The Bible Study Hour

Dr. James Boice: There are those among us who seem incorrigibly wicked and seem to love evil purely for evil's sake. The world would tell us that they were turned to their malevolent ways by outside events and influences, but God's word tells us that the propensity for evil lies within us all.

Dr. James Boice: Welcome to the Bible Study Hour, a radio and internet broadcast with Dr. James Boice, preparing you to think and act biblically.

Dr. James Boice: We are of the race of Adam and want to live for self. Like the truly wicked of this world, we have the penchant for violence and are ourselves an evil and crafty people. How do we deal with those who are truly evil, and how do we deal with the malevolence found in our own hearts?

Dr. James Boice: Listen as Dr. Boice studies Psalm 140 and discovers David's remedy for the evil that lies both within us and around us.

Dr. James Boice: I've been saying for a number of weeks now that these last psalms in the Psalter, beginning with Psalm 135, are chiefly about worship. That is, they tell us what worship is, and they tell us how to do it, how to do it acceptably.

Dr. James Boice: And yet, there are some psalms that don't seem to fit this category nicely, and the Psalm to which we come now, Psalm 140 is one of them. It's about people who are incorrigibly wicked, people who love evil for its own sake.

Dr. James Boice: And so, we ask, does a psalm that deals with evil people like this really belong with others that are written chiefly to praise God? Now, I want to suggest that it does, that we don't have a mistake at this point, but actually a wise ordering of the arrangement of the Psalms by the Holy Spirit who stands behind them.

Dr. James Boice: And I want to argue that for several reasons. For one thing, a psalm like this reminds us that even at the moment of our most transcendent and blessed worship, we nevertheless worship and praise God in a wicked world. We are constantly surrounded by people like this and by evil plans such as those that David describes.

Dr. James Boice: And then secondly, although this psalm does deal with evil and with evil persons, it nevertheless moves in the direction of worship and begins to talk about it at the end.

Dr. James Boice: Now, we ask the question, just in an introductory way, whether the psalm is actually about David. The general opinion of scholars is that David didn't write it, even though the ascription says he did. When I read it, it sounds to my mind very much like the kind of things David had written elsewhere.

Dr. James Boice: His psalms speak again and again of enemies, there's hardly a psalm of David that doesn't describe them, and David asked to be delivered from the enemies. All of the psalms of David exhibit a steadfast confidence in God, as this psalm does even the imagery is Davidic. You find it in the earlier undisputed psalms of the Psalter that are by David.

Dr. James Boice: So, I would say that instead of disputing David's authorship, it's better to think that perhaps there was a collection of psalms by David that was found somewhat later in the history of the compilation of the Book of Psalms and found its way here into the collection just before the final hymns that are entirely of praise.

Dr. James Boice: And there is a connection with some of these other psalms, let me just point it out briefly. In verses 19 through 22 of the previous psalm, Psalm 139, David asked God to slay the wicked. Now, in this psalm, he asks for the same thing in verses 9 through 11, so it follows up on it well. And he asks to be delivered from such evil men.

Dr. James Boice: Herbert Lockyer, one of the commentators, notices a certain development of thought from Psalm 138 on. In Psalm 138, David is setting forth God's promise as the anchor of his hope. In Psalm 139, he talks about God's omniscience as our consolation in danger and a motive for living a holy life. And then here in Psalm 140, he talks about the strength of God as the one who can deliver us from our enemies.

Dr. James Boice: So, with that kind of background, we want to look at it and see what David actually says.

Dr. James Boice: Now, the first two stanzas of this psalm, that is verses 1 to 3, which are the first stanza, and verses 4 and 5, which are the second, these first two stanzas are nearly perfect parallels. That's a characteristic of Hebrew verse, parallel writing, and what that means is that they say virtually the same thing, although they vary the language poetically.

Dr. James Boice: It's talking about those who love evil. It says that these people devise evil plans, they stir up war, they make plans to trip up the author's feet, they spread out the cords of their net and set traps along his path. Now, all of those things David has said about enemies before, but what seems to be unique about this particular psalm is that he's describing people who love evil for evil's sake.

Dr. James Boice: And that reminds me of a book that was on the New York Times bestseller list a number of years ago by a New England psychiatrist whose name is M. Scott Peck. It was called People of the Lie. Peck had written an earlier book before that that was also very popular, called The Road Less Traveled, but between the writing of his first book and the writing of his second book, he became a Christian. It's kind of an interesting sequence of writing and thought and experience.

Dr. James Boice: And in this second book, he begins to talk about what he had seen of what is real evil in his psychiatric practice. Now, he has a very distinguished background, and I suppose that's necessary to give some weight in many minds to what he actually has to say. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University in 1958. He had an MD in medicine from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1963.

Dr. James Boice: He served as assistant chief of psychiatry for the United States Army from 1963 to 72, and then since that time has been practicing privately in Connecticut.

Dr. James Boice: Now, it was his private practice that led him to say, by his experience, that some people really are evil. That is, having passed over that borderline from mere bad behavior to actually having given in to evil so that evil seems to dominate them and dominate their actions. And he wanted to highlight that in this book and then also call upon psychiatry to take the reality of evil far more seriously than it has so far.

Dr. James Boice: Now, he saw evil in a variety of ways, and he illustrates it by stories from his practice. Some of it was relatively harmless, except to the person involved. One woman who illustrated that is a woman Charlene. I want to tell you something about her later.

Dr. James Boice: It seemed as he worked with her, and he did that for a period of four years, that she merely wanted to toy with him. At one point, when she was talking about her lies, she says, "I lie because it's fun."

Dr. James Boice: In other cases, evil was terribly destructive, especially in things that were done by parents and were destroying their children. And there are a number of really very sad cases that he mentions in that. This experience eventually led him to participate in exorcisms, which he regards in a scientific manner and wants the psychiatric profession to take seriously.

Dr. James Boice: Now, the reason I tell this is that he defines this specific kind of evil as absolute autism, which means living for and thinking only of oneself. And then he illustrates it, I think well, by the case of this woman Charlene. At one point, he was trying to get her to express what she thought life was all about, and she had been toying with him back and forth, and he was pushing a little bit to see if he could break through that.

Dr. James Boice: And he said to her, "You were raised in the Christian church. Surely, you're not so dumb as to be unaware of what Christians say is the meaning of life, the purpose of human existence."

Dr. James Boice: And Charlene, goaded in that way, finally replied in a flat, low monotone, "We exist for the glory of God."

Dr. James Boice: "Well," Peck said. There was a reflective silence, and then the woman burst out, "I cannot do it. There's no room for me in that. That would be my death."

Dr. James Boice: Peck thought for a moment she was going to cry, then what had seemed to be her choked back sobs burst into a roar, "I don't want to live for God. I will not. I want to live for me, for my own sake."

Dr. James Boice: Now, after years of therapy and careful analysis, Peck concluded that what she wanted most of all was power. And power for its own sake, not power to make any difference in the world, not to improve society, care for a family, make herself a more effective person, or anything like that. He said her thirst for power was subordinated to anything higher than itself.

Dr. James Boice: And it was probably this case more than any other that led him to participate in the exorcisms.

Dr. James Boice: Now, I only give that to kind of bring this up to date and to say that I think David would have understood that perfectly well because that's what he was up against in his day. I find Peck's book, People of the Lie, to be perceptive and stimulating. But I find Psalm 140 to be even more perceptive and stimulating, especially when I remember that the Apostle Paul picks up a verse from the Psalm, puts it into the third chapter of Romans and says, "This is what the human race is like."

Dr. James Boice: You and I, going our own way apart from God, are like Charlene. We want to live for ourselves, and if we're going to be delivered from it, it's going to be by the grace of God. Look, here's the way Paul describes the human race. "There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit, the poison of vipers is on their lips." That's the verse that comes from our psalm.

Dr. James Boice: "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Every one of those statements is a quotation from the Old Testament, mostly from the Psalms.

Dr. James Boice: When Charles Haddon Spurgeon was writing about this psalm, he said, "David's enemies were as violent as they were evil, as crafty as they were violent, and as persistent as they were crafty." That's true, but if Paul's use of the psalm is accurate, then this must also be said about us. We too are violent and evil and crafty, either actually or potentially.

Dr. James Boice: And if that's the case, then David's prayer for deliverance from those who love evil for its own sake must also be a prayer for God to deliver us from ourselves. In other words, we too need a savior, and the only one who can save us from ourselves is God.

Dr. James Boice: Now, this means that we don't also need deliverance from evil people, we do. That's what David is praying for, but we're not going to pray self-righteously. We're going to recognize that God has been gracious to us and we need his grace in deliverance as well.

Dr. James Boice: Now, the question we ask here is, what do we do when we're surrounded by people of the lie? What should be our response when we're confronted with those who seem to love evil for evil's sake or even those who are just practicing evil at our expense? We have lots of examples of that. Many people have it in their work all the time. Somebody in the office is utterly corrupt, lying, cheating on everything and always blaming someone else, often the Christian.

Dr. James Boice: Some people have it from their families, families treat them that way. People experience it from neighbors. Some live in neighborhoods where evil is rampant. What do you do in a situation like that? David experienced it because he was the king and everybody was out to get him. I would hate to be a politician. Everybody's out to get you. They were out to get David. So what do you do when you live in a situation like that? Well, I think you have to do what David did.

Dr. James Boice: And what David did was turn to God as the only one who could deliver him from himself and from others. Place his needs before him, ask for help, and then praise him for the deliverance that he gives.

Dr. James Boice: Now, I mentioned Charles Spurgeon. He had a sermon on the second half of this psalm, beginning with verse 6, in which he traces a rising note of confidence on David's part as he lays this problem before God. His sermon had five points based on five important things David says, and then in characteristic Spurgeon fashion, he develops this brilliant outline, and here's the way it goes.

Dr. James Boice: First, he picked up on verse 6. David said, "You are my God," and Spurgeon called this a possession asserted. Then David says, "Hear, O Lord, my cry for mercy," and Spurgeon called this a petition presented.

Dr. James Boice: And then thirdly, David says, "O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle," that's in verse 7. Spurgeon called this a preservation experienced. And then fourthly, verse 12, "I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." Spurgeon called this a protection expected.

Dr. James Boice: And then finally, verse 13, "Surely, the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you." He called this praise predicted. Now, I've never been able to develop neat little outlines like that, but I recognize a good one when I see it.

Dr. James Boice: And what I'd like to do is just follow that progression, not in those words necessarily, but just follow it because certainly that is what is happening with David as he lays these requests before God. Look at this first thing, possession, "You are my God." This is the ground for his appeal. That he has a special relationship to God. God is his God. This one true God, this Jehovah is his hope.

Dr. James Boice: Now, those are simple words, aren't they? All of one syllable, "You are my God," but we shouldn't take them for granted. Because in a certain sense, nothing is more amazing in all the world than that God should be ours. It's not amazing that we should be his. Everything in the world is his. He made it. God owns everything. He controls everything. He's in charge of everything. The cattle on the thousand hills are his, but the amazing thing is that God should be ours.

Dr. James Boice: We wouldn't be able to claim that. It would be a bold, audacious, and indeed almost a blasphemous thing to do unless it were for the fact that God himself has authorized us to do it. And that is what he's done. You find it there in the Old Testament, as early as the Book of Genesis. Genesis 17:8, God says to Abraham, "I will be their God," speaking of Abraham and his descendants.

Dr. James Boice: Or in Exodus 6 verse 7, "I will be your God," God said to Moses on the brink of the Exodus from Egypt. Or afterwards in the 20th chapter, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." The words, "I am the Lord your God," occur 22 times in Leviticus, and again and again throughout the Old Testament. And in the New Testament, we've seen that reading from John 20 verse 28 where Thomas falls at the feet of Jesus and says, "My Lord and my God."

Dr. James Boice: Now, let me make it personal by asking the question this way: Is Jehovah, the God of the Bible, the great God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, your God? Has he become your God through faith in Jesus Christ, and can you say, "You are my God" to God as David does?

Dr. James Boice: It's one thing to say it to the minister. People who go to church would say that all the time, "Oh, yes, our God is God." It's even possible to say it to your friends, "I'm a Christian, yes, I believe in God." But it's quite another thing to say it to God.

Dr. James Boice: So, as you question your heart and look into your own spiritual experience, I ask the question, can you say it to God? That's the acid test of your profession. God will know whether it's a true confession or not. Remember that in the preceding psalm, Psalm 139, he's talking about the omniscience of God and he says, "God knows me, he knows me inside out from top to bottom. I can't get away from that searching eye of God." God knows you.

Dr. James Boice: And so, if you say to God, "You are my God," he's a God who knows whether that's true or not. You cannot fool him. And so, I encourage you to find out whether God is your really God and find him if he's not, through Jesus Christ. Because there's a wonderful peace and joy that follows from it.

Dr. James Boice: Now, the second thing is his petition in verse 6, "Hear, O Lord, my cry for mercy." You see, whenever we turn our thoughts to God and really do it, not just verbally or formally, as people sometimes do in church, but actually do it, thinking about God and who God is, the thing that we are always impressed with is his holiness. You find that throughout the Bible. Whenever one of the Bible characters has a vision of God, what strikes them about God is the holiness of God.

Dr. James Boice: And at the same time, the sin of the one who becomes conscious of it. God's holiness exposes sin. And so, if that happens, your next request should be this petition. You should come to God for mercy. At best, we're unworthy servants, and the only way we can ever come to God is on the basis of his mercy, which he has made known to us in Jesus Christ.

Dr. James Boice: You see, the difference between David and his enemies is not that David was holy and they were not, but that David was aware of his sin, and because he was aware of it, had come to God for mercy, and had found it.

Dr. James Boice: There's a great New Testament example of that. It's Christ's parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee was highly regarded, and so when he was asked to pray, he prayed in a way consistent with his own estimation of himself. He said, "I thank you, Lord, that I'm not like other men. I tithe of my possessions. I'm not guilty of any particularly gross sin, and above all, I'm not like this tax collector over here." Who was a man of low reputation.

Dr. James Boice: And the tax collector standing over on the side didn't boast of his attainments, he had none, but he prayed simply, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And the climax of the story comes when Jesus says that it's that man, the tax collector, who went home justified before God, rather than the man who prayed about his attainments.

Dr. James Boice: You see what he's saying? The difference between the tax collector and the Pharisee was not that the Pharisee was holy and the tax collector was a sinner. Both of them were sinners. The difference was that the tax collector knew it, and so he came to God on the basis of his mercy as David does.

Dr. James Boice: And so, the second question I ask is this: Are you willing to come to God on the basis of his mercy, made known to you in Jesus Christ? That's what it is to be a Christian. Christians are not better people than other people. We don't come saying, "Oh, look how good we are." We're not good at all.

Dr. James Boice: Remember Becky Pippert saying on one occasion, "The problem with Christians is that they've forgotten that they're sinners." But you see, there's a difference, sinners, yes, but sinners saved by the grace of God, by the mercy that he's made known to us in Jesus Christ, who died for our sin, taking our sin upon himself, paying the penalty of our sin. And so, David anticipating that in verse 6, says, "Hear my cry for mercy."

Dr. James Boice: The third thing we have here is this statement of preservation. "O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle." The next verses elaborate this point because having reminded himself that God has been merciful to him in the past and has helped him in the past, he then begins to talk about the present and asks for deliverance against those people who are practicing evil even then.

Dr. James Boice: So what does he ask for? Well, he asked God to confound his enemies. Those who have been setting traps for him in verse 5. He says, "Don't let their traps succeed," verse 8. These are people who have been troubling others with their belligerent designs. In verse 2, he says, "Therefore, let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused."

Dr. James Boice: They've been trying to destroy others, verse 1. "Therefore, let burning coals fall upon them. May they be thrown into the fire and into mirey pits never to rise," verse 10. They've been wounding the citizens of Israel, the faithful ones by their slanders, verse 3. "Therefore, let slanders not be established in the land," verse 11. Very appropriate prayers, you see.

Dr. James Boice: May those who are intent on destroying others themselves be destroyed, and may God, the God of mercy and justice, save those who have come to him for it.

Dr. James Boice: Well, here's the fourth thing, protection, verse 12, "The Lord secures justice to the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." You see how his confidence has been growing throughout the psalm? He's been laying his request before God. He's been remembering God's help in the past. He has prayed for God's deliverance in the present.

Dr. James Boice: Now, he talks about protection for the poor and the needy, and he reminds himself that that's exactly what God does. God has done it in the past, he will do it in the future too. The judge of all the earth will do right. And those who practice evil will get what they deserve.

Dr. James Boice: And then, having come through all of that, in the very last verse, he begins to burst out into praise, saying, "Surely, the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you." And that verse is the climax of the psalm. He has looked at those who have been practicing evil. He's identified with their evil, recognizing it in himself. He's looked to God, praying for his mercy. He's remembered God's deliverance. He has prayed for it in the future, and now he's not only praising God, but he's asserting with real confidence that the righteous will do that in the days to come.

Dr. James Boice: And so this great psalm that begins with a discussion of evil and evil people ends in praise. And so it should, that's the way everything is going to end. This is a very evil world. But one day, the righteous are going to stand before God in heaven and they're going to praise him, the great God of the Bible, and for the mercy that they have found in the Lamb. This is man's chief end. What is it? Chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And so we will. Are you among those who will do it? This psalm invites you to make sure.

Dr. James Boice: Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for what you have taught us through this great psalm. Of that great poet of Israel, even that great King David. And we pray that you will so use it in our hearts, that we may find Christ if we do not know him, and that we may find confidence where we have lacked it, confidence in yourself. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Dr. James Boice: Thank you for listening to this message from the Bible Study Hour, a listener-supported ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. The Alliance is a coalition of pastors, scholars, and churchmen who hold to the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith, and who proclaim biblical doctrine in order to foster a reformed awakening in today's church.

Dr. James Boice: To learn more about the Alliance, visit Alliancenet.org, and while you're there, visit our online store, Reformed Resources, where you can find messages and books from Dr. Boice and other outstanding teachers and theologians. Or ask for a free Reformed Resources catalog, by calling 1-800-488-1888.

Dr. James Boice: Please take the time to write to us and share how the Bible Study Hour has impacted you. We'd love to hear from you and pray for you. Our address is 600 Eden Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601.

Dr. James Boice: Please consider giving financially to help keep the Bible Study Hour impacting people for decades to come. You can do so at our website, Alliancenet.org. Over the phone at 1-800-488-1888. Or send a check to 600 Eden Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601. For Canadian gifts, mail those to PO Box 24097, RPO Josephine, North Bay, Ontario P1B 0C7.

Dr. James Boice: Thanks for your continued prayer and support and for listening to the Bible Study Hour, preparing you to think and act biblically.