Overcoming Evil
Psalms 64
February 16, 2020
It was a few weeks ago when we studied those 3 “Destroy Not” Psalms
Where David specifically knew he was not to take his own revenge,
But to leave room for God to do it.
Though this Psalm does not have that same sub-heading
There is a similar theme here.
David is still caught having to deal with those who are wicked.
In that passage by Paul where we are told not to take our own revenge, Paul closes with this powerful statement.
Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
We are talking then about overcoming.
That phrase takes on so many different connotations for people.
The word “overcome” is NIKAO in the Greek.
It where we get our word for NIKE like the shoe brand.
And in a simple sense it means “to prevail” or “to conquer” or “to get the victory”
And you understand why the shoe company chose the word.
But for the Christian, prevailing, conquering or getting the victory
Looks totally different than what the world expects.
Often times when a Christian overcomes
It may actually look like defeat to the world.
Because the Christian isn’t trying to overcome unbelievers.
• The Christian is overcoming the temptation to do evil.
• The Christian is overcoming the temptation to sin.
You are likely familiar with those 7 churches in the book of the Revelation.
As Christ confronts those churches,
He reminds each one of them of the necessity to overcome.
• Ephesus had to overcome hypocrisy as they had left their first love.
• Smyrna had to overcome fear as they were greatly persecuted.
• Pergamum had to overcome compromise as they had begun to look the
other way at sin.
• Thyatira had to overcome worldliness as Jezebel had led them into sin.
• Sardis had to overcome pride as they were content to rest on past
accomplishments.
• Philadelphia had to overcome fatigue and continue running the race faithfully.
• Laodicea had to overcome self as they were far too self-sufficient.
Over and over and over Christ told them to overcome.
This has remained the call of the church.
• That we overcome worldly influence…
• That we overcome selfish inclination…
• That we overcome the lusts of the flesh…
• That we overcome the temptation of the enemy…
We are constantly called to overcome.
BUT WHAT MAKES THIS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT
Is the fact that often times the deck seems stacked against us
Because Christians not only face the inward struggle of the flesh,
But often times the outward pressure of persecution.
TURN TO: 1 Peter 2:11-12
What Peter says there is a hard command to obey
Even if there is no other difficulty in our life.
• He tells us to “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul”.
• He tells us to do “good deeds” so that we have a glorious testimony.
And even in an easy day, that can be difficult.
But Peter commanded it during a time of great persecution,
And he even got specific about the circumstances.
Like, overcome the flesh when you under a corrupt government
(2:13-17)
Like overcome the flesh when you are under a unreasonable master.
(2:18-20)
Peter said that God is pleased
When we overcome even amidst persecution.
Of course Peter then gives Christ as the ultimate example to follow:
(2:21:25)
And then Peter gets back to more difficult situations.
Like, overcome when your husband is disobedient to the word and you don’t want to submit to him.
(3:1-6)
Like overcome when your wife is unreasonable and you want to dominate her.
(3:7)
And then comes Peter’s summary.
(3:8-17)
You see it there don’t you?
Overcome the temptation of the flesh.
It is exactly what Paul said:
Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
It is what Jesus taught:
Matthew 5:38-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
And it is what David is facing here.
He is attacked, he is slandered, he is blasphemed,
And yet he knows that he is not allowed to stoop to their level.
If he starts playing the game the way they play the game
Then he may win this particular battle,
But he will lose the war because
He will have become the very thing God told him not to be.
So here we are with David facing external pressure,
And here is the song he writes regarding the call to overcome evil.
Just two points tonight.
#1 DAVID’S COMPLAINT
Psalms 64:1-6
What a way to start the Psalm.
“Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;”
We don’t often think of complaining as something permissible,
But that is because often times we do it incorrectly.
James 5:9 “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”
• We understand the dangers in being disgruntled, dissatisfied, grumbling people.
And because this is true, David is not allowed to open up Facebook
And vent about his injustice to all Israel.
It is a testimony killer when God’s children do that.
But that is why David addresses his complaint to God.
(There is a difference between complaining to God and complaining against Him)
That is really the only place where we may take our complaints.
We most certainly cannot mimic the world
By stooping to his level and fighting him as he fights.
• We don’t return insult for insult…
• We don’t return evil for evil…
Instead we endure, and when enduring injustice
We take our case privately to our Judge.
That is what David does.
• He is facing a loud and boisterous enemy,
• But publicly he must not fall into that petty trap of bickering.
• If David is to complain, it is to be done privately in prayer.
• And David asks God to hear his.
And not only to hear his complaint, but at the same time (1b) “Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.”
This is why David must appeal to God.
HE IS AFRAID.
The enemy has made some bold claims against him
And David doesn’t know what to do with them.
But it is clear that their claims have filled David with “dread”
Dread can be just as destructive as an attack.
It can also be very influential.
• Dread steals peace and motivates compromise.
• Dread is the chief influence of the cowardly as they fear the reproach of men
and thus never obey.
• Dread causes men to forsake the commands of God and give into the
pressures of the world.
It is a dangerous thing to have, and that which must be overcome.
And so David takes his dread to God.
He asks God to “preserve my life from dread of the enemy”
• Don’t let me be given over to dread.
• Don’t let the enemy’s threats cause me to fear and run the wrong direction.
This is the basis for David’s complaint.
He is in a situation that he cannot handle
And he needs God to handle it for him.
He continues
(2) “Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, form the tumult of those who do iniquity.”
And now we see even more.
• David is confronted by “evildoers”; by those “who do iniquity”
• And David has become the focus of their “secret counsel”
• David has become the focus of their “tumult”
The wicked are scheming against David.
The wicked are seeking to attack him.
The reality has caused David to be overcome with great fear and that is why he has come to God.
• If he cannot fight back…
• If he must turn the other cheek…
• If he must endure their hostilities HE NEEDS GOD’S HELP.
And so David asks for God to “Hide me”
“If evil doers hide in their scheming then let me be hid during their attack!
Make me an undetected target and one they cannot hit.”
God do not just leave me out in the open as an easy target for evil men.
Come to my aid and hide me.
And David describes these wicked men
And why he needs God’s help so badly.
(3) “Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow.”
In short, slander is their weapon.
• They shoot and they stab.
• They are filled with Satan’s fiery darts and seek to use their wicked words and accusations to bring down their target.
Their mouths run loose in slanderous accusations and bitter blasphemies.
They fill the airways with their violent attacks.
And of course this is something the Christian is specifically told not to do.
• We are not to return insult with insult.
• We are not to return threat with threat.
And so when it occurs we take our case to God.
(4) “To shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.”
Their target is the blameless.
Certainly those who are blameless are constant conviction.
• Sinners hate those who do not rush into iniquity.
• The wicked hate those who resist their sinful ways.
Their goal is to knock them off the pedestal
And here they are doing it to David with blasphemy.
They are like Satan who asked God, “Does Job fear God for nothing..?”
They are the Pharisees who accuse Jesus of blasphemy or of being insane or of being demon-possessed or of seeking to start an insurrection.
Here they are attacking David because he is blameless.
It is their goal to ruin his reputation and destroy his credibility.
They attack him without fear
Because they figure their attack to be untraceable.
They “shoot from concealment”
• They think no one will know who fired the arrow.
So “Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.”
They are simply wicked blasphemous and slandering men.
(5) “They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, ‘Who can see them?’”
They began their attack by accusing David of that which he did not do.
• They simply threw baseless accusations at him.
But for the wicked, that is not enough.
They also eagerly seek to give weight to their slanders
So they also set traps.
When their accusations were found false,
They might have just walked away as shamed men
Who saw the error of their ways, but not these men.
“They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose”
They are not about to quit.
So they huddle together and “they talk of laying snares secretly;”
• They ask around and figure ways to set traps to cause David to fall into sin that they might expose him and show the world.
• They go to Darius and ask for a command that no one may pray and then they stand outside Daniel’s window just waiting for him to bow his head.
• They approach Jesus and ask Him about paying taxes to Caesar.
• They bring to Him a woman caught in adultery.
They set traps; concealed and crafty traps,
“They say, ‘Who can see them?’”
When it becomes evident that their slanders are false,
They ought to be shamed and stop slandering,
Instead they try to make David guilty of what they accused him of.
And this is why David goes to God with his complaint.
(6) “They devise injustices, saying, ‘We are ready with a well-conceived plot”
Not only are they wicked and conniving, but they are eager to be.
As they “devise injustices” to inflict upon David
They quickly say “We are ready”.
They think their plot to be fool-proof.
They have covered every angle.
They will surely catch him in evil and then hang him for it.
This is such the work of our enemy,
Who first tempts us to sin and then accuses us before God.
These men have a plan and they feel they cannot lose.
And they do this because there is NO LIMIT to the depth of their depravity.
(6b) “For the inward thought of the heart of a man are deep.”
• These men have no restraint…
• These men have no check in their conscience…
They delight only in their wicked plan.
SO DO YOU SEE WHY DAVID MUST PRAY?
• To beat them on this earth, he must become like them.
• To beat them on this earth, he must stoop to their level and play the game as they do.
But he has been forbidden against this.
He cannot beat them at their own game.
He is not allowed to slander and set traps and blaspheme
And secretly make them fall into sin.
David’s only hope is for God to deliver as he continues to walk uprightly.
David must not let evil overcome him.
He must overcome evil with good.
There is so much truth to the Christian life found there.
• We are constantly called to take the high road and not live like the world lives.
• We cannot fight as they fight.
• We cannot war as they war.
TURN TO: EPHESIANS 4:17
Listen as Paul here just reminds us that as believers we cannot live like the Gentiles around us.
• We must be better.
• We must walk uprightly.
• We cannot do what they do.
(Read 4:17-5:16)
Do you see the reality?
• They may slander, but we can’t…
• They may falsely accuse, but we can’t…
• They may set traps, but we can’t…
WE HAVE TO WALK ABOVE.
We have to follow the advice of Peter.
1 Peter 3:13-16 “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”
We have to follow the example of Jesus:
1 Peter 2:21-23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
THIS IS WHERE DAVID IS.
And so he does not take his complaint to the local market or to social media.
HE TAKES HIS COMPLAINT TO GOD.
That is David’s complaint.
#2 DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 64:7-10
HOW QUICKLY THE SCENE CHANGES
When David enters the presence of God and sits in His counsel.
All of a sudden that barking Goliath doesn’t seem so big.
(7) “But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded.”
David’s defense is not a feeble one.
• He has no impotent ally.
• David serves the God who sees all
• David serves the God from whom no man can hide.
David is confident that God can and will demand justice.
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
These men hide and shoot at the upright,
But David is confident that God will shoot at them.
Psalms 7:12-13 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.”
God will do the fighting for David.
(8) “So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; all who see them will shake the head.”
I prefer the King James translation here.
“They make their tongue a stumbling for themselves.”
That is to say that God will expose them
And their own tongues will bring them down.
SUCH IS THE FATE OF ALL LIARS.
• Their lies have an expiration date.
• They only last for so long.
• As we were taught as kids: “O what a tangled web we weave, when first we
practice to deceive.”
• Or we have also been taught: “Liars have to have good memories”
So it is here.
They are filled with confidence in their slanderous lies right now,
But it will all come out and they will be exposed.
And everyone who heard their deceptive reports “will shake the head.”
They will see them for what they are.
(9) “Then all men will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done.”
Here David confidently looks to the last day.
On that last day God will put an end to all such foes.
• Men will look upon them slain and consider all that God did.
• And men will fear God and confess that He alone is God.
The point being that their victory and success is temporary and fleeting.
It will not last.
It will not endure.
They stood at the cross and mocked Him as a blasphemer
And scorned Him as a common criminal.
But what a different scene it will be
When He comes the second time.
On that day their lies won’t have any merit.
(10) “The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory.”
All those who trusted Christ and who walked in His ways
Will rejoice in His victory and in His deliverance.
The faith of the upright will be rewarded and strengthened ever more
And his worship will be even louder on that day.
AND TO THAT WE SEE HOW DAVID OVERCAME.
He overcome the slanderous temptation of the wicked
To join in their pitiful battle
By trusting in God and seeing victory through eyes of faith.
When you truly believe that God will come
And will judge and will reward the upright
Then it is so much easier to be upright.
This song is clearly a song
Of encouragement to the persecuted.
• For those who are reviled and yet commanded to bless.
• For those who are slapped and yet commanded to turn the other cheek.
• For those going that extra mile.
This song is for those who are discouraged by the tactics of the enemy
And have considered stooping to his level
Or out of fear shrinking from their convictions.
It is a song to reset the perspective of the faithful.
• It is to encourage them to see that while there are those hiding in the bushes in order to shoot at them, that there is actually One who is hiding behind them.
It is a song encouraging us to look to the end and stay true
Regardless of the slander and regardless of the intimidation.
And this is actually quite easy to see.
TURN TO: REVELATION 13:16
(Read 16-17)
• How hard it must be in that day to continue to trust God when such threats and policies are enacted against you.
• How tempted the righteous must be to take that mark.
• But how foolish to take it.
And there are many who won’t.
Revelation 12:10-11 “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”
There will be many overcomers who will walk with eyes of faith.
In fact Revelation 14 gives a great picture of those who overcome.
(READ 14:1-5)
• These are men who despite the pressure walked uprightly.
• This is what we are called to do.
• Overcome.
And more show up in chapter 15.
(READ 15:1-4)
Those also are overcomers.
The point is that
• It can be very difficult to live uprightly in a world that hates uprightness.
• It can be very frustrating to walk in truth and still be slanderously attacked as though you don’t.
• It can be very hard to not stoop to the level of the enemy and fight him on his terms.
But we don’t.
• We don’t take our complaint to the world, we take it to God.
• We trust God to help us overcome our dread.
• We trust God to vindicate us and bring forth justice.
• We trust God to expose the wicked and satisfy the faithful.
So much of what we are called to be as Christians can be found here.
But the command is simple.
Overcome.
Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
