Psalm 53 | Summer of Psalms

Psalm 53. We continue our sermon series in the

summer of Psalms looking at a faithful, loving,

and kind of justice -filled God. A God who is

our justice. And friends, we just saw what I

deem a beautiful and sacred moment in the life

of Munster Church. The casting of lots for elders

and deacons. The connection I made in the beginning

of this message, in the beginning of the week,

was this process was not just a formality, but

a reminder that our leaders are called by God.

And our response is faithfulness and accountability.

The one thing in orientation that these five

will hear is that it's not about perfection,

but it's about pursuing holiness. And that pursuit

is so important in our life. That we all should

be pursuing holiness. But pastor, I can't be

holy. I'm a sinner. So why should I even try?

Friend, grow up. It's the call of God. Be holy

as I am holy. That should cut from the very top

of everything we should do in life. Holiness

has always been the call. And grace is by means

that we can be that way. That the world will

see the Jesus we live out. Not our holiness and

our self -righteousness, because that's only

going to lead to hypocrisy. It's because of the

grace that we have been saved through faith.

Not by our own works, a gift from God. And who

are we to take advantage of that gift? As we

move forward, we are reminded that leadership

in the church is not a matter of human wisdom

or preference, but a divine calling. Whether

it's teaching the kids in Lighthouse or during

coffee break or being on council at Munster Church.

A divine calling. A divine calling that is worth

the attempt to be holy and live it out faithfully.

Faithfulness is part of the call. However, as

we look today at Psalm 53, kind of as the last

couple of Psalms have been giant wah -wahs when

it comes to the hard things of life. It is a

stark contrast. A stark contrast for what we

just saw in the casting of thoughts. We live

in a world by nature that has rejected God's

authority and wisdom. The psalm opens up with

a powerful declaration of the foolish who reject

God and his truth. It calls us to reflect on

the reality of sin. How it affects not just individuals

but entire communities, churches. And the invitation

to return to the faithfulness before God. And

there's the key, friends. The invitation to return,

to take the 180 of what we call repentance and

turn before God. Today, as we examine this psalm,

we will see both the devastating consequences

of rejecting God and the hope of restoration

through faithfulness. This psalm is a challenge,

not only to the world around us, but to each

of us personally. as members of the body of Christ,

to live in repentance, integrity, and the accountability

in our community. So we're going to start. Psalm

53, the first three verses. I titled this section,

The Foolishness of Rejecting God. And there's

a lot of words I think I could use. A lot of

it, again, I'm looking at myself first. But the

Bible really calls it foolishness. And in the

Hebrew and even in the Greek, it means something

really drastically different. Because what do

we think of when we think of the word foolishness?

Go ahead, somebody, anybody. When we think of

foolishness, what do we think of? Hmm? I don't

know if we're allowed to say that in church.

Yeah, stupidness. Thank you, Nikki. Okay. Anybody

else? Naive, sure. Maybe immature. That's not

necessarily fair because maturity is something

that we grow in, but once we kind of hit some

levels of maturity, the foolishness is to go

back to being immature. How do I know? It's me.

But understand that. Anybody else? Foolishness.

What comes to mind? Silliness. Thank you, Ron.

Yes. Silliness. I don't know why you had to look

at your neighbor when you said that, but that's

awkward. Anyone else? Crazy. Sure. The craziness.

Because what's crazy? The craziness is that we

see the path forward, we see the good things

promised, and the grace to really walk it, and

we decide to do the opposite. A psalm that, and

I don't have it with me right now, but as a dog

returns to his vomit, so we return to our sin.

That is foolishness. Right? How many people,

it's going to be gross, but deal with it. The

Bible said it first. Right? How many people would

have a meal, regurgitate it, and then go, I'm

going to eat that again. Hey, the Bible said

it first. Right? Like, who would do that? Not

too many people would do that. And there are

people that will still try to justify that. But

the Bible calls that foolishness. The psalm now,

starting with verse 3, says this. The fool says

in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt,

doing abominable iniquity. There is none who

does good. God looks down from heaven on the

children of man to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God. They have fallen away. Together

they have become corrupt. There is none who does

good, not even one. What if we put that on our

sign on Ridge Road? How inviting would that look

like as a church, right? Nobody can do good in

front of God. Come and join us in worship at

930 on Sunday mornings. It would be a hard conversation.

Probably would get people's attention. Someone

may even take a bat to it, only proving the point.

But understand that this psalm begins with a

declaration of foolishness. For those who say

in their heart there is no God. This claim is

not merely intellectual, though it sounds like

it. It's moral. All right, I brought up the word,

so let's talk about it. The moral nature of the

believer. A moral, the moral believer lives moral

lives. Well, Pastor, moral sounds very earthly.

Absolutely it does. Yet, the entire world, right,

the entire world, in essence, abides by the Ten

Commandments. You can try to fight it culturally,

however, but those Ten Commandments, I'm not

talking about the rest of the Levitical Code

or the law, even though a lot of the world still

follows or looks to those. Those Ten Commandments

really kind of cut to the quick, doesn't it?

Like, I don't know too many cultures that as

a whole go, no, it's okay to murder. Do not murder.

No, we're going to murder. Do not commit adultery.

No, we're going to commit adultery. Do not lie.

No, we love lying, so we're going to continue

to do it. If you look at a world... that is going

to operate the opposite of the Ten Commandments.

The worlds that come to mind is Las Vegas, right?

Is Paris, is Tortuga, right? That's a make -believe

one from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Okay,

I'm a nerd, it's fine. But really, if you look

at it, it was Corinth at the time. And we're

going to get there in two years, I believe. Which,

I like that one, I may bring it sooner. But the

idea of Corinth, I mean, it was unbelievable

that there are people that, and here's the rub.

There are people that are going to stand up here

as a believer and say, I love the Lord. I love

Jesus. He is my Lord and Savior. But I'm going

to do the exact opposite of what God has told

me not to do. That's the foolishness of what?

The Garden of Eden. Isn't it? You can eat any

other thing except that one tree. I don't know

how many. So let's just say there are 12 trees.

There's probably more in Eden. I was not there.

Neither were you. But God said, this one you

cannot eat. And just that snake, right? Surely

you won't die. There's something there. And so

let's go a little further. Surely the Lord's

not going to hate you if you do this little sin

on the side, right? Surely, you know, you're

going to think these things about this person.

That's okay. You're not going to die. God's going

to ultimately forgive you. One of the greatest

tactics of Satan is for you to buy into cheap

grace. I've talked about that many times. You

want to really talk about it, go to Dietrich

Bonhoeffer. He talks about cheap grace all the

time. But the fool here is not someone simply

lacking knowledge, but someone who is actively

rejecting the truth of God's existence and rule.

This denial leads to a society that is morally

bankrupt, where corruption and evil spread unchecked.

The fool in rejecting God also rejects the moral

foundation that sustains human flourishing. Because

if you're going to go ahead and take all those

Ten Commandments and break them, the first thing

that happens outside of loss of life is the breaking

of trust. Right? You have that. You have that

with the people closest to you. You have that

in the organizations you work in, the churches

you're in. If all of a sudden all you did was

get lies, From leadership or whatever. What would

it look like if one of the things that, and she

doesn't do this, it's just a sermon illustration.

You know, I'm not going to put it in Lighthouse,

I'll put it in Catechism. Right? That what if

we just taught your kids to lie in Catechism?

And said that it was okay. There's one little

saying of Jesus that kind of creeps up in the

back of my mind that terrifies me. Anyone want

to guess what it is? With the illustration of

teaching in Catechism? This goes for anybody

that has ever been in a teaching role in the

Bible. I'm sorry, I'm not. I'm bringing it to

you via God's word. For Jesus says it's, nope,

better to tie a millstone around your neck and

just hang out? Nope. What do you do with it?

Jump off a cliff, right, doubles down than it

is to mess with the faith of a child. New elders,

how are you feeling? But we're going to work

on this together. We're going to walk this through

as faithfully as we can. Lord's Day 3 of the

Hyderabad Catechism reminds us that the fall

into sin has affected every aspect of humanity.

Sin is not simply what we do. It is something

that has corrupted us deeply. It affects our

hearts, our minds, and our wills. What Lord's

Day 3 reminds us is this sin leads to and can

continually to a rejection of Not just in thought,

but in action as well. In rejecting God's authority,

humanity lives as though it was autonomous. Oh,

and there are some of you that love that word.

I love to be my own self. I'm my own individual.

No one's going to tell me what to do. No one's

going to tie me down. No one's going to hold

me down. I think that's a song. You know, we

have that individualistic mentality. Or the believer.

You cannot live that way. You cannot live that

way. It is incompatible with the word of God.

How in the world can you be dependent on someone

when you want to be dependent on no one? Because

there's a recognition of the fact that you're

a sinner. So if you're a sinner, you need someone.

You need a savior. You're not it. I'm not it.

The person in front of you isn't it. The person

behind you isn't it. Those three new elders and

two new deacons aren't it. Jesus is it. Psalm

53 calls us to confront the foolishness of rejecting

God in our lives. While this denial is most often

apparent in the world, we must also reflect on

how we as the church may subtly reject God's

rule in our actions and in our attitudes. Real

quick, for lunch and a conversation with Pastor

Jim, what are the three marks of the true church

when it comes to the Belgic Confession? One of

the confessions we use to help us interpret our

scripture. Anyone understand or anyone want to

guess what those three are? Biblical preaching,

I'm going to say it's a true preaching of the

gospel. So I think you're kind of saying that.

We could just get apps. What? You can't just

say sacraments. That's not the answer. Someone

help Nikki with sacraments. The pure administration

of the sacraments. All right, so Roger's paying.

Good job. He helped you out. And what's the third

one? Super exciting. Church discipline. Well,

why do we use the marks of the true church? Because

as a believer, as a reformed believer, We can

look at the Heidelberg Catechism who's standing

on the word of God, right? Standing on the word

of God. Without the word of God, our confessions

mean nothing. But you should be able to walk

into a church and be able to find out real quick

whether they're a true church or not. Do they

have the pure preaching of the gospel? A pure

understanding and a pure use and administration

of the sacraments? And when things arise, do

they use church discipline? This isn't a disciplined

sermon. This isn't a sacrament sermon. This is

a gospel sermon, because all of them should be.

But that's all part of what it means to live

as a non -foolish believer. This rejection is

often not an outright denial of God, but a subtle

shift into what we prioritize in life. The fool

prioritizes self, my own desires, right? My own

preferences are wisdom above God's word. Friend,

you don't have wisdom above this. So stop trying.

If you're trying to live higher than God's word,

I don't think that's compatible, right? As we

see the election of elders and deacons, we're

reminded that leadership is rooted in God's truth.

The integrity of the church depends on recognizing

that our lives, our decisions, and our actions

must be accountable to him. That the church is

called to be a community of the faithful. A community

of those that are striving just cross -eyed,

right? Just searching after God in all things.

Are we going to get in each other's way? Absolutely.

Are we going to make a mess of it? Probably.

But if we're doing it that way, then the grace

of God is also there. to meet us on our left

and on our right. Because sin has an impact.

When there's sin, it separates. It hurts. It

can devastate. But if it's done, if discipline

and forgiveness and all of those things, the

sacraments, the gospel is done in the right way,

let's play this out quick. This is a rabbit trail,

right? What do we do when I remember the last

Sunday of every month? We try to do what in the

service? Prep Sunday. Stop answering all the

questions, Nikki. Give other people an opportunity.

Prep Sunday. Does anyone know what Prep Sunday

is? When we do communion, Prep Sunday is the

reading of the... Wow, I'm going to make some

notes. We've got to go over some of these things.

Prep Sunday is the reading of the Ten Commandments,

or sometimes I pick one or two to kind of talk

through. It is that time that we're preparing

our hearts to come to the table. It's why we

do it. We try as best we can to do it every last

Sunday of the month to prepare our hearts and

our minds. What that isn't is, oh, that's the

window of the month or the year that you get

to get all your sins forgiven so you can come

to the table, only to then start sinning afterwards.

That's not how that works. But Paul calls us

to look in the mirror, to be honest with where

we fall. So then we don't take communion unto

our damnation. More on that in probably another

sermon series. We do that because then we start

every month at the Lord's table where we receive

grace. A fool needs grace. How do I know? I've

lived 40 years like it. We need that grace. The

fool needs that grace. Because the community

of faith needs that grace. Because we need to

live out the example of forgiven sinners. Christianity

is the only world religion where to hold a membership

card, you have to be a sinner. Because guess

what? If you don't think you're a sinner, if

you think you're perfect and you're doing life

right, you don't need Munster Church. You really

don't need my words every week. You're good,

says the fool. And that's not to loft my words

up. That's any preaching. Because sin has an

impact. Verse 4 and 5. Sin has an impact. Have

those who work evil no knowledge? Who eat up

my people as they eat bread and do not call upon

God? There they are in great terror where there

is no terror. For God scatters the bones of him

who encamps against you. You put them to shame,

for God has rejected them. That's a hard thing

to read. Because some of you in your life, maybe

right now, you feel like God has rejected you.

But there's qualifiers to that, friend. God hasn't

rejected you because you've sinned this week.

God hasn't rejected you. God has made a way and

has called you to live a life of repentance.

But the best way that I can say it in 2025 to

church is you have people that just kind of look

at God as that grace, forgiveness ATM. That,

okay, I'll ask for it on Sunday. I'll be good

Monday. Maybe even Tuesday. But Wednesday? No

holds barred to sin. I'm going to dive into it.

I'm going to plan it. I'm going to enjoy it.

I'm going to worship it. It's going to become

a part of who? Who I am because I get to go through

the holy car wash on Sunday and just get dusted

up then for the rest of the week. You may think

you're clever. You may think you're sly. You're

not. You're a fool. That's not my words. That's

God's words. For he just said, for those that

continually do it, he's going to scatter their

bones. For they have rejected God. That's a hard

truth. But that's the impact of sin. For the

wages of sin is death. Why do we want that? Why

do we go, we think death's a better way, says

the fool. Sin does not only impact the individual,

but the entire community. Those who reject God's

rule are unable to see the harm they do not see,

the harm they cause to others. Their actions

perpetuate evil. leading to oppression and injustice.

This is why the psalmist laments the state of

the world. Friend, we could lament the state

of the world until Jesus comes back. The world

is a foolish place. My hope is one day the world

will turn to the people that say they're believers,

that are loving those who think they're unlovable,

seeing those who think they're invisible, clothing

the naked, feeding the hungry, whether physically

or spiritually. Baptizing. Matthew 25, Matthew

28. That's the church's mission. But the rejection

of God leads to widespread suffering and oppression.

Again, going back to Lord's Day 3, teaches us

that the fall has corrupted every human being,

leaving us in a state of total depravity. This

depravity manifests not only in individual actions,

but also in the systems and structures of society.

Ooh, you throw that one out, you're going to

get people attaching it left to right, right?

Elephant, donkey, all of those political things,

we'll attach to that all day with what we believe

is right. But if what you believe is right starts

with, because they're wrong, I... Stop. Friend,

you're a fool. You are looking to political systems

to give either justification for your life or

definition for your life. You don't need it if

you're a believer. Your life has already been

defined. But I don't like that, Pastor. I want

to define my own life. Okay, fool, go ahead.

As Munster Church, we're called to counteract

the effects of sin by living according to God's

word, seeking justice, building a community that

values the dignity of every person. In the light

of Psalm 53, let's commit to being a church that

reflects God's righteousness in our relationships,

One with another, the outside world, those that

come in for the very first time, or the 50th

first time, whatever it is. What does it look

like to live life as a repentant sinner who's

been given that new life? Because then that gives

us the greatest thing we have in this life. Hope.

For when we're stuck in sin, The fool longs for

hope like they long for water in the desert.

A hope for definition, a hope for life, a hope

for direction, a hope for restoration. Whether

it's in a marriage, in a family relationship,

in your job, in that annoying neighbor next to

you, right? You hope for a lot of things. And

if we're being honest, some of us, our hopes

are more sinful than they are salvatic, right?

Especially about that annoying neighbor. You've

probably thought some things, right? I know my

wife has. No, I have as well. But understand,

like we can trip into that. Does anyone have

a couch I can sleep on? Because I already feel,

like I'm feeling it right now. Yeah, so just,

yeah, please just anonymously put it under my

door. Understand that hope for the fool is the

only thing they can cling to. But it's never

going to be in reach. If you're living life for

yourself. If you're rejecting these words. Because

verse 6 talks about hope. Where verse 6 says

this. Oh, that salvation for Israel will come

out of Zion. When God restores the fortunes of

his people. Let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be

glad. Verse 6 presents a note of hope. I'm going

to end here. After the psalmist has detailed

the foolishness of the wicked and the devastation

that comes in rejecting God, he ends with a cry

for salvation. Oh, that the salvation for Israel

would come out of Zion. What does he mean by

that? He's longing for the restoration of God's

people historically, but for us, it's the hope

that only God can rescue us. From our folly.

You're not going to get it out yourself. To the

person who's been in that sin life, who's been

convicted and stops. What are you stopping? You're

stopping the foolishness. You're stopping the

destruction. You're stopping. And you're turning,

hopefully 180, not 360, because then you're back

here. Right? My math is good on that. Right,

Jeremiah? Thank you. 180. Actually, I'm going

to go here. 180 to the cross. Keep your eyes

on the cross, the author and perfecter of our

faith, as Hebrew says. Even the midst of the

darkest moments, when the wicked seem to prosper,

sin reigns, or you feel great in your sin. Because,

friends, sin doesn't always hurt, right? We love

it. But it will devastate in time. Everything

in the dark will be brought to the light. That

is the hope of the gospel. That though humanity

has rejected God, God has not abandoned us, but

promises to redeem and restore his people through

justice and love. One little word on that is,

you don't get to say what that restoration and

that hope looks like. You don't get to define

it, because the fool will define it in a foolish

way. The psalm concludes with a powerful reminder

that God ultimately will bring justice and salvation.

This salvation is not just a future hope, but

something that shapes how we live today. As we

reflect, maybe take time and reflect, how has

the Lord restored you? Looking back in your life,

how has the Lord restored you? He's probably

restored you in some amazing ways. Give testimony

to that. Hear yourself say it. Maybe then you'll

actually believe it. This life should lead us

to a life of repentance, gratitude, and accountability.

We are no longer slaves to sin, so stop acting

like one. Free to live in the truth and the justice

of God's kingdom. What does that mean for us

as a church? We'll get to the summer challenge

in a second. As a church, we are called to live

as a community that embodies the hope of restoration.

This means living out God's justice, working

toward reconciliation, and embodying the love

and grace that we have received. Just as God

has restored us, we're called to restore others.

Think about that for a minute. You are called

to restore others. Not out of your own personal

authority or power, because you don't have any.

We've laid that down. But our testimonies point

us to the cross. As we reflect on the restoration

that God promises, we are reminded. that our

salvation is secure in Christ. As a church, we

are called to live as a community that embodies

that hope. And Psalm 53 challenges us to recognize

the foolishness of rejecting God and to confront

the reality of sin in our lives. But it also

points us to the hope of salvation. So here's

our challenge for this week. This week, take

time to reflect on the ways that you may have

subtly rejected God's authority, or maybe not

so subtly, or fail to live in faithfulness to

his word, repent, commit to living out the light

of God's restoration, reflecting his love and

justice in all that you do. Because here's the

kicker, friend. You can't be about justice and

the ways of Christ and still do this stuff. We've

said it before, we'll say it again. First John

tells us, if your foot's in the light, And where

I'm at, there's light right here and there's

dark right here. What doesn't know you? The light.

Because what is that called? It's called hypocrisy.

How in the world can we teach that way? It doesn't

work. Restoration needs to take time, and we

need to reflect his love and justice in all that

we do. Let's pray.