I don't believe I've ever read
a hymn written by Joseph Hart that doesn't get to those subjects. And I think he's probably one
of the more underrated hymn writers. And we know the glory goes only
to the Lord, because Joseph Hart's no different than any other man,
except that the Lord gave him that gift. And in mentioning
him, do so to mention the glory of God in raising up men with
such gifts. I thought as I read this hymn
in verse three and four, it says, stand still, says one, that's
easy, sure it is what I always do. Deluded soul, be not secure,
this is not meant for you. Not driven by fear, nor drawn
by love, nor yet by duty led. Lie still, you do, and never
move. For who can move that's dead? And you know, I think if anything
describes the state of religion today, and that which
calls itself Christianity, that kind of sums it up in my estimation. There is a lot of activity and
a lot of this, that and the other that men do, but apart from the
life-giving power of the Spirit of God to awaken men to the state
that they are in by nature, And the salvation that's in Christ,
all that men do is just an empty thing. And there are those that
they consider that they are serving God simply by going through the
motions of serving God. And they can't know any different. They can't do any different.
And they just keep going that way. I mean, you know, you don't
have to go by the graveyard and tell those people
not to move, because they're not going anywhere. And so I
think that's kind of what Hart was getting at there. Alright, we're going to be looking
here at Psalm 58. Psalm 58. to the chief musician, Altasheth
Mitham of David. Of course, that word Altasheth
means destroy not, as we pointed out last week. And in these three
Psalms here in a row, 57, 58, and 59, that word appears in
the title. And each one of these hymns speaks
about the destruction of the Lord upon the wicked. And so, men, by nature, we can't
take any delight in the destruction of the wicked. It's not our place
to do so. You know, men, sometimes when
they're going to have an execution at the prison, course you always got those who
go out and protest against the execution and then you got some
on the other side that's over there you know thankful that
this is going to happen well I don't think God's people ought
to be in either group I mean it's a it is written in the word
of God that if a man takes another man's life that his life is to
be taken from him We didn't make that rule, and we can't overturn
it. And because we don't like it,
we can't change it. At the same time, every time
that someone is put to death for some crime that they have
committed, which they are worthy of death for, it should cause
us great sadness and sorrow in our heart as we consider but
for the grace of God, we'd be in the exact same place that
they are. And so we can't take any delight in the destruction
of the wicked. Now what we can do is delight
in the justice of God. And we should delight in the
justice of God, not because we feel any vindication by God destroying
the wicked, but that because the Lord said He would destroy
the wicked even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight,
is to be our consideration. So, David writing this psalm,
this is another one of those mikthams, which means, the word
means an engraving. Do ye indeed speak righteousness,
O congregation? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons
of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness,
ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. The wicked
are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison
of a serpent, they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her
ear. which will not hearken to the
voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. Break their teeth,
O God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of
the young lions, O Lord. Let them melt away as the waters
which run continually, when he bendeth his bow to shoot his
arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. As a snail which melteth,
let every one of them pass away, like the untimely birth of a
woman that they may not see the sun. Before your pots can feel
the thorns, ye shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both
living and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when
he seeth the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the
blood of the wicked, so that a man shall say, Verily, there
is a reward for the righteous. Verily, he is a God that judgeth
in the earth." Now, as we say with all of these Psalms,
I believe these are the prayers of Christ. and as he alone is
that one who upholding the justice of God and loving the way of
God purely and without error could and did set forth his delight
in the vengeance of God. Now This is a difficult thing
for us to understand how the Lord Jesus Christ is full of
mercy to them that call upon His name, but has no pity on
those that despise His way. Now that doesn't fit in with
the modern concept because men when they view Christ they generally
only see Him as a man who went about doing good. A man who with
tender heart helped those that were weak and
those that were taken in sin and He showed mercy to many. that the righteous men of the
day did would not show mercy to. So, you know, there's that
perfect man who having compassion on his fellow man did go about
doing good. But then at the same time, he
came to do his father's will. And he said, I thank thee, O
father, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them unto babes. The Lord thanked His Father that
He had blinded some men to the truth. Now, there is not a man
that has ever been blinded to the truth that would have embraced
the truth had he not been blinded to it, because men by nature
will not seek God. And that's where the misunderstanding
of men comes in is they think, you know, that we would accuse
God of unrighteousness. In the first place, it's impossible
for a man to accuse God of anything. You know, for you to accuse God
of something, you've got to first be in a position of strength.
and power to bring the accusation. You don't have any stand. It's
like David Knesset said, they can't even say unto thee, what
doest thou? I mean, what can a man say unto
God? Not a thing in the world. You
don't have any basis which the question is doing. I mean, he
has done according to the good pleasure of his will. And so
men don't have any place. So we can't bring an accusation
against God from that standpoint because we don't have any basis
upon which to do so. But we can't bring any accusation
against Him because everything that He does is just and right. And there's not a man on the
face of the earth that has any innate merit within himself in
order to cause himself to be favored by God. That's what David says here in
this psalm. And he's speaking here to the
congregation. He's not talking to the profligate
men of the world out here. He's talking to the congregation,
to the people of God, to the nation of Israel. Do ye indeed
speak righteousness? You know, sometimes men get to
thinking because they're church folks and their religious folks
and whatever. Well, we're going along. I mean,
what we're doing is right and good and everything is fine. Comparatively speaking, you know,
among men that might be true, but see, that's not the thing.
We're not interested in righteousness which is compared to other men.
That doesn't make any difference. See, there's only one righteousness
that's acceptable in the courts of heaven, and it's been demonstrated
by that One who is our righteousness. And so He says, Do ye indeed
speak righteousness? I mean, is this not what He came
telling the pharisees who were the most righteous men of their
day i mean he said you know the pharisees don't are not going
to enter the kingdom of heaven and the people said wow if they
don't make it who's going to make it they're not going to,
if they're not making it I surely don't have a chance and on the
basis of natural righteousness no man has a chance People talk about a chance to
be saved. There is no such thing as a chance
to be saved. Salvation is not by chance. Salvation
is according to the purpose of God. It does not occur by chance. So God does not give people a
chance to be saved and see what they will do with it. Because
if he did, I'll tell you what you'd do with it. You'd just
keep on going the way you're going. But God, in mercy, according
to His purpose, He snatches His people as brands from the burning
and causes them to believe. Do ye indeed speak righteousness,
O congregation? Do ye judge uprightly? Oh, how
often are we filled with righteous indignation at some wrong or
something that somebody does or does to us usually, and we
think, oh, buddy, you know, that's just, they're just wicked. I
mean, that's just terrible. Well, do you judge rightly? Do
you judge uprightly? I mean, is that, are you, is
that the thing that's come into your mind, or is it just because
you've been harmed in some way? Do you judge uprightly, O ye
sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness. Now, men don't like to hear that,
do they? I mean, you're not going to win friends and influence
people by telling folks that, because that's negative. Don't
go around telling people that they're wicked. Why? You know,
even if it's true, you shouldn't go around telling it. Well, the
Bible says it over and over again. I mean, and of course, even if
it didn't, When the Spirit of God comes into a man's heart,
He teaches him that pretty quick. That He is. And of course, the
further He goes, people, a lot of times, young believers, they
think that the further a man goes, the more righteous he becomes. But actually, what happens is,
the more that the Lord teaches us, the more wicked we become
because we see what we really are by nature. We're not getting
better. We just, the further we go, the
more that the mercy of God appears to us to be so great because
of the fact that we know that there is no good dwelling within
us. In heart you work wickedness,
not just in outward things, but in your heart. The heart is deceitful
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Ye weigh the
violence of your hands in the earth. That is, you know, you think
about what you can do to get even with somebody. You know,
you weigh it up. You ever planned out something,
I'll get back at them, you know, I'll show them. You've never
done that, have you? I mean, you probably did that
this week. Because it rises up in us so
quick. We don't have time. See, it's
not like you sit and write this out and plan it out weeks in
advance. It just happens just like that.
Does it not? I mean, that's just the way it
is. That's what he's saying here.
You weigh out violence of your hands in the earth. Then he says
something that really gets to people. Some people don't believe
this is true. They look at a baby and they
say, oh, you know, that's just a pure little old angel sitting
there. And compared to other people,
compared to people, that's the most innocent that that person
will ever be. But what does the scripture say?
The wicked are estranged from the womb. Now I think he's specifically
speaking about those who are the wicked in the sense that
they are those who are not the elect of God. They are estranged
from the womb. That is, from the moment they're
born, they're what they are. Now, you're what you were. When you were born, you're what
you were. Now by the grace of God, according to His mercy,
He shows mercy unto His people. But the wicked, they're estranged
from the womb. And then He says, but this is
also descriptive of all men by nature. He says, they go astray
as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Soon as they're born. You know, babies, sometimes you'd
think a baby, they were something just, they was dying. I mean,
they're just crying and carrying on, whatever. And all they're
wanting to do is just get you to pick them up. There's nothing
wrong with that. That's just the human nature.
And that's just part of the way God designed us to be. But see, babies learn pretty
quick, don't they, how to, work that deal. I mean, they know
how to work it out, you know. Kids, some of them are a lot
smarter than others, but all kids learn to work the system
pretty quick. How'd they do that? Because the
wicked go astray as soon as they're born, speaking lies. Now, again,
that isn't a real popular message. And it's hard to, you better,
when you say it, you better say it with a smile on your face
because it won't be received very well by many. It says, their
poison is like the poison of a serpent. Isn't that what the
Lord said to the Pharisees? He said, you're a bunch of snakes.
He said, you're a bunch of vipers. They're like the deaf adder that
stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely. Now, I read a little bit this
week about snake charmers. And because when I had read this,
I thought about what he was saying here and what he's speaking about
over in India especially. And this is actually a craft.
that often is handed down from generation to generation. These
guys, they do this, of course, to get money. They do it, it's
like they put on this show, you know, where they've got these
snakes, mostly cobras, in these baskets. And they'll sit there
and they'll play this little old flute deal. And then pretty
soon they'll knock the top off of this basket. And of course
that old snake, he comes up and as they sway back and forth,
the old snake, he'll, you know, do that. Now some people have
said that the snake actually is not hearing the sound of the
flute, but he's just kind of hypnotized by the movement of
the snake charmer. I don't know, you know, about
all of that, but the illustration that he's using here, that David's
using, is that at least in the common understanding of men concerning
snake charmers, that they feel like the snake is listening to
what the snake charmer is saying. Well, he said men are like a
deaf adder. He said, they're like the adder
that can't hear. And so when the charmer does
his thing and he's charming, they don't even listen. They
don't hear. They stop their ears. He says,
you will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so
wisely. When the gospel is preached,
men won't hear it. Sometimes we say, you know, I
wonder why people don't listen. Well, our real question should
be, I wonder why they do? Because it shouldn't amaze us
that people won't hear the Word of God. It shouldn't amaze us
that people don't want to hear the Word of God. It shouldn't
amaze us that people want to go contrary to the way of God.
What should be amazing to us is that anybody would hear it.
Because there's only one way that a man will ever hear the
Word of God, and that is if God opens his ears to hear it, and
gives him a mind and a heart to receive it. See, what happened
on the Day of Pentecost? Now, if you ask most people what
was the great miracle on the Day of Pentecost, they'll say
that men spoke in tongues, in other tongues. But if you read
what the Scripture says, the miracle that took place was that
men heard the Word of God in their own language. You see,
that's the miracle. Now, I mean, it was a glorious
thing that all those languages were spoken there. But what's
the glorious thing is that God called men to hear. Now, everybody
didn't hear. But some did, and they said,
men and brethren, what shall we do? And I don't know how many
was there, but out of the ones that was there, 3,000 was added
to the church. 3,000 heard. I don't know how
many was there. There's probably way more than
3,000. They didn't all hear. But the thing is, none of them
could hear, except that the Lord was pleased to open their ears.
Because we are by nature like that deaf adder that we don't
listen. We're not swayed or moved by
the Word of God. Break their teeth, O God, in
their mouth. Break out the great teeth of
the young lions, O Lord. Let them melt away as waters
which run continually. when he bendeth his bow to shoot
his arrows, let them be cut as cut in pieces. Now this is the passing of judgment here. And this whole next part of this
psalm is about the destruction which the Lord will definitely
bring upon the wicked. according to His good pleasure.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth. That is, those that
would attack the people of God, let their mouths be broken, let
their teeth be broken. Remember the Scripture says Satan
goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And
he does devour many, but he can't devour all, because the Lord
sets a hedge about his people. And Satan may roar. You remember
in one of my favorite parts of the book Pilgrim's Progress is whenever,
I think it was when they were at the interpreter's house and
they saw this man coming up to the gate and there were these
lines. and they were snarling and some
people would go up there and they would shrink back and wouldn't
go any further. But some would go up and they
would go on through. You see, when they got up there
and they saw that the lines were chained and they could only go
so far and they couldn't destroy those that would seek the Lord.
And so it is, dear brethren, that the Lord will indeed break
the teeth of the great lions and he will destroy them let
them melt away as waters which run continually when he bendeth
his bow to shoot his arrows let them be as cut in pieces the
Lord will shoot his arrows at the wicked he will destroy them
and they will be cut in pieces according to the good pleasure
of his will as a snail which melteth let every one of them
pass away you ever seen a A snail, or the place where a snail goes
across something shiny or a piece of glass or something, you can
see right where he went. Now a snail, and I think probably
more specifically what he's talking about is a slug. Because in the
mornings when it's doing in certain places where you have slugs,
you'll see the slugs, they'll start out like across the sidewalk
or something. But most times, or a lot of times,
they won't make it. because the sun will dry them
out before they ever are able to get to the other side. And
that's what this is talking about, is the snail melteth away. That
is, he just, that's it. He goes so far and as far as
he can go, and that is the way of the wicked before the Lord.
Let them, every one of them, pass away like the untimely birth
of a woman that they might not see the sun. And that is indeed a sad thing.
the untimely birth of a woman, that they might not see the Son.
That is what the way of the Lord says upon the wicked. That's
likening that to that such a sad state of affairs. Before your pots can feel the
thorns, He shall take them away. Speaking about the wicked again,
before your pots can feel the thorns. Now that's an interesting
term there, and I think what it has reference to, because
it was very common in those days, they would use thorny bushes
for fuel to heat water to cook with and whatnot because it wasn't
useful for anything else. In fact, there are several scriptures
that speak about the burning of thorns and whatnot. But I
think what it means here is before the pot can ever get hot that
you cut them off, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind.
That is, He takes the wicked away in their strength. before
they're ever heard or tried or whatever. It is the purpose of
God to destroy them as with a whirlwind, both living and in His wrath. Now, what is the final state
of the wicked? I believe it's a state of destruction,
that He takes them away. They pass away like a snail. The righteous shall rejoice when
he seeth the vengeance, when he shall wash his feet in the
blood of the wicked. Now that can only be speaking
about one man that's ever walked upon the earth. And he did, I've
read this passage to you before, but I think this is exactly what
it's speaking of. In Isaiah chapter 63, It says, Who is this that cometh
from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Now who's that
speaking of? Speaking of Christ. Speaking
of the Redeemer. He's coming with dyed garments
from Basra. I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winepress,
or wine fat as it says here. He says, I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me. There was none
that stood with him. He did this exactly and completely
by Himself. For I will tread them in mine
anger, and trample them in my fury. Now who is He speaking
of here? He is not speaking of those whom
He came to save, but He is speaking of those whom He came to judge. I will tread them in my anger
and trample them in my fury. Is that not what he said about
the stone? He said the stone which the builders rejected has
become the headstone of the corner. He said the man that casteth
himself upon this stone shall be broken, but he said he upon
whom this stone shall fall shall be ground to powder. He'll be
destroyed. I will tread them in my anger,
trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment, for the
day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeeming
is come." So there's those two things that Jesus Christ came
into the world to do. One is to redeem that people
which were given to Him from before the foundation of the
world, whom He loves with an everlasting love, and to the
absolute destruction of those who were outside of His grace. Now, that message right there
will never be exactly palatable to men. It ought to be the other
way around, actually. You know, what men get mad about,
they ought not to get mad about. They ought to be amazed that
He would show mercy to any, but they get mad because He doesn't
show mercy to all. But dear brethren, when we remember
what it is that man is by nature, then the mercy of God is magnified. And the redemption of Christ
is set over against the destruction of the wicked. See, the Lord
didn't create the world just to destroy the wicked. He created
the world to set forth the stage where He might magnify the glory
of His grace in the redemption of His people. But He contrasts
that. And the glory and joy of it is
magnified by the judgment. that He's pleased to bring. Lo,
He comes with clouds descending once for favored sinners slain. What a glorious thing it is to
see Christ coming. But He comes, dear brethren,
arrayed in vengeance. And the Scripture says that when
He comes again, He will be clothed in vengeance with a flaming fire upon those
who know not God. So that a man shall say, verily
there is a reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that judgeth
in the earth. Now, to me that sums it up because
it sets forth that contrast. See, apart from knowing the wickedness
of God, the glory of redemption can never be seen in its fullness. I mean, if men thought they just
did a few things wrong and the Lord said, well, boys will be
boys, but we'll come along and we'll straighten everything out,
I mean, that'd be okay. But you see, this is a serious
business here. All men, by nature, are under
the sentence of death. Rightly so. Is there a man on
the earth that could stand up and say, Lord, you shouldn't
destroy me? Is there one of us in here that
can say, Lord, I'm not worthy of destruction? If you think that, then I'd say
you've never been awakened by the Spirit of God. Because when
the Lord convinces a man of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
the first thing that He teaches him is, Oh, woe is me, for I'm
a man of unclean lips. And so it is in the justice and
the vengeance of Almighty God set forth rightly upon men that
the joys and glories of redemption can then be seen. And without
it, you know, if there is no destruction of the wicked, then
what was the point, you know, of the whole thing? But the Lord
would magnify the glory of His grace in the redemption of sinners
and in the destruction of the unrighteous. Verily he is a God
that judgeth in the earth. For it is appointed unto man
once to die, and after this the judgment. And you know there's
been all kinds of people who come along and make up all kind
of ideas about what the judgment's gonna be like. You know, we're
gonna all be in a theater and there's gonna be a movie playing
up there and it's gonna show all your life and all that stuff.
And I don't believe it'd be like that at all. The Lord said how
it would be. He said he was gonna bring the
goats on his left hand and the sheep on his right. He's gonna
make a separation. And the judgment is in Jesus
Christ. He's the dividing line. On the
one hand is the destruction of the wicked and on the other hand
is the redemption of his people. What a glorious thing. Who is
sufficient for these things? What can a man say except fall
down on his face and thank God that he has called his people
out of darkness and into the light? And what can we do to
cause that to happen? Nothing. But we don't just tell
men, just sit still and wait and see if something happens.
We say, you know, if a man's stirred up in his mind and heart
about these things, if a man's fearful that he may be numbered
among those who are going to be cast away, we say, oh, flee. Seek the Lord, call upon Him
while He is near. He is the Savior of sinners. And He will save those that call
upon His name. What a glorious God He is. Not
one is going to be worthy of it. But all shall be judged righteous
who are found in Christ. May the Lord help us.