Psalm 52 Sermon Notes
Psalm 52
Wait on God
June 27, 2021
Lynchburg, Virginia
EXORDIUM
Psalm 52 was written after Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul that David had come to the house of Ahimelech.
At that time David had been on the run from Saul, who was trying to kill him. This is after David and Jonathan had met and Jonathan revealed his father’s intentions. Of course, Saul had already lashed out at David but he relented and let David back into his presence. But now, Saul’s heart was set to destroy David. So, David was not safe anywhere that Saul had reach.
It was in this circumstance that David and a few of his men came to the priest at Nob to fetch some food and supplies. Ahimilech was afraid of David but David meant him no harm.
David receives about five loaves of bread and then asked Ahimilech for a sword. The only sword the priests had was Goliath’s sword that David had taken when he killed the giant. Thus, we know the priests were unarmed.
The only bread that Ahimilech had on hand was the bread of the presence, which is kept before the Lord. It was to changed out and the holy priests could then eat the bread. But the bread was not considered common. It had been set aside for a holy use. Ahimilech is concerned about giving such bread to David and asked David if the men had not lain with their wives for three days. David says they have not been with women and are therefore holy. David received the bread and sword and departed.
David then fled to Gath where he was in danger from King Achish and had to act like a crazy man to escape. From there, he went to the Cave of Adullam to hide out and many men then began to gather to him.
Saul was angry with his men that they could not find and kill David. He knew that his son Jonathan was friends with David and feared that Jonathan and David were conspiring to overthrow him. Although David had been anointed as the next King in Israel by Samuel and Jonathan recognized that David would be King and not himself, neither David nor Jonathan were conspiring.
Even after Saul’s horrible crimes, David does not live his hand against the king. He has opportunity to do so on several occasions and refuses to harm Saul. When David reacts by refusing to harm Saul, Saul then knows that David is the one that God has chosen as king.
Saul was complaining about the supposed conspiracy and seeking the whereabouts of David. Doeg the Edomite spoke up and told Saul that he had seen David at Nob, visiting Ahimilech. Saul immediately goes to Nob, bringing Doeg with him.
David calls Doeg a Mighty Man in this psalm but I believe it is a mock. Doeg was the chief shepherd for Saul. He oversaw the cattle. Now, it is possible that such a man could be a mighty man, a strong and valiant man, but the point is that he was a shepherd and a manager not a warrior. It also helps us contrast the false shepherd with the true shepherd. David was also a shepherd. He was also a mighty man, having slain a bear. He also did not raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.
When Saul questions Ahimilech, Ahimelech defends his innocence by reminding Saul that David is Saul’s most loyal subject and warrior. This enrages Saul and he orders his men to kill Ahimelech. They refuse to kill the priest. So, Saul orders Doeg to do it and Doeg kills Ahimelech and all 85 of the priests gathered at Nob.
Furthermore, Saul orders the entire village to be annihilated. In addition to the priests, Doeg murders all of their wives and children, and kills all the animals belonging to them. It is complete and utter carnage. And the carnage was committed against unarmed priests, women and children.
After this, David is constantly on the move, hiding from Saul. But as a result of this event, many mighty men begin to rally to David. David does not use his growing army to attack Saul but rather God’s enemies. David has opportunity to kill Saul but does not do so and Saul and his sons are eventually killed in a battle with the Philistines.
So, the occasion for the writing of this Psalm was not merely that Doeg told Saul where David was but the brutal murder of the priests, women and children by Saul at the hand of Doeg. It is interesting that in this psalm, there is no overt condemnation of Saul.
The title of my sermon is Wait on God. David is an example of amazing patience. He waits upon God many time throughout his life. He trusts God to vindicate him but also to take vengeance upon his enemies.
I might add that he also shows patience and restraint in his emotions and actions. After Saul kills the priests at Nob, David could have easily been motivated to vengeance. This outrage certainly required justice. But at this time David was not in a position to carry out the justice. He had been anointed as the next king by Samuel but he was not the king. His only avenue at this point, would have been open rebellion against the king.
One might make the case that Saul forfeited his kingship in this act and that it was the time for David to strike. David does not take that action. He waits to see what God will do. This is also wisdom. David may have prevailed over Saul but it would no doubt have been a long and bloody civil war. By waiting for God to take Saul out, David received the kingdom in a much more peaceful manner.
EXEGESIS
Psalm 52
To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David,
when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul,
and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.
1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
I think David is taunting Doeg. Doeg is murderer of unarmed priests, women and children. He is not a mighty man. Doeg is evil and does evil deeds but God continues to love His people. Even though the priests were killed, this did not kill God’s enduring love. The wickedness in the world cannot stop the love of God.
2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
The tongue is meant to praise God and bless people. But the wicked man uses his tongue to plot evil. Such a tongue cuts, particularly as it lies and deceives. We only have a portion of what Doeg told Saul about the priests. Saul believed Doeg that the priests were in alliance with David. This was not the case. Ahimilech gave David bread and a sword but he was not plotting against Saul.
3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
Doeg is ever a worker of mischief. He enjoys doing evil. If he can gain advantage, he does not care who it hurts. He will make up a story to benefit himself and harm others. In fact, it will bring him pleasure to do so.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
David knows that God acts against the wicked. You think you are safe in your tent, or in your home, or in your lofty protected position? Ha! God is not thwarted by your seeming safety. Just when you are most secure, He can and will take you out.
6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him,
This is the center of the Psalm. Though the wicked do all sorts of evil and devise plans against the righteous, the righteous understand the justice of God. They know that God watches over all things and that all men give account. This is like the 2nd Psalm where God looks upon the acts of wicked men and holds them in derision and laughs. He is not laughing at their wicked actions. They are abominable. He is laughing because men think they can commit atrocities with impunity. And while they may not receive justice on this earth, justice will be served and it will be fierce.
Thus, the righteous fear God rather than men. Since we fear God’s judgment, we submit to Him and wait upon Him to act.
saying,
7 “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!”
David knew about taking refuge. At the time of this writing, he was probably in the Cave of Adullam. He needed refuge from Saul and was on the run. But how does he see his refuge? It is in God. He expects God to protect him for as long as God would protect him. God’s special protection of David showed God’s favor of him.
Contrast this to the man who takes refuge in his riches, who builds bigger barns, only to realize that his soul is wretched. No man can avoid death. But David seems to also be talking about God’s ironic truth. That the man who devises evil is caught in his own trap. We should remember this as wicked men seek to harm the righteous. The very net they cast against the righteous will fall upon their own heads.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
David is like a young, healthy, growing plant in the house of God. Doeg is the devorer, devouring words, schemes, plots. He is like a withered plant that has no good fruit. He is like an olive tree cursed an uprooted.
9 I will thank you forever, because you have done it.
David uses his tongue to praise and thank God. He waits upon God and is not disappointed.
I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
David waits upon God. Doeg is unwilling to wait on God, so he acts wickedly devising schemes and attacking God’s people.
God’s name represents true blessing, enduring love, righteous justice, the hope of the godly. David fully understands this, so he can endure even the worst treatment from his enemies.
EXHORTATION
Jesus quoted this event in David’s life when He was accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath.
Matthew 11
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
A Man with a Withered Hand
9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
God’s Chosen Servant
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” [1]
I don’t know if Matthew intended to have this story of Jesus so closely parallel the story of David and Doeg but it does so in several ways.
Doeg was Saul’s chief shepherd. As such, it was his duty to protect and feed the sheep. But instead of protecting God’s people, Doeg murders them.
The pharisees were the conservative wing of teachers. They were powerful in the temple and in the Sanhedrin. They were supposed to teach and spiritually feed God’s people. In fact, they have a particular fastidiousness about the Sabbath. They cannot stand to have the Sabbath profaned and think that their righteous zeal about the Sabbath would please God.
When the Pharisees confront Jesus about His disciples gleaning/working on the Sabbath, they are attempting to harm God’s people. They would rather God’s people starve than break their rules about Sabbbath.
Jesus had just told them that true rest comes in Him. Those who rest in Jesus find true rest for their souls, which is the fulfillment of God’s Sabbath.
The Pharisees would rather have a man suffer through life maimed than heal him on the Sabbath. Their priorities are so messed up that they cannot even see how this is wickedness. Jesus purposefully confronts them about their hypocrisy.
When he heals openly on the Sabbath, the Pharisees then ramp up their pursuit of Him to take him out. Jesus then has to flee that region. But the result is that the people then begin to flock to Him for healing, to hear His Word and for true rest for their weary souls.
When Jesus tells the Pharisees that God desire mercy and not sacrifice, He is making a comparison. The purpose of the sacrifice is mercy. God’s mercy in revealed in sacrifice. But the Pharisees have taken God’s means of grace and made it a means of death. They got it exactly backwards.
This they do with the Sabbath, as well. God gave us the Sabbath so we can rest. He didn’t impose another burden upon us.
Psalm 52 Chiasm
Sermon Link-Psalm 52 Sermon-Wait on God
A-Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
B-2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
C-3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah . 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
D-5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
E-6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him,
D- saying
7 “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!”
C-8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
B-9 I will thank you forever, because you have done it.
A-I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 11:25–12:21.