I Trust in Your Unfailing Love

If you have your Bibles with you, please open them up to Psalm chapter 52.

Psalms 52 · chapter mention

Psalm chapter 52.

Psalms 52 · chapter mention

It was about 3.30 last Tuesday when Jen and I were traveling home.

We were driving with the kids on the highway, Highway 9.

And when all of a sudden we saw, not too far ahead of us, some dark, black smoke billowing up into the air.

And as we got a little bit closer, we could see that it was coming from right on the highway.

There had been multiple vehicles that were in an accident, and some of them were on fire.

We had just passed through the hamlet of Chinook.

And as we got even closer, it was right in the middle of the road, and so we had to pull off onto one of the range roads.

And from there, we saw a little more of what was going on.

Semi-truck with some tanker trailers of some kind of flammable substance had caught fire.

There were people just in the ditch nearby that had fled their vehicles as the fire was beginning to spread.

One of the tankers, I noticed, had not yet caught fire or exploded.

And all of a sudden, the realization that this is dangerous for these people who are nearby kind of hit.

And I kind of went out into the field a little bit to see if I could help kind of get these people to come back

and to put some distance between them and what was happening there on the road.

And even in that moment, I felt unsure of what to do as some of these people didn't want to leave.

At least one of them knew that there was someone, a man, still in one of the vehicles, trapped, unable to get free.

I saw a woman lying lifeless on the ground and her family dragging her away from the fire as it spread.

And we watched in horror as one by one, the vehicles all around caught fire, exploding into flames.

And it was a horrific thing to witness.

Three people died that day.

Several were critically injured and others with less severe injuries.

But it hit home to me.

Just that these three people were gone.

Just snuffed right out in that moment.

And their families permanently altered.

That day and since that day, I've kind of gone through the full range of emotions

from just sadness and grief to frustration and anger at the driver who was responsible for this.

I've questioned in my own heart,

God, why did you allow this to happen?

Where are you in the midst of this?

I imagine it's not all that different from how David was feeling in the situation that he's in

as he writes this psalm, which we're going to read this morning.

If you look at the superscription,

it says,

On the surface level, there doesn't seem to be much to those words.

But these are the words which point back to a great tragedy that happened in the life of David.

As the story goes,

David was the young shepherd that God had anointed to be the next king of Israel.

Everything was going well for him.

He defeated Goliath.

He came into the service of the king in his palace.

He came to serve in the army of Israel.

He rose up in the ranks of the army

until he was in leadership.

He was best friends with the king's son.

The people loved David because of the success that God gave him in battle.

He even married into the royal family.

He was the king's son-in-law.

Everything was going well for David

until things began to fall apart.

God had told King Saul

that he was going to take the kingdom away from Saul

and give it to someone better than him

because he had disobeyed God

to his neighbor.

And so Saul was watching over his throne,

his rule,

with a jealous and suspicious eye.

And he came to see that David was the one

that God was moving in to replace him.

His suspicion and his jealousy

became pointed at David.

And it got to the place

where Saul,

in his obsession to maintain his power

and his kingdom,

attempted to take David's life

several times.

In the midst of all this,

David was trying to figure out what to do

and it got to the place

where he realized,

I just have to run.

I have to leave.

I can't stay here anymore.

It's not safe.

And so he fled for his life.

He left everything behind.

He left his wife.

He left his family.

He left his possessions

with nothing but the shirt on his back.

He hit the road and he ran.

The first stop was to Samuel,

the Lord's prophet in Ramah.

But it wasn't long before Saul realized

that he was there

and started to come after him there.

So after a meetup with Jonathan,

he then fled to the town of Nob.

Nob was a small town

where the tabernacle was set up,

where the priests served

in the ministry of the tabernacle.

And David went there to,

and he met up with a man named Ahimelech.

Ahimelech was a priest

who served at the tabernacle.

Out of desperation,

David lied to Ahimelech.

Ahimelech.

He told him that he was on a secret mission

from the king.

And he asked Ahimelech

to give him some provisions,

some bread.

He also asked him for a sword.

Of course, David knew

that the sword of Goliath was there.

That's where it was being kept.

And so Ahimelech helped David out that day.

He gave him some provisions.

He gave him the sword of Goliath.

But there was one problem.

There was a man there that day

named Doeg the Edomite.

He was a servant of Saul,

Saul's chief shepherd.

And he witnessed this exchange

between Ahimelech and David.

And so now,

as David has continued on the run,

he's gone into Philistine country,

he was captured there,

he escaped,

he's back in Israel.

And Saul's obsession

with taking him out

begins to rise again

when he gets word

that David is out

by the cave of Adullam.

On one day,

Saul has

what I'm going to call

a bit of a temper tantrum.

And he starts accusing

all of his servants

of conspiring against him,

of supporting David.

David.

And it's at that moment

that Doeg

sees an opportunity

and makes his move.

Actually,

your majesty,

King Saul,

not everyone

has conspired

against you.

I have been loyal to you.

In fact,

I have some information

that might be helpful to you.

I saw David

go to the house

of Ahimelech.

And Ahimelech

gave him provisions

and the sword of Goliath.

When Saul heard this report

from Doeg,

he summoned Ahimelech

and his family

from Nob.

He interrogated them.

Even though Ahimelech

pleaded innocent

and ignorant

to this situation

that was going on

between Saul

and David,

Saul decided

to order

to have Ahimelech

and his whole family

executed.

Saul's officials

were unwilling

to lay their hands

on the priests

of the Lord.

So Saul turns

to Doeg

and says,

you,

strike them down.

And that day,

Doeg did that.

He struck down

Ahimelech

and his whole family.

The record

in the scriptures

tells us

that 85 men

who served

at the tabernacle

were struck down

that day.

And then Doeg

went one step further.

He went to the town

of Nob

and he put

the entire town

to the sword.

Not just the men

but the women

and even the children

as well.

Only one person

escaped.

His name

was Abiathar.

He was the son

of Ahimelech

and he managed

to get away

and fled

to where David was.

He told David

what Saul

and Doeg

had done.

and David

said this to him.

That day

when Doeg

the Edomite

was there

I knew

he would be sure

to tell Saul.

I am responsible

for the death

of your whole family.

Stay with me.

Don't be afraid.

The man

who wants

to kill you

is trying

to kill me too.

You will be safe

with me.

It's at

or about

this time

that David

pens

the words

of Psalm 52.

Let me read it

for you.

Why do you

boast of evil

you mighty hero?

Why do you

boast all day long

you who are

a disgrace

in the eyes

of God?

You who

practice deceit.

Your tongue

plots destruction.

It's like

a sharpened

razor.

You love

evil

rather than

good.

Falsehood

rather than

speaking the truth.

you love

every harmful

word

you deceitful

tongue.

Surely

God will

bring you

down

to everlasting

ruin.

He will

snatch you

up

and pluck

you from

your tent.

He will

uproot you

from the

land of

the living.

The righteous

will see

and fear.

They will

laugh at you

saying

here now

is the man

who did

not make

God his

stronghold

but trusted

in his

great wealth

and grew

strong by

destroying

others.

But I

am like

an olive

tree

flourishing

in the

house of

God.

I trust

in God's

unfailing

love

forever

and ever.

For what

you have

done

I will

always

praise you

in the

presence

of your

faithful

people

and I

will

hope

in your

name

for your

name

is

good.

Now

these are

probably

not all

of the

things that

David had

to say

about

Doeg

and that

whole

situation.

It probably

doesn't represent

everything that

David has

felt about

this tragedy

that has

taken place.

if we

just go

back to

for a

moment to

his own

admission

where he

said I

am responsible

for the

death of

your whole

family.

We can

draw from

that that

David has

already been

through the

full range

of emotions

here.

He has

felt

sadness

and grief

at the

tragedy that

has occurred.

He has

felt guilt.

He has

blamed himself

for what

has happened.

He has

probably

felt anger

and frustration

towards

Doeg,

towards

Saul,

and yet

powerlessness

to do

anything about

this.

While here

he is out

in the edge

of the

desert hill

country in

a cave with

a few

guys,

he's

probably

felt fear.

if that's

what Saul

will do

to a

Himalek

for the

one day

I stopped

by and

asked for

some help,

what will

he do

to me

and to

others I

care about

if he

gets a

hold of

us,

if he

finds

us?

At some

point in

David's

wrestling

through all

of this,

he comes

to the

place where

he pens

Psalm 52.

this

psalm is

unlike

many of

David's

other

psalms.

His

other

psalms

often

begin

with him

addressing

God

or

addressing

the

person

that

he's

writing

to.

But

here

he begins

with a

question

addressed

to

his

enemy.

He

says,

why do

you boast

of evil,

you mighty

hero?

we're

kind of

left to

wonder

just who

he's

referring

to.

Is he

talking

about

Doeg?

Is he

talking

about

Saul?

Does

he leave

it

purposely

ambiguous

to include

both and

maybe any

others who

have banded

together

against him

or

participated

in this

slaughter?

Interesting

way to

begin a

song

with a

question

to your

enemy.

Why do

you boast

of evil,

you mighty

hero?

It's not a

question that

David's enemy

can answer.

Or is

David looking

for an

answer?

Perhaps

David is

making a

statement,

more of a

rhetorical

question.

Why do

you boast

of evil,

you mighty

hero?

In other

words,

you think

yourself a

hero,

you think

yourself a

mighty man

because of

your accomplishments,

because of the

things that you

have done,

which are

evil,

but you

shouldn't.

You're a

fool to

congratulate

yourself,

to be proud

of what you

have done,

because what

you have

done is

evil.

verse 2,

he goes on

to describe

the kinds

of things

that his

enemy has

done.

He says,

practicing

deceit,

plotting

destruction.

He says,

your values,

they're

completely

backwards to

what they

should be.

You love

evil rather

than good.

You love

falsehood rather

than speaking

the truth.

You love

every harmful

word,

words that

are hurtful

to others,

literally,

words that

devour

others.

You deceitful

tongue.

Again,

we probably

see that the

description here

fits both

Doeg and

Saul and

perhaps others.

Saul has

been the

source,

of the

lies that

have been

spread about

David,

of the

plans and

the plots

for David's

destruction.

But Doeg

also falls

under these

words as

well.

If anybody

has loved

evil,

it's him.

Not only

is he

willing to

earn favor

with the

king by

tattling on

David,

knowing that

it will

probably get

Ahimelech and

his family

into trouble,

but then he

goes so far

as to

execute the

king's

orders and

slaughter all

of these

innocent people.

You love

evil rather

than good.

You boast

of what your

hands have

done for you.

You think

yourself a

hero,

a champion,

God's

going to

pluck you

from your

tent.

He will

uproot you

from the

land of

the living.

You boast right now.

You think you've gotten away with this.

Nobody can touch you

because you're on the side of power.

But you're wrong.

God will see that justice is done.

God himself will make things right.

God himself will come and bring you down.

And when he does, it will be permanent.

It will be forever, everlasting,

something you will not rise up from.

David says he will snatch you up

and pluck you from your tent.

The picture there is of God's hand reaching in

and grabbing Doeg right out of his house,

his tent, the place that he lives.

He says he will uproot you

from the land of the living.

You may think that you're well-rooted now,

that you're secure in this position

that you have earned for yourself

through deceit and through evil.

But God will rip you out, roots and all,

right out of the land of the living.

And it'll be the end for you.

God will see that justice is done.

And he will make things right,

says David.

And when he does, verse 6,

the righteous will see and fear.

They will take notice of how God has dealt with Doeg

and how God has dealt with Saul.

And they will think to themselves twice

when they are considering doing what is wrong,

what is evil.

It will strike a reverence into their hearts.

Not only that,

they will move from fear, it says, to laughter.

The righteous will see in fear.

They will laugh at you, saying,

here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold,

but trusted in his great wealth

and grew strong by destroying others.

Now, if we look at other scriptures,

this is, I'm not sure exactly how to take this myself,

but probably not an endorsement

of how we should gloat over other people

when they face justice.

I don't think it means that kind of laughing.

But God's people will, in the end,

they will say to those who have lived

as Doeg and Saul did,

here now is the man

who did not make God his stronghold,

but trusted in his great wealth

and mighty strength.

The utter foolishness of what they have done

will be so apparent,

it will be so obvious,

it will be laughable.

You put all of your eggs in that basket,

and yet that's completely powerless

to save you from the good and right justice of God

when it comes.

From David's perspective,

he now kind of turns and shifts

from talking to his enemy

to now talking a little bit about himself.

From David's perspective,

in his situation,

Saul and Doeg are still in power.

these men who have mercilessly massacred

all these innocent people.

And yet David says this,

he says,

but I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God.

When I first read that,

I thought,

I don't really get that.

Olive tree is not really the most

relatable thing for me.

But the more I meditated on this,

the more I began to see

just how beautiful these words are.

Here David is,

on the outskirts of the desert hill country,

a fugitive,

hiding in caves,

fearing for his life.

Meanwhile,

these tyrants are running the show.

And he says,

but I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God.

I'm like a house plant,

like a tree that's

inside God's own house.

And I'm flourishing.

I'm green.

Because God himself

is watching over me,

is tending to me,

is caring for me.

David says,

I trust in God's unfailing love.

Forever and ever.

You want to know

what's carrying me

through the storms

of this situation?

Through the tragedy

that I've witnessed

and even been a part of?

God's unfailing love.

I'm trusting in that.

I'm leaning on that.

I'm depending on that.

And not just today,

but always.

Forever I will.

Because that's the kind of love

that he has for his people.

It's faithful love.

It's unfailing love.

Covenant love.

The love that makes promises

and keeps them.

One hundred percent.

He goes on in verse nine.

He says,

for what you have done,

I will always praise you

in the presence

of your faithful people.

He pledges not just

the worship of today,

but even the worship

of his tomorrow

to the Lord.

For what you have done,

I will always praise you.

The things that you have done,

Lord,

in the past,

the things you will yet do

in this situation,

I will look back on them

and I will praise you for them

because they are good.

They are right.

They always have been

and they always will be.

And so you have my worship,

Lord.

At the end of verse nine,

he says,

I will hope in your name

for your name is good.

The word hope there

literally means wait upon.

I will wait upon your name.

David's situation hasn't changed.

He's still skulking about

in the desert,

afraid for his life.

Doeg and Saul are still in power

at the helm of the ship in Israel.

What's David going to do about it?

I will wait upon your name.

I'm waiting for you, Lord,

to come and make things right,

to come and deal with these guys.

For your name is good

and you will,

you will do good

in this situation.

you will bring good from it.

Now this situation in David's life

might feel a little hard

for us to relate to.

None of us have been

in a situation like this.

But what does the Lord

have to say to us

through these words?

our situation may not be the same,

but some of us,

if we're honest,

are in a situation.

A situation that's not going

the way that we want it to.

A situation in which we maybe

have already gone through

the full range of emotions

or are going through them

right now.

A situation perhaps

in which we feel like

we're powerless

to do anything about it.

David encourages us

in the midst of these kinds

of situations

to turn our eyes to heaven,

to the Lord,

to Jesus,

to put our trust

in him,

in his unfailing love,

in his tender, loving care.

For those of us

who are in Christ,

we can say,

with David,

but I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God.

Even while we walk

through the desert,

even while we sleep

in the darkness

of the cave,

because God takes care

of his people.

And even though things

might not look good

in the situation

that we're in,

God will make things right.

He always does

for his people.

He always will.

If there's one thing

that we learn from David

in this psalm,

it's that we should look ahead.

Many times in this

short little psalm,

David uses the word will.

He will.

God will.

I will.

He encourages us

to look ahead

to the future.

The bigger picture.

as we look around,

see the world around us,

look at our government,

we look at all kinds

of things,

we look at what people

are doing,

we may see all kinds

of things that we

would say are evil,

are wrong.

We may see those people,

some people using

their position,

their power,

to bring about things

at the expense

of others.

But take heart,

God will make things right.

We may look at

the political landscape

and see how things

are changing there

and how some are

pushing for their agenda

and trying to bring

about things

that are really

going to be damaging

for some

or for others,

for many.

but take heart,

God will make

things right.

I want to end

this message

with the ultimate

restatement

of this

psalm

which comes

through the

Apostle Paul

in his letter

to the church

at Rome.

this is the confidence

that we can have,

those of us

who are in Christ

as we look ahead,

nothing

can separate us

from the unfailing

love of God.

Let me read it

for you

from Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

And we know

that in all things

God works for the good

of those who love him

who have been called

according to his purpose.

For those God

foreknew,

he also

predestined

to be conformed

to the image

of his son

that he might be

the firstborn

among many

brothers and sisters.

and those

he predestined

he also

called.

Those he called

he also

justified.

Those he justified

he also

glorified.

What then

shall we say

in response

to these things?

If God

is for

us,

who can be

against us?

He who did not

spare his own

son but gave

him up

for us all,

how will he not

also along

with him

graciously give

us all things?

Who will bring

any charge

against those

whom God

has chosen?

It is God

who justifies.

Who then

is the one

who condemns?

No one,

Christ Jesus

who died,

more than that,

who was raised

to life,

is at the

right hand

of God

and is also

interceding

for us.

And so

who shall

separate us

from the

love of Christ?

Shall

trouble

or

hardship

or

persecution

or

famine

or

nakedness

or

danger

or

sword

for

Ahimelech

and his

family?

No.

In all

these things

we are

more

than

conquerors

through

him who

loved us.

For I am

convinced that

neither

death

nor life,

neither

angels

nor

demons,

neither

the present

nor the future,

nor any

powers,

nor anything

else in all

creation

will be able

to separate

us from

the love

of God

that is in

Christ Jesus

our Lord.

And so

with whatever

situation

you find

yourself in

today,

this week,

let us

trust in

the unfailing

love of

the Lord.

Lord,

he will

make

things

right

as we

wait on

him.

Let's

pray.

Father,

you know

the darkness

and the

difficulty of

some of the

things that

we're going

through.

And while

we don't

see clearly

or understand

your purpose

why you

allow some

of these

things to

happen,

we choose

today to

trust in

your unfailing

love.

We choose

today to

say with

David,

I am like

an olive

tree,

flourishing in

your house.

You take

such good

care of

us.

And we

love you.

in Christ's

name we

pray.

Amen.

Will you

join with

me in

our final

hymn?

How

great is

our God?

Please

stand if

you're

able.