Show Notes
I Samuel 22:6-23, Psalm 52
Pastor Chelpka
View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We can pray to you, the God of all strength, all power, all might, and ask for endurance.
[00:00:08] And we're thankful that we pray to you, the God whom we live in and through and for, Lord, it is through you that we have everything we need in this life and in the life to come.
[00:00:21] It is in you that we have the forgiveness of our sins.
[00:00:26] It is in you that we have our justification, our adoption, our sanctification, our glorification.
[00:00:32] It is in you that we have gifts from the Holy Spirit. It's in you that we have the brothers and sisters that are around us. It's in you that all the providence that you are working is being worked for our good.
[00:00:44] Help us to turn to you for all that we need and not be overly afraid of the things of this world or in love with the things of this world, or friends with the things of this world, for Satan would seek to have us be distracted and tricked and fooled and putting our hopes and fears on things that are fading and going away.
[00:01:11] And so, Lord, we ask that as we hear your word now, that you would impress these things into our hearts, that we might live for you. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:24] All right, you may be seated. We're going to look at two passages this morning, one from 1st Samuel 22 and the other David's reaction to the events in 1st Samuel 22 in Psalm 52. So I'll announce the second of those again in a moment, for now just turn to 1st Samuel 22.
[00:02:02] You might remember back in chapter 21, when David began fleeing King Saul, he came to the priest at Nob Ahimelech.
[00:02:13] It was there. This is the beginning of chapter 21. It was there that he got bread. It was there that he got Goliath's sword and went on his way.
[00:02:23] Now, while he was there, there's this one line. Remember I mentioned this. If you were with us back then, there was this one line about Doeg the Edomite was there.
[00:02:34] There wasn't anything else about Doeg. And I said, this is like the movies. That line they say about movies, right? When there's a gun in the first scene, it's going to right in the last one or later on in the movie, it's like that. And here in chapter 22, it goes off.
[00:02:52] We re we find out why we were told about Doeg the Edomite at that time. And the other thing we learn is that we're not the only ones noticing through the Holy Spirit narrator here that Doeg was there. Turns out David noticed him too, and had some concerns even in that moment, concerns that he is in some ways now coming to regret.
[00:03:17] And so let's hear God's word first. Samuel 22, beginning at verse 6 through the end of the chapter.
[00:03:27] Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him.
[00:03:32] Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree, on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.
[00:03:40] And Saul said to his servants who stood about him here. Now, people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me?
[00:03:57] No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the Son of Jesse.
[00:04:02] None of you is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait, as at this day.
[00:04:12] Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Paul, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, to the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the Lord for him, and he gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
[00:04:31] Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his fathers housed the priests who were at Nob. And all of them came to the king.
[00:04:43] And Saul said, hear now, son of Ahitub?
[00:04:47] And he answered, here I am, my lord. And Saul said to him, why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me to lie in wait, as at this day.
[00:05:03] Then Ahimelech answered the king, and who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son in law and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house?
[00:05:16] Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No.
[00:05:21] Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.
[00:05:30] And the king said, you shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.
[00:05:36] And the king said to the guard who stood about him, turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David. And they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.
[00:05:48] But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to Strike the priests of the Lord.
[00:05:55] Then the king said to Doeg, you turn and strike the priests.
[00:05:59] And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests.
[00:06:03] And he killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen Ephod and Nob. The city of the priests he put to the sword. Both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep he put to the sword.
[00:06:19] But one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
[00:06:25] And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.
[00:06:29] And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house.
[00:06:42] Stay with me. Do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life seeks your life with me. You shall be in safekeeping.
[00:06:56] Well, let's turn to Psalm 52 now, where David reflects on this moment.
[00:07:19] We read this superscription to the choirmaster, a maskal of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, david has come to the house of Ahimelech.
[00:07:30] Why do you boast of evil, almighty man?
[00:07:35] The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
[00:07:38] Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor. You worker of deceit.
[00:07:43] You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right.
[00:07:48] You love all words that devour O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever.
[00:07:55] He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living.
[00:08:03] The righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him, saying, 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.
[00:08:17] But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
[00:08:21] I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 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.
[00:08:34] Amen.
[00:08:42] I had a friend on a mission trip in India where he found out some people that he had been preaching to and that had come to put their faith in the Lord. Jesus were being persecuted by others who were not following the Lord.
[00:08:58] So you catch that train, right? He preaches, he tells them about Jesus. They believe in Jesus, they confess in Jesus, and then even some of them were dying.
[00:09:10] You might put yourself in his shoes for a moment.
[00:09:14] It made him hesitant to keep preaching.
[00:09:17] He Felt like, am I occasioning the death of these people?
[00:09:22] I'm telling these people to believe in someone, to put their trust in someone, and then they're dying. But then he heard the words of a couple girls who had recently believed and had escaped.
[00:09:33] And the thing was, is they weren't mad, they weren't angry at him, and they were not afraid, but they were excited to die for the name of Jesus.
[00:09:48] The girls shared the mind of Christ that the apostles had.
[00:09:54] In Acts 5:40, we read this about the apostles.
[00:10:00] Well, there were people persecuting the apostles, and they called the apostles in. They beat and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
[00:10:10] Then they left the presence of the council. The apostles did rejoicing after being beaten and imprisoned. Before that they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.
[00:10:27] And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ, that Christ is Jesus.
[00:10:38] Isn't that amazing?
[00:10:40] And Peter calls us to do the same. Remarkably, Peter, who did get afraid, did deny the Lord until the Holy Spirit opened his eyes and made him a great man of faith.
[00:10:53] First Peter 4:12, 14. Peter writes, Beloved, he's talking to us, to you. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
[00:11:17] If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
[00:11:27] I mention these moments here because, as Peter says, Christ is Jesus, the Messiah is Jesus. There was one who was foreshadowing Jesus.
[00:11:40] That's David.
[00:11:41] Christ and Messiah, as we've been talking about, mean Anointed One. And Jesus is the final Anointed One of God. Bring to pass all the things that God promised. But before Jesus came, David foreshadowed what would come. And we learned so many things through the life and the ministry of God, through his servant David, about our Lord Jesus.
[00:12:07] And in this moment, in our chapter here and in other places that we've been seeing in 1st Samuel 22 or in 1st Samuel, there's this choice that's being made, a choice that's being revealed about where loyalty lies.
[00:12:23] Do we put our loyalty with the kings and the rulers and the powers that attach to this world, or do we put our loyalty with the Lord? And his anointed one, his Christ, here in 1st Samuel 22, that's David.
[00:12:40] But ultimately it will be David's son, Jesus, even the Son of God.
[00:12:49] And we know about this.
[00:12:51] We hear about the girls. We hear that I talked about the beginning. We think about the apostles. We think about our own lives.
[00:12:58] And I think if many of us are honest, there's a certain amount of fear in us with regard to these things, a certain amount of uncertainty. What would I do if Saul turned to me and said, strike down all these priests.
[00:13:13] What would I do if I was summoned, like Ahimelech, to come and talk about what had happened with David?
[00:13:23] There's a fear when it comes to standing with Christ, a fear of standing alone. Like Ahimelech, a poor man there in front of Saul and all his people. Saul holding court right under this.
[00:13:41] This tree, what was probably an unusual tree. It's mentioned that it's on a height. This is a seat of judgment.
[00:13:49] He's there among his own tribe, among his own people, and Benjamin.
[00:13:54] And then you come and he is mad, and he's accusing you of treason.
[00:14:04] What do you do?
[00:14:07] What do we do when we find ourselves being accused and persecuted for our love for Jesus, for the ways in which we are his hands and are his hands and his feet?
[00:14:19] There's the fear of standing alone. There's the fear of friends and family being hurt and killed.
[00:14:26] Ahimelech, at that moment, he was before Saul, right? And answering to Saul. But at the same time, remember, he's there with his whole house.
[00:14:36] Saul, as one commentator, I think insightfully put it, knew what he was going to do before this trial ever started.
[00:14:44] This is a show trial, as they call it.
[00:14:48] Ahimelech comes to answer to the evidence, quote, unquote, that Doeg says. And he doesn't dispute it. He basically says what Doeg says is true, but the way Saul interprets the whole thing is not true.
[00:15:02] Ahimelech's guilty of nothing in the sense that he's broken no laws, he's done no wrong. He's being accused of sedition and rebellion, these kinds of things, and he's not done that. But there's all his family, his fellow priests, his whole house, who are about to be hurt, about to be killed, who are definitely being threatened and actually were put to the sword by Doeg.
[00:15:31] When we think about standing with Jesus, it's being alone. What would happen to my friends and family?
[00:15:38] What would happen? What would I do if I was commanded to do terrible things? And betray the name of the Lord.
[00:15:46] These are fears that are in us.
[00:15:50] And what I want to tell you today is that despite the intimidation of the world, despite the power and the tricks and the things that the world and the people of the world will put pressure on us, there is eternal security in the steadfast love of God.
[00:16:10] There's eternal security in the steadfast love of God, steadfast love that he provides unshakably, undeniably, in Jesus the Christ at this moment.
[00:16:27] Christ, David, we might call him, this precursor Messiah.
[00:16:32] He helps us to understand all that happens here in 1st Samuel 22, in Psalm 52. Let's turn there now and think about that a little bit.
[00:16:45] How does David help us to understand?
[00:16:49] How does the Holy Spirit, working through this one, he is anointed. Help us to understand and strengthen your resolve.
[00:16:58] Cast aside your fears, put steel into your spine, so that you will not be afraid when the fiery trials come, which they come.
[00:17:13] Our goal today is to cling to Jesus.
[00:17:19] And as we think about Psalm 52, there's a number of things that come in light of 1st Samuel 22, there's a number of things that come to mind. Number one, the tricks of the Antichrist, right? Let's notice the one who is against the Messiah. Let's notice the. The tricks and the manipulations and the things that he uses so that we would not be surprised and shocked, so that we would be able to detect things, them and be aware of them. All right?
[00:17:49] Those who fight against the Lord and against his anointed try to get us to believe certain things that would cause you to give up your loyalty.
[00:18:00] They use lies, false hopes, intimidation, all kinds of fears to get you to change your mind, to get you to think maybe God's not true, maybe his love isn't steadfast. What kinds of things do we see? Well, in. First, in Psalm 52, notice how David starts.
[00:18:23] He starts with a question directed at the evil man.
[00:18:28] Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
[00:18:32] Now, is he mighty?
[00:18:35] In a way, yes. Right on the terms and the plane of this world. The mighty men are mighty men, right? They command armies. They make laws. Laws. They enact judgments. They say to doeg, kill these guys and all the guys die, right? This is power. This is real might and real power.
[00:18:53] But you can almost imagine little air quotes around that too, right?
[00:18:57] Especially when we contrast that might with the acts of God, which we'll come to in a moment.
[00:19:04] But why do you boast, oh mighty man?
[00:19:07] He says he responds to it, which is the theme for the rest of the song. The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
[00:19:14] But then he goes back in verse two to the man.
[00:19:17] What does he say? Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
[00:19:24] And the rest of this section is about lying, deception, tricking, hurting.
[00:19:31] You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. You love all the words that devour O deceitful tongue.
[00:19:41] Well, what's happening in 1st Samuel 22 that would make David say these kinds of things or notice these kinds of things?
[00:19:50] Well, there's a number of things that Saul does, how Saul uses the law, the fear of loss and gain, for example. Notice what he says at the beginning. Again, we're thinking about the tricks of those who are with the Antichrist.
[00:20:07] He says here now, O people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that you all have conspired against me?
[00:20:22] I'm trying to decide how many. We'll say three. Three things to notice. Number one, O people of Benjamin, Saul is likely retreating.
[00:20:34] He's with his people. He's with his tribe. He's come home to the family where he knows he has more power, more control, more people that will be loyal to him. You can see when the people. He's not commanding all of Israel here. He's with the tribe of Benjamin. Number two, son of Jesse, he does not like saying the name of David.
[00:20:58] This is, I think, very intentional, right? He's distancing himself from David. He does not call him, as Ahimelech points out, o great and honored one, bodyguard, son in law, right? There's a number of. Of things that he could.
[00:21:16] Number of titles and ways he could use to describe David. And he keeps talking about as the son of Jesse, right? A reminder of David's humble origins, right? A keeper of sheep, right, that has randomly almost ended up in his house and now is conspiring all of these things, right? So there's twisting and shaping of the narrative, as we say. Sometimes there's a little bit of spin going on here, oh, son of Jesse. And then here comes the he uses fear of loss or gain to demand loyalty or engender loyalty.
[00:21:54] Basically, he's saying, is David going to give you all of this stuff that now you're going to conspire against me? The flip side of that is I'm the one who will provide these for you. And this, by the way, was predicted even before By Samuel, this is what kings do. They make. They give. But they also demand service.
[00:22:15] And Saul is essentially saying that. He says, who is David?
[00:22:19] I'm the one that will give you the things you want. I am the one that will make you powerful. I am the one that will make you wealthy.
[00:22:26] Why are you conspiring against me?
[00:22:29] And this is one of the tricks, right? It takes the penultimate things of this world, the fading, dying things of this world, and makes them ultimate.
[00:22:40] And it says to us, you must have these things, and you are not going to be okay if you don't have these things. And you need to look to me to get those things.
[00:22:50] But all of that rests on this foundation that we need those things.
[00:22:56] If the world promises you all the wealth in the world, or all the kingdoms of the world, as Satan promised to Jesus, well, if those are things that we don't need to have in order to have the love of God, in order to have his protection, his provision, his life, then the whole argument kind of falls apart, doesn't it?
[00:23:19] But that's the trick. They, they we are made to think, or we are encouraged to think anyway, that they are ultimate, that we must have these. These things.
[00:23:32] More lies, right? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse.
[00:23:40] No one is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me. Now we know what's actually happened, right? Has Jonathan stirred up David to plot against Saul?
[00:23:54] No.
[00:23:56] Jonathan is in this really difficult position where he's having to decide who to be loyal with. Loyal to. And David is not some usurper, right? David is not a usurper. David is being forced into this position by Saul.
[00:24:12] And now the way Saul tells the whole story, it's as though everything was nice and happy. His son rises up, goes, does something with David to raise him up and kill Saul. And now notice another lie. He says that David is lying in wait.
[00:24:29] David's on the run, right? He talks about a fugitive as if Saul is being hunted when Saul is the hunter, right? Now, if he believes these things, which he might, when you get angry and attached to these things of this world, your mind goes all kinds of crazy ways, believes all kinds of crazy things, will not hold on to the truth. And everything seems to reinforce this conspiracy theory that he's talking about. It doesn't make sense. It's not true. And he's booming and speculating all kinds of things.
[00:25:11] This is what happens when we give ourselves to ourselves and we see ourselves as the ultimate end instead of the Lord.
[00:25:22] Notice later, when Saul finally uses the name of the Lord in references God, he talks about killing the priests of Yahweh.
[00:25:34] Saul is very far from being a servant king under Yahweh.
[00:25:41] He has now become a persecutor not only of David, but of the priests and attempting to persecute the Lord.
[00:25:52] We can go on with what Saul has done. We saw how he's downplaying certain things, how he's twisting certain things, how he's adding certain things. Notice this isn't just in his own mind, he's also promulgating this. He's telling other people this. He's commanding that they believe these things.
[00:26:10] And then Doeg shows up and he says, I saw the son of Jesse.
[00:26:17] And what Doeg says seems to be true. There's a little question about he inquired of the Lord for him. We don't see that happening in 1st Samuel 21.
[00:26:27] But Ahimelech doesn't dispute that fact. So we'll assume that that did happen, that Doeg is reporting the truth here. But here's a good example of someone speaking the truth for unrighteous ends, right? Doeg is not, I just want to tell the truth wherever I can.
[00:26:46] Right? Doeg has a very specific intention in mind with these words.
[00:26:52] He is trying to demonstrate his loyalty as an outsider, by the way, not an Israelite. He's trying to demonstrate his loyalty to King Saul. And he does.
[00:27:03] He commands these words, ah, Himlech is brought as we. As we noticed. And then what? What does Ahimelech do?
[00:27:12] Ahimelech points out all the ways in which David is faithful.
[00:27:16] His argument isn't, I didn't do these things. His argument is, what's wrong with David? I haven't committed treason. I haven't helped someone who is hurting you.
[00:27:28] Because again, it's Saul who's doing the hurting.
[00:27:32] Ahimelech is respectful. He calls Saul his Lord. Ahimelech is doing everything he can to do two honor the servant of the Lord, namely Saul, and honor the Lord.
[00:27:47] We obey our superiors in the Lord. We honor our superiors in the Lord. And you see Ahimelech doing that here. We've seen Jonathan doing that earlier. We've seen David doing that earlier, giving honor and respect and wisdom and counsel to Saul in the Lord for the Lord.
[00:28:09] But here in our passage, we also see honoring the Lord by disobedience to a superior. When Saul turns to those men and says, kill all these priests, they refuse and rightfully so those who are under the Lord, those who are servants of the Lord, do not get to command or demand things that the Lord has spoken against.
[00:28:36] And whenever somebody, whenever a superior tells you to do something that is against the one who is the superior of all superiors, you say no.
[00:28:48] You say it respectfully, you say it trusting in what God's provision and his protection, even if you would die, as these men do, and later men, and also women and children.
[00:29:03] But ultimately we obey the Lord.
[00:29:08] So we've seen the tricks of the Antichrist, the tricks of the ones who would seek to persecute and break apart the bonds between the Lord and his Anointed One.
[00:29:20] We've seen also, I guess I didn't mention it, but so important there, all these threats, all these lies do end in real violence, right?
[00:29:29] Bloodshed that extends not only at that moment in his wrath and that anger, but all the way to nob, right? They don't. Saul is not satisfied. Doeg doesn't say, well, you know, sort of outburst of anger, throw the spear, right? But they persecute, they continue, they go to Nob. And there we read, sadly, that he put to death man and woman, children and in child and infant, ox, donkey, sheep, he put to the sword.
[00:30:00] Saul, who is supposed to be a protector of God's people, is now murdering them.
[00:30:09] A whole community, a whole city, and on top of all of that, a priestly family and a part of the priestly clan.
[00:30:23] And so, yeah, mightiness, why do you boast, O mighty man? David says, well, it's a rhetorical question, right?
[00:30:34] Because ultimately he has nothing to boast in.
[00:30:37] Why?
[00:30:39] Here's the thing to remember. The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
[00:30:45] Despite all the boasting, despite all the bloodshed, despite all the lies and persecution of God and his people, God's steadfast love remains steadfast.
[00:31:00] Saul thinks he's getting retribution on all those who have gone against him, Ahimelech and others. Saul thinks he's getting closer and closer to David, but he's forgetting the justice of God.
[00:31:12] Something that should bring fear to those who rebel against him, but great comfort to those who are under his protection and waiting his refuge. Notice what David says.
[00:31:23] Your tongue is a sharp razor. You love words that devour. But verse 5, God will break you down forever.
[00:31:32] What a strong word, right? Not just in a moment, not just God will stop you in your tracks, but God will break you down in a continuous way. A reminder of the eternal judgment of the Lord on those who trust in the abundance of their riches and their power and their strength.
[00:31:51] Instead of God, he will break you down forever. He will snatch you and tear you from your tent.
[00:31:56] Those who think that they're strong, those who think that they're ruling do not stand a chance.
[00:32:04] Even when they're in their own territory, their own country, even in their own tent, even in their own beds, God can reach them.
[00:32:15] He will snatch you and tear you from your tent.
[00:32:19] And then to take it to yet another level, David says he will uproot you from the land of the living.
[00:32:25] Why?
[00:32:26] How?
[00:32:27] Because he is God.
[00:32:30] He's not some ordinary man that can only be in one place at one time, who has to use spies and information networks to gather information and test that information. All this, the Lord knows everything, always.
[00:32:46] And he is powerful everywhere and in all ways.
[00:32:53] In knowing this and believing in the justice of God and the judgment of God, those who would seek to go against the Lord need to wake up and know that riches do not help.
[00:33:09] Tents do not help.
[00:33:12] Commanders of thousands and hundreds do not help.
[00:33:17] Killing does not help. Lying does not help. Manipulation does not help. Fear does not help keep away the judgment of God.
[00:33:28] These things seem to protect evil people, but ultimately the Lord can undo them in a moment.
[00:33:37] Saul will be put in a very vulnerable place soon enough, he says, David is lying in wait. But in certain moments, when David actually has amazing opportunities to put to put Saul to death instantly because of the Lord's providence and various things we'll look at, David doesn't do it.
[00:33:59] Saul thinks he's safe. He's not safe.
[00:34:02] Saul thinks he's powerful. He's not powerful.
[00:34:06] And these are the things that we need to remember too, with the people and the powers that would persecute church in the moment. It's so scary, but it's not scary.
[00:34:20] Don't be tricked, don't be fooled.
[00:34:25] The things that protect the powerful aren't really protecting them.
[00:34:30] And the thing, the worst thing that they could do, or one of the worst things they could do, take your life.
[00:34:37] They can't.
[00:34:38] Because even if you die, you live.
[00:34:42] Because the steadfast love of God endures forever.
[00:34:46] And that's the last thing to note that David puts our attention to in Psalm 52 and has his attention on in this moment. A good model to follow.
[00:34:55] One, the tricks of the evil one. Two, the justice and mighty judgment of God. But three, the steadfast love of God for those who trust him.
[00:35:09] Notice the double thing here, the way these are connected in verse 7. See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, who sought refuge in his own destruction?
[00:35:24] But that's different than David's position.
[00:35:27] What happens to those like Abiathar, who is able to escape this by the grace of God and runs to David?
[00:35:35] What happens when we run to Christ as Ahimelech did there in that moment, being loyal to Yahweh, being loyal to David and died? Or as Abiathar did in running to the Lord's servant and living? Whether we live or die in that moment, God's steadfast love is true and he will protect us. David says at the end this great.
[00:36:03] The great ending here, he says in verse 23 to Abiathar, stay with me, do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life, seeks your life with me, you shall be in safekeeping.
[00:36:19] And that's true for us in the Lord.
[00:36:24] David's perspective is not just about this moment in this life.
[00:36:30] He's not promising Abiathar that Abiathar will live forever as long as he helps David out. That's not what he's promising.
[00:36:38] David has in mind things that are beyond this world, things that are beyond that particular moment that he's in. How do we know?
[00:36:48] Listen to what he says in the end of Psalm 52.
[00:36:52] He says, I am like a green olive tree, the house of God.
[00:36:59] How many people, how many of you here have olive trees in your house?
[00:37:04] It's an odd image, right?
[00:37:07] It's an odd image, an olive tree in the temple.
[00:37:14] There weren't really trees even in the temple, even the temple that Solomon built.
[00:37:23] But there was a tree, a tree of life in the Garden of Eden.
[00:37:29] And there is a tree of life in heaven, a tree of life in these places that are described as the house of God, as the temple of God, a place for the living.
[00:37:44] David sees himself as this flourishing tree in the presence of God, in the garden of God in heaven.
[00:37:54] That's what he's imagining here.
[00:37:57] That's what he sees himself as. He's not thinking about right now in this moment.
[00:38:04] He's thinking about what's to come.
[00:38:06] And when he thinks about what's to come, he has certainty about his position as this beautiful green olive tree in the house of God, a tree of life whose roots are sinking down and drinking from the living water.
[00:38:22] Why?
[00:38:23] Because he says, I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
[00:38:33] Eternity's on his mind.
[00:38:37] He says, I will thank you forever because you have done it.
[00:38:43] Even in the midst of his persecution, David considers God already successful, which of course, he is.
[00:38:50] David's heart is not one of fear, but it's a heart of gratitude, it's a heart of thanksgiving, it's a heart of hope.
[00:38:58] And that's when he ends. He says, I will wait for your name, for it is good in the presence of the godly.
[00:39:08] Jesus says, as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. That's how we live.
[00:39:16] The Lord's steadfast love in Jesus Christ is unshakable. It's unbreakable. It's a rock of refuge. And it comes to us through the cross, where Jesus doesn't just promise us something from a distance. He goes through suffering, suffering, suffering and persecution himself.
[00:39:38] He goes through those things himself in order to defeat once and for all the powers of this world, the lies of the evil one and death.
[00:39:48] And you all remember what happens, right? He rises from the dead.
[00:39:54] He sits at the right hand of God, ruling as the head over his people. Now he is now and forever.
[00:40:04] That Christ, that Messiah, that Savior, is the one that God has sent and that's the one whom we're trusting in. We trust in the one who has gone through the cross, forgiven our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
[00:40:17] We trust in the one who is ruling and reigning right now and has authority over all heaven, over all earth, of life and death.
[00:40:27] And so when somebody says, but if you don't follow me, I won't give you a vineyard, we say, big whoop, who cares?
[00:40:38] I count it an honor to suffer for the name of Jesus.
[00:40:43] Bring it on. I'm with him because the steadfast love of the Lord as proven through the cross of Christ, endures forever. Jesus says, as I said, John 15:9. As the Father loved me, so I have loved you.
[00:41:01] Abide in my love.
[00:41:05] So the thing to do now is to contrast the one king, the tiny, boastful, mighty king, with the eternal Almighty King of heaven and earth.
[00:41:16] The thing to do now is compare life resting on the promises of God for life and death and the life to come and life attached to the things of this world, and make a choice and remain steadfast when you have the opportunity, which you do right now, this morning, to choose to trust the eternal, immortal, ever wise God, or trust in the lying fools of this world who pretend might, but don't really have it.
[00:41:51] Put your trust in the Lord. He will give you life now and in the age to come.
[00:41:59] Psalm 52 ends with David in paradise, a glorified Eden.
[00:42:05] Because of God's love. He lives for worship because of God's love. He's thankful forever because of God's love. He will wait now in his name, in the presence of God, in the the presence of the godly.
[00:42:20] And we should do the same.
[00:42:23] Let's pray.
[00:42:25] Our Heavenly Father, we give you all praise.
[00:42:28] We give you our honor, glory, Holy, holy, holy is your name.
[00:42:33] How the kings of this world, even those who are called to bear your name and rule on your behalf, so many have fallen away, coming to the lies that the things of this world are our chief end.
[00:42:55] But the Scriptures tell us the truth. The Scriptures reveal the lies. Our chief end is to glorify you and enjoy you forever. And to do that by resting in the refuge and the life of your steadfast love, which endures all the day. On the day in which Doeg came to Ahimelech, on the day in which David wrote this psalm, and today as well, in our day.
[00:43:24] And so, Lord, we ask that you would help us to call upon your name, to seek you while you may be found. To not harden our hearts, to not listen to the lies, to not be afraid, but to be joyful in knowing you and even in suffering for you.
[00:43:42] Let us see the glorious things that are attached, both in life and in death, to belonging to Jesus Christ.
[00:43:51] We pray this all in his name, our Savior, our Messiah. Amen.
