Golden Year's Message by Preacher Lek Aik Wee

A Devotional Study of the Psalms

A FOOL'S PORTRAIT

PSALM 53

I. The Fool defined (1) Knows not God (v 1a ) (2) whose heart in Bondage to Sin (v 1b ) (3) Seek not God (v 2 ) (4) In Rebellion to God (v 3 ) (5) Oppress God's children (v 4 ).

II. The Fool defied (1) God's allays every fear of His oppressed children (v 5a ) (2) The wicked is loathsome in God's sight (v 5b ) (3) God relives His oppressed children making them glad (v 6 ).

Introduction

"Mahalath" is probably a musical term or a designation of some musical instrument. A "Maschil" is a poem of instruction, written for didactic purpose put to music. The main character of study in this psalm is the "fool" "lb'n" nabal" used in verse 1 and is defined as one who says in his heart, there is no God! (cf. Psalm 14 ). A psalm penned by David. In his lifetime, Scripture tells us that David knew of such a man named "Nabal" whose wife, Abigail became his wife after the husband died. Abigail described her husband Nabal as "this man of Belial" or "ill-natured fellow" "for as his name is, so is he" (1 Samuel 25:25 ). We shall paint a portrait of this man with Scripture.

The word "lb'n" nabal" depicts "a stupid; wicked man, a vile person." He is adamant, and shuts his ears against any good advice. Yet, he loudly insists in public that he is right. This is a wicked person denoting an evil character, shamelessly immoral. The word is often associated with based and unnatural lewdness (Genesis 34:7 , Deuteronomy 22:21 , Joshua 7:15 ). Isaiah 32:6 describes in detail the destructive attitudes and conduct of this wicked man.

I. The Fool Defined (v 1-4 )

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good." (Verse 1 )

The Fool (1) Knows not God (v 1a )

The Fool (2) whose heart in Bondage to Sin (v 1b ).

The fool says in his heart, there is no God. He acts corruptly. The verb is used to denote the action(s) of the world (i.e., it is corrupt) and ultimately the reason for God's judgment by water in Genesis 6:11-12

Illustration

The account of David, Abigail and Nabal is found in 1 Samuel 25:1-42 .

Nabal is described to be rich in material substance but churlish and evil in his doings. The word "churlish" describes one who is rude; rough in temper; unfeeling; uncivil, selfish; narrow-minded; avaricious. David's men provided protection Nabal's men and possessions in Carmel. David asked his men to approached Nabal to request for some bread in return for the protection that his men had given to Nabal's possessions. Nabal replied rudely, saying "Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?"

We observed an unsympathetic man Nabal who received good from others and simply show no gratitude whatsoever, looking down on David and his men. He was so cold to others who approach him for help - "Cold people are of little use to others. The world is not in want of icebergs. We were not born to freeze those around us. When a ship in the Atlantic comes near an iceberg the chill in the air tells of it. You can feel a cold shiver. And there are people who are just as cold; you get chilled every time you come near them. The best hearts are not made of stone. There is something warm about them. They melt and run. Love is the world's summer and without it nothing would grow. He is a weak, narrow, selfish, cold-blooded man who can see a tear and care nothing for it. You should be sensitive to the want and sorrows around you. Feeling is your grandest achievement. It is the crown and glory of character. True religion is to pity the widow and the fatherless, and without this, religion is a sham. If you can't give away a loaf of bread, well-baked and not stale, your prayers are dough. Good giving and good praying are in partnership. Sympathy is one of the great secrets of a happy and successful life. It overcomes evil and strengthens good. It disarms resistance, melts the hardest heart, and develops the better part of human nature. It is one of the great truths on which Christianity is based. "Love one another" contains a gospel sufficient to renovate the world." (Character Sketches for Boys and Girls, Northrop)

"God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Verses 2-3 )

The Fool (3) Seek not God (v 2 )

The Fool (4) In Rebellion to God (v 3 )

God in heaven examined the people on earth and found them wanting. None will seek God on their own accord. Every one of them is "proved faithless", departed from God. "Become filthy" means morally corrupt. Their wills are in bondage to sin, they cannot but sin. This is the sad state of man after the fall. John Calvin described the fool as a "self-complacent man, content with his own endowment, but blind to his wretched condition, does not aspire to God." He further portrays the fool as such, "When we are self-satisfied in our own goodness, by a natural proneness to hypocrisy, and compare ourselves with our neighbours, we tend to think ourselves holy and righteous. We judge ourselves by our own standards. Such judgment is as erroneous as by those who, being accustomed to seeing nothing but black, would call brown white. Such judgment is like the false confidence one has in one's eyes, who is accustomed merely to an eastward vision until dazzled by the noonday sun. Thus being satisfied with our own goodness, we flatter ourselves. We fancy we are demigods." The Bible calls such the fool!

Illustration (continued)

Can we say this of ourselves, a sympathetic person? David could not. He responded in kind, Abigail had to stop him from committing folly too. Abigail pleaded staking with her own life to stop David from harming Nabal and his household. "And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid."

David was not a fool in that he took heed to Abigail's advice. "And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person."

It is related of the Apostle John that when very old - so old that he could not walk and could scarcely speak - he was carried in the arms of his friends into an assembly of Christian people. He lifted himself up and said, "Little children, love one another." And again he said, "Love one another." When asked, "Have you nothing else to tell us?" he replied, "I say this again and again, because if you do this, nothing more is needed."

"Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God." (Verse 4 )

The Fool (5) oppresses God's children (v 4 ).

We observed here a rhetorical question. The workers of iniquity do not know God! Contrast with psalm 14:4 , the omission of the word "all" the workers of iniquity which gives an all-encompassing emphasis. Also, they call not upon "the LORD" in psalm 14:4 instead of "God". For the believer, the born again Christian, the law of God is written in the heart, the conscience is sensitive to sin as truthfully stated in Romans 2:15 "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another". The glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God to break the bondage of sin. Are we fully appropriating the freedom that has been won for us on the cross!

The regenerated heart responds to the request of others cry for help with a heart to help. Sympathy is founded on love. It is a fruit of the spirit. It is but another word for disinterestedness and affection. We assume another's state of mind; we go out of ourselves and inhabit another's personality. We sympathize with him; we help him; we relive him. There can be no love without sympathy; there can be no friendship without sympathy. Like mercy, sympathy and benevolence are twice blessed, blessed both giver and receiver. While they bring forth an abundant fruit of happiness in the heart of the giver, they grow up into kindness and benevolence in the heart of the receiver. Nabal had received kindness from the hand of David's men. It is a small thing for him to show kindness to them, yet, he withholds good. The reaction of David is what will happen even for one like David, with the spirit of God in him. David at first reacted badly. It is a shameful thing. But we must realize that Nabal's behaviour truly was obnoxious. David could not stand it. It provoked him sore. It took Abigail to wake him up.

Illustration

Notice the contrasting behaviour of Abigail with Nabal's. Probably there is no influence so powerful as sympathy in awakening the affections of the human heart. There are few, even of the most rugged natures, whom it does not influence. Abigail showed sympathy to David's plight, she brought gifts to David and his men. It constrains much more than force can do. A kind word, or a kind look, will act upon those upon whom coercion has been tried in vain. While sympathy invites love and obedience, harshness provokes aversion and resistance. The poet is right who says that "power itself hath not one half the might of gentleness." Abigail won David over thoroughly. David was restrained to commit folly and he had to thank Abigail for her kind words which were easily entreated.

Other words translated "fool" include "lysiK. kesil" is used in Proverbs 1:22 to describe the fool in contrast to the wise. Also, "lywIa/ 'ewil" is an adjective meaning one who is morally bad, who despises wisdom and discipline, a scorner Proverbs 14:9 , someone quarrelsome (Proverbs 20:3 ), licentious (Proverbs 7:22 ), it is folly and useless to instruct him (Proverbs 16:2 , 27:2 also Jeremiah 4:22 ; Job 5:2 ; 5:3 ; Isaiah 19:11 ; Psalm 107:17 ). This is one degree worse than the "lysiK. kesil". He moves beyond simple foolish stubbornness by living an immoral life. "lb'n" nabal" is the worst of the lot.

There is also the "ytiP,, petil" in psalm 19:7 , translated by the King James translator as the "simple". The sense of simplicity is naïve ignorance with a moral ineptitude that inclines to wickedness. In the book of Proverbs, he is described also as the "simple" in the sense of morally inept with a tendency toward evil (Proverbs 7:7 ; 8:5 ; 14:15 , 19:25 ). The indictment of the simple is evident in Proverbs 1:22 , 32 ; 14:8 , 22:3 , 27:12 . Exhortation to "the simple" to abandon their foolishness is taught in Proverbs 9:4 , 16 .

II. The Fool Defied

"There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them." (Verse 5 )

(1) God allays every fear of His oppressed children (v 5a )

(2) The wicked is loathsome in His sight (v 5b )

The want of sympathy pervades society. We do not know each other, or do not care for each other, as we ought to do. Selfishness strikes its roots. But "don't care" is not let off so easily as one imagines. The man who does not care for others, who does not show sympathize with and help others, is very often pursued with a just retribution.

Illustration (continued)

Observe here the plight of Nabal, "And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died."

God's hand was heavy upon Nabal, it is that unfeeling heart to the plight of others. In pursuit of pleasure or wealth we become hard and indifferent. Not recognizing the brotherhood of the race, they selfishly and keenly pursue their own interest over the bodies and souls, and over the lives and properties of others. Nabal held a feast and enjoyed himself, and was very drunken. The idle and selfish man cares little for the rest of the world. That is the reason why God looked down from heaven and find the "don't care" men - a dime a dozen, and despised them.

God judged Nabal according to his folly. Nabal died for the LORD smote him. The scattering of the bone is a euphemism describing him dying a terrible death - his bones were scattered. Jezebel and Ahab died in this way, according to Elijah's prophesy for snatching the vineyard of an innocent man, Naboth and hired witnesses to falsely accused him, causing his death by stoning.

"Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." (Verse 6 )

(3) God relives His oppressed children making them glad (v 6 ).

Zion is the dwelling place of God. God knows the plight of his oppressed people and will certainly send help. They are not to take matters in their own hands, as David did, intending to do harm to Nabal if not for Abigail's timely intervention. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." (Romans 12:19 ) Repay the LORD did for David.

Illustration (Continued)

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife."