Evil David?

Evil David?

Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
    before his eyes.

For he flatters himself in his own eyes
    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

He plots trouble while on his bed;
    he sets himself in a way that is not good;
    he does not reject evil.

Psalm 37:1-4 (ESV)

As a warrior, David saw a lot of evil.  He had many enemies, including Goliath, Saul, and even his own son Absalom.  Being a man after God’s own heart, David understood that the root of evil is not fearing the Lord.  King Solomon (another one of David’s sons) states in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  David saw this in Goliath.  In 1 Samuel 17, we see one of the most famous stories of the Bible.  Goliath, full of pride (read verse 2 again), mocks the army of Israel.  Everyone is scared because he is so big and has a reputation.  The word used to describe him in the text is champion; meaning Goliath wanted to fight one-on-one with a soldier from Israel for all the marbles.  Yet, David (a teenager at the time) says in verse 26, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  David did not fear Goliath because he feared God.  Being unable to tolerate the disrespect for God’s people any longer, this teenager challenges the giant man to man.  On paper, this is a worse matchup than the early days of the UFC in which sumo wrestlers used to challenge guys one third their size.  But God delivers, and David (as a kid) lays the smackdown on the behemoth.  Going back to our passage in Psalm, David saw evil in this situation not only in the physical act of war, but also in Goliath’s foolishness in mocking God.

When you read this passage in your Bible, verse one might have a footnote that reads, “most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart.”  I was taken aback when I read this.  David is not writing this to describe his battle with Goliath, he is not writing this to describe being on the lam from Saul, he is not describing Absalom for attempting a coup d’état; David is writing about himself. Remember, this is a man who slept with another man’s wife, and had him killed.  Jerimiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”  After reading this, one may ask is this before or after someone meets Jesus?  Then I would point them to Romans 7:15. Paul writes, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”  Paul is confused because although he belongs to Christ, there are times he does not act like he is in Christ.  The Christian may be situationally perfect when God sees him because he is in Christ and Christ is in him, but his flesh is still corrupt; he will still sin until he is called home.  The flesh is evil, but the spirit is pure.  We have a duality because our dead heart is made alive through Jesus, yet our physical bodies are cursed by the Fall.  I remember an older saint once telling me; “although we are made alive, it doesn’t mean that we don’t play in the graveyard once in a while.”

When I was at Moody, I had a professor ask us to replace the third person with first person.  We would usually do this with more positive verses, but I think this exercise will work here as well.  So read it like this:

Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in [my] heart;
there is no fear of God
    before [my] eyes.

For [I flatter myself] in [my] own eyes
    that [my] iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

The words of [my] mouth are trouble and deceit;
    [I have] ceased to act wisely and do good.

[I plot] trouble while on [my] bed;
    [I set myself] in a way that is not good;
    [I do] not reject evil.

When I read it like this, there is more weight to what I do.  I realize that when I am acting in sin, I am not fearing God and I am being foolish.  I put my thoughts and desires before God’s and I act in pride.  In that moment, I think that I know better than God.  Just remember, we don’t know better than God, no matter what situation we are in.  The beauty is that there is grace in repentance.  Christians do not live in perfection, they live in repentance.  

“…for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity” (Proverbs 24:16 ESV).

Justin