Keith Simons teaches on Psalm 52, focusing on the contrast between the wickedness of Doeg the Edomite and the enduring goodness of God. He explains how Doeg's deceitful actions led to the destruction of innocent lives, yet emphasizes that God's kindness and mercy prevail despite evil. Simons highlights David's trust in God's faithfulness and his identity as a righteous person, flourishing like a green olive tree in God's house. The sermon encourages believers to rely on God's strength and to remain faithful in the face of adversity, praising Him for His protection and goodness.

Welcome. Today's psalm is about one of David's cruelest and most evil enemies, but it's also a psalm about God's great kindness. Turn with me please to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. My name is Keith Symons. I'm a Bible teacher from England and you're listening to the next of our weekly talks on how to understand the King James Bible. Psalm 52 begins with a title which is particularly long. The first part says, To the chief musician, Maskil, a psalm of David. The chief musician was the leader of the worship of God in the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem. Maskil means a teaching psalm, so this instruction for us, these lessons for us to learn in this psalm. A psalm of David that tells us that its author was King David who wrote so many of these psalms. And then following that there's a note that explains to us about the time in David's life, either when this psalm was written or which David wanted to describe when he wrote this psalm. He was remembering this past incident and it inspired him to write this psalm. It reads as follows, When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Okay so that's a reference to the book of 1 Samuel and chapter 22. And that records how David escaped from Saul when Saul was trying to kill him, in the beginning of 1 Samuel chapter 21 this is. And David escaped and went by the way of the house of God which was then the tent called the Tabernacle and stood at a place called Nob which was near Jerusalem we think. So the house of Ahimelech was the place of the Lord's Tabernacle, the most sacred place in the worship of God, the place where David stopped for a short while when he was escaping from Saul and Saul was trying to kill David. Okay and when David was there, another man saw him there. One of the important officials of King Saul, he was Doeg the Edomite. He wasn't from Israel's people, he was from the foreign country called Edom, the descendants of Esau. And his job was as Saul's chief shepherd, in other words he had the responsibility for the sheep and other animals that belonged to King Saul. But Doeg was a very very wicked man. He'd gone to the house of God to inquire there, to inquire of God probably on Saul's behalf, but he saw David there. And so when he went back to Saul and Saul inquired what had happened to David, Doeg told Saul that he'd seen David at the place of God's house, the house of Ahimelech. And by that means Doeg persuaded Saul that he should carry out a very very wicked act. Doeg went and he killed everyone in Ahimelech's family, the whole family of the chief priest, and he destroyed the town called Narb where God's tabernacle was. And just one person, the son of the chief priest, escaped to tell David of this terrible thing that had happened. So we see how evil Doeg was. And it is about this man. He'd killed all the priests and no doubt he wanted to kill David too. And that is the reason for this psalm. As I say, if you want to read more about that, turn to the book of 1 Samuel and chapter 22. But for the moment remain pleased at Psalm 52 and let's look word by word and verse by verse through the psalm. Verse one, Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? That mighty man, of course, was that mass murderer, Doeg. And was it not bad enough that he'd done this evil thing, this mischief? Was it not bad enough that he should have done such a terrible thing? Now he was boasting about it. He was actually proud that he'd done such an evil act. David calls him a mighty man. He didn't consider him to be a mighty man. He considered himself to be a wicked man. But Doeg thought of himself as a mighty man. So David says to him, Doeg, you mighty man, why are you boasting in mischief? You have no reason to be proud of your acts. Your acts are wrong and evil and terrible. And what is more, those evil acts which you think you're going to make yourself wealthy and successful and prosperous by, they'll all fail in the end because the goodness of God endureth continually. Remember I said that this psalm was about God's great loving kindness to his people, God's kindness, God's faithfulness. Well, the Hebrew word for goodness there refers to that loving kindness. And whatever evil deeds Doeg might do, whatever evil deeds any wicked person might do, they cannot stop the goodness of God. God is still good and kind to his faithful people, whatever evil deeds they may do. Doeg achieved that by his skillful words. He carried out his acts, he achieved power by his words. And so David now speaks directly as if he were speaking to Doeg's tongue, Doeg's power to speak. He says, verse three, it's verse two, sorry, thy tongue diviseth mischiefs. It is Doeg's tongue we might say today, his mouth, it really means his speech, which is making up mischiefs, not the same Hebrew words as mischief in verse one, verse one it meant evil, but in verse two it's coveting, it's desiring what other people have. And so Doeg desired what other people had and then with his mouth, with his words, he used them to get the things he wanted for himself, like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Remember we said Doeg was a shepherd, a shepherd needs a sharp knife with which to cut the wool off his sheep. But if he uses that sharp knife in a deceitful way, a treacherous way, if he uses it to deceive other people, to trap other people, he can then kill other people with it. And that seems to be David's thought here, Doeg's words were much sharper than his razor. Doeg's words were what he used to kill people. Verse three, thou, Doeg, lovest evil more than good. That's a Hebrew expression, of course Doeg loved what was evil and he hated what was good. It wasn't merely a case of loving evil a bit more than he loved what was good. No, he didn't love what was good at all and that was what was wrong with him. He chose always to go for that which was evil, his deceitful words, his lying words that he used to kill the priests and that he would have used to kill even King David, David if he could have done. And lying rather than to speak righteousness. A person should speak what is true and right and proper but Doeg of course preferred to speak lying words. And although it was perfectly true when Doeg went and told Saul, David was there at the house of Ahimelech, David was there with the priests, that was true. But it wasn't righteous, it wasn't a good thing he was doing, he was speaking those words so that he could kill and murder and destroy. David adds the word sella which might be a word of praise to God but it's often understood to mean a little pause in the music. It's a good place to pause and to think about how evil people turn away from that which is good and right. They hate what is good, they choose lying words, untrue words and false words. They've turned from everything that is good and to everything that is evil. Then in verse four David continues with much the same thought and now he really does speak to Doeg's tongue. It's a way of speaking about Doeg himself of course but he imagines he's speaking to Doeg's tongue or his power to speak and he says to this evil man, thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue, you love too. The word here devouring, that means to swallow, it means it in English, it means it in Hebrew. You love words that swallow up people, you love words that destroy lives, you're a deceitful tongue, you're a treacherous tongue, you're a tongue that causes the death of people, you're a tongue that destroys people and no wonder then, verse five, that God shall likewise destroy thee forever. Yes God will act against this deceitful speaker of evil words. God will act against all who are evil and wicked and who use words to ruin other people's lives, unless of course those evil people turn from their evil deeds and turn back to God, which they should do at once, they shouldn't delay because the time of life is short and God, verse five, shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living. God will act against these wicked people, that's the declaration of the psalm. Like a tree pulled out of the land, pulled out of the ground, that's what root the out means. Like a tree that is pulled out and just lies there, dying. It had a place in the land where it was living and it was strong and it was happy, but now this tree is pulled out and it's pulled out by the roots and it shan't grow again and it shan't continue to be powerful and Doeg would lose all his power, Doeg would lose his life and he would face the judgment of God. David adds the word cellar and we pause for a moment. Yes we pause, verse six, because of the judgment of God and the righteous, God's people, see the judgment of God and they fear, they fear in the sense that they respect God, the judge who has made this judgment against the evildoer and shall laugh at him. That means mock. What words will God's people use, the people who are right and good use to mock this evil person? Well they'll mock him with the truth. It was the truth that he hated and now the truth is what they will declare about him. Verse seven, lo, that means look, this is a man that made not God his strength. Oh a righteous person, God's people depend for their strength on God. They don't depend on riches, importance, on deceit, on lies. Maybe God gives them riches and importance but they still don't depend on it. God's people make God their strength. They trust God, they rely on God, but this is a man, this doe-egg, this evil man, verse seven, trusted in the abundance of his rich, his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness. Yes it was wealth which which he valued in life. It was his wickedness, the Hebrew means particularly his wrong desires, that made him strong. He wanted wealth, he wanted the things that he desired, he wanted to be strong in them, he thought they would make him a great person. He thought that he could trust in these things for his greatness but no, it was these things that destroyed his life. It was these things that brought about God's judgment against him. It was for these things that in verse five, God took him away and plucked him out of his dwelling place and rooted him out of the land of the living. But David comments about himself, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. It was doe-egg who tried to uproot my life. It was doe-egg who tried to destroy me but God has made me like a tree that is growing, that is productive. It's a green tree so it's growing, it's productive, it's an olive tree. It yields a rich harvest, an oily harvest because olive is a fruit from which people get oil and oil spoke to the ancient Hebrews of luxury and of wealth and of comfort but I am like a green olive tree and a tree in a place of safety. Yes doe-egg did destroy the place of safety that Ahimelech, the chief priest had but God's place of safety remains because God still has a house. Yes doe-egg can destroy the house of God, the tabernacle or all that surrounds it in this world but the true house of God, the place that God has for his people, that is a place of protection for all time and that is the place that David claimed the place to be in. I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. The mercy. Do you remember the word goodness in verse one? The goodness of God endureth continually and now David says in verse eight, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. Okay that goodness and that mercy is the same Hebrew word. It is God's kindness, God's faithfulness, God's loving kindness in which David trusted. It was that same goodness, that same kindness, that same faithfulness which he declared the goodness of God endureth continually in verse one. Yes, God knew that mercy, that goodness, that kindness. God knew it rather David knew it. David knew God's goodness, his mercy, his kindness. He knew that although a man like doe-egg might make himself wealthy and successful for a short time that he lived in this, on this world, in this earth. Although doe-egg can make himself successful in this world, David knew God's kindness, God's goodness, God's mercy, God's faithfulness for time and that was a reason to give thanks. Verse nine, I will praise thee forever. Oh I'm grateful to you O God for what you have done and I will continue to be grateful and to give thanks always as long as I have that place in the house of God, as long as I know the kindness and faithfulness of God and that is for all time. So I will praise you God forever because thou has done it, because this is your work, it's you who's protected me from this evil and wicked man, this man who cared not about the sacred work of the priests, who cared not about the sacredness of God's house, God's tabernacle. God protected me even from that evil and cruel man and so my praise shall continually be to God and I will wait on thy name. Yes, waiting on speaks of having hope in God. You see, David was still in his life on earth, he still had enemies, he still had problems, he still had troubles. Although his praise could begin now and continue for all time, yet he must still have hope because God hadn't completed everything that he had promised to do for King David. God would complete everything, God would take David to his home in heaven and God would raise up his own family to rule after him and in the course of time he would bring the Messiah, the son of David, the King Messiah who one day will rule the nations in great power. But for now David must wait for these things and he must wait in hope on God's name, God's reputation, God's honour, for it is good before thy saints. Saints, that again is just a slightly different version of the word for goodness in verse one of the mercy in verse eight and now David identifies as one of God's saints, God's kind, faithful ones, those who follow the same character as God himself has shown, as God has shown kindness, faithfulness, goodness and mercy. So David is one of those people, one of those saints whose duty and whose task in this world and in this life is to show God's kindness, God's goodness and to be faithful to him for all time, to be faithful in the way they give thanks to God, to be faithful in the way they hope, they place their hope in reliance on God's good and perfect character. Please write to me, my email address is 333kjv at gmail.com. That is 333kjv at gmail.com. It would be lovely to hear from you but in the meantime here is a whole of Psalm 52. To the Chief Musician. Muscule. A Psalm of David. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue diviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is a man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee forever, because thou has done it. And I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints.