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No book has the power to encourage, motivate, challenge or uplift as does Psalms. As I read and study passages from Psalms each day, golden nuggets of truth and inspiration bless me deeply. The purpose of this blog is to have a means of sharing those insights with you...so you too can be blessed...and encouraged, motivated, challenged and lifted high!

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

An Oracle of the Wicked

Psalm 36:1-4

How is it possible that some people are so bad?  Some humans are absolutely wicked, and do such horribly bad things.  How does this happen?  Even more frightening, have you noticed that even regular people do bad from time to time?  Why do you think this happens?

The psalmist must have seen the same thing.  He must have seen bad people doing bad things and wondered how such was possible.  And as he was contemplating this part of human life, God answered his question by giving the psalmist an oracle – a vision that helped him understand.

1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no dread of God before his eyes, 2 for in his own eyes he flatters himself [too much] to discover and hate his sin. 3 The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive; he has stopped acting wisely and doing good. 4 Even on his bed he makes malicious plans.  He sets himself on a path that is not good and does not reject evil. (Psalm 36:1-4)

How can some be so wicked?  Simple: they have “no dread of God.”

The Bible instructs us over and over to fear God.  Used this way, fear means to have a healthy respect for God; to be in awe of Him; in reverence before Him.  One clear example is found in Deuteronomy 6:13a: “Fear the Lord your God, worship Him…”

Having an appropriate, healthy fear of God provides benefits for us.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a).  And, “His delight will be in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:3a).  Knowledge, delight…both of these and so much more are available to those who fear God as the Bible commands.

The wicked though, do not fear the Lord.  This lack of a “dread of God” is replaced by something sinister: pride.  The psalmist said it this way: “for in his own eyes he flatters himself…” (vs. 2a).  The wicked flatters himself so that he is unable to “discover” his own sin and evil ways.  He cannot search out, recognize and acknowledge his sin for he thinks too highly of himself to admit the possibility of sin being present in the first place.

Not being able to discover his sin, the wicked then does not “hate” his sin.  He thinks he has no sin present to hate.  Hating sin is an important second step.

The Bible is clear that God hates sin – all sin.  As His children we are to hate what He hates, so we are to hate sin.  When you don’t hate sin, four terrible results usually occur in one’s life.

1. You lie: “The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive” (v. 3a).  Without a healthy fear of God, and with the presence of pride, it is astounding how quickly a person slips into deception.  And not just little lies we produce, but malicious ones – that means harmful lies.

2. You act foolish: “…he has stopped acting wisely” (vs. 3b).  The opposite of acting wisely is, of course, acting foolishly.  To be wise, live wise and act wise, you must be willing to acknowledge, find and root-out all sin present in you.  To not do so, is to begin down the path of foolishness.

3. You are mean: “Even on his bed he makes malicious plans” (vs. 4a).  Your thoughts as you recline through the night – a time supposedly of peace and rest – concern how you can cheat, steal, best, destroy, or somehow harm an enemy, competitor, co-worker or even a friend.  Notice, these are not just plans for your own good, but plans intended to harm someone else.  That’s just mean.

4. You become self-destructive: “He sets himself on a path that is not good and does not reject evil” (vs. 4b).  Perhaps it started unintentionally, your journey into sin.  But now, you set yourself on this path; you purposefully walk this route, knowing what you are doing.  You even get to the point where you no longer reject evil, in yourself nor in others.  The Bible speaks about people who went down this path: sinning more and more, and encouraging others to join them.

A life of lies and foolishness, meanness and self-destructive behavior…sound like something you would enjoy?  For most of us, probably not the life we would choose.  And yet, if we do not have and exercise a healthy fear of the Lord, this is the life we will have.

We all start out the same.  What makes some become so wicked?  There is no dread of God before [their] eyes.”

How about you?  Do you have a healthy respect for God?  If so, you will be faithful and obedient to all He calls you to do.  You will search out and destroy sin in your life.  You will worship Him in reverence and awe. 

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