular spot.

It's almost as if in pondering what it was that Doeg the Edomite did was so evil and so wicked, it shudders the person to even speak it. This is a Psalm in which God is going to be praised and here we are talking about the evil of man, an evil thing that was done that resulted in the deaths of the priests of God and even all their families in an entire village.

The horror of this causes a person to pause and reflect, recognizing the evil that men do. We need a God of justice and we need a God of deliverance. We need a God who is going to be just upon the evil man and we need a God who is gonna deliver us from the wickedness of man.

Furthermore, we need a God who is gonna deliver us from the wickedness of ourselves. That was what we had in the previous Psalm in Psalm 51, David asking to be delivered from himself who had done all these wicked and evil things worthy of the wrath of God, the judgment of God upon him, but he asked for forgiveness, begged for it.

So we need to be delivered even from ourselves and this is kind of that moment of pause. We realize the wickedness of man, the wickedness that might even exist within ourselves, that we not be like that guy who is the worker of deceit, but instead the one who is like the green olive tree in the house of God.

That's what we get to later in the Psalm. So then verse four, picking up where we left off. We've had a moment of pause and reflection, but still coming back to this wicked man. You love all words that devour, oh deceitful tongue.

Bending the truth, bending what was done, what was said, which was for the purpose of helping the Lord's servant and bending that to make it look instead like Ahimelech had betrayed the Lord's servant.

So therefore you have this deceitful tongue. You love words that devour. Verse five, but God will break you down forever. Here comes the God of justice to lay it down on the man who hurts, harms others, who loves bloodshed, who loves to bring false accusations against another.

God will break you down forever. He will snatch and tear you from your tent and he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him saying, see the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction.

Notice the reaction of the righteous here. The righteous actually laugh at the fact that this wicked man received his judgment, received what was due to him. There is joy and hope in knowing that the wicked man will not succeed, but that God will have the final say.

In the book of Revelation, we see people praising God forever because of the judgments that he has brought upon wicked men. That might be difficult for us to understand now, but when we get to the other side in glory and we see the full plan of God laid out and what he was doing, even in the midst of evil, it will cause us joy and celebration of the God who works all things together for our good and for his glory.

So God is gonna break down the wicked men. He is gonna snatch and tear them from their tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. And we have another moment of pause there. Say la, as we reflect upon the righteous judgment of God.

The righteous shall see and fear, will fear the Lord. There will be a holy reverence of God, knowing that he is the supreme judge and will laugh then at the wicked man saying, see the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction.

In other words, he sought refuge in those things that would lead to his destruction. So verse eight, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. Now, if you've been reading straight through the Psalms up to this point, this should sound kind of familiar.

We actually go right back to Psalm one. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff that the wind drives away.

So we're seeing some similarities here with Psalm one. I did mention when we started the Psalms, Psalm one and two come up regularly. It's kind of like it's a thesis for what will happen or what will be said in the next 148 Psalms.

So here we have, once again, the tree that is planted in God. I am like a green olive tree in the house of God, a green, evergreen. I am always in season. I am always nourished. I am always rooted and firmly grounded.

I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. We cannot trust in man. That doesn't mean we should not trust our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but our ultimate trust can't be there because surely you've had occasions where you knew somebody who was, you would have called a brother or sister in the Lord and they betrayed you.

They turned on you. Their words that previously were so loving and encouraging turned into sharp razors, just as being described, just as what is being described of Doeg the Edomite. So people are going to betray us and they're going to hurt us, but our trust must be in God, in his steadfast love.

His love is steadfast and unmoving. And anybody whose love is for you and is likewise steadfast is only because they too are planted and rooted in God. And we will trust in him, in his steadfast love forever and ever.

Trusting in the Steadfast Love of God Forever

Verse nine, I will thank you forever because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good in the presence of the godly. The godly know that God's name is good. And to some degree, the wicked know that too, but it's because they are wicked and God is good that they are going to receive their destruction.

We have a righteousness that comes not from ourselves. It has been granted to us by God in his good name. And we therefore wear his name, all of us who are followers of Jesus. So let us trust in the name of the Lord, our God, for it is good.

It is good in the presence of the godly. We celebrate and praise that name weekly when we gather as the saints in the church of God. But let me press upon you that you place your trust in the Lord, not in people.

And when I say that again, once again, I wanna reiterate, I do not mean that you shouldn't trust anybody, but just know that people will let you down. So ultimately our trust has to be in God. If there's any goodness or hope in this world, it is going to be found in Christ.

So rely upon him. If you find yourself in a situation where those you love have turned against you, turn to Christ. Rely fully upon him, trust in him and his love is for you and his love will never fail.

He will uphold you with his mighty hand. Let's conclude with prayer. Our heavenly father, we thank you for the goodness that you have shown to us in Christ. We thank you for the friendship that we have with you because of the relationship that we have in Christ Jesus.

Keep us near to you by keeping us near your word. And may we rely on these words daily, trusting in you through the promises that you have given to us, especially that promise in Christ that not even the grave can hold us down.

As we read in Romans 8 .1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Amen.

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