[When I turn back to the Lord, he will
rejoice] Psalm 52:1–9
Our Acts devotional QT has concluded
yesterday. Beginning as a letter to Theophilus, it ends with “he taught boldly
and without restraint about the Lord Jesus Christ.” This abrupt conclusion,
without a formal farewell, is because the Acts of the Holy Spirit is not yet
finished. We too hope to continue meditating on the Word in the same way,
writing down the Holy Spirit's ‘Acts of Us’.
Today's passages are Psalms 52 and 53. In
Psalm 52, David meditates on ‘one man’ who sought to harm him, yet instead sees
his own sins committed with his tongue. He comes to understand the amazing
grace and love God has shown him, singing that even in the cave of Adullam, he
enjoys heaven. Psalm 53 also confesses that when God turns us, who are captive
to sin and death, the redeemed people rejoice. Therefore, difficult people and
challenging circumstances are ‘meritorious ones’ laboring for us to enjoy eternal
heaven, and through suffering, we can rejoice even more in God who turns us
back. So today, we will meditate under the title ‘When I Turn Back to the Lord,
He Will Rejoice.’
First, God judges my sin since He loves
me. The heading of Psalm 52 records it thus: When
Doeg the Edomite told Saul that David had come to the house of Ahimelech."
At that time, David was being pursued by
Saul, his father-in-law, who sought to kill him. Yet even Doeg, a member of
another tribe, betrayed David's location to Saul. Doeg's selfish act, motivated
by a desire to curry favor with Saul and gain worldly success, was an evil
scheme for his own gain alone. Yet David does not respond with a plan to oppose
this. Instead, he sings, “God's steadfast love endures forever.” The conviction
that God loves us is the self-esteem we should hold onto in any circumstances.
David says Doeg's tongue flatters for success, acting treacherously toward him
like a sharp sword. He explains this is because Doeg loves evil more than good,
falsehood more than righteousness. David pauses with ‘Selah’ for meditation,
then reflects deeply on the tongue. He concludes that our own tongues are also
deceitful. We pretend to speak out of concern while delighting in exposing
others' shame and sin. Yet, when the tongue is used according to God's purpose,
it is to confess our own sin and shame revealed through His Word within the
community. David then pronounces God's judgment. For only by facing
judgment and repentance on this earth can we escape eternal destruction. The
suffering of being temporarily uprooted from the tent and having our roots torn
from the ground is God's love for us. The joy we can experience within the
community is that our verbal slips and sins are laid bare, allowing us to
repent and turn back. In Psalm 23, David confessed, 'Your kindness and mercy
follow me all the days of my life.'
‘Follow’ means to pursue with fiery eyes,
like a hound tracking its prey. In this sense, even if Israel becomes captive,
God’s love is revealed in His turning us back—even if it means permitting us
to suffer.
Second, the righteous fear God before
judgment.
Verse 6 introduces the ‘righteous.’ The
characteristic of the righteous is that they see what God does and fear Him.
Conversely, Doeg does not fear God, so he takes the lead in killing the
priests. Therefore, it is said that at the time of judgment, the righteous will
mock him. This reversal is judgment for the unbeliever, but salvation for the
believer. The characteristic of the wicked is that they trust in GOLD rather
than GOD. Those who firmly establish themselves in evil cannot escape God's
eternal judgment. In contrast, David in the cave experiences that God alone
is his strength. Yet, even as we claim to trust only in God, we immediately
waver and shake when something else becomes our reliance. Therefore, we must
hear the suffering of others as our own story and realize that we too can
become a ‘Doeg’ who relies on anything but God at any moment. God's
greatest love is to reverse events through judgment, compelling us to cling
to Him.
Third, He enables us to experience
heaven wherever we are.
Though Doeg and Saul still threaten David,
David lives a life of “but.” Even in the cave of Adullam, he confesses he is a
green olive tree in God's house because he forever trusts in God's kindness.
Like David's confession, there is no such thing as a good environment or a bad
environment; the environment that leads us to trust in God is the best
environment. David confesses that because the Lord's name is good, he longs
for the Lord's name before the saints. This underscores the necessity of
community. David's community was one where those afflicted, in debt, and
oppressed called upon the Lord's name. A heavenly community rejoices not
based on circumstances or environment, but solely because of the Lord.
This is a community confession. I thought, ‘If
I marry someone with a prestigious academic background, I'll live comfortably
for the rest of my life.’ But after marriage, my husband quit his job while I
was undergoing surgery and stayed home for nearly ten years. I resented God,
asking why He allowed this when I believed so fervently. Then I was led to the
community and realized my sin was 'putting myself one step ahead of God.'
I expected my husband to have a ‘big break,’ but instead, he suffered a stroke.
My business also grew increasingly difficult, leading me to repent for how
zealous I had been. Even then, I still craved recognition from others,
pretending to joyfully carry heavy burdens. But last year, burnout hit, and
resentment toward my in-laws surfaced. I grew furious when I felt
unappreciated. Yet, through the pastor who exercised my husband for two hours
daily, the deacon who hung food on my door handle, and the community that held
my hand, I endured to this point. In community, I learned anew that faith is
irrational. Beloved friends, God's love in giving His only Son is
irrational. Having received that love and found a good community, we must
cling tightly to it and fulfill our calling. May we dwell eternally in God's
house like the evergreen olive tree, and together write the remaining
chapters of the Holy Spirit's work.
