Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

Psalm 36 – When the Wicked Attack (Part 1 of 4)

Introduction – Christians are not only called to believe in Christ but also to suffer for Christ’s sake. (cf. Phil 1:29) This is the call to all believers as they live a holy life for Christ. This suffering on earth is real and will last for the rest of our life of service on earth. The promise of God to us is that He knows the measure of our faith so that whatever temptations He sends into our lives will be directly proportional to the measure of our faith in Christ. In other words, He will not tempt us beyond what our faith is able to carry. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” This assurance will help us to endure sufferings when they come. And they will come! The frequency is dependent upon God’s will. He knows best. Our duty is to submit and obey with a joyful heart.

David, called the servant of the LORD here in the superscription of Psalm 36, sets the tone of this psalm. He was writing as a servant to his LORD. He accepted whatever his Master had given to him including the trials of persecution from his enemies. He admitted that they came from the LORD. The LORD is right in all He does especially in His servant’s life, even in times of great adversities and persecution. This was the way that David drew closer to the LORD and experienced His mercies. This is also the way of all faithful believers in Christ. Let us learn from David’s testimony in Psalm 36.

I.  The Wicked Heart (Psalm 36:1-2) – “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.” (synthetic parallelism) -- David testified that from within his own heart he could see that the transgression of the wicked against him was due to the fact that they did not fear God. The injustice and persecution that were levelled against him would not have happened if these wicked men feared God. Whether it was during the time of King Saul who obsessively hounded him like a fugitive throughout all Israel or Absalom, David’s son, who usurped David’s kingdom, they would not have done it if they had the fear of God before their eyes. They would have been afraid of God. They would know that David was simply doing the will of God in his life.

In the case of King Saul, he hounded David because David was appointed to be the next king of Israel. God appointed David because of King Saul’s own failure. He disobeyed God on two occasions. His transgressions were compounded by the fact that he did not sincerely repent of his sins. If he had repented he would not have been rejected. He had no one to blame but himself when he lost his kingdom! In fact, David was not even born when God rejected King Saul as king. When King Saul found out that David was to be the next King of Israel instead of his own sons, he went against the revealed will of God by trying his utmost to kill David. He abused his power by using his armies to capture and kill David. He did so at the expense of the safety and security of the nation. The borders of Israel shrank because the enemies around Israel such as the Philistines captured more cities from Israel due to King Saul’s obsession to kill David. Armies that were supposed to secure the borders of Israel were used to pursue David, leaving many parts of Israel unprotected.  But the worst of all was that he did not fear God, for he dared to go against the will of God. He knew David was the anointed new king of Israel after him. To try and capture and kill David was to fight against God. If he feared God he would have accepted God's will and not stop David from becoming the next king.

It was the same in the case of Absalom. He used stealth to capture the kingdom of Israel from his own father King David for a brief time. He stood at the entrance of the gate of Jerusalem and all who came to see the king were redirected to see Absalom himself. He won over the hearts of the people of Israel by what he did. This diabolical plotting and planning to usurp the kingdom resulted in a brief civil war and resulted in Absalom’s death. He fought against the will of God and he paid for it with his life. If he had feared God, he would not have done it and would not have died.

These men knew the LORD, for they were Israelites. They had the tabernacle and the Levitical priesthood in Israel to show them the right way. They were not heathens who did not have the opportunity to know the Lord. Despite their privileged position, they ignored the LORD in their lives. They attacked the will of God in the lives of God's servants and paid the price for it. This is also true today when the enemies of God’s people come from within the church itself and not from outside the church. These same people are oblivious of the fact that when they fight against God’s servants, they are fighting against God. They also do not have the fear of the LORD in their hearts like Saul and Absalom. Their end will also be the same if they do not repent and stop their attacks. If they had the fear of the LORD before them they would not have dared to defy the work of God in the lives of God’s servants. The fact that they did is evidence that they do not have the fear of God in them.

Verse 2 (synthetic parallelism) – “For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.” -- They filled themselves with pride and arrogance believing that with their cunning devices they cannot fail. They have power in man. They rely on the power of man and money to do their evil deeds against the work of God and God’s servant. They boast about how great and good they are. They deceive themselves into thinking that they are doing the will of God when it reality, it is the will of self or the Devil. This is a common phenomenon all over the world today. The roaring lion has already caught millions in its sharp teeth through the secular education, mass media, government bodies, despots who are given powers and promises of more wealth. These are diabolical deceptions that have enslaved the minds of millions through the internet. The Bible says that they have been blinded by the Evil one who is the god of this world (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4). What is more damaging is that they have infiltrated into the church whereby these “angels of light” have crept in unawares into Bible Colleges, seminaries and churches all over the world. Their agenda is to destroy the work and servants of God. They have succeeded as evidenced by the deaths of seminaries and Bible Colleges all over the world. Local churches that once earnestly contended for the faith passed down to the saints have been deluded. They are now contending for the lies and deceptions of the god of this world passed down to the sinners throughout the ages.  

What a tragedy to find out that they have been in self delusion, filling themselves with pride and arrogance until their iniquities are found, i.e. discovered to be hateful. It is hateful to man because it leads man astray. Anyone who follows these evil deluded men will be ruined by them. The judgement of God against them will also fall on them. Their association with these evil men will be their downfall. This is done by their belief in their evil teachings and wicked ways. It is hateful to God because they do not fear Him and have the audacity to go against Him by hindering and persecuting His servants who have been placed on earth to do His holy will. Anyone who stands in the pathway of God to hinder God’s work is in serious transgression. This sin is compounded by the fact that they call themselves Christians. They have also defiled the Name of Christ to confuse the naive and undiscerning into sin. Some of them remain in sin until they die in sin and end up in hell for eternity. This is the severity of God’s view of the hatefulness of their arrogance and sins.

There are many of such men and women today. Their arrogance in self is manifested when they judge the Word of God instead of being judged by the Word of God. They have the sacerdotal notion that the Bible has mistakes and that they alone know where the mistakes are. And their congregation would gullibly sit in their pews and drink it in like a pet dog before its master without questioning its diabolical foolishness. The arrogance of these wicked men will be exposed by God one day. Their iniquity will then be seen by all that it is hateful because of the many lives they ruined and many sinners they have sent to hell by their lies.

II.  The Wicked Mouth (Psalm 36:3) – “The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.” – These lies are emphasized by David here. King Saul spun his tales about David so that David would be seen by the people of Israel as a sinner attempting to usurp Saul’s throne when in reality King Saul lost his throne due to his own transgressions against God. But lies will abound. Satan is the father of lies. His followers, whether consciously or unconsciously, are liars like him. They will employ lies to deceive the gullible. These lies are convincing. Only by the knowledge of the Word of God can these lies be detected. The words of these enemies of David were called iniquity and deceit. King Saul confessed and acknowledged before David that he had sinned and was wrong in going after him like an animal. He promised not to pursue after David any more. Yet after a short season of time, his words were soon forgotten. He went after David with renewed zest and vigour all the days of his life until he died in battle at the hands of the Philistines. He said one thing but then did another. King Saul became so comfortable with his double talk that it became second nature to him. He would do anything including to lying to others and himself in order to keep his kingdom. The words of his mouth led others to sin and he deceived them in the process into doing his evil deeds.

Using synthetic parallelism, David said that they have lost their ability to be wise and to do good. They are so steep in their sins and lies that there is no turning back. Their pride and arrogance would not let them repent. They would rather save face and die in sin than to repent and lose face by their repentance! King Saul would not back down and be seen as wrong. King Saul was a man after his own heart whereas David was a man after God’s own heart! Men like King Saul have forgotten how to be wise. To be wise is to apply the right portion of God's Word to the right situation in life. In this way the Word of God brings comfort and encouragement. It helps the believer to do what is right in the sight of God. But men like King Saul are too steep in iniquity and deceit such that there is no turning back from the condition of condemnation. What awaits them is destruction and death. They will not be able to do good by their repentance. The good that they ought to do is found in the Bible. They must repent of their sin and now promote the same Christ that they used to attack and persecute. This was exactly what Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, did!

This is a most frightening truth. The wicked ones can cross the line of no return just like Pharaoh who hardened his heart in the days of Moses. Initially he hardened his own heart in the face of the plagues that God sent through His own mighty hand. When it came to plague number six, the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart. From this point onwards Pharaoh would die in sin and would not be able to repent regardless of how potent the plagues of God against him were. This was true as even the death of his first born son did not stop him from going after the people of Israel. Pharaoh and his armies and chariots perished in the Red Sea whereas the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea via dry ground! All mankind must be fearful of God especially those who attack God’s servants and His faith! All believers must know the Word of God to have the needful wisdom against the Devil and his followers. 

III.  The Wicked Deeds (Psalm 36:4) (synthetic parallelism) – “He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.” – The iniquity and lies that the wicked ones did to David did not originate out of the blue haphazardly. It was premeditated. Verse 4 reveals the origin of the lies and iniquities of these enemies of David. They devised, i.e. plaited or weaved their mischief upon their beds. While they lay in bed, instead of sleeping, they spent their time weaving a tapestry of lies and deception. They strategized until they captured David. They would not give up. King Saul definitely plotted and planned the demise of David numerous times, from throwing a javelin at David to hunting him in the caves and cities throughout all Israel. He was obsessed with capturing and killing David. His craftiness coupled with his power as king, literally turned the life of David into living hell! He had to flee from one place to the next until he fled into Philistine territory to find some semblance of safety. Absalom did the same in his usurpation of King David’s throne. Such premeditated mischief is still very common today. The wicked use modern technology to deceive the unsuspecting. They spread their lies through the internet at break neck speed! These lies might even remain after these evil men are long dead and gone because their virtual life with its deceptive internet platforms remain open for all the gullible ones to see.

Using synthetic parallelism, David said that these evil men set themselves in a way that is not good. The verb for “set” means “to place something with the purpose of staying put.” These evil men will use lies and deception to worm their way into hearts and minds so that they can win over their loyalty. They literally “settle” themselves into the lives of anyone who will be deceived by them. These enemies of God are void of anything good. But the gullible cannot tell the difference. These enemies of God settle themselves into the hearts and minds of the simple ones by “good” words and “good” works that have a hidden agenda which is to shipwreck the faith of the simple ones. The loyalty they have for Christ will be shifted to these men. The Bible already warned the church that such men exist. Acts 20:29-30 “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” [Emphasis added] To be drawn away from Christ means that they will disobey the Bible and listen to the voices of man rather than the voice of God. The conclusion is that these men do not hate evil. They love evil. They continue to do evil and cause others to follow them to do evil as well! Anyone who does not obey the Bible is doing evil. These men attacked David in his days. These same men attack God's people and God’s church in the same way. Thanks be to God that the second half of this psalm highlights the victory of God and David’s continual trust in His LORD.

[To be continued]