Reacting to Evil
Notes
Transcript
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Psalms 51 to 72 all have headings related to events in the life of King David.
So we can just read thiese Psalms on thier own and appretiate them, but,
journey into the life and experince of David the Psalmist, and we will see just how powerful this pasalm really is,
The Psalms introductions, tells us
A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.’
So, At this point in David’s life, he has been told by the prophet Samuel that he will be the King of Israel.
The problem is - there is already a King, King Saul, and he - despite liking David, allowing him to marry his daughter and appointing him to head of his body gaurd mitliraty unit - he really doesn’t want this to happen.
He wants his own name and heriatge to continue.
His envy and mood worsens over time until He tries to kill David, but David flees.
It’s a huge betrayal by King Saul - afterall, david is very careful to make every effort to honour Him as King while he reigns.
He has no intention of taking the throne by force - he trusts God to bring it about in His good timing.
But Saul is out for blood - literally.
This Psalm is written in response to the events we read of in
1 Sam 21.
David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, ‘Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?’
It’s an odd thing for David to turn up like this. - Why is this great man traveling alone?
Ahimelek will later descirbe Daivd like this to King Saul when he’s summoned about this event.
Ahimelek answered the king, ‘Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?
Ahimelek knows something is up,
but decides to help him anyway.
He provides food for David to take to a rendevou point that he’d prearranged by his faithful followers,
And he even finds him a sword.
Ironically - it’s the very sword of Goliath - the giant of a man who David famously killed with just his shepherds sling and a stone!
The hero David, now unfairly the enemy - and carrying the enemies sword as he flees.
But Psalm 52 is not about the general betrayal of King Saul, or David’s fleeing,
it’s something far darker and more personal than that - it’s a psalm seeking justice for a guilt David will always have to carry from that day he went to meet Ahimelek.
While David was there, pusaeuding Ahimelek the priest to help him,
trying to conceal what was really going on
there was a traitor in their midst.
Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
David, now armed and fed, leaves Ahimelek - but the dominos of evil are already falling - tradgedy is on it’s way...
we pick up the story in
Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side.
He demands information about David from his officials, even offers them bribes, But his officials stay quiet - we don’t know their thoughts, but it’s a brave move infront of an ever unhinged King with a spear in his hand!
Their choice was clear through.
Do they trust this
earthly, self elevating King
or do they trust God’s word through the prohet,
and stand by God’s chosen King - David..
But
But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob.
He’s the classic snitch, snivelling up to the King. he goes on..
Ahimelek enquired of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.’
We know something terrible is brewing.
Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king.
This is where Ahimelek pleads - but why wouldn’t we honur and serve David - he, as far as we knew, was a great man in your sight.
Was that day the first time I enquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.’
He really was between a rock and a hard place when he helped David, he truthfully could say he knew not what the dispute was - but he knew something was up!
King Sauls response is brutal.
But the king said, ‘You shall surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.’
But it’s not just the officials who can’t bring themselevs to side with King Saul and against God,
even his gaurds are not rpepapred to follow his orders.
Then the king ordered the guards at his side: ‘Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.’ But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.
Ahimelek and his fmaily, the preists are safe it seems.
Daivd’s actions have not brought them harm...
or has it - Doeg (the snitch) raises his head again.
The king then ordered Doeg, ‘You turn and strike down the priests.’ So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
This guy really wanted a name for himself didn’t he!
He was a shepherd, maybe he aspired to be as famous - or more so than David the shepherd!
But he was going to do it his way, bringing fame to himself,
happy to murder hundred of people, a whole town, even the children and infants.
It’s horrific,
you can only imagine how Daivd is going to feel when he hears about it.
And he hears about it pretty quickly,
But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David. He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. Then David said to Abiathar, ‘That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family.
So we know how David feels.
He feels responsible for the death of them all.
If only I hadn’t gone there,
If only I hadn’t asked for help,
If only I’d taken out Deog the edmoite at that point!
If only.
I wonder what sort of Psalm, what sort of prayer, you would be saying to God in response to all this.
I doubt we can find many direct parallels to our own lives,
but that feeling of trying to do the right thing by God, but feeling he’s perhaps let you down, Why God?
When you’ve strived to serve God, but your life seemingly is falling apart.
When you have made great sacrifices for Jesus,
but paid the price one way or another,
Or worse - those that you love have paid the price.
Maybe for someone here or listening, - we are simply trying to stay alive, as David was.
DId I make the wrong deciison?
It’s all my fault,
Why didn’t God help me,
I’ve honoured him as best I can - why would he do this to me.
Perhaps we’re expecting a psalm similar to how last weeks Psalm began.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
But we get something very different.
Something that might be very freeing for us as Christians in difficult times.
We get a Psalm of confidence in God Almighty - even when the world around us appears to be winning:
Psalm 52:1 (NIV 2011)
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? (The biting irony as he calls deog a hero) Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
It’s clear who Daivd still has his confidence in.
Despite the evidence of Deog’s victory - David is very confident he’s picked a fight with the wrong person - the wrong God!
You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!
It is the worlds words that bring about the persecution, the suffering, the boasting, the self-elevation that we see around us.
It is often apparently very successful,
We keep our confindecen in the Lord - our boasting in Him and we apparently loose many a battle,
But as the saying goes - they may have won the battle, but they have not won the war:
Speaking of Deog and his temporary vicotry:
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: he will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.
Daivd shows incredible faith and confindece in the Lord God.
He feels responsible for the death of an entire town - and yet in the face of such reality - he keeps his eyes fixed on an eternal reality.
The ungodly, the evil will face an eternal ruin.
Justice will be restored.
The war will be won.
Their tent will be no protection,
their roots - however deep - will not help them.
The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, ‘Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!’
I don’t think we will laugh at judgement - for that will be a terrible thing - but we will laugh says David - at the folly of those who are so evil so as to put their own wealth and success before God.
Presumably Deog did become rich and famous for his actions - but you have stood firm in the wrong thing.
All your confidence - bravado, showing off - big words, fighting talk, evil against others, power, status -
you’ve stood firm in the wrong thing.
And the righteous - those who have fear God will laugh at your foolishness.
Just as God laughs at the evil of mankind
Psalm 2:1–5 (NIV 2011)
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath...
Psal 52 really reminds us that the trials we face, the persecution seen against christians in other countries,
the apprent success of the world around us, even the backfired attempts of us to serve God that lead to pain for us or others,
Well it’s not mispalced,
It’s not going to go on like this forver,
Our confidence is to remian steadfastly in the Lord God and what is to come.
All the injustices we have seen and expeirinced, perhaps feel responsible for,
will be righted one day.
I your confidence is in yourself today - perhaps this shows you you must think again!
For those of us who do have confidence in God,
Well, in the face of this evil world, and the trals we face,
even as David is on the run, without a home, without regular food,
in fear of asking for help incase he brings more distater upon those who serve him,
How does he respond?
Not is dispair,
not in fear,
not is a sense of doom,
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
Unlike the useless roots of the wicked,
The huge olive tree with it’s enormous root syteme is secure - infact it’s so secure it’s even in the house of God.
Under his love, care and protection - not just for the trials of now,
but forever and ever.
Our destiny, our eternal security with God the Father - gives us a perspective that towers above this evil world and our very real and painful experience of it.
We need not blame God for letting this happen - God has promised that he will right all worngs,
For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.
So certainly, this psalm helps us by reminding us that the destiny of all is in the hands of our maker.
Whatever it looks like around us, we can hold onto the promises of God that we have eternal life if we submit to his rule not our own.
pause
But this is not just a psalm about getting our thinking right.
Imagine for a minute you are the one son of Ahimelk who espaced and found Daivd to report the news,
What sort of response do you want.
What sort of Psalm do you want your future king to write.
Having just seen the world in power strike an almighty blow to your whole family, town and life?
You want a Psalm that reminds you how confident you can be in your coming King.
Of course we can trust in God’s promises - and should,
But his promises and our etrenal destiny is not based on us getting things right.
That is the point of a promise.
So as Ahimelek’s son listened to this Psalm what does he hear.
Not that he must be a strong olive tree and trust in the promises of God -
but that his King IS a strong olive tree WHo DOES trust in the promises of God.
And So, David does for Ahimelek’s son, what Jesus does for us.
He does not say - chin up - you’ll be alright if you do this that and this.
He says you’ll be alright becasue I AM the OLIVE TREE.
David, Jesus, is the one v9 who will ‘prasie God the father in the presence of the faithful people’
As we come to Jesus - we aren’t just reminded to trust God’s promises - we actually come to God’s promise! Jesus himself.
He has defeated all evil and worldly boasting - when he gave his life as a ransome for those who will repent before him and believe.
He will come again to end all injustice - to put all things right - to give eternal life to those who look to Jesus for salvation - for justice.
Jesus does not say do this and that and then I’ll think about protecting you from this evil, and the judgement you then deserve.
He says - you have chosen right - by coming to me. I will protect you eternally - whatever happens in the evil world around.
So come to him today again, for the first time!
So that, whatever your life is like, however much you have sacrificed for Jesus and found little earthly reward, whoever painful, or joyful your summer is going to be
- do not forget to turn to your eternal king.
Your olive tree in the house of God,
Your King who will always trust and always obey His Father in heaven.
Your king who says exactly what David said to Ahimeleks son when he arrived and told of the tragedy and evil he was running form in this world.
Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.’
Pray