What Should We Do When People Are Awful? (Psalm 52)
GIST: Trust God to judge the wicked, and let the power of His love change your life.
Welcome to our service in the park! Today, we’re continuing our Summer in the Psalms and coming to Psalm 52. This psalm is called a Maskil of David which implies that it is a song meant to be instructive. It’s also a psalm that comes with context. The title of the psalm tells us it was written “when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, "David has come to the house of Ahimelech."” You can read this account in 1 Samuel 21-22. It’s pretty bad. This is during the time when David was fleeing for his life from King Saul who was jealous of David because he knew God had chosen him to be king of Israel. While fleeing, David came to the city of Nob and spoke with the priest there, Ahimelech. He and his men were starving, so he lied to the priest and told him they were on a special mission from King Saul. Now, this could have been because he didn’t want to put the priest on Saul’s bad side, but either way, it was a lie. Ahimelech then gave David and his men food, and even gave him the sword of Goliath that was being stored there.
The head herdsman of Saul, Doeg the Edomite, was also in Nob and saw this all go down. He ends up telling Saul who calls for Ahimelech and lays into him for supporting David and trying to usurp the throne. Ahimelech responds with, “I had no idea anything was wrong between you too. David is your most honored servant. Of course, I would help him.” However, Saul wasn’t hearing it, and told his men to kill all the priest at Nob. They wouldn’t do it, so Saul ask Doeg to do the honors —which he did gladly. In fact, he killed 85 priests and then went to Nob and killed the women and children and livestock.
One priest survived and fled to David. When he heard about this, he felt responsible for this and swore to protect this surviving priest. However, his deception didn’t cause Doeg and Saul to kill masses. That was their sin. The psalm we’re coming to this morning was written with this situation in mind. Let’s read it→
“1 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, "David has come to the house of Ahimelech." Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. 5 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. Selah 6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 "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!" 8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9 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.”
Now, there are several truths we could glean from this passage. However, what hit me most this week was what it has to say about how we handle wickedness in our lives. I know we’re outside in this beautiful park, so it might seem more fitting to talk about something like God’s creation (also worth our time!), but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much we need this message. We live in a world broken by sin. Because of that, there is a lot of junk that happens. Not only do we see this from a distance as we watch the atrocities reported on the news, but we also witness it firsthand. People can be cruel. And with the rise of social media, the prominence of this cruelty seems to have increased. It now chases us everywhere we go. It seeps into our homes and wrecks our hearts.
So, how do we face this? This psalm points to the right perspective. In fact, the entire psalm is almost summarized in the first verse where we have this contrast of might. “1… Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.” Everything I referenced said David was probably referring to Doeg as a “mighty man” sarcastically. Doeg felt mighty, but there was nothing mighty about killing innocent people who could not defend themselves. In fact, as priests, they would likely never have even held a weapon. God, on the other hand, displays true might with His enduring, steadfast love! So again, how do we face wickedness? Here’s our gist: Trust God to judge the wicked, and let the power of His love change your life. Let’s dive into that. First→
I. Trust God To Judge The Wicked.
This in itself, doesn’t come easily. Naturally —though we are definitely fans of mercy for ourselves —when we’re the offended party, we want to be hands-on with the judging! But, let’s build up to this a bit. The passage actually starts with a description of wickedness.
Wickedness Described (2-4). Now, this isn’t the only description of wickedness, but it gives us a picture. Really, it hits at the heart of sin. “2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.” What’s the picture here? Destructive intentions that come from loving sin and bubble from our hearts and become who we are. It’s the natural progression we see throughout Scripture about what goes into the heart coming out. We might be able to keep it down for a bit, but when all we’re feeding our hearts is junk, it starts to define us.
This is structured with a Selah which we’ve noted before is kind of like a call to pause and let it sink in. We should. Sin is destructive. We’re quick to call this out in others, but let’s never forget that we’re all born with a self-destructive sin-nature. I know that might be another conversation for another day, but remembering our own brokenness is a big step in the right direction when it comes to facing the effects of brokenness in others.
Judgment Described (5). As the passage continues, we then move into seeing judgment described. However, though David is mad about this atrocity, he’s not the judge. That is reserved for God. “5 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. Selah”
Remember, Doeg feels mighty. He appears proud of his sin. Many walk around like this—causing pain but feeling no remorse. In fact, they often feel justified and full of vanity. But what is the end of that road, the road of following your desires, doing things in your own strength, and ignoring the plans and purposes of God? Judgment… from God. It’s described in vivid language here, but the picture is one of instantaneous and permanent punishment. God is good and gracious. Jesus came and took Hell in our place so that we might be forgiven and receive the rescue of His grace. However, He is also just, and the wages of sin is death. The Hell we’re running towards will be our eternal destination if we don’t turn to His grace.
This is something people in our part of the world struggle with a lot more than people who are faced with the more brutal forms of sin. When you’ve watched your family die at the hands of wicked people, then knowing God takes sin seriously is a comfort. A few weeks ago, I heard an apologist (whose name I do not know) make this point. He said something like: “We all want God to punish wickedness, but then we’re often offended when He actually does.” This part ends with a Selah, as well. And, yeah, I think we need to let that sink in.
Reactions of the Righteous Described (6-7). The last part of this section shows us the reactions of the righteous, those who are following after God, those who have been forgiven. These people aren’t “better people”, they are those rescued by grace. “6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 "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!"”
We need to break this down a bit because it almost seems like these righteous people are kind of jerks. They’re laughing at this man’s eternal condemnation. However, this is a picture we see all throughout the Psalms, and it’s not about rejoicing in judgment. It’s about two things. 1. Taking God seriously. When it says the righteous will see and fear, it means they will remember who God is —His power and justice. It’s also about→ 2. Finding joy in God’s provision. This isn’t joy in the judgment of Doeg, but joy knowing God is not ok with sin. When God’s Word tells us He is loving, it means it. He loves us so much, He isn’t ok with the sin that takes us away from the blessing we were made for —being with Him.
So, when people are awful, remember your own situation (that’s like a bonus point for today ☺️), trust God to be God and judge the wicked, and→
II. Let The Power Of His Love Change Your Life
Look again at how this psalm ends: “8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9 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.” What we have is a→
Contrasting Description. Instead of embracing sin or letting anger get the best of us —even when facing people being awful toward us, we should turn our hearts toward Him. If you’re around me often, you’ve probably heard me say something like this a lot. It might sound redundant, but it’s so true, and it’s something I really want to get ahold of in my life, as well. Turning our eyes to Jesus, taking His Word seriously, digging deep with Him —changes everything. It brings hope in the midst of heartache, and it gives you the right perspective when you see awful things happening all around you, even to you.
David could have turned his attention to getting revenge on Doeg. Instead, he turned his heart toward his walk with God. As a result, he’s described as alive. He’s a green olive branch. Green means it’s not dead. Olives we’re a big part of this society too. Olives were used in so many ways. So we have this picture of David being fruitful. He’s being used by God. He’s also protected. If you’re an olive tree in the House of God, no one is going to come dig you up! He’s securely planted exactly where he belongs. Man, think of that description. We all want that. We want to be where we’re supposed to be, where we’re accepted and loved. Come to Jesus.
Instead of seeking revenge, he is also trusting in the steadfast, never failing love of God. The fact that he’s trusting in this forever and ever is also a cool picture of salvation because when we trust in Jesus, we will be with Him forever. Notice also how this changes his heart. From angry to thankful… because God has done it. David’s eyes are looking at what God is doing instead of being frustrated by all the junk happening.
And he’s… waiting. If you’ve ever gone through the Psalms with us in the summers, you’re probably familiar with this idea. Waiting isn’t a picture of sitting still, but eagerly expecting God to be God. David is looking forward to God showing up. And he’s not waiting alone. Instead, he’s surrounded by God’s people. Anger is easy. It’s harder when you have a support group pointing you toward the love of Jesus!
Ok, we’re outside, and it’s hot, so I’ll try to just hit a few highlights in our→
TAKEAWAYS
This world will hurt.
Leave judgment to God.
Draw near to Him and let His love change you.
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