Up to this point, God directed David to write a Psalm of praise. It is a Psalm that exalts the true God and shows His care for His own children. It reveals His care in the development of each person in the womb of their mother. Today we have no law against the murder of unborn children in Canada. Many professing Christians are reluctant to call the child in the womb a person. They prefer to accept the ungodly definition of “fetus” instead. If we can relegate the person to a thing, it is easier to accept the violence committed against that “thing”. There are professing Christians who like to make exceptions for when the murder of the unborn is legitimate and when it is not. God shows us how He knows all about that child in the womb.
Now in verse 19, God directed David to write about the judgment of the wicked. Back in the days of Moses, there was a man named Korah. He was an ungodly man but he seemed to hold sway over a number of people. After some merciful words and actions from God, Moses warned the people to get away from Korah and his chief men’s tents. God had been patient with them. However, Korah and his group were not willing to accept God’s leadership. God had proved His choice of Aaron. He had shown that Moses was the leader He had appointed. Now it was time for some very stern judgment.
God would do a new thing. He would open the earth and swallow Korah and his supporters up alive into the earth. They would be buried alive. They would not live long, but the congregation would hear the screams and they would see the power of God in a new way. The people needed to separate from the wicked unless they too would be swallowed up in the judgment. God gave the people a choice. The wise heeded the order given.
David knew there were wicked people in the nation. Not all people appreciated his leadership as God’s appointed king. Not all the people feared the LORD. David knew that the wicked were in trouble with the LORD. That was of far greater consequence than to be in trouble with the king.
David ordered the wicked to get away from him. He did not want to be tainted by their wicked ways. He did not want that to rub off on him or on anyone around him.
We live in a wicked world. Wicked people are all around us. We cannot demand that they get away from us. However, we can make wise choices to surround ourselves with good people by being in a good church that exalts the true God. That is what is needed today as much as at any time.
The wicked are not afraid to speak against the LORD. They mock and scoff at Him. There are many false religious leaders today. They love to lie about the true God. They love to make Him to be something He is not. They are able to draw quite a following with their lies. Most people are content to be led by the nose. They are too lazy to examine the facts. They have surrendered to the god of this world and they are content to be blind.
In verse 21 David confessed that he hated the wicked. The wicked hate the LORD and His children cannot be friends with those who hate the LORD. The hatred expressed here by David was a morally pure hatred. It was not an exaggerated emotion without justification. Those who are saved do not want to be around those who hate God. They want them to be saved, but if they do not want that, then the saved choose to avoid them.
David made that clear in verse 22. His hatred was a perfect hatred. It was not out of balance. It was not with prejudice. It was perfect because David’s enemies were first of all God’s enemies. That is the grounds for expressing such words. Those who are saved want others to know the true God. We are not interested in seeing the lost deceived. We are concerned about the many who have chosen to believe the lies of false teachers who make claims about God that are just not true.
A man told me yesterday that in James 5, God promises to heal the sick if we ask according to His will. I told that man that physical healing is never guaranteed by God. The passage in James 5 is primarily about sin. It is about confessing sin and being forgiven of sin. That is the most important thing for any person. Those who are saved, go to heaven when they die. It is difficult to lose a loved one. It is difficult to see a loved one die at what we consider to be a younger age. Those who are saved are not in torment when they die. They are released from the pain of their sickness. They are with the Lord, in His very presence. There is no better place for them than there. We may want them to remain with us, but that is a very selfish thought, when the LORD says it is time to come home. God is able to comfort His children when He takes a loved one home. It is important for us to have the relationship that David had with God. He could speak very highly of God because he chose to be with His people and to separate himself from the wicked. He did not allow the wicked to taint his thinking.
We know this was not always true in David’s life. We know he allowed his own lusts to lead him into sin. He suffered during that time. He also brought shame upon his own family with his infidelity. However, David also understood the importance of confession of sin to God. He also understood the blessing of God’s forgiveness. He suffered for his sin, but he also received forgiveness. There are consequences to sin. God never teaches that we can sin and then quickly run to Him for forgiveness to avoid the consequences of sin. Some of David’s own children brought shame upon him. He set a bad example for them. He hurt them and he put a stumblingblock before them. They needed to choose truth and right over wrong. However David, like all saints, also needed to choose truth and right over wrong. When a true child of God sins, it will affect others. The Bible warns of this. The Bible shows us how important it is to walk “circumspectly” in this wicked world.
Thus the last two verses of the Psalm are also of great importance. David was not an arrogant man. He knew he needed to be examined by this all knowing God. He prayed that God would search him. He was not pointing any fingers at any one else here. He wanted to be clean. He wanted God to know his heart. He needed God to examine his inner being to make sure that there was no sin in the way. He also wanted God to know his thoughts. He wanted God to nip the sin even in his thought life.
That is an important prayer to make. Every true child of God should be praying this prayer often. We need God to step into our path and to show us where we are wrong. We need to appreciate His intervention on our behalf. Life is so much better when we are shown the wickedness that is in our heart before we act on that wickedness.
When we ask God to reveal the sin, and we humbly confess that sin to Him, then He can lead us in the way everlasting.
King David spent some 9 months going the wrong way. He lusted after a woman and he acted on that lust. Then, when he was told she was with child he enacted another act of sin. He tried to get her husband to cover for his sin. Uriah was a better man than that. He did not even know what David and his wife had done. He was not going to make light of the fact that his fellow soldiers were in harms way. When David could not get him to play along, he sent a letter with Uriah for Joab. He told Joab to put Uriah in the front of the battle and then to withdraw the Israeli forces so that Uriah would be killed in battle. Did that act absolve David, or Joab? Of course not. Joab did not know why David gave such an evil order. He did not care. He was a blood thirsty man anyway. David knew what was going on and he kept the sin in his heart for 9 months.
David did not confess his sin until God directed Nathan the prophet to confront him. Then David finally came clean. However, great damage had been done. It cost David more than he wanted to pay, but he had no choice. Once he committed the sin, he lost control of the consequences.
Thus the prayer that God told him to write is very important. It is not a memorized prayer that becomes a “good luck” charm. It is not a mantra that we repeat. It must be a genuine, heart felt prayer. True Christians do not need prayer books to read off on various occasions. Christians need the Holy Spirit guiding them in their prayer life. He will guide each saved person in the right way. He will bless the saved person in his prayer life as well as other times.
Be sure the LORD is your God. Be sure you have a grasp of His omnipresence. He is all knowing. He is merciful, but He does not accept deception. No one will ever deceive Him. Be humble. Be honest. Trust Him and serve Him faithfully. Be quick to confess sin and ask God to strengthen you against yielding to temptation. There is great joy in walking humbly and faithfully with the LORD.
Pastor Bartel