SERMON OUTLINE:
(1a). The Characteristics of a Wicked
• they are proud (vs 1)
• they have a sharp tongue (vs 2)
• they are lovers of evil (vs 3)
(1b). The End of the Wicked
• they are brought to ruin (vs 5a)
• they are unable to hide (vs 5b)
• they are uprooted (vs 5c)
(2). The Character of the Righteous
• they are observant(vs 6-7).
• they are strong and fruitful (vs 8).
• they are trusting in God’s love (vs 8b).
• they are praising God (vs 9)
SERMON BODY:
Quote: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
• Solzhenitsin is spot on, as the saying goes:
• “The heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart!”
• This Psalm will describe for us both a wicked and righteous man;
• And I trust we are all seeking to be the later!
INTRODUCTION:
• The psalm begins with a superscription, A title;
• (most Bibles – not all - contain them);
“For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.””
• This title of this psalm is telling us;
• That the background of the psalm is believed to revolve around Doeg the Edomite.
• Now most of us will probably say; “Doeg who?”
• Well we read about Doeg in 1 Samuel chapters 21 & 22.
• Doeg was one of Saul’s chief shepherds (1 Samuel chapter 21 verse 7).
• King Saul is chasing after David, trying to kill him.
• Doeg informs Saul that David had gone to Ahimelech, the priest at Nob,
• And received provisions and Goliath’s sword from him.
• Doeg tells Saul this because he wants to gain greater favour with the king.
• Saul then charges Ahimelech with conspiracy;
• And ordered his guards to kill Ahimelech and his whole family.
• If you know the story, you are aware that the guards refuse,
• Not to obey the kings order was a brave or a very stupid thing to do.
• But they displayed bravery because they recognised;
• That it was sinful to raise their hands against the anointed servants of the Lord.
• So with his guards refusing king Saul then orders Doeg to kill Ahimelech and his family.
• And Doeg who is not a particularly nice guy obeys!
• Sadly we read in 1 Samuel chapter 22 verses 18-19:
“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”
• It is a horrific wicked thing to do;
• Many believe this is the situation that compelled David to compose this psalm.
(1A). THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A WICKED MAN (VS 1-4)
(A). THEY ARE PROUD (VS 1)
“Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?”
• What Doeg did was a horrible evil.
• Yet as bad as his actions were, it got even worse;
• For Doeg was proud and boastful of what he had done!
• How base and corrupt must this man have been?
But Doeg is a good example of the nature and characteristic of the wicked.
• They are proud of their actions.
• They do not see that what they have done is evil.
• Their consciences are not moved when they act with such guile.
Ill:
• If you watch TV sadly there are so many ‘reality’ shows that promote this behaviour:
• Young people proud to be getting drunk night after night.
• Criminals proud of the crimes they have committed and seem to have gotten away with
• The Doeg’s of the world;
• See themselves as clever and they are absorbed in their own supposed wisdom.
(B). THEY HAVE A SHARP TONGUE (VS 2)
“You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.”
• The wicked have a tongue like a razor blade.
• They say things that are cutting and hurtful to others.
• It becomes second nature to speak things that cause emotional pain.
• Sadly many a Christian has also opened their mouths before engaging their brains;
• Like slashing someone with a razor blade their words have caused a lot of damage
Note:
• Here’s a challenge for tomorrow!
• Can you go through a day without saying an unkind word?
• So often some of the worst sins that we can commit are with our tongue.
• How we use our tongue reveals a lot about our spiritual state!
ill:
• A lady came to evangelist Billy Sunday;
• Now Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1891.
• The David Beckham/Wayne Rooney of his day.
• But he got converted;
• Through the street preaching of Harry Monroe of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago
• On one occasion a lady came up to Billy Sunday and said:
• 'Mr. Sunday, I know I have a bad temper, but I am over with it in a minute."
• Billy Sunday replied: “So is the shotgun, but it blows everything to pieces!”
Note:
• We need to be so careful about what we say and how we say things to people.
• Sometimes we intend to say sharp words to others because we want to make a point.
• However, we are needlessly inflicting hurt on others.
• Our tongues are dangerous weapons that either help others or hurt others.
(C). THEY ARE LOVERS OF EVIL (VS 3)
“You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.”
• The third characteristic described is a love of evil.
• This may actually be the worst part of the three descriptions.
• The wicked person delights in evil rather than good.
This verse really digs deep into human nature and reveals to us the wickedness of the heart;
• It reaches to the depths of darkness of the heart.
• Because like Doeg to deliberately intend to and cause another’s harm;
• Reveals a side of human nature that is very alien to the heart of God.
• Before we dismiss the message as not applying to me;
• We must remember that the creation of an evil heart;
• Begins with much smaller expressions of selfishness,
• A process of building an evil heart over time;
• And that can happen to anyone!
• It is clear that an evil heart rarely develops overnight,
• Almost no one starts off by saying, "I think I will be an evil person."
• It is a process of hardening that goes on over years, with tragic results!
• It can be astonishing to see just how cold the human heart can become;
• When it yields itself to evil designs.
• Quote: Joseph Stalin. From the files of Leadership.
• “One death is a tragedy. A thousand is just a statistic.
(1B). THE END OF THE WICKED (VS 5-7)
• The end of the wicked is described for us in verses 5-7;
• In these verses we are told three things.
(A). THEY ARE BROUGHT TO RUIN (VS 5A)
• “Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:”
• At this moment a wicked person may be thinking;
• ‘I’m alright, I’ve arrived, I’ve climbed up the ladder of success’.
• But sooner or later God will bring them down from that high place;
• Verse 5 reminds us that God will ‘ruin them’.
Ill:
• The story is told of a farmer who had a strong disdain for "religious" things.
• As he ploughed his field on Sunday morning,
• He would shake his head at the church people who passed by on their way to worship.
• October came and the farmer had his finest crop ever - the best in the entire county.
• When the harvest was complete,
• He placed an advertisement in the local paper.
• In the advert he belittled the Christians for their faith in God.
• Near the end of his rant he wrote,
• "Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper."
• The response from the Christians in his community was quiet and polite.
• In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared.
• It read simply, "God doesn't always settle His accounts in October."
(B). THEY ARE UNABLE TO HIDE (VS 5B).
“Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;”
• If we paraphrase this description we might write it as:
• “For the wicked there is no safe place to hide”.
• There is no-where, no place, no fortress, no destination on earth;
• Where the wicked can run to for safety;
• That God cannot first: find them and then secondly: snatch them up!
Ill:
• Reminds you of Psalm 139:
• “Go to the highest mountain or the heavens you are there” (vs 8a)
• “Go to the depths of sheol you are there” (vs 8b)
• “If I settle on the far side of the sea,” (vs 9)
• Even “the darkness will hide me” (vs 11) but it cannot for darkness to God is like light!
(C). THEY ARE UPROOTED (VS 5C).
“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.”
• The end for the wicked is destruction.
• The wicked will not live forever.
• The wicked do not have an advantage over the righteous.
• They will be taken from the land of the living and will be judged.
Note:
• Before our conversion, never forget that you and I were numbered with the wicked.
• We too were in darkness and acted like those in verses 1-5!
Ill:
• All of us have been proud.
• All of us have misused of tongues to hurt people.
• All of us have deliberately sinned because we liked it!
• But now ‘in Christ’ we have been forgiven, changed and are being changed;
• And our desire is to now live a righteous life;
• Our desire as Christians is to ‘walk in the light’ and no longer walk in darkness;
• This next section gives us some instruction on being righteous.
(2). THE CHARACTER OF THE RIGHTEOUS (VS 6-9)
(A). THEY ARE OBSERVANT (VS 6-7).
“The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others”
• Don’t misread these verses;
• I do not think for one minute that David is just gloating over the end result of the wicked;
• Rather, he is saying;
• The righteous watch and learn from the wicked, they laugh at their stupidity;
• They are strong in the eyes of other human beings – they have power and wealth;
• But before God they are incapable paupers.
Ill:
• In battle can you imagine somebody taking on a tank armed only with a sword & shield?
• There is just no contest;
• Those weapons might be good against other opponents armed with swords & shields.
• But against a tank they might as come armed with a pillow!
And so the righteous watch and learn from the wicked, they laugh at their stupidity;
• That is why he says; “the righteous will see and fear.”
• And see that such a lifestyle is not for them!
Ill:
• Verse 7 seems to be a picture of funeral-goers at a grave-side:
• They peer into the hole where the coffin has been lowered and say:
• “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold;
• But trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”
• As everyone stands around notes the fact;
• That he was rich and powerful and yet…he is dead!
• The question to ask the friends of the wicked is;
• “Did living life “his way” change anything?”
• The answer is obvious:
• “No, he still died and now he can explain to the Lord why he did things his way”.
(B). THEY ARE STRONG AND FRUITFUL (VS 8).
“But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
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.”
• These words share imagery from Psalm 1 (a tree planted by the waters);
• And also Psalm 23 (“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”).
• David pictures the righteous standing tall and standing strong with God,
• Enduring any storms that may come their way.
• Not only are the righteous strong,
• But they are fruitful and flourishing.
• Despite their adverse weather conditions the righteous are alive and growing.
Note: Verse 9 suggests that all of this is taking place in the house of God:
• Where the faithful people of God can be found.
• Note: The righteous are pictured as being near God and as family members of God.
• By implication, David is stating that the wicked are none of these things.
• Evildoers will not flourish nor endure the storms of life.
• Further, the wicked are not near God and are not in the family of God.
(C). THEY ARE TRUSTING IN GOD’S LOVE (VS 8B).
“I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever”
• The righteous must continue to trust in God’s unfailing love.
• The key word must be “unfailing.”
• God’s love is unfailing and that gives us reason to trust in God.
• Though the righteous suffer at the hands of the wicked,
• Sooner or later justice will come against the wicked.
Note:
• This is one way we get through our difficult times.
• We must truly have faith in God’s unfailing love.
• We must continue to believe that God is with us, cares about us,
• And will never abandon us, and will work out things to His glory.
Quote: Corrie Ten Boom:
“Often I have heard people say, “How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic and look at the lovely weather!” Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart.
I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. “No, Corrie,” said Betsie, “He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word “For as the heavens are high above the hearth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” Corrie concludes, “There is an ocean of God’s love available-there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love-whatever the circumstances.”
(D). THEY ARE PRAISING GOD
“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.”
• One of the revealing characteristic of the righteous is they are always praising God.
• David praises God for what God has done.
• His boasting is all about his God.
• David is able to look at the past;
• And even though a horrible thing has happen with Doeg and Ahimelech;
• He can see beyond this incident of wicked men;
• And see all the good that God has done in his world.
• Many times we want to ask “where is God?”
• Yet can you imagine what this world would be like;
• If there was not a good involved in this world?
• To think that God is not involved is to believe that this is as bad as the world could be.
• But this would be a far darker world if God had completely abandoned His creation.
Note:
• David is also praising God in hope.
• We need to remember that God is so good to us.
• It is shameful that we can be so focused upon the few things that do not go our way;
• That we forget the goodness that God has shown toward us on a daily basis;
• And he has shown this every year of our lives.
Finally, David will praise God in the presence of all the saints.
• The righteous do not keep their faith hidden from others.
• He will praise God in the presence of all.
• This praising of God is not just simply giving thanks and singing songs.
• This is a picture of the righteous explaining to others the goodness of God in our lives.
• We need to tell each other about God’s goodness toward us.
• This will encourage one another to continue trusting in God’s unfailing love.
