You Are Not the Only One

• 1(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.) The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

Evil people should have a dread of God. This is the opposite of the type of fear that Christians have of God.

• Deut. 2:25 “This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.”
• Psalm 119:120 “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.”
• Isa. 2:10 “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty.” His children do not have to hide from Him. They know that they have grace and forgiveness coming from God.
• Isa. 2:19 “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
• Isa. 2:21 “To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”

• 2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
• 3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
• 4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

Self-deception is the worse kind of deception! Why, because no one will be able to convince us that we are wrong. We are right in our own eyes, and we will do whatever we have to do to make our opinion, ways, and our desires come about. It is a sure sign of a prideful heart! 

• Proverbs 16:5 “Every one [who is] proud in heart [is considered] an abomination to the LORD: [though they can convince their friends to join them] hand in hand, [they] shall not be unpunished.”
• Verses 3-4:  Tha Apostle Paul talks about these verses as he addressed the churches in the Book of Romans.
• Rom. 3:10-12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out-of-the-way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” “4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.”
• Rom. 3:13 “¹³ Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:”  “3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.”
• Rom. 3:15-17“¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood:¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:”

Although David is surrounded by evildoers and God-haters, he continues the Psalm with the peace that comes only from truly knowing God. There is a difference between hearing about God. Reading about God. Accepting that He is God, and handing one’s life, mind, thoughts, actions, and attitudes over to God. That is what separates a baby believer from a person who is sold out on walking in His will and according to His words. Longman proposes that “Since they [evil doers or self-aggrandized persons who flatter themselves by calling themselves ‘God followers.] do not fear God, they mis­ perceive themselves “as the center of the universe, and thus they flatter themselves and do not recognize their sin.” Like the fool in Proverbs, they do not listen to correction or pay attention to their mistakes and thus are doomed to repeat them” (Longman 2014, 176). Deception is from the pit of hell. But mercy, faithfulness, righteousness, and just judgments are from God. 

Characteristics of God

• 5Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
• 6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
• 7How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
• 8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

The psalmist compared the excellence of God’s character to the character of man.

• Merciful: Romans 9:15-16 “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” “So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” Romans 9:18 “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth.”
• Faithfulness: Isaiah 25:1 “O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth.”
• Righteous & Just: “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
• He loves his children without withholding anything from them. John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
• His Protection. Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Have you ever tried to take chickens from their mother? You will be pecked to death! That is how God feels about his children.

 

• His provision knows no end.  Matt. 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Psalm 22:26 “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. I know of people who are desperately in need of food and God has provided for them.
• I remember once when Allison was just born, and I decided to stay home and take care of her instead of returning to my “very well paid job.” I didn’t have to worry about clothing. I could sew, but the brethren gave us more clothes than we could ever need. My husband changed job, and I distinctly remember wondering what we were going to do for food the next week. I hear a clink as something fell through the mail slot. It was an envelope with a wad of cash in it. We did not tell a single person about our situation. We were about to contact an elder from our church. However, I did pray about it, and God provided! He still provides for his children.

• 9For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

Light: He is the source of light. 

• Revelation 21:23 “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.”
• Revelation 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

Be Near oh God and Continually Protect and Love us

• 10 O continue thy loving kindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
• 11Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
• 12There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

David reflects on God’s relationship with him and his people. He also asks God to continue to love them and keep them in His heart.  The psalmist knows that God made him King, but he also knows that he has enemies who wants him removed. “

• 11Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.”

He concludes by stating that his enemies are fallen, cast down, and will never rise. Rest assured that you are in the same boat as David. You enemies will attempt to rise up and destroy you and or your name, but they are powerless before God.

Prov.3 Verses 5 to 6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths [every minute of every single day..]

https://youtu.be/vdjV6Tt7oyM

References

Cayce, Ken. 2017. “Books of the Bible.”  http://www.bible-studys.org/About%20Me.html. Accessed August 29, 2018

Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed September 15, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.