WWUTT 1134 The Righteous Flourish, the Wicked Perish?

We'll see a certain interconnectedness woven through four Psalms today, seeing that God is powerful,

He reigns on high, the righteous will be delivered, but the wicked will perish when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, being

Thursday, we come back to our Old Testament Study in the Psalms. The last few weeks

I've just been getting through a Psalm at a time here. We're going to see if we can do several more today. Picking up where we left off last week, that's going to start us in Psalm 92, a

Psalm, a song of the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the

Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands

I sing for joy. How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.

The stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever.

But you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold your enemies, O Lord, for behold your enemies shall perish.

All evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox.

You have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.

My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age.

They are ever full of sap and green. To declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him.

You know, the fact that this is referred to as a song of the Sabbath should clue us into this being a congregational psalm.

And I believe that the Psalms, more than any other book of the Bible, give us the strongest argument for church attendance.

You know, sometimes we kind of reach for those verses, well, which verse would it be that tells you you have to go to church?

I think the entire Psalms do that because over and over again, we have these psalms that are very clearly sung as being congregational.

And this is even the delight, the fullness of the heart of the person who has written this psalm, whether it be, you know,

David or maybe the sons of Korah. So the persons who have written this psalm, this one in particular, we don't know who the author is, but it's very clear that their desire and anticipation is to be with the people of God.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High. That is verse one.

And that would be, it is good to sing praises with everybody together.

In no way should we be reading any of these psalms as being like these individual things where it's kind of like me and God alone with my

Bible. Over and over again, these psalms remind us that they are being sung by the congregation.

Even when we read individual laments like it might be first person or something like that, it's one person who is expressing something to God.

Nevertheless, this was part of the Psalter and the people of Israel would perform and sing these things together as congregational songs.

We have songs like that in our hymnals as well. One of those that's my favorite, in fact, one of my favorites is

Be Still My Soul. The Lord is on your side. Very singular, and yet we would sing that together as a congregation.

So here, it is good to declare the steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night to the music of the lute and the harp, the melody of the lyre.

So we've got accompanists here as they sing, for you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work at the works of your hands,

I sing for joy. So we begin, that's kind of our introduction with the people singing together, though it might be in the first person singular, it is nevertheless a congregational song, delighting to sing together the people of God to the

Lord. But then we have this next movement here that kind of contrasts the righteous with the unrighteous.

How great are your works, O Lord, your thoughts are very deep. The stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever.

So the man who knows the Lord has come to a knowledge and an understanding by the blessing of God.

It is the Lord who reveals himself to us, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, no one knows the son except the father and no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

So the fact that we get to know God and see him in his glory is a blessing of the

Holy Spirit whom Christ the Lord has poured into our hearts. Those who do not see

God in this way are stupid and ignorant. That's according to this psalm. I'm not, you know, making up a word or using a harsh word just for the sake of using a harsh word.

The stupid man doesn't know God. He certainly knows of God. He just doesn't know

God. Romans 1, 18 through 20 is very clear that everyone has knowledge of God, but they don't know

God. To know God is to have a relationship with him, to have an intimacy with God, and only those whom

God has revealed himself to have that kind of relationship with God. When the

Lord spoke to Moses through the burning bush, even introduced himself, I am the

God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That was his name, Yahweh, I am.

For somebody to introduce themselves to you, there's already a personal connection that's happened there.

Knowing somebody's name and the person and character that are attached to that name is to know somebody on a basis of friendship.

And so that is how we know God, and he knows us. Jesus himself says, I have called you friends.

But those who are evil are ignorant and stupid. And though they see in this limited scope in which they have, the lifetime in which they exist on earth, though they see that the wicked do flourish, hey,

I can do wicked evil things, and I get along just fine, now they probably wouldn't do what they're calling they probably wouldn't call what they're doing evil, but nevertheless, those who do evil things do in fact flourish.

We talked about that quite a bit when we were in the book of Job. Yet those who know the

Lord know this, they're doomed to destruction forever. The wicked don't know that, they're dumb to that.

But those who know God know that those who remain in wickedness and don't turn from sin and follow in righteousness will be doomed to destruction forever.

In 1 Peter 2, beginning in verse 7, it says, the honor is for you who believe.

But for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Is that not what we're doing here in Psalm 92, praising God for his marvelous light that we've been called out of darkness and into his kingdom.

Verse 9, for behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish.

All evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox.

You have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

Once again, this second movement here in this psalm contrasting the righteous with the unrighteous.

And then we have this final movement that actually harkens back to Psalm 1. I don't know if you remember me saying this, but back at the beginning of our study of the psalms,

I said just about every psalm comes back to either Psalm 1 or Psalm 2. They're the thesis statements to the rest of the psalms.

So here we have the righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. Well, where have we seen that before?

We saw that in Psalm 1. The righteous man 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 are like chaff that the wind drives away.

And here we have that stated here in Psalm 92. Those who are flourishing in the courts of God still bear fruit in old age.

They are ever full of sap and green to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Next psalm is very short. This is Psalm 93. No title at the beginning of this. The Lord reigns.

He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed. He has put on strength as his belt.

Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old.

You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up. Oh Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice.

The floods lift up their roaring mightier than the thunders of many waters.

Mightier than the ways of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty.

Your decrees are very trustworthy. Holiness befits your house. Oh Lord, forevermore.

I think in this particular psalm and just these five verses that we have read, you see a certain repetition that begins to sound a little bit more like a song, doesn't it?

One of the things that pops out at me, verses three and four, the floods have lifted up their roaring, but mightier is the

Lord than the thunders of many waters. As we look about creation and we see the power and behold the wonder of creation itself, we can be reminded that our

God is even stronger and greater than this. You look at the most powerful thing in creation and yet God is even more powerful.

Earlier this week, I don't know if you saw this, but the highest resolution image ever taken of the sun was released.

Did you see this? It looks like popcorn. It looks like you kind of magnified on the surface of a caramel covered popcorn, caramel covered popcorn.

You say caramel. I say caramel, whatever. Anyway, that's what it looks like. It looks like a bunch of popcorn together or something like that.

It's fascinating, especially when you see that image in motion. It's really wild to see the surface of the sun moving, but that's the highest resolution image of the sun that has ever been seen.

Think of the power of the sun. Earlier this week, I was up with the sun, which was shining through a curtain in my bathroom window, and I saw the orb kind of shining through the curtain a little bit, and it was early enough in the morning.

I kind of cracked open the curtain. I thought I could look at the sun. Maybe it's low enough on the horizon, isn't quite bright enough

I could look at it. No, with less than a second of just gazing at the sun, I already had flash burn on my eyes.

If you stare at the sun too long, you will blind yourself. It could only take seconds, and you could do permanent damage to your eyes.

Think of the power that is in the sun, and yet God who created it is even way more powerful than that, far more brilliant than even the sun that warms our earth and lightens our day.

God is even more glorious than this. Water is powerful, man.

It is a powerful thing. If you've ever stood at the ocean and looked at it, that's big.

The ocean's huge and can be really intimidating, and yet our God is even more powerful than this.

That's what's being stated here in Psalm 93, even mightier than the mightiest of creation.

That is our God who has created all things. Next Psalm. This is Psalm 94. O Lord, God of vengeance.

O God of vengeance, shine forth. Rise up, O judge of the earth. Repay to the proud what they deserve.

O Lord, how long shall the wicked? How long shall the wicked exalt? They pour out their arrogant words.

All the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage.

They kill the widow and the sojourner and murder the fatherless. And they say, the

Lord does not see. The God of Jacob does not perceive. Whenever we're talking about the weakest, the most vulnerable in society, the

Old Testament will refer to them as fatherless and widows. The fatherless orphans, children who do not have men to defend them and take care of them.

Widows, old women whose husbands have died and they don't have men to care for them and nurture them.

They are the weakest, the most destitute, those who are most in need. The fatherless and widows in a society.

And those who are wicked will take advantage of the weakest. So then we go on to talk once again about the ignorance and foolishness of those who are evil.

Verse 8, understand, O dullest of the people, fools, when will you be wise?

He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?

He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge, the

Lord knows the thoughts of man. They are but a breath. We see a combination of both of the previous

Psalms that we've read. So Psalm 92, we're reading about the stupid man who does not know

God or his way. Psalm 93, we read about creation and how God is even mightier than all of this.

And so here we have a combination of both. A reference to the stupid and pointing out to them, has he who created the ear not heard?

How about he who created the eye, does he not see? So pointing at creation, once again,

God has created vision. He knows, he sees, he sees even more than you do.

Verse 12, blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law to give him rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug for the wicked.

For the Lord will not forsake his people. He will not abandon his heritage for justice will return to the righteous and all the upright in heart will follow it.

A contrast, once again, between the righteous and the wicked and what will become of the righteous and what will become of the wicked.

Just like we saw previously in Psalm 92. So going on here, verse 16, who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

When I thought my foot slips, your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Can wicked rulers be allied with you?

Those who frame injustice by statute, they band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

Boy, if that's not a reference to the Democratic Party in the United States of America and all the abortion laws, they pass abortion that we see rampant in our world today.

Laws that are passed that destroy life. They frame injustice by statute.

They condemn the innocent to death. We have it written down right there in Psalm 94.

Verse 22, but the Lord has become my stronghold and my God, the rock of my refuge.

He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness.

The Lord, our God, will wipe them out. That should cause us to fear and tremble in the mighty holy judgment of God and turn from your sin, fear the judgment of God over your sin.

Don't sin anymore. Turn to the Lord, love his righteousness, his law, walk in his ways, and warn others who are walking in wickedness that judgment is coming if they do not repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Finally, Psalm 95, O come, let us sing to the

Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.

Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. This is sounding a lot like Psalm 92, right?

For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth.

The heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his for he made it and his hands form the dry land.

Sounds like Psalm 93. Verse six, O come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day at Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

For 40 years, I loathed that generation and said they are a people who go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways.

Therefore, I swore my wrath and they shall not enter my rest. That sounds like Psalm 94.

So we have once again these reminders of God, who is creator and king. He reigns and rules over all the strongest and mightiest of those things that we see in creation.

God is even greater than that, for he is the one who created them. And because he is creator and because he reigns over all, he is holy and just and right and good.

He does no wrong. Or as we had it stated for us in Psalm 92, there is no unrighteousness in him.

There is unrighteousness in us. And God will come and judge the wicked and turn their iniquity back on them.

And so may we fear in that day the judgment of God that is coming. So we would turn from our sin to Jesus Christ, who himself is righteous and became incarnate, that he would live as a man and fulfill every aspect of the law, which we could not do, dying for us as a righteous sacrifice, atoning for our sins so that all who believe in Jesus will not perish under the judgment of God.

But we are clothed in his righteousness. The wrath of God passes over us for Christ is our

Passover lamb, and we are delivered into a land of promise, his eternal kingdom forever through Jesus Christ our

Lord. May we not rebel in the wilderness, but in any and all things, we turn to the

Lord and commit our ways to him, and he will deliver us from this perilous earth.

Amen. This is When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great

Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

Find a good, gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our