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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, brethren, welcome to the House of the Lord. Tonight, looks like everyone's ready to go, so open your hymnals and let's turn to hymn number 166. Let's start with hymn number 166, 166. We'll begin by singing, I will praise Him, 166. I will praise Him. And when you have found it, can you please stand? 166, I will praise Him. ["I Will Praise Him"] When I saw the cleansing fountain Open wide for all my sin I obey the Spirit's ruin When He said, Will Thou be clean? I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the Lamb, O sinner slain! Give Him glory, all ye people For His blood can wash away each stain. Though the way seems straight and narrow All I claim was swept away My ambitions, plans and wishes At my feet in ashes slain I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the Lamb, O sinner slain! Give Him glory, all ye people For His blood can wash away each stain. Then God's fire upon the altar Of my heart was set aflame I shall never cease to praise Him Glory, glory to His name! I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the Lamb, O sinner slain! Give Him glory, all ye people For His blood can wash away each stain. Blessed be the name of Jesus I'm so glad He took me in He's forgiven my transgressions He has cleansed my heart from sin I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the Lamb, O sinner slain! Give Him glory, all ye people For His blood can wash away each stain. On the last! Glory, glory to the Father Glory, glory to the Son Glory, glory to the Spirit Glory to the Three in One I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the Lamb, O sinner slain! Give Him glory, all ye people For His blood can wash away each stain. Great singing. Let's go to a word of prayer. Yes, Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to praise You tonight, Lord, to be in Your house, to be gathered together with the believers, the brethren, the sisters that we have, the fellowship that we can have, one with another, Lord. I thank You so much for giving us a family, a body of Christ that we can fellowship in, and to just glorify You, praise You, Lord, and to be removed away from this world just for a few hours, Lord, every week, to come here on a Wednesday night, to hear Your Word preached, to be moved by the Holy Spirit. So, Lord, I just pray You'd receive our worship, our praise toward You. I pray that it would be a sweet-smelling savour toward You, Lord, and that You'd be pleased by all the things done and said tonight. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. All right, let's go to hymn number 161. 161, our great Saviour. 161, our great Saviour. 161, our great Saviour. Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, believing, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus was a strength in me, Let me hide myself in Him, Tempt to try and sometimes fail in me, I say my victory is. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, believing, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus was a hope in sorrow, While the villas hold me warm, Even when my heart is breaking, My comfort helps my soul. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, believing, loving, He is with me to the end. On the fourth. Jesus was a guide and kingdom, While the tempest still is fine, Storms about me, Michael takes me, He my Father, He is my Father. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus, I do now receive Him, Lord of all in Him I find, He has rendered me, Forgive the fires, And He is mine. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! Hallelujah, what a friend! Saving, helping, believing, loving, He is with me to the end. All right, great singing. All right, one more hymn, and then we have our Bible reading. 189, please. It is 189. 189. I never will cease to love Him. 189. I never will cease to love Him. And then we'll have our Bible reading. For all the Lord has done for me, I never will cease to love Him, And for His grace so rich and free, I never will cease to love Him. I never will cease to love Him, My Saviour, my Saviour, I never will cease to love Him, He's done so much for me. He gives me strength for every day, I never will cease to love Him, He leads and guides me all the way, I never will cease to love Him, I never will cease to love Him, My Saviour, my Saviour, I never will cease to love Him, He's done so much for me. For all the world is loving, I never will cease to love Him, I could not such a friend reject, I never will cease to love Him, I never will cease to love Him, My Saviour, my Saviour, I never will cease to love Him, He's done so much for me. While on my journey He'll look, I never will cease to love Him, And when to that right road I go, I never will cease to love Him, I never will cease to love Him, He's my Saviour, He's my Saviour, I never will cease to love Him, He's done so much for me. Psalm 52 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue diviseth mischiefs like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise thee forever, because thou hast done it, and I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints. Let's pray. Heavenly Father God, we thank you, Lord, that you are a graceful, merciful God, but also that you're a righteous God, and that you judge, Lord, and this psalm, it's a powerful psalm, Lord, and pray for our pastor as he comes up and preaches your word and expounds on this psalm, Lord. Be with him. Fill him with your Holy Ghost, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, brother. Okay, so because I'm not going to be here this Sunday, you guys know that usually on Sundays I like to preach chapter by chapter through the Bible. We finish Song of Solomon, and like I normally do between books, we're going to start going through the Psalms, and we'll go through three Psalms at a time, and then we'll hit a new book of the Bible. So I wanted to cover it today, because I won't be preaching to you guys this Sunday. There will be a way in Harley Bay preaching there. But Psalm 52 verse number 4, Psalm 52 is what we're up to, by the way, if you haven't worked that out, but Psalm 52 verse 4 says, Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. The title for the sermon tonight is The Deceitful Tongue. The Deceitful Tongue. Now, what's really interesting about this psalm is that I think in most Bibles you're going to have a bit of an introduction. This Bible that I've got here definitely has an introduction, a title, as it were, to this psalm. So before we get into the psalm, before we understand why these words are spoken, let's see the title, and then we'll go back to the story in the Old Testament that explains why this psalm was written. But it says there, if you've got the title, I think most of you should have that in your Bible, it says, To the chief musician, Maeshel, a psalm of David, so of course we know David, King David is the writer here, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. So they say, well, that's interesting, we've got a few names there, we've got Doeg, we've got Saul, we have Ahimelech, we have David. And so this is very clearly about a psalm, a story, an event that took place in the Old Testament. Now, just to bring you up to speed, obviously you know who Saul is, that's King Saul. So this is actually before David became king. You may recall there was a time when David was a fugitive, he was on the run because King Saul wanted to slay David. And the reason he wanted to slay David is because he was envious, basically he was just envious. You know, King Saul had done great works, King Saul was a victorious king, but David was doing greater works than King Saul. Now what's interesting about this is, you know, just again, think about the events here, you know, obviously we know David was a saved man, King Saul was another saved man. Okay, there's many ways to prove that King Saul was also saved. And so this is really two saved people, one saved individual, one believer, one brother in the Lord is so envious about another brother in the Lord that he wants to slay him. You know, that can happen in your Christianity. Look, you know, I love the house of God, I love the fellowship, I love the brethren, I want to encourage the brethren, I want to motivate the brethren, we ought to love one another, we should encourage one another, but if you let envy get into your heart, it could cause you to even hate your own brothers in the Lord. Okay, King Saul hated David. He was seeking after him to slay him, King David was in the run, and David ended up going to speak to Ahimelech, that we saw in the title, Ahimelech was the priest of the tabernacle in this story. So before we even get to the psalm, let's go to the story. Keep your finger there and please go to 1 Samuel chapter 21. 1 Samuel chapter 21, please. 1 Samuel chapter 21. So we also were introduced to Doeg. Doeg, obviously, the enemy of David. The enemy of David, okay. But 1 Samuel chapter 21 verse 1. Alright, so, again, bringing you quickly up to speed, King Saul is envious about David, he wants to slay David. So David is on the run, he's a fugitive. And then as he's on the run, he's on the run with a few of his men, they get hungry. They're looking for food, they're looking for, you know, just the bare minimum they need to just get through life. It says here in 1 Samuel 21 verse 1, Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. So immediately you can see the names there, right? David's coming to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And notice what happens here. It says, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David and said unto him, Why art thou alone and no man with thee? So Ahimelech realizes, hold on, something's not right here. You know what I mean? Again, David's on the run, he's a fugitive. Ahimelech's not that aware of the situation, but he knows something's wrong for David to come to the tabernacle all on his own. Now he definitely knows who David is. You'll soon see later, he knows that David is the one that defeated Goliath. We can see that later in the chapter, okay? David is a very, you know, he's in the eyes of the Israelites, he's a hero. He's a great hero, he's a great man, but even then Ahimelech says something's off here. Something's not right. David come in here all by yourself. We know what's the business. What's the business? So you know what we see here is some red flags pop up in Ahimelech's mind. Something's not quite right. But what we also notice when it comes to the religious leader of the House of the Lord is that, you know, we need to give people the benefit of the doubt, generally speaking. Like even when you start to notice some red flags amongst individuals or by actions, at the end of the day, you know, I'll tell the truth, I want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. Like even if someone does wrong, I like to think that the guy had at least good intentions. But even if he had good intentions and has done wrong, it's still wrong. It's not an excuse for wrong. But generally, I like to think best of people. And I think Ahimelech here, he knows who David is, even though it causes him some fear, you know, he gives David the benefit of the doubt, okay? And he asks him this question. He goes, why are they alone, verse number one, and no man with thee? Why are you by yourself, David? Verse number two. And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, the king, that's King Saul, have commanded me a business, and have said unto me, let no man know anything of the business where about I sent thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. So King David's, not King David, he's not king yet. David is on the run from King Saul. And he says the reason I'm here, Ahimelech, is because Saul sent me here. Now obviously, David's lying, okay? It's a complete lie. Obviously, he's not being sent by Saul to such and such a place with his men. He's lying, he's hungry, he's seeking some food. He's seeking some nourishment from the house of the Lord, from the tabernacle in this time. Verse number three. And then he says this. Now therefore, what is under thy hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. So look, give me five loaves, or whatever you have, whatever you got presently, please give it to me. I'm on the king's business here. This is official business. This is the important business, even though he's lying about the whole thing, okay? Verse number four. And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread under mine hand. By common bread, he means, we don't just have regular bread just here, you know, that we can serve you, by common bread. The bread that he does have on location is bread that was used for the service in the house of God, which is the showbread, which we'll just keep going there. It says, but there is hallowed bread, that hallowed, of course, means hallowed like holy. So this is bread that's set apart. It's set apart through the service of God. We don't just have everyday bread that you can eat, okay? And then he says, if the young men have kept themselves at least from women, because look, I guess I'm willing to give this bread as long as you guys haven't defiled yourself with women, and I think it's Exodus 19 from memory, just going back to just my preparation, that there was some instruction that in order to serve, you know, obviously the priests had to keep themselves clean, you know, they would go through these washing, these ceremony washings, and if they had been with their wife, within three days they were not allowed to serve, they had to be away from their wives for at least three days to be able to serve in the capacity that they had. So I assume the priest is kind of thinking of these same instructions, well, I guess I can give you this hallowed bread, the showbread, but just make sure, you know, you've not been with your wives, you know, you haven't defiled yourself in that regard, all right? Let's keep going there, verse number five. And David answered the priest and said unto him, of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, so there's that idea, the three days, okay, so they've been cleansed in that way, right? And since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and so they haven't defiled themselves, they've kept themselves clean, right, in that sense, they're washed, and the bread is in the manna common, yea, though it was sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in the day when he was taken away. So basically just saying here that the priest agreed, all right, you can have the showbread, anyway, there was hot bread coming anyway to replace it, they were just about to replace it with fresh hot bread anyway, so that showbread probably would have gone to waste or they were going to get rid of it anyway, so he gives it to David and his men. Hope you guys are following along here, but again, don't forget, David's lying about the whole thing, okay, he's on the run, he's a fugitive. Verse number 7, verse number 7. Now a certain man of the servants of soul was there that day, that means there in the tabernacle, detained before the Lord, so for whatever reason, we don't get given the explanation, but this man is there on business, he's there stopped at the tabernacle for whatever business there is, we're not sure why, he's detained there for a period of time, and his name was Doeg, so now you know where the other name comes from, from the psalm, okay, an Edomite, so he's not even an Israelite, he's an Edomite, okay, the chiefest of the herdmen that belong to soul, so even though he's an Edomite, he's serving King Saul, he's a great herdsman, he's summoning authority, he's got some control over the affairs of soul there. Verse number 8, so this Doeg, he's observing what's happened, like he's watching David speak to the priest, okay, he knows something fishy is going on here, alright, verse number 8, and David said unto Himalek, and there is not here under thine hand spear or sword, okay, for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste, because look, have you got a weapon, because I'm just so busy, I'm in such a rush that I forgot to bring my weapons, okay, so not just food, but he also wants weapons to protect himself, right, and so he asked the question, verse number 9, and the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest, so you can see the priest obviously knows David, David's a hero, hey, you slew this giant, you slew Goliath, hey, we've got his sword, you want to take that, basically, okay, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the epod, if thou wilt take that, take it, for there is no other save that here, and David said, there is none like that, give it me, and David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath, alright, so that's the event that takes place, you notice David, Ahimelech, Doeg, Saul, okay, all the names that are mentioned there in the psalm, well, let's go to the next chapter, first Samuel chapter 22, let's go to the next chapter, verse number 6, first Samuel 22, verse number 6, and King Saul finds out that David is on the run, and, you know, he's got this suspicion that people are helping him, you know, starts to get a little bit, what's the word? Paranoid. Paranoid, man, you know everything, all the words I'm looking for, alright, but, yeah, he's getting a little bit paranoid, because he's like, man, you know, are people turning against me, are they helping David, what's going on here, starts to get definitely paranoid, verse number 6, it says that when Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode in Gibeah, under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him, then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, here now ye Benjaminites, because he himself was a Benjaminite, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, he goes, man, if you guys side with David, is David going to make you a ruler of hundreds, is he going to make you a captain, basically saying, look, David's not going to look out for you Benjaminites, okay, I'm the one that looks out for the Benjaminites, because I'm a Benjaminite myself, okay, he's trying to turn the heart of the tribe against David. Verse number 8, and this is this, that all of you have conspired against me, because there's a conspiracy in Benjamin, you're all turning to David, but there's no evidence of that, okay, he's paranoid, he thinks there's a conspiracy against him, alright, he's losing it, he's losing his mind, King Saul, okay, and so he says, sorry guys, I keep losing my spot there, verse number 8, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, his son of course being Jonathan, alright, perfect, okay, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie and wait was at this day, so he's like, you know, he's frustrated, none of you guys are helping me against David, you guys know that my son Jonathan's a friend of David, couldn't any of you tell me that Jonathan is helping David, right, like I said, paranoid. Verse number 9, now comes Doeg, now he seizes his opportunity, okay, because he was a witness of David coming into the house of the Lord, and don't forget, when we look at these stories, when we look at the house of the Lord as part of the story, what I want you to be thinking about is the New Testament house of the Lord, your local church, New Life Baptist Church, okay, the things that we read about that take place in the house of God in the Old Testament, can take place in the house of God of the New Testament, okay, so these are stories to make us aware of situations, you see Doeg here, he finds an opportunity to make a name for himself, he says in verse number 9, Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse come into Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he, that's Ahimelech, inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine, he goes, you know what, at Ahimelech, I saw him, he gave David food, and he gave him the sword, what's he making, what kind of story is he putting forth, now was he a witness of these events, of course he was, okay, he's a witness, and he's telling the truth to some extent, but as you keep going, again, Doeg saw all of this, but he's not going to give Saul the full truth, he's not going to tell King Saul, but here's the thinking, David lied, he misled Ahimelech the priest, he's not going to say that, he's going to make it look like Ahimelech is completely behind David, completely against Saul, part of the conspiracy to frustrate Saul, people can deceive, and it's not always with lies, Doeg doesn't tell a lie, but what he does is he tells half truths, you know, Ahimelech, yeah he did give him food, he did give David the sword, but he was deceived by David, he thought David was actually on a business for King Saul, but Doeg hides that part of the story, he just makes it seem like, yep, Ahimelech's in favour of David, Ahimelech and the priest, they've all turned against you king, verse number 11, then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob, and they came all of them to the king, so all the priests, all of the people of the house of God, verse number 12, and Saul said, here now thou son of Ahitub, and he answered, here I am my lord, and Saul said unto him, why have ye conspired against me? Now has Ahimelech really conspired against him? Of course not, okay, Doeg gave half-truths, half-truths, he deceived Saul, he made Saul think that the priest was against him, and brethren, I want you to be cautious of half-truths, be careful of half-truths in the house of God, be careful when people are telling you half-truths about this pastor, or about any pastor, be careful, it's easy to believe, because they are truths to some extent, but there's important information that's missing, and you say, why do people do that? Look, there are times that you may tell an event, you may try to recollect something in the past, and you might forget, just as you're having a conversation, you might forget certain important facts, just because you're trying to remember things on the go, you might just forget some certain facts, and the person that you're speaking to might walk away with a different impression of what you're trying to communicate, look, obviously these things can happen, okay, but one thing that I want you to be aware of, if you start to notice a pattern in people that tell half-truths, beware, be careful, that person is a doeg, okay, they're trying to find an opportunity to make a name for themselves, you know, we'll soon see later that this man is looking for an opportunity to be promoted by King Saul in order to have riches, to turn a brother in the Lord against another brother in the Lord, to destroy the house of the Lord, to destroy the religious leaders, this person has an ulterior motive, you be careful when people are telling you half-truths, now again, you're not always going to know that immediately, okay, but in time you'll start to discover that, you know, have you, you know, in your past, have you ever met someone that is full of half-truths and then you've discovered later on, I didn't hear the whole truth, and you know, you give people the benefit of the doubt, it's like, well, maybe they just forgot, you know, maybe I was just the one that should have paid attention, maybe I should have asked better questions, because I was left a little deceived by that conversation, maybe the problem is me, and look, that can happen, like I said, a one-off situation, you forget a few facts, someone walks away with a different impression, these things can happen in normal life, okay, but when someone starts to develop a pattern, okay, watch out, that person is a dough egg, they're leaving out parts of the story for their own purpose, for their own benefit, okay, they're looking to destroy the house of God, be careful about this individual, say what individual he's speaking about, Pastor Kevin, I don't know, just in case an individual like that appears in this house, be careful, because they're seeking to destroy, let's keep going there, verse number, someone can help me out, verse number 13, and so said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword, and has inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? Did you advise David to rise up against me? Did you go to David and say, hey, God's behind you, go and destroy Saul, again, King Saul's losing it, okay, paranoid, thinks everything's a conspiracy, you know, he's targeted, everyone's after him, right, everyone's after him, verse number 15, sorry, verse number 14, and a himalek answered the king and said, and, sorry, and who is so faithful, among all thy servants as David? He goes, a himalek's confused, he goes, but David's one of your most faithful servants, like, a himalek doesn't realise that there's this problem between David and Saul, he goes, look, I helped David because he's your most faithful servant, he loves you, King Saul, like, aren't you his father-in-law, like, didn't you give your daughter to be his wife? I mean, you guys are related even, right? So like, a himalek is like, this accusation, okay, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, he goes, David does everything you want, king, and is honourable in thine house? I mean, everyone holds him in high honour, in your own house, King Saul, he's like, what? Like, you know, I'm confused, right, about this, verse number 15, did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me, let not the king impute anything unto his servants, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more, because I have no idea about your conflict, I have no idea that David's on the run, and you guys are at war one with another, I have no idea about this, I thought David was a good man, I thought you loved David, I thought you guys, you know, I helped David because he's honourable in your own house, so obviously a himalek is innocent, he's not trying to side with one party or the other party, right, he's just thinking he's doing the best he can, he thinks by helping David, he's actually helping King Saul, because he was lied to, David thought, you know, David told that lie, that it was about the king's business, verse number 16, and the king said, thou shalt surely die a himalek, thou and all thy father's house, a himalek, you're gonna die and your whole family's gonna die, for nothing, like he's done nothing wrong, okay, verse number 17, and the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me, but the servants, look at this, but the servants of the king, would not put forth their hand, to fall upon the priests of the Lord, so look, King Saul's obviously very angry, even his servants are like, man, king, we can't kill the priests, like we can't kill God's men here, they're serving God's house, you know, God has set these people aside, to be the priests, we can't kill these men, you know, obviously the fear of the Lord, for these people are greater than the fear of man, okay, so verse number 18, look what happens, and the king said unto Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priests, okay Doeg, since my servants can't kill him, you go and kill him, you go and kill the priests, and Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day, look at this, four score, that's 80 and five persons, 85 persons, and did wear a linen ephod, sorry, that did wear a linen ephod, so he kills 85 priests, Doeg's got no problem doing this, you can definitely see, he's a wicked man, he hates the house of the Lord, he hates the priests, he hates the men of God, because yeah, I'll kill him, easy, alright, because King Saul looks highly upon me, you know, I'm the one that came to King Saul, with this information, half truths, but hey, trust me, I'm going to go and step in and kill the priests of God, innocent people, verse 19, and Nob, the city of the priests, smote here with the edge of the sword, look at this, both men and women, children and sucklings, so not just the priests, then he goes to Nob and starts killing the priests' families, their wives, their children, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword, and he goes crazy with his power, verse number 20, and one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David, and Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the Lord's priests, look at verse number 22, how David responds, and David said unto Abiathar, Abiathar, I knew it that day when, look, he goes, I knew it that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, because man, I knew this was going to happen, when I went to the house of the Lord and I saw Doeg there, I just knew Doeg was up to no good, that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house, so he feels guilty about this, abide thou with me, fear not, for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life, but with me, thou shalt be in safeguard, so David does the best he can, he goes, look, I'll protect you, man, because of me, because of my actions, I knew Doeg was there, you know, I still had this conversation, I still lied and it caused the death of your family, so in return, I will look after you, I will protect you from the enemy, alright, but I think we learned a lesson there, okay, that there might very well be Doegs that abide in the house of the Lord, that creep into our church for destruction, to hurt brethren, to bring division amongst friends, to cause people to turn against the religious leader, in this case, the pastor, be careful, and you know what, that Doeg, they'll come with you with half-truths, they won't outright lie, so you can't turn around and say, well, you lied, well, no, I didn't lie, you just misunderstood what I meant, I told you the truth, I just forgot that part of the story, sorry, even though it was so important to say that Ahimelek was deceived, David told Ahimelek a lie, look, if he had just told Saul that, I'm sure Saul would have been somewhat reasonable, probably still angry, but, you know, to slay all the priests and their families and their cattle and everything they've got, Doegs, be careful of a Doeg, be careful of someone that speaks half-truths, I think the other lesson that we learned in this story is, be careful what you say in church, because there could be someone there that would, just waiting, just waiting for that opportunity, for a mistake to be made, just waiting for an opportunity for some words to be exchanged, where they can take those words to their advantage, to destroy people, and then lift themselves up in a prominent position, whatever that position may be, please be careful about even what you say in the house of the Lord, there might be, look, I don't think so, I look at the church and I love you all, honestly, I love you all, but, you know, even then I'm careful about what I say, there might be things that I think about, and I just think, I'm not going to say that, because I don't want that word to be exaggerated, or someone says, you know, what pastor said about you, I try to be careful, you know, when I have words to say, and you know what, if I have something to say to an individual, I'll go up to that individual and talk to them, you know, honestly, I've done that already in the past, okay, but just, you guys be careful as well, be careful, there might be dough eggs there that are seeking to destroy our church, alright, hope that brings you up to speed to the story, let's go to Psalm 52 now, let's go to Psalm 52 verse number 1, it's not a very long psalm, but I think knowing the story really helps highlight what this psalm is all about, so Psalm 52 verse number 1, now David here is speaking to dough egg poetically in a song, okay, he says, why boastest thou thyself in mischief, so he's speaking about dough egg, so what's dough egg doing, he's boasting, he's like, King Saul believes me, you know, I'm here behind King Saul, you know, I'm the one that's willing to carry out the dirty business that King Saul wanted to do, there's no other service that wanted to slay the priest, I'll do it, he believed me, and he gets a nice prominent position, he's boasting in mischief, so David says, why boastest thou in mischief, Almighty man, look at this, the goodness of God endureth continually, he says, you know what, but I know God is good, and his goodness will continue, you know, what is he saying by that, he's saying, God is going to judge you, God is going to destroy you, for the wickedness that you've done in the house of the Lord, and you know what, when God judges the wicked, that's the goodness of the Lord, that's God doing good, when he destroys and he judges the wicked, so David, obviously, you know, feeling guilty about what happened, about the priest dying because of his actions, you know what, but he finds encouragement thinking about how God's going to step in and reward the wicked by destroying them, you know, the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 12, a naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a throwed mouth, so his mouth says harsh and horrible things, damaging things, he says, he winketh with his eyes, wink, wink, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers, I kind of think of the idea, he speaketh with his feet, it's like he likes to get into the problems, he likes to find an issue that he can cause an issue, like he wants to be there, he wants to be in the middle of the issue, and then it says that he points with his fingers, like the accusations, yep, I saw him like there with David, throwedness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually and soweth discord, therefore shall his calamity come suddenly, suddenly shall he be broken down without remedy, you know, these people that are wicked seem to cause discord amongst God's people, God hates that, God will destroy that individual, and we see in this psalm, prophetically, like we don't know what happens to Doeg afterwards, we don't hear about his end, but through this psalm, we see a prophecy of his destruction, that God is going to deal with him, okay, verse number two, it says, thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully, that's quite interesting, so his tongue is being compared to a sharp razor, now a razor in the Bible, you know, I looked this up, I just wanted to see, you know, make sure, but a razor is obviously not a sword, it's a knife or scissors, you know, something to cut hair, you know, anytime you see a razor in the Bible, it's an instrument to cut hair, it's not a weapon of warfare, and I thought this was quite interesting, that these deceitful people, these half truths, you know, have you ever heard the saying, death by a thousand cuts, that's how they operate, death by a thousand cuts, death by a thousand cuts, they take the razor, you know, you can't really go to war with a razor, you know, you're not going to go and slay someone with one slice of a razor, but just the idea, just of a thousand cuts, just by my words, just saying something, causing discord, causing confusion, just a word here, a word there, a word there, you know, for people to be a little confused, what do you mean by that, are you saying this person's wicked, are you saying the past has done something wrong, but it's just little cuts, little cuts, little cuts with a razor, you know, death by a thousand cuts, meaning that a cut by itself is not enough to kill, but when you have those thousand cuts, that person's going to be tortured and die because of blood loss, but it's just little cuts, you know, so you can't really pin that person down, you can't be like, hey, you know what, you went on the attack, you'd be like, no, no, you know, I told the truth, it was half-truths, just little cuts, little cuts here and there, causing people to turn against one another, oh, I heard brother so-and-so say this about you, you know, but, you know, I'm not trying to gossip, I just heard that, just thought I'd leave that with you, see you later, you know, just leaving some, oh, that's interesting, I wonder why did that person say that about me, you know, but it probably means nothing, half-truths, if you knew the full context, you'd be like, who cares, but they leave you half-truths, just little words, little things, that they've, you know, they've discovered true things, half-truths, to cause problems, okay, to cause division, to cause division, to cause torture, that, you know, this is the wickedness of dough eggs, in the house of God, just little cuts here and there, little cuts, again, you don't see it immediately, okay, you can have a little, I'm sure you've had little cuts on your hand, and you don't even notice them, until you start, oh, man, I'm bleeding, okay, you know, these people are not found out straight away, you start to see a pattern of their life, you see a pattern of half-truths, you see a pattern of mischief, and cutting, and destruction, you know, just a little bit at a time, we need to be aware of, in the house of the Lord. Verse number 3, it says, thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Okay, so he loves evil more than god, he wants to see the destruction of a ... and he is also a priest, I mean it would be so easy for him to defend ... some people who were fighting for him, it cannot make sense, so he sees, So we say, look King, I did see David, he went to the house of God, but he lied to the priest, the priest helped him out there, now they've got food, now they've got a weapon, they've got the sword of Goliath, but you know, don't get angry at them because they were just being deceived. I mean that would not have been difficult to say. You know, he still would have had the ear of Saul, and Saul would have been like, man, Doeg, you know, at least you're behind me, at least you're someone that I can trust. He wants to see the destruction of God's people. He wants to see weakness, he wants to see destruction, he wants to lie rather than speak righteousness. Half-truths. What are half-truths? It's when people withhold information, okay, to deceive you, withhold parts of a story to deceive you. I can think of people like this, but again, you don't know straight away, like you don't really realize, and let's keep going there, verse number four. It says, they'll love us all devouring words, oh, thou deceitful tongue. So doegs, the people that are doegs, they've got that deceitful tongue, okay. What it says there, they'll love us all devouring words, so devour is to swallow up, to destroy. They will see destruction. Again, I can think of people that I've come across that love destruction, they love drama. When there's peace, they're not satisfied. They like to stir the pot. Have you ever heard that before? I think I shared with this church once, I worked with someone once that would admit to me I love stirring the pot. Like just coming to work to do a job, to do a job well, get paid and go home was not enough. This person that I worked with just admitted to me I love to stir the pot. I love to cause conflict, like I just love to, did you know that, and then they leave and they just watch. Let's see. Let's see what happens. Let's see the kind of problems that happens. That's why I come to work, not just to do the job, but to stir the pot, to cause conflict. Man, there are people, you know, probably for a lot of us we're like, that's crazy. Like why? You know, why would you want to do that? But they're honestly, they're so wicked. They're so hateful. You know, they're so envious, right, they're just, you know, instead of lifting up other people, they think they can make a name for themselves, they think they can profit, they think they can benefit by destroying other people. Be careful. There's dangerous people in the world. And these dangerous people, they love to come into the house of God. They love to cause mischief in the house of God. Be very careful. And again, you say, oh yeah, Pastor, I can think of this one time when Brother so-and-so said this, I think it was half truth, look, give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, like a himalak, right? Red flag, but you know, I'm still going to trust you, David, right, you're a hero. Like, you know, I understand that sometimes God's people are going to make mistakes, sometimes they're going to fall, okay, because we're sinners, okay, surprise, we're sinners. And we have the flesh and we make mistakes and, you know, we can say something that we don't really, we didn't really mean to come across that way, but it came across that way and, you know, I don't want you to just immediately just throw someone out and say, oh man, I knew it, this is a dough egg, but I'm just saying, be careful of the pattern. If you start seeing a pattern in people, beware, be careful. Now you know, I can think of one situation, one man who I thought was a godly man, I thought, you know, I'm talking about a pastor here, that I thought had a love for God and a love for the people of God and, you know, I would have conversations and I'd hear something and I just believe it. Again, I just want to give people the benefit of the doubt, I just believe that and what I believed was true, but then I found out in other discussions that they were just half truths. The parts that were missing were misguiding me, giving me a different impression and again, I just thought, well, my problem, that's my, it's my fault, I guess, for not being clear enough, not asking enough information, I'll give this person a benefit of the doubt and then I talk to other people and they start to say, well, you know, he told me this, but it's kind of true, but if he just mentioned the whole thing, then I would understand it better. You know, there were promises made and things were said, but it doesn't seem like it eventuated or, you know, and then like everyone's kind of like, it's a past, everyone's like, well, I mean, that must be the problem, it must be with us, with me. At some point, we're like, no, no, you're like the third or fourth person that's saying you've heard half truths and you've been deceived and you've got this different impression, no, no, this can't, this doesn't go on, this is a pattern, there's a clear pattern in this individual. This person is destructive. This person's, you know, cares about himself. He wants to see God's people destroyed, you know, for his own benefit. Half-truths, too many half-truths, too many people left with a wrong idea of what this individual wanted to do, okay, and again, look, this individual I consider a brother and a lord, I realise that people can get so, I don't know, like King Saul, I guess, so envious, so angry at a fellow brother, you know, so puffed up, you know, so upset when others are doing well for the Lord and they just lose it. They just do strange things. Be careful. You know what, if you succeed in God's business, in God's service, I want to rejoice. I want to say, amen, praise God. You know, any church, I don't care if, you know, if there's a good church and they don't believe in the rep rate doctrine, they don't believe in a post-treat pre-rep rapture, they still believe the Jews are God's people, hey, but they're saved and they're doing great works for God and they're doing the great commission, they're seeing souls saved and they're preaching great sermons and they're helping the people of God, praise God. Like, I'm not looking to destroy God's people. And I said before, if you guys say, hey, pastor, New Life After Church is not the church for me, you know, there's another church that I believe I can get plugged into, you know, the King James only, they love the Lord, they're soul winning, you know, they're preaching the right gospel, I think we'll fit better there as a family or as an individual, whatever. You know what, as much as it makes me sad to lose you in the church, you know, I'm just glad that you're there just loving the Lord, you're serving the Lord, you're getting behind that church, you're getting behind that pastor. Like, honestly, I just want every one of God's people to do very well in life because there's so few of us that are saved. There's so few of us that actually really love the Lord and are seeking to serve Him with our lives. There's so few. So I just want to get behind you and encourage you. There's a problem when there's a brother in the Lord or a sister in the Lord that's just trying to destroy God's people, trying to just put them down out of envy, out of spite, out of hatred, just out of wickedness. It's crazy to me. Why? But hey, we have these stories in the Bible to open our eyes. I've said it to you before, I'm kind of naïve, I kind of like being naïve sometimes. Because again, I want to think the best of people. I don't want to just be constantly going back home after church going, oh man, that brother, I knew it. Sister so-and-so, I just knew that was going to happen. I knew she was wicked. I knew he was doing no good. I don't want to be that way. It's more like, yeah, he did something wrong. He's a sinner. He needs to be encouraged. Maybe he's far from the Lord and I want to bring him back walking the Lord. That's where my heart truly is for you as an individual, for the brethren. There are king souls out there, there are dough eggs out there that are just full of conspiracies, you know, complete paranoid about situations that hate the brethren, that hate the house of the Lord. It's just the reality. We've got these Old Testament stories to teach us these truths in the New Testament so we don't stay naïve, that we open our eyes and pay attention when we start to see a pattern of bad works, a pattern of half truths, a pattern of deception. Look at verse number five. So this is the prophecy. This is what David says about dough egg. He goes, God shall likewise destroy thee forever. So what does that prove to us? If it's going to be destroyed forever, this proves that dough egg was obviously not a saved man, okay, because he can be destroyed on this earth. Like even you as a Christian can be so wicked that you lose your savour, that you lose your purpose, that you're no good but to be thrown down by the foot of men. Even a Christian gets to that point. But listen, even if that Christian perishes, he still wakes up to be in heaven. Okay, praise God that salvation is not based on works. You know, he's put his faith and trust in Jesus. But for a person to be destroyed forever obviously speaks of the fact that this man went to hell. This man died without Jesus Christ. This is why for him it's just no business. It's so easy for him to just go and kill the men of God. Go and kill these priests. Even the other servants of soul are like, we can't do this. We can't kill our fellow man. We can't kill God's people. Dough egg, too easy. There's no love for God's people. Just wickedness. No love for God. No love for God's people. Seeking to destroy. God promises, by this prophecy here, that God will destroy him forever. He shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place. And root thee out of the land of the living, sailor. So he says, look, David, look, God's going to kill you. God's going to remove you from your house. God's going to kill you and you're going to be destroyed forever. You're going to burn in the lowest hell, dough egg, for your actions. Verse number six. And look at this. The righteous, those are the believers, also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Imagine that, dough egg. You know, the believers are like laughing at him. Look at his destruction. Look how God is judging this man. And they laugh. You know, finally, you know, God's justice, God's vengeance has fallen upon this man. Hey, they're rejoicing at the wicked being destroyed. You know what? There's a time to rejoice when the wicked are destroyed by the hand of God. There's a time to rejoice. But primarily, what are we rejoicing? Are we just rejoicing about a soul going to hell? We're rejoicing that God has stepped in and judged righteously. We're rejoicing by the fact that the wickedness has not gone, has not escaped God's sight. God's seen it. God has seen what wicked people do to God's people. And He's judged them. He judges them. He destroys them. When you see the hand of God's judgment upon a wicked people. Look at verse number seven. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches. So you can see what Doeg's motivation was. Riches. He had no fear of God. He didn't make the God of Israel his God. He's like, I'm after riches. He goes, man, if I do this, I can get rich. I can be in soul's ear. Soul will look at me and promote me. Give me riches. So I'm going to go and destroy and kill and murder innocent people. Destroy God's house for the abundance of riches. And strengthen himself in his wickedness. Now, this is what's interesting in verse number eight. Because, we read here, but I am, so this is David. He goes, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. Now again, what is the house of God that's taking place? This is the tabernacle. The very same tabernacle that he went to and got his food from Ahimelek. Okay, and got the sword of Goliath. You know, David's like, you know what, Ahimelek, sorry, you know what, Doeg, I'm still going to be in the house of the Lord. Like, even though you were there in the house of the Lord, even though you caused division and destruction, I'm still going to be in the house of the Lord. And when I thought about this, I was thinking, you know what, that's true. Sometimes problems, conflicts, can develop in the church. You know, sometimes there can be major issues. Sometimes we have to discipline people and kick them out of the church. And, you know, it's not always popular. It's not what people really want to experience. Like, again, when you come to the house of God, you're probably looking just for a place of refuge, a place to recharge yourself in God's word and, you know, to get back out there in a wicked world and continue just being, you know, thinking of God at the forefront of your mind. That's probably why we want to come to church. Like, we don't really want to come to church to see conflicts, to see 85 men of God being killed, you know, a great conflict. That's not, but look, it happens. It happens. And you know what, when it happens, and if it does happen in our church, I want you to make the decision, like David did, that says, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. You know what, I'm going to keep coming to church, even though there's conflicts. I'm going to keep coming, even if the pastor had to kick out my best friend for his wickedness. I'm going to keep coming because if I keep coming to the house of God, I'm going to be like a green olive tree. The green, obviously referring to the fact that it's an olive tree that's well watered, an olive tree that's fruitful, that it's established. It's a tree where its roots are dug in deep. Okay, it's unmovable, it's solid, but it's well watered, it's been looked after, and it's fruitful. Reverend, make sure you always prioritize the house of God, even if it's not in your life at this church. Even if you find yourself one day in another city, you know, young people, you're not all going to be here until you're, I hope you are all here, okay, but you know, you'll probably find yourself in other places in Australia one day, maybe other places in the world. You know, when you make a decision to go to a certain place, make sure you first have found a house of God that you can get yourself established in, where you can bring your roots in deep, where you can be that green olive tree, fruitful, unmovable, well nourished. We need the house of God. And Reverend, once again, even if there's major conflicts that develop in this church one day, problems, just say, you know what, I'm still going to be in the house of God. Okay, because I've read in the Bible, look man, look at all the problems that happen in the house of God, and King David is still there. Okay, a man after God's own heart. And then he says in verse number eight, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. Because man, I need God's mercy. Because I mean, David didn't do right. He lied, he actually caused this to happen. Okay, I'm not trying to make an excuse for David's lies. I mean, David's just a man. Okay, I mean, David's a great man. Used mightily by God, but there are times that even he could have looked at a situation a little bit better. Even he should have realized, man, doegsi, I better be careful. Maybe I'll wait for doeg to go, and then I'll call him like to a private area because doeg, you know, I can see that he's there. Maybe he should have been a little bit wiser, maybe a little bit more alert about the potential dangers. Okay, we don't always have to make excuses when we see God's men do something wrong. It's just they're people. Okay, you do things wrong, I do things wrong. Okay, but you know, he says, you know what, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. You know, if I just make God's house a priority, I know I'm gonna be blessed. I know I'm gonna be blessed by God. I know I'm going to see the mercies of God if I just stay in his house, if I just stay in church. Let that be your heart as well. Verse number nine, and then he says, I will praise thee forever. Again, we're in the house of God. I will praise thee forever because thou has done it. He goes, Lord, you've taken out my enemy. Again, speaking prophetically, you're gonna wipe out doeg, and because of that, you're gonna wipe out doeg, and because of that, because the wicked doesn't go unpunished, because you're a righteous God that judges righteously, I'm going to praise you forever, because thou has done it. And I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints. Because Lord, I'm gonna wait for you to destroy doeg. I know it's happening, I know it's gonna happen. You know what, he goes, for it is good before thy saints. It's good to develop patience. It's good not to take your own vengeance on someone that has done you wrong. It's good for you to go, Lord, I'm just gonna praise you. I'm gonna be in your house. Lord, you've seen the wickedness that has taken place. You've seen how people have betrayed me, have attacked me, persecuted me, have lied to me, have deceived me, Lord, but I'm just gonna be patient in your house and wait for your time to destroy them, to judge them. That's the right approach. I like this, I like this psalm. I hope you guys like this psalm as well. Okay, I will praise you forever because thou has done it and I'll wait on thy name for it is good before thy saints. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I wanna thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for these stories that we see in the Old Testament and, Lord, it does really open our eyes to the things that can take place, Lord, even in our local church. And Lord, I just pray that we would be people that when we speak to one another would be honest. Lord, that we would give the full report without any dangers of deception, Lord, when we speak to one another. Lord, if there's anyone in our church that ever seeks to creep in and to cause hurts amongst the brethren, Lord, I just pray that you'd run them out. Lord, I just pray that you would judge them and, Lord, that you would just keep the unity, the love that we have in our church. And Lord, for the brethren that might be babes in the Lord, Lord, that, you know, Lord, that maybe, you know, hate division and hate conflicts, Lord, that even when these things take place in the house of the Lord, they will continue to seek you, continue to be in your house, continue to praise you, Lord, and that we would just wait patiently for you, Lord, to take your vengeance. Lord, we thank you so much for being a great God, for protecting us. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, brethren, please take your hymnals. Take your hymnals and let's turn to hymn number 216, 216. King David said, I trust in the mercy of God. 216, it says, surely goodness and mercy. Surely goodness and mercy. 216. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.