What Are You Trusting? | Psalm 52 | Dutch Festival Evening Service

Psalm 52 opens with betrayal. Doeg the Edomite reported a priest's kindness to David, and the result was the massacre of an entire town. Out of that story, David asks a question that reaches far past his own century: what are you actually trusting in? This sermon follows Psalm 52's contrast between two ways of standing, trust in wealth, power, and reputation, which cannot hold when the real storm comes, and trust in the steadfast love of God, pictured in David's own image of a tree planted deep in the house of God. That trust finds its full answer in Christ, the one who was cut off and rose again, and in whom believers are held fast together as the household of faith.

 

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Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week we dig into God's Word, trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.

There are some trees that grow faster than others. You have some silver maples, cottonwoods, And if you're planning to put them in your yard, those trees are pretty tempting because most trees take the better part of a decade before they're big enough to matter. But a fast-growing tree can give you shade in 2 or 3 years. But I have personally seen What happens to those trees that grow fast when a storm comes through? The wind gets up around 45 or 50 miles an hour, and one of those kind of fast-growing trees, they can just go over, roots and all. Or maybe it splits right down the trunk. But the oak, just 2 yards over, Those oaks, they don't move. It didn't grow as fast. It went down before it went up. And by the storm— by the time the storm came, that tree had roots that allowed it to stand and remain amidst the storms. Well, David's got a question in mind as he writes Psalm 52. But he's not just asking about trees. He talks about a tree, but that's not the point. He's talking about people. And specifically, in this psalm, as we read in that introduction to Psalm 52, he's asking these questions about a man named Doeg.

Now before we dig into the words of this chapter of the Psalter, it's important that we spend a moment on that backstory. You may know it. It's from 1 Samuel 21 and 22. David is on the run from Saul, and he stops at a place called Nob. Well, there, there is a priest named Ahimelech, and he feeds David, and he gives David a sword. And as this takes place, an Edomite named Doeg is there, and he sees Ahimelech giving this aid to David. Well, Doeg reports what has happened to King Saul, and Saul orders that all the priests of Nob be executed for helping David. Well, Saul's men refuse. They will not follow through on this order, and so Doeg takes it upon himself to slay 85 priests. And then after he is done, he slays the entire town, including women and children. He did all of this because he wanted to be useful to Saul, because he wanted to have power. And that's the story behind what we read in Psalm 52. That is the music that's playing in the background as David is writing this chapter of the Psalter. So, as we take a look at the first few verses, we see the same pattern that I talked about with those fast-growing trees.

Doeg looks strong. Doeg has influence and power because he's willing to do what the king commands. And he's got a reputation. He's a man who gets things done. What he's done. But David is not impressed. He acknowledges the evil that Doeg has done. And so David starts out by asking a question: "Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?" Well, knowing the story and reading those words, I don't know about you, but I can sort of feel the disgust in what David has written here? This disgust at what Doeg has done? He's essentially saying, why would you boast of treachery? Why would you do this thing? Is it just so you can feel like a big shot? Are you doing this, this evil, to further your position of power? David asks this question and then he makes a bold statement. Humans can seek all the power that they desire. We see people going after it all the time. They can commit the most heinous acts in the pursuit of that power. But David's words here remind us that the steadfast love of God endures. You can conspire against God. You can slay his servants.

You can stand against his anointed. But it won't change the fact that the steadfast love of God endures. David knows God's faithfulness to him, and he isn't going to let the actions of Doeg shake his belief in God's blessing that is on him. And David continues through this psalm by speaking more of Doeg and what he has done. He speaks of his tongue and how he has plotted evil and how it is like a sharp razor. And how it is clear that he has loved evil more than good. And he has loved lying more than speaking what is right. He has loved the words that have devoured. He has relished in the deceit of his tongue. But David wants it to be clear that while Doeg feels powerful, while Doeg finds joy in the evil that he's done, Doeg does not get the last word here. God gets the last word. His steadfast love endures forever, and so does his justice. The evil done by Doeg will not go unpunished. With his actions, he has killed many. He has torn down the families of an entire community of people. Imagine this evil that has been perpetuated by this man.

And he may have felt that he was destroying just one group of people and building up his own legacy. But David wants it to be clear that he is the one who will be broken down forever. Even in his tent, we read, he will not find safety and security. Doeg thinks that siding with Saul will give him power, influence, and safety. But there's nowhere he can go where God will not bring his judgment upon him. He will be uprooted. From the land of the living. Doeg has taken many lives, and David says that God will now require his life as a payment for his sin. As I said a few moments ago, it's important that we understand the context of this psalm because it is deeply connected to this story in 1 Samuel 21 and 22. But at the same time, I want to take a second and remind us that it is important that we don't just let this psalm serve as a commentary on the story from 1 Samuel. This isn't just something for us to know how David was feeling in that moment. This chapter of the Psalter is God's holy Word.

It is living and active. It was inspired for the people of God. And so we should hear these words that are describing an evil man, and we need to let these words cut us to the heart. Doeg is not the only one to boast of his evil and to strive for power. His tongue is not the only tongue to cut like a razor and work deceit. He's not the only one who has loved evil more than good. These aren't just the sins of an ancient Edomite. And he is not the only one who has lied more than he has spoken what is right. Each and every one of us has reveled in our sin. We have boasted of it. None of us has done what Doeg did, but look underneath the story here. Doeg wasn't just cruel, he was calculating. He saw a chance to make himself useful to power, and he took it, whatever the cost to the people of Nob. And that's not a foreign impulse. We do things like that every time that we protect our own position by staying quiet when we should speak. We do the same thing when we skirt the truth because it serves us better than honesty.

We do the same thing when we let someone else take the fall so we don't have to. Doeg trusted his own cunning to keep himself safe. And this psalm is going to keep pressing us and asking us, are you going to put your confidence and your trust in your plans, in your plotting, or are you going to put it somewhere else? And as Psalm 52 continues, it's going to tell us more about how this story of Doeg actually ends. We read here that the righteous see and fear and shall laugh at him. He receives his demise at the hands of God's righteous judgment, and the righteous laugh. Now, we probably read that statement and We might think, well, that's really cruel. I mean, who laughs at the death of someone? If you've ever seen someone do that—rejoicing over the death of someone—you were probably disgusted by it. But as we read this, we need to remember who Doeg was ultimately opposing. He wasn't just picking one side of a political struggle. He didn't do what he did because he thought Saul was a better king than David could ever be. Doing what he did was in direct opposition to God.

David was the anointed one. He was to be the king who would replace Saul. David was chosen by God. David was from the line of Judah, and from him would one day come the Messiah. For the righteous to laugh at the undoing of Doeg is not getting joy out of someone you dislike getting what you think they deserve. That's not what's happening here. The righteous laughter here is an acknowledgment of the futility of opposing the plan of God. This man, Doeg, he trusted in his riches and he sought refuge in his actions, and it led to his destruction. He ultimately believed himself to be sovereign, and his death proves that he is not the one who is in control, and he is not the one in charge of his own destiny. Doeg trusted his riches. He trusted his position with the king. He trusted his interpretation of the situation between David and Saul. But none of it held. As verse 7 says, he sought refuge in his own destruction. And again, it's easy for us to isolate the words of this psalm as a commentary on that story from 1 Samuel. And so I want to bring it back to us again.

We need to let this psalm do its good work. Ask yourself the question that this whole chapter of the Psalter has been driving home to us. What are you trusting in? Is it your abundance, your status, your ability to read the way the trends are going? Where are you seeking your refuge? Are we trusting in what will end in our own destruction? As David continues, he shows us where our trust should lie, though, as we Turn to verses 8 and 9. David says that he is like a green olive tree in the house of God. Now, like me, you maybe read that and don't understand the depth of what David is saying because we don't have olive trees around us, or at least I don't think we do. That shows you how much I know. I suppose I could identify an olive tree if I got close enough and there were olives on the tree, but do olives even look like what they look like in the jar? See, I don't even know. I didn't know anything about olive trees and didn't look into it till I was preparing for this sermon. In fact, I hadn't thought much about an olive tree.

The only time I like olives is on Supreme Pizza. Why else? Why would I think about the trees, right? Well, olive trees are substantial and they last a very long time. They can live for more than 100 years. And when I started out, I talked about trees that stand strong in the storm. Those kind of trees grow down more than they grow up so that they are solid and established. Well, David has picked that same kind of tree to illustrate his relationship to God here for us. Olive trees don't grow fast. They take years to bear anything, but once they are established, they can survive drought, disease. They can even be cut all the way down to the stump, and a shoot will will come back and it will continue to grow. It will keep going. And so David picked an olive tree to describe himself, and it's all rooted in who he trusts. Doeg trusted himself, but he was like a tree without roots. David will remain because he is rooted in the steadfast love of God. Instead of being rooted in himself. And the imagery of this psalm here is vivid and powerful for us.

Doeg gets torn from his tent back in verse 5. A tent is temporary. It's something you pick up, you pack, and you move. But in contrast, David is like a tree, an olive tree that lasts a long time in the house of God. Doeg found his refuge in a tent that's easily carried away. David's refuge can never be moved. And notice how David realizes the blessing that he has, and it moves him to praise here in verse 9. He will thank God forever because God is the one who's done it. David isn't taking any praise here for himself. He fully understands that without the faithfulness that God has shown to him, he too would find his refuge in his own strength, and it would be his destruction. David understands that. But it isn't just thanksgiving that he has on his mind here. He adds something else. I will wait for your name, for it is good. In the presence of the godly. The situation that David is in is difficult. Saul is chasing him. Saul is trying to take his life. He knows that he is the anointed of God, but his becoming king is a long time coming.

But yet David is content with waiting. He is trusting the outcome that God has promised. The time between his anointing by Samuel and the time that he actually became king was several years. And during that time, he was hunted. He was betrayed several times along the way. Still, David says that he will wait for God's name because his covenant faithfulness is is good. That's the point of this psalm. Doeg trusted in his own reputation and his own name. David trusts in the name of God. And notice in those last few words where he's gonna do the waiting: in the presence of the godly. He's not doing this alone or in private. He's doing it with others who have gathered to trust in the covenant faithfulness of God. And they will thank him together. The people of God bring their praise to the one who is their refuge and their fortress. And as we close up, I want us to dwell on where we find our strength and how we can have refuge in the storm, because the winds of life are coming for every last one of us. We can't avoid it. It will come in a diagnosis, a tragedy, or a financial setback that we didn't see coming.

The storm is coming. That fact is not in doubt. The only question is, where will you find your refuge when the storm winds blow? So I want us to go back to that question. This chapter of the Psalter has been asking us. What are you trusting? Is it your income? Your ability to read the trends and stay a step ahead? Are you trusting your reputation? Every one of those things is like a fast-growing tree. It might get through some ordinary weather. It might provide you some temporary shade. But it will not get you through the real storm. To weather the storms, we need to be like David. We need to be planted in the house of God, trusting in the steadfast love of God forever. And as beautiful as the words of David are at the close of this psalm about trusting in God, we are blessed to know the truth of them in a way that David did not understand yet. David only saw this covenant faithfulness from a distance. He waited for God's name because he trusted it was good. We wait. We trust knowing the goodness of God because we know the fullness of God's promises in Christ.

David was the anointed king opposed by a man willing to do anything to stop him. Jesus is the true final Anointed One. The true final king. And he was opposed by men who were willing to do far worse to him. Doeg had priests slaughtered to protect his own position. The religious leaders in Jesus' time had Jesus killed to protect theirs. And where Doeg's plot against David's line ended with Doeg torn from the land of the living, The Lord Jesus Christ was the one who was cut off for us. He suffered. He died. But death did not hold sway over him, and he arose victorious over the grave for his people. The one who was cut off came back and bore the fruit of eternal life for his people. That's the steadfast love that David was looking to, even though it was far off. He knew God was faithful, but he did not know the fullness of the gospel as we do. He did not know how far God himself would go to show covenant faithfulness to us. We are blessed to live on the other side of the story of redemption and to fully know the refuge that we have in our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord.

Lord. So the question that we have before us this evening isn't just what are you trusting, it's also who is holding you up. If your trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not out in the wind by yourself hoping your own roots go deep enough to weather the storm. You're grafted into the one tree that cannot be uprooted. And we are not only rooted and grounded in Christ, but we have the support of one another. Earlier this summer, our family went to California, and we went to Sequoia National Park. And those trees are absolutely astounding. I was completely amazed. But we were there on a foggy and snowy day. And we're kind of— if you've ever been there, you're driving through these winding roads, and because it was foggy and snowy, it was kind of hard to see. And we got to a particular point of elevation, and it was like, boom, these trees are on us. They're huge. They're massive around. They're unbelievably tall. They were just— it's almost like they came out of nowhere. They were not only tall and thick, but they're old, like unbelievably old. They have stood for more than 100 years.

And one of the most fascinating things that I learned about those trees while we were there was that actually these tall, massive trees really don't have terribly deep root systems. You would expect something that tall and that big around to go unbelievably deep. But the reason sequoias stand for so long is because the root systems not only go down, they go out and they intertwine with each other. The sequoias are connected. They're able to weather the storm for hundreds of years because they have roots that go down and out and connect each other. We are united to Christ by faith. We are connected to Him. And we are able to stand firm through the storms. But we are not only united to Christ individually. We are united to Christ together. Sisters and brothers, we are connected to all those who are united to Christ by faith. So may we cultivate those roots. Let them go deep and wide and connect with one another. May we pray for one another. May we build one another up in faith. And may we wait for the Lord together. And may we help one another weather the storms. May we find that unity by remembering the work of Christ.

When the storms come, don't wonder if your own roots are deep enough to stand strong. Instead, trust that you are united to Christ, and so you are planted deep in him, and you are in the household of faith. The steadfast love that God has shown us in Christ endures forever. And that is a tree that no storm has ever brought down, and it never will. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious God, we know that the storms of life are coming for us. We don't know when, but we know that in this fallen world, they come. Tonight, show us where our roots really go. Wherever we've been trusting the things of this world and our own abilities, we pray that you would uproot that trust and instead plant us in you. We thank you that in Christ, we know that he was cut off and rose again. And that we are grafted into him, and that he is a tree that can never be shaken. Remind us that we are not alone, but that we are rooted together with all those who trust in your steadfast love and covenant faithfulness. So as the winds rise, in whatever form it may come, we pray that you would help us to hold fast, to wait for Your name, for it is good.

It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website, edgertonfrc.org.

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