ladders himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit. He has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed, and he sets himself in a way that is not good, he does not reject evil. How precious is your steadfast love, O God? The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings, a feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light we do see light. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of this holy word. Now this morning what I want to do is just kind of move along three lines as we look at this particular Psalm of David. We'll begin with an overarching observation on the first four verses. We'll just give a summary of the first four verses in which David addresses the wicked condition. The second thing that we'll do is look at a summary, a threefold summary of that wicked condition. And then thirdly we will consider the antidote that David provides for that wicked condition. So here's the first observation that we want to make and this is an overarching observation. I think it's important for us to understand that in this Psalm David, in verses one through four, it should be noted that he is not giving solely a description of unbelievers. In other words, David is not just giving us a description of unbelievers because that's sort of our tendency. Wherever we see wicked in the scriptures, we just think of those who are unregenerate. But my conclusion is this that David in verses one through four is not describing the unbeliever, but rather what he is doing is giving us an analysis of the fallen condition. And by fallen condition, I mean the general fallen condition, which is common to all humanity. So therefore David's words concerning the wicked in verses one through four are just as instructed for us. In fact, even more so instructive of us because at least those who are regenerate would have a proper understanding of these things because the unregenerate they don't get it. So David is not really speaking to them. He's speaking to us and he's speaking to us about the general fallen condition. And one of the reasons it's important for us to see this as a portrait of the natural man is so that we as believers would be reminded of what we are doing battle with. In other words, the struggle of the Christian life is that those things, what David says of the wicked is what continues to be our issue even as we are in Christ. That is the old nature that remains within us. In other words, that which remains in us and this is what will remain in us until as long as John says, as long as we are in the flesh. This is the old us that we are exhorting. In fact, what Paul calls the old man and the old man is something that we have to continue to deal with because understand this, what makes Christians righteous in the sight of God is not the performance of righteousness by us. What makes us right in the eyes of God is that he credits to us the righteousness of another. And so our struggle is dealing with what we really are. So therefore, one of the things I kind of work with young preachers on is when they come to me and they ask about, you know, want to preach Christ centered and want to understand the doctrines of grace. One of the places that I take them before we even talk about preaching is I'll give them what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 that anyone who was in Christ Jesus becomes a new creation. Behold, all things are passed away and everything becomes new. So my question then to them is how do you understand that? Do you understand that as moral transformation or do you understand that as being a promise of what God is given in Christ? If they say moral transformation, then that tells me where we need to start because they don't have a clear understanding of the real issues and struggles of remaining sin. Anyone who thinks that being in Jesus means all old habits stop, all evil thoughts cease. And now you just become clean, tabularosa, that the slate is clean and you just do everything that you do from now on is right. And every now and then you stumble. Brothers and sisters, if you think that is the Christian life then you don't understand the Christian life. And so what David is describing in verses 1 through 4 when he talks about the wicked man, he's not just talking about those who are out there but he is speaking to all of those, he is speaking to all of those, even to those who look to God by faith for his salvation. So this is an important, it's an important distinction to make that David is not referring to the wicked and then we're over here someplace else. No, David is presenting to us in verses 1 through 4 a portrait of the fallen corrupt human nature and this is given to us as a reminder of what we are often or what we ought to be continuously fighting against. This is what we are putting off. This is what explains the dilemma and the struggle that Paul speaks of in Romans 7 when he says, when I would do good, evil is always present. Now when he says evil is not, is always present, he's not saying that evil always shows up right when I want to do good. No, evil is always present because it's in you. It's in you. It's not always present because oh all of a sudden when I just when I do do good then here comes my friend from down the street. No, even if your friend from down the street doesn't come you take the enemy with you. This is why Paul in Colossians 3 in verse 1 he says that if you have been raised with Christ then set your mind on things that are above where Christ is seated. Set your affection on things that are above and then he goes on to say this great statement by the way, he says because you died and your life is hidden in Christ. You say yep that sounds like that victorious Christian living right? That sounds like everyone is a new creature and we are morally transformed but then he comes right back in verse 5 and he says therefore put to death the members of the flesh that remain within you. Now that's challenging isn't it? And so what Paul is confirming is what David is laying out here that when he speaks of the wicked he's not speaking of unbelievers in particular but he is speaking of fallen humanity in general. Now with that as as the beginning as as our starting place he second thing I want to do because David I actually kind of went through it and it seems like there's seven particulars that you can look at but what I want to do is summarize summarize the three most definitive characteristics of the fall in nature that David gives us in verses one through four and those fall along three particulars. So it's a three-fold summary or it's a summarizing of the three most definitive characteristics of our fall in nature and as we look at them we want to highlight them because we must always be aware of these characteristics. They will remain with us until we go home. In fact I would say that a huge part of our spiritual warfare is identifying these three characteristics confronting them when we see them and turning from them but three things. Number one we see in verse one he says there is no fear of God before their eyes, no fear of God. We mentioned this the other week that when the scriptures speak of fear of God it's it's usually one of two things if not both. On the one hand it means dread to be afraid of physically afraid of not going there because you're afraid of it and in a sense sinful creatures have a right to be afraid of God. We do have a right to be afraid. We guilt makes us afraid and so so therefore there is a sense of fear of God that is innate to our fall in nature because guilt makes us afraid of a holy just God and certainly as whistling as as as a unbeliever sometimes as a way of whistling through the graveyard they convince themselves there is no God because they hope there's nothing if he if there is a God and they are unrepentant then they know they have an issue so they tell themselves there is no God but that's not what what David means here. I don't think it's and certainly it's not solely what he means here when he says there's no fear of God. It might be included in the unbeliever that that there is no dread of God so if we convince ourselves that there is no God anybody as a child where you ever afraid of boogie men right and then you grow hopefully to the point where you realize there are no boogie men sleeping under your bed and in your closet and so but but as long as you are convinced you need a light on right but when you are no longer convinced when you are no longer afraid of that which doesn't exist it emboldens you in the dark and sometimes in fact unbelievers present Christian faith as one who the reason the only reason we we believe in God is because it's like it's the spiritual equivalent to to a boogie man you are afraid so so you you need something to kind of tie you over that's why someone says you know who's in Marx it says that religion is the opium of the masses it's it's kind of a way to deal with the death and the reality that we can't explain so we explain it away by saying God and so therefore the height of unbelief is to reach that level of intellectual maturity when you say there are no more boogie men so therefore I'm not afraid and that that is part of that's that's part of what David means here there is a segment of unbelief that is so convinced that they are the master of their own faith that there is no dread no sense of a holy other to whom we are accountable that's part of what he means but that's not totally what he means when he says for the unbeliever for the wicked there is no fear of God and certainly those of us who are believers we we do have a sense of dread knowing the terror of God says Paul and second Corinthians five but but but but there's something else that he means by that word fear it's reverence and respect no no sense of reverence of and respect surely they can't be in awe or afraid of anything they don't think exists but in our fall and state here's where we are we don't have the right respect for God no sense of reverence in fact even those who sometimes come to their own way of knowing God and relating to God we go out of our way to try to make him like us so people think that I can talk to God any of any kind of ways he's my home boy you know he's my this that the other but if the funny thing is brothers and sisters God has already gone out of his way to identify with us that's what the whole that's what the incarnation is about God does friend us in Christ but that doesn't because he is present because he identifies with our earthly struggles and existence doesn't mean he's not to be respected did he or any of you grow up with with teenagers who lived in your neighborhood who talked about how cool their parents were in fact I had friends that could call their parents by their first name right and they would always talk about their cool parents and as I grew older here's what the thing that I understood that there are two categories of cool parents there are some parents that are cool simply because they identify with their children or whatever and and they're they're not the strict disciplinarians and giving them that you got to be in by seven o'clock in that sort of thing and in which case they're still respect but then there's also the the kind of cool parents where the children had no respect they didn't honor them I had a friend that was the same age I was and his mother would call him and he'd act like it was his older sister calling him what what do you want what do you want and I'm looking like him what's wrong with you whoa and when no shoe came out I'm warning whoa what's wrong with mom all right here is one of the main characteristics of fallen humanity we don't have sense enough how to be afraid and we've lost a sense of reverence for God we don't have the respect for him he said well but we are believers we we that's changed for us and that that is true but understand this brother's insistence that even though we are believers we still wrestle with sin and one of the part of the what what flavors our continuing wrestling with sin is that we continually wrestle with right respect for God and our continuing sin is rebellion against his authority so David says what is characteristic one of the chief characteristics of the unbeliever is that they don't have a right respect for God and we likewise even though we are believers even though we are in dwelt by the holy spirit our continuing sinful behavior can be explained because we do not in that instance in that situation we don't have a right respect for God when we sin against those that God is placed over us when we sin against our brothers when we feel free to say whatever we want to say however we want to say it to those who have been purchased by the blood of God no matter what we say in our songs no matter what we say in our testimony it's evidence of our failure to rightly respect God one of the things that I learned growing up is is respecting my parents didn't mean just when I was present with them showing proper respect for my parents meant how I saw how I how I conducted myself in their absence and sometimes even as Christians we think in fact I was going to say that we think the only time we're showing respect for God is when we are in his house but that doesn't what we how reverence God sometimes on Sunday morning is not how we reference reverence him when we meet in our meetings right here's what what what is characteristic of the people of God here's some characteristic of all of the image bearers of God is that we have a we have a problem with fearing him we are either too stupid to be afraid or we're too arrogant to be respectful and that's a that's a continuing struggle we're going to have we're going to struggle with that there are times that we're going to show more reverence than others but but essentially part of one of the the chief characteristics of the fallen condition is to have no respect for God as matter of fact you notice the way David couples that in verse one in fact he begins by saying that that wickedness transgression speaks to the wicked and the reason transgression is free to speak and he's personifying sin the reason sin is feels free to speak to the wicked is because there's no filters is he why why do you think if you say how come people keep bringing me all that gossip the answer is simple you you're the reason they keep gossiping to you because you allow it here's part of the character here's here's one of the chief characteristics of our fallen nature wickedness speaks to us because we don't have a right respect for God you respect him trust me the devil ain't gonna say certain things to some folk he knew exactly what to say to Peter and went to say it but what he said to Peter he didn't say to John brothers and sisters here's one of the characteristics of the fall we don't have right reverence for God we don't fully respect him to the degree that we should here's the second characteristic that that David gives us and that is it's found primarily in in verse three or verse verse two he says but he flatters himself in his own eyes again this is this is this is true of of the fallen condition self-flattery but it's not just any kind of self-flattery it's self-flattery with a motive and the motive of this self-flattery is to minimize your sin look at the way he expresses it in verse two he says for he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hate it in other words the self-flattery of our fallen condition has a way of minimizing sin or to put it another way euphemizing it or yeah euphemizing it speaking of our sin in euphemistic terms you know what a euphemism is a euphemism is a pleasant way of saying something that's not pleasant so instead of saying that I rebel against God's command to worship here's what we say I'm lazy we call it lazy because the lazy is not on the ten command but sinless the scripture says now shall not forsake the assembling of ourselves together doesn't say don't be lazy like we know all the prophets to talk about the industry and so forth and so we'll say well I'm tired rather than I'm rebellious I don't have time rather than I haven't prioritized this over that there's a way that we can euphemize we can speak euphemistically about our sins and so the way we flatter ourselves if I would never fill in the blank I would never murder anyone but don't get me by myself in a good gossip session right here's what what what David says that's he wants us to see that and he wants us to see that that this is what wickedness is it's not always breaking in people's houses it's not no it's not all the stuff that we profile people for a wickedness is the condition that causes us to not have a right respect for God and that causes us to be to flatter ourselves to set you degree that will say I wouldn't I wouldn't harm a fly but the reputation of my sister and the reputation of my brother in my hands good boy though that's a whole different story I wouldn't harm a fly but when we speak words of vitriol when we speak ill against our brothers and sisters God would rather you harm a fly
you see here's what David says he says they flatter themselves they flatter themselves to the point that he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and then when it is pointed out it's not hate it instead of being found out instead of being hated it's just how I am and people will say that you know you say well you were rude you did this but that's just how I am so and that's not a confession that's this that's just people get boasting in what they are well I'm just a rat but don't you know that in and of yourself you are wicked and you need to check you that's what that's what's the whole point of being in Christ so that we can go back and see ourselves for what we really are and at the end of it here's what we really are we do not respect God and here's what we are we flatter ourselves so that when our sins are elevated when they're brought out we excuse them with euphemisms so that even if it is a part of it's just me and we don't hate it in fact oftentimes we own it but here's a third characteristic that's definitive characteristic of our fallen condition in verse 4 we assign ourselves to a path that is not good that's what that's that's a way my my way of expressing it in verse 4 here's what David says he he plots trouble on his bed and he sets himself in a way that is not good he does not reject evil speaking of the the unbeliever that he sets of he sets for himself of course that is not good put himself on that path in fact if you follow the trans the if you follow the the development of the thought he says the person the wicked person transgression speaks deep to their heart because they have no respect for God so since transgression knows that it has a ready audience with the wicked it speaks and while you're on your bed you're thinking and and it's plotting so that you put yourself on a course it's not good I love how often God intercedes while we're on our path towards destruction and he'll say no no stop he'll he'll put up sign stop isn't that what we see in the very first in the first in the first the first murder in Genesis chapter 4 when Cain his he's down trotten because God has received the offering of his brother and has rejected him and his offering and God goes on he says look Cain I know what you thinking but you've got an opportunity you don't have to do that evil is lying at your door Cain is waiting to take you hostage you don't have to go down that course don't let your fall in nature don't let your culture don't let somebody coach you into going down a path but you don't have to go down one of those things that was early on for me and I learned this because I wasn't that big in elementary school I was a little guy and I you know I knew and I didn't have any brothers I had to defend myself but it was it seemed like it was a written law of elementary school that if somebody talks about your mama it's time to go you just it's just time to fight and trust me I had my fair share of fights but one of the things I learned early on that it wasn't worth fighting about was what some seven-year-old who lives on the other side of town says about my mother that they don't know so you can talk about my mama and then I was proud my mother come to class or she become just you know come to my school for something looking all gorgeous and beautiful and now that's what you're talking about so you you've seen you've seen her and this is what you have to say dude that one doesn't fly with me that's not gonna that's not gonna make me fight brothers and sisters we we we sometimes let the wrong influences in and it puts us on a path where we have to do we have to act according to what our our circle of friends expect us to do we put ourselves on a path where we do not reject evil that's part of our fall in nature it's it's you can go on and flesh out the details but we don't reject evil I shared Wednesday nights a story that I heard an interview on a podcast a couple of weeks ago about something that took place in an all-white Presbytery up in the western part of North Carolina where there was there was well racial prejudice that surfaced among these white Presbyterians and and one of the pastors the pastor of church saw a post from one of the elders in his church this is in the 2000s saw a post where he basically claimed blacks as being intellectually inferior and so forth and he did and he made his case and he posted it proudly and the pastor saw it and checked it and then it ended up becoming a big issue within the Presbytery and the person that I heard in the interview who I later called and just had a long conversation with he was saying that that when he heard about it he went to the side of the pastor and they challenged it in the local Presbytery embrace the elder for a minute and then eventually the national Presbytery came together and they removed this elder and rebuked him and put him under the discipline under the discipline of the church because of his racist views which is inconsistent with Christianity so as the brothers telling me this and I had heard the interview and I was blown away just by the interview and then I talked to him and he's sharing the same story so at the end of it I said brother I just want to say thank you for speaking up for all of the African-American people who were not present but yet your conscience would not allow you to be at ease even if you disagree because sometimes we can disagree and be sinfully silent when black folk were present here's nothing but white folk and he didn't say no he didn't bat down no he stood up brothers and sisters sometimes our fall in nature we don't catch ourselves our fall in nature can put us on a path of destruction to the point when evil is present it doesn't say that in fact I love what David is indicating here he's not indicating that you won't recognize evil as being evil but the problem is when evil is present and you recognize it and do not reject it he said oh that's the unbeliever no it's not just the unbeliever it's the wicked and the wicked is you and I three defining characteristics of the fall in nature no respect for God no no no genuine respect for God and also a sense where we fire ourselves to the point that we don't even identify our own sin and then putting ourselves on a course that is not for our good and on that course it allows us to receive that which we should be rejecting I can't think of how many times in my own life as a believer and as an unbeliever when I realize that I have compromised myself to such a degree that that which I knew was evil that somehow I let it be okay brothers and sisters our road to repentance as we deal with sin is to deal with the reality of that situation what is it that I have tolerated that I know to be evil but somehow I did not reject it so David gives us an overarching summary not of the unbeliever but of the fallen condition the three main characteristics and you can tease them out connect them to other things but the three main characteristics of the fallen condition is no respect for God self-flattery and then assigning to ourselves a path that is destructive when that brings us to the third and final category that we want to look here look at here and that is the antidote that David offers to the children of God and he does offer an antidote you see in verses seven through nine in verses one through four he's given us a description of the wicked which is our fallen condition then he gives us in verses seven through nine of a remedy for the children of God as we are confronted with the reality of remaining sin and by the way I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that our doctrine of sin and salvation is only as good as our doctrine of remaining sin three things three three things here first off David offers as an antidote to the children of God the comfort of God's commitment or his covenant commitment and devotion to his redeem he offers to them the the comfort of God's covenant commitment and devotion to his redeem in verse seven that phrase that we've looked at ever since we've been going through the Psalms the phrase that continues to come up over and over and over again is your steadfast love and we've said before that what is meant by steadfast love the term that's translated here as steadfast love is God's covenant love to his people and God's covenant love is his covenant commitment and faithfulness to his people now notice that in the top part of this verse of verse seven David simply says that how precious is your steadfast love in other words David simply says that God's covenant faithfulness is precious to us it is highly valued highly esteemed but then notice that in the be part of the verse he then illustrates this truth of God's how precious God's steadfast love so he says in the top part of the verse how precious is your steadfast love and then the be part of the verse he illustrates or he he makes his point by illustrating that what God's covenant faithfulness is like to us and here's what he says in essence that God's covenant commitment to us is the equivalent to the wings of a great bird that provide covering and protection for everyone who comes under it notice again in verse in verse seven he says how precious is your steadfast love the children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings in other words David is indicating that all of God's people who expose in this world to everything that is set of us in verses one through four the place that we can find protection and what do we need to be protected from by the way we need to be protected from our portrait we need to be protected from our failure to properly fear God we need protection from our our capacity to minimize our own sinfulness we need protection from the pathway that we put ourselves on when we reject the path of God's way we need protection from not rejecting evil and here's what David is saying that God's steadfast love is like the wings of a great bird that the children of God and he specifies here the children of God is not every human creature it's those to whom he has redeemed has revealed his redeeming love and here's what we do we run and take refuge under his wings I think of the words of Jesus in the course of his earthly ministry at the end of his earthly ministry actually we wept over Jerusalem he says oh Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you like a mother hen how I would have gathered you under my wings but the problem is he says you don't know what makes for your peace if you knew that you were in trouble and if you knew where peace was you find my wings ready to take you what David is saying here in verse seven is that for the people of God because we identify ourselves in verses one through four when we are exposed for being what is said of us in verses one through four here's what we can be confident of we can take refuge and find protection under the wings of God's covenant provisions this is the second thing that he says as a part of an antidote so the first antidote is really the knowledge of God's covenant God's covenant faithfulness his promise to redeem us it's repeated actually to us in Jeremiah 31 but also quoted in Hebrews chapter 10 and their lawless deeds and their sins I will remember no more here's what gives us confidence as we see ourselves more of ourselves really on display in verses one through four here's the confidence that we have that those who seek covering from God he will remember our sins no more but here's the second antidote and that is the resources of God's house the resources of God's house is the answer to all that is true of us as laid out in verses one through four again here's what he says in in verse in verse five he says they fee or verse eight they feast on the abundance of your house I think in some old King James translations it says the factness of your house I wish I could just carry that over I just I like fat food so that's that's what resonates to me I that's why I love a good ribeye state with marbling around the edges just enough fat to make your mouth greasy and the taste buds say thank you and I think there's there's an intentionality to this God wants us to feast in his house but it's not sort of a tofu kind of feast she wants us to know that what he is provided for us is equivalent to good good ribeye to the body is what God's provision in his house is to the soul what is it that people who have been exposed as being not respectful of God who have splattered themselves who have put themselves in harm's way where they no longer reject evil at least in that situation what do we need most what is it that would feed us as we are take as we take covering and refuge under his wings what do we need we need to come into his house and have him serve up a big old keeping dose of I forgive you need we need to come into his house and to have a overflowing plate with the grease dripping off of it of pardon for all of your sins you need to hear in the midst of your struggles with this that and the other hear your father say as you are stinking with your rebellion that there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus he says the abundance of God's house is a feast for those who are convicted by the description and portrait of verses one through four brothers and sisters when we come into God's house we have the pardon of sin we have the irrevocable privilege of sonship or being the children of God we have the oh we have the unspeakable peace of being reconciled with God that's what ought to fill us up that's what ought to motivate us as we serve and as we go from this place that when we come into God's house whatever else we get you may not get an assignment to do and be but listen you may not find your purpose you may not find your significance that's all of that is this tertiary and secondary you might not find fulfillments of being the 21st century woman you might not find the success for being the professional the right professional that you ought to be but when you come into God's house you ought to be filled up with the fatty food of forgiveness and with the grace of God that covers all of your sins you need to be reminded that you are a child of his I know you you look rebellious right we we act we've gone out of our way to be rebellious and God brings us weekly into his presence to say that's mine the one with the spike here that's mine the blue here that's mine all of them tattoos all of it you're mine you mine you did everything that you could to try to prove and distance yourself from me but I love you sit down at this table and let me give you the broken body that was broken for you let me give you the cup of your forgiveness let me announce my grace to you because I know what you I know it when you get to the parking lot but that's okay I love you anyhow and so somehow the transfer of nutrients from God's grace ought to translate into different decisions by God's people that's the intent here but brothers and sisters God's resources for our journey through remaining sin is the knowledge that our sins have been pardoned that we are the privileged children of God and that we have been given unspeakable and irrevocable peace with him here's a final final resource that we have that we ought to receive when we come into God's house that's found in verse 9 it's a great statement he says for with you is the fountain of life and here's the part in your light do we see light what a wonderful statement and here's what David is saying and I pray that this is true of us you see why does good seeing or why does evil seem good to us even the children of God is because of the light that we're looking at it in we're looking at it in a particular light why is it that it seems okay for us to say and act in any in any given way it's because of the light in which we look at the situation and here's what God does when we come into his presence is he not only recharges our light but he shows us what real light is and we pray that God would give us the light of the knowledge of his grace in the face of Christ showed that my evil thoughts and my evil words which are at home among people like me all of my circle are good with me but don't let me just be content with my circle let me give me a light that allows a white brother to speak up against racism even though he's surrounded by other white faces give me a light that would allow me to see me as I truly am out of Christ and in Christ give me the light of your grace so that I would see even my good is not good enough but I can also see that I am helped by a farmer grip than my own personal obedience give me the light to see grace as it is God as he is and my sin as it is and my salvation as it is we all think we all act and we all live according to a light there is a light that allows you to think that whatever you're doing is okay but here's the challenge of the gospel it gives us a brighter light so that we would see the sufficiency of what God has given in Christ and what God has given us in Christ would be the incentive for revolution in thinking as well as in acting David describes us in verses one through four but his admonition is that we don't have to be like that because God has brought us into his house and he's fed us with the fatness of his house and he's given us the covering of his covenant so that we can see better think better speak better and act better I pray oh God that we would see light in his light let's pray our God and our Father we come to you the name of Jesus thanking you for your word we thank you for the somber and sober reminder of who we are in our natural state even 30 40 50 years as believers this is what still cleaves to us strengthen us to see it and never take comfort in anything that is contrary to your word and your will but most of all Father as we gather in your house continue to set your feast before us and wet our appetites for your feast so that so that we would be strengthened and nurtured by it for your service and your glory we thank you for your light with shines the light on our darkness and gives us a true light in which we are to walk thank you Father for what you've given us in Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen amen as we prepare we see our