“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”
~ Psalm 52:7
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever been falsely accused of saying something that you did not say, doing something that you did not do and/or not having done something that you had been asked to do and did? Have you ever been accused of lying, stealing and/or cheating when you have not lied, stolen and cheated? If you have been falsely accused of saying something that you did not say, doing something that you did not do and/or having not done something that you did do, how did you feel? If you have been accused of lying, stealing and/or cheating when you did not lie, steal and/or cheat, how did you feel? Did you feel hurt, frustrated and/or angry? Did you want to do whatever you could to prove that you had been falsely accused? Did you want to retaliate against the kid – or the guy or gal, who falsely accused you? If you have never been falsely accused by a kid – or by a guy or gal, you will have one day a kid – or a guy or gal, falsely accuse you. When your grandmaa was a kid and when she and your dad’s Uncle Drew and/or Aunt Glo got into a ruckus causing something to happen, your grandmaa says that your dad’s Uncle Drew and/or Aunt Glo would tell their dad and/or ma that it was your grandmaa who had started the ruckus and that it was your grandmaa who caused whatever happened. How innocent do you think that your grandmaa always was? When your grandpaa flew last September with the September 2007 World Race squad to Bangkok, Thailand, your grandpaa was able to spend four to five days with each one of the four teams that make up the September 2007 World Race squad. While your grandpaa was with one of the September 2007 World Race teams, this team’s leader got really upset with your grandpaa – claiming that your grandpaa had from the beginning not been supportive of him and that he had told him to just shut up at some point during a confrontation. What would you do with a guy or gal who you chose to be a team leader who tells you that he or she does not feel your support and who tells you that you have just told him or her to shut up during a confrontation – when you know that it is an absolute untruth? Your grandpaa knows that he could have affirmed and encouraged Shawn more than what he was doing but being that Shawn was 26 years old, your grandpaa assumed wrongly that Shawn would take on leading his six member team in a mature way. Because of the inept way how Shawn interacted with his team, Shawn’s team is doing just fine today now that Shawn is no longer the leader of their team. Even though your grandpaa still is not very good at it, your grandpaa is learning to just leave in God’s hands what has been unjustly said about him and to him.
After a guy tried to defame him before King Saul, David scribed a psalm song. David scribed this psalm song or maskil – which is Psalm 52, for the music director who directed the music to sing in the temple of God that was in the city of Jerusalem. Doeg the Edomite was the divisive tattle teller who had gone to King Saul to tell King Saul that David had gone to Ahimelech’s house to talk with Ahimelech. Ahimelech was a Levi people group high priest. Doeg the Edomite was a sheepherder. Because King Saul at this time was set on murdering David, David – along with several of his companions, went to where Ahimelech was living in the town of Nob – which was near where the tabernacle of God was being kept, to . . . your grandpaa does not know why David wanted to go see Ahimelech. When David told Ahimelech that he and his companions were on a secret mission for King Saul and that they were hungry, Ahimelech gave them the five loaves of showbread that were in God’s tabernacle for them to eat – which was pushing what he could do as a priest. It was at this time that Doeg the Edomite witnessed David meet up with Ahimelech. Doeg the Edomite told King Saul what he saw David do. King Saul told Doeg the Edomite – because he was so mad at Ahimelech for seeing David, that he wanted him to kill Ahimelech along with every guy, gal and kid who was living in the town of Nob. Your grandpaa does not know when David scribed this psalm song – which conveys David’s fearless confidence in God’s help. David communicates in this psalm song of knowing that God had taken care of him when he had an arrogant, evil guy – who was Doeg the Edomite, out him to King Saul.
Have you ever written antagonistically or talked belligerently about a kid – or a guy or gal, who had talked disrespectfully about you behind your back? David sure did when he scribed about Doeg the Edomite. David scribed that Doeg the Edomite was a disgrace in the eyes of God, that his tongue plotted destruction, that his tongue was like a sharpened razor and that his tongue practiced deceit. David scribed that Doeg the Edomite enjoyed doing evil more than doing what was good to do and that his tongue enjoyed practicing telling falsehoods more than always speaking the truth. David had a really bad case against Doeg the Edomite. David probably had a very good reason to wish the wrath of God to be on Doeg the Edomite. David’s wish was for God to cause Doeg the Edomite to suffer everlasting ruin, that He rip Doeg the Edomite from his tent and that He uproot Doeg the Edomite from the land of the living. David describes Doeg the Edomite in verse 7, ‘“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”’ David testifies in this psalm song that he is never ever going to pull a Doeg the Edomite – that he is always going to trust in God’s love that is unfailing. Who would you rather be like – Doeg or David? Doeg the Edomite put his trust in a self-important, vain king to reward him for tattling while David trusted in God to save him. Trusting in God to help you will invariably awaken the hope spirit.
Psalm 52 (896)