THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

XXXVI. Responding To The Very Wicked

(Psalm 36:1-12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

We face very wicked people in influential realms today, and we need to know how to respond to them:

(1) One such party is Barak Obama: Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, in his article, “Former President Obama still shares blame” (Republican-American, August 3, 2022, p. 8A), alleged that “President Biden” is arguably “the front man for Barak Obama’s third term,” and that Mr. Obama is largely responsible for turning our “rich, powerful, and generally happy country” into “an economic, social, and ideological train wreck.”

(2) Another very wicked party is George Soros: “Leftist billionaire George Soros spends copious amounts of his money . . . donating to political candidates who ensure violent criminals are kept out of prison and free to unleash mayhem on American streets.” Why? “Mr. Soros manufactures political consent for increasing the strength of the state. Of course, that expanded power is never to be wielded against actual criminals; it’s simply a means to subjugate law-abiding citizens.” (“Soros-backed policies wreak havoc,” Ibid., August 4, 2022, p. 8A)

(3) Many leaders in government are very wicked: (a) FBI “Director James Comey and his band . . . perpetrated the (Russia collusion) hoax. Comey’s crew lied to get a spying warrant on Trump’s campaign and did its best to tip the election to Hillary Clinton.” (Michael Goodwin, “If Dems’ DOJ doesn’t have enough to convict . . . Don will be back in Oval,” New York Post, August 10, 2022, p. 6) The “FBI swallowed (b) Clinton’s dirty trick” in “the . . . Steele dossier debacle” and she “set up her own private server as secretary of state, sent and received classified information on it – and . . . (t)here was no raid of her house” (Ibid.) despite Comey’s critique of “Clinton’s ‘careless handling of very sensitive, highly classified information’” that “allowed foreign adversaries to obtain U. S. secrets.” Mr. Comey added “that ‘no charges are appropriate in this case.’” (Marc Thiessen, “FBI’s political double standards,” Republican-American, August 11, 2022, p. 6A) (c) Hunter Biden’s laptop showed that (d) “the ‘big guy’ . . . in the White House” profited from Hunter’s deals but there was no “raid of a Biden home despite overwhelming evidence of an international influence-peddling scheme involving Joe Biden . . . (e) And now, with this . . . raid” on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, “the law-enforcement arm of the Dems . . . the Department of Justice, goes for the jugular. But . . . the raid only makes the swamp look as deep and dirty as ever” (Ibid., Goodwin), for (f) “(t)he Jan. 6 committee, elected Democrats, and the media have been braying for (Attorney General Merrick) Garland to move against Trump. President Biden himself has reportedly told aides in private that Garland should indict Trump. ‘Garland Faces Growing Pressure as Jan. 6 Investigation Widens,’ The New York Times reported earlier this year.” (Rich Lowry, “Garland is on a path to the abyss,” Ibid., Republican-American, August 17, 2022, p. 6A) (g) Then, the way the Mar-a-Lago raid was conducted is disturbing: “‘We have full access to everything. We can go anywhere’” was “the repeated statement of the DOJ lawyers – who were . . . displaying ‘arrogant’ demeanors – who were present during the . . . raid,” and (h) news of FBI agents in the Trumps’ bedroom – though searches can only be effective if nothing is off limits – highlights another previous wrong: “ . . . (I)n the 1980s” when “Robert Bork” was a nominee for the U. S. Supreme Court, he was “pedantically” explaining his “view of the non-existence of the right to privacy” in police searches when then Democratic Senator Joe Biden hurt Mr. Bork’s chances of being confirmed by use of the mantra, “Those cops! In the bedroom!” (University of Wisconsin law professor emerita Ann Althouse’s blog, August 10, cited in “Notable & Quotable: Trump, Biden and Bork,” The Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2022, p. a15) Today, the mantra to be used of the Biden administration’s agents is “Those FBI agents! In the former president’s bedroom!”

(4) We also face very wicked people at the local level: Believers we know have told us how they have often faced manipulative, self-serving and emotionally toxic people, some of whom are greatly opposed to the Biblical faith and whose attacks on Biblical beliefs are verbally and emotionally abusive.

Need: So, we ask, “How does God direct that we respond to very wicked people?!”

I. In Psalm 36:1-4, David was given a divine oracle, a prophetic revelation from God, on the sinfulness of very wicked people that exposes the humanly overwhelming task of responding effectively to them:

A. Psalm 36:1a KJV needs to be corrected to read as follows: “A ‘prophetic revelation from God’ (ne’um, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 610) is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked.”

B. Then, Psalm 36:1b begins that divine oracle with the words, “There is no fear of God before his eyes . . .,” and the oracls runs from Psalm 36:1b down to the end of Psalm 36:4. (Ibid.)

C. We summarize this divine oracle, this prophetic revelation from God, as follows, Psalm 36:1b-4:

1. The wicked have no fear of their accountability to God to be punished for their sins, Psalm 36:1b.

2. This lack of accountability to God is caused by their proudly flattering themselves to where they are blind to the guilt of their sins so that they do not hate them so that they do not depart from their sins, Psalm 36:2.

3. As the result, the wicked become unrestrained in their evil, committing great, harmful sins, Psalm 36:3-4:

a. The words of the wicked become exclusively troublesome and treacherous for other people, Psalm 36:3a.

b. The wicked eventually cease to be wise and to do good altogether, Psalm 36:3b.

c. Even in times of leisure, the wicked eventually only plot what is troublesome, Psalm 36:4a.

d. They consequently commit themselves to an unedifying pathway in life, Psalm 36:4b.

e. The wicked end up becoming totally corrupt, not rejecting what is “evil and harmful” (ra, Ibid., p. 1005; B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 948-949) in utter unholiness, Psalm 36:4c.

II. Psalm 36:5-9 then presents God as the sole but complete solution to the problem of the very wicked:

A. God’s goodness is far greater than the sins and the harmful effects of the sins of the very wicked, Psa. 36:5-6a:

1. God’s “loyal love” (hesed, Ibid., p. 338-339; H. A. W., Theol. Wrdbk. of the O. T., 1980, vol. I, p. 305-307) reaches to the heavens and His “faithfulness” (‘emunah, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 53) to the clouds far beyond the reach and the impact of the very wicked, Psalm 36:5.

2. God’s “righteousness” (sedaqah, Ibid., p. 842) is like “the mountains of God,” a Hebrew superlative [H. C. Leupold, Exp. of The Psalms, 1974, p. 295], and His “verdicts of judgment” (mishpat, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1048-1049; Ibid., Kittel) like the ocean deep, far beyond the reach and impact of the very wicked, v. 6a.

B. Thus, God utilizes His surpassingly great loyal love, faithfulness, righteousness, and verdicts of judgment to save man and beast from the destructive effects of the very wicked, Psalm 36:6b.

C. As the result, the upright are rescued from destruction and are greatly blessed by God’s goodness, Psa. 36:7-9:

1. God’s loyal love, and by implication also His faithfulness, righteousness, and verdicts of judgment, are prized by the upright who like helpless baby birds take refuge from the very wicked under His wings, v. 7.

2. The upright thus feast on God’s provisions of deliverance, for He is their Source of life and insight that counters the destructive and deceptively blinding influences of the very wicked, Psalm 36:8-9.

III. David then asked the Lord to apply His surpassing loyal love, faithfulness, righteousness, and verdicts of judgment for the good of the upright that they might be delivered from the very wicked, Psalm 36:10-11.

IV. In answer to David’s request, God caused the very wicked to be thrown down, unable to rise, Psa. 36:12.

Lesson: The sins of the very wicked are so great and harmful that our sole but complete Source of help is God.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we respond to the very wicked by trusting God to aid us.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and provide additional guidance . . .)

We can apply Psalm 36:1-12 to the very wicked parties of concern that we mentioned in our introduction:

(1) Since Psalm 36:1-2 claims that the wrongs by Barak Obama, FBI Director James Comey, Hillary Clinton, Hunter and senator and later President Joe Biden, the parties in the Department of Justice behind the Mar-a-Lago raid and people at the local level who afflict believers have risen because these very wicked parties have flattered themselves to where they are blind to their sins and have no fear of God’s punishment, so they unleash uninhibited, harmful, evil acts on others. Our sole but sufficient hope is to trust God to apply his infinite attributes in our behalf.

(2) Since Psalm 36:3-4 claims that very wicked people mentioned in our introduction use troublesome and treacherous words, they cease to be wise and do good, that even in their leisure they plot trouble, they are devoted to an unedifying path, and they do not reject what is evil and harmful, so we must trust God to deliver us from them.

(3) Since Psalm 36:7b claims that the upright are like vulnerable baby birds before the very wicked noted in our introduction, so instead of trying to combat them ourselves, we must trust God to deliver us from the very wicked.

(4) Since Psalm 36:7a, 8 claims that regardless of all the wrongs committed by the wrongdoers mentioned in our introduction that if we trust God to rescue us, we will feast on His provisions of deliverance.

(5) Since Psalm 36:9b NIV teaches that in spite of the harmful deception by the very wicked mentioned in our introduction, in God’s “light we see light.” His Word is a foot lamp for our feet that becomes a light for our entire pathway in life in a spiritually dark world as we follow His Word’s guidance one-step-at-a-time, Psalm 119:105.

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we then apply Psalm 36:1-12 to respond to the very wicked and enjoy God’s deliverance.