Intro:
A. The Divine Diogenes
1. Story in Greek Classical Literature of Diogenes
· Searched all through
· Looking for one truly honest person
· He found none, his search was in vain
2. This text portrays God as the Divine Diogenes (vv 2-4)
· God is looking down on the sons of men
· He finds no one who is truly good
· None of them are seeking after God
B. Two problems with this passage need to be explored.
1. Good way to study the Bible is to face the difficulties it presents us
2. We often learn the most when we are challenged.
I. The Opening Sentence: “The fool has said…”
A. Problem: This seems to portray atheism as silly and frivolous.
1. Yet we know from our culture that this is not so.
· Many atheists are serious and honest people
2. The Hebrew word for “Fool” is “nabal”
· It does not mean “silly,” or “buffoon.”
· It designates a person who lives and acts on the basis of a wrong assumption, and so end up in trouble.
· A nabal is a person who is too arrogant to treat others with respect and consideration
3. Story in I Samuel 25 about a man named Nabal
· Classic description of a Nabal
· He was a rude, boorish man who was called a worthless fellow
· He owed David a favor, and instead of repaying David; he was very rude and insulting to him
· He acted on a wrong assumption – David was no one important to contend with
· Yet David was rising in power, and sets out to attack Nabal
· Nabal’s wife, Abigail, was beautiful and virtuous
· She met David on the way and said, (v 25; p. 270) “Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man. Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him.”
4. A Nabal, therefore, is a person who foolishly refuses to acknowledge those to whom one is indebted.
· The verse isn’t saying that every atheist is a nabal (fool)
· But saying that the person who is too arrogant to realize their need of God is a fool
· They are acting on a wrong assumption that will be devastating in the end.
B. So, this Psalm has little to do with philosophical atheism
1. But with people whose conduct is based on the private assumption
· That they are not accountable to God
· The idea of God is irrelevant to them, and how they live
2. This kind of atheism is practical atheism
· It can be in the life of a religious person as well as a secular person
· The wrong assumption leads to behavior that God is going to judge
C. Patterns within this Psalm
1. Description of the Nabal (vv 3-4)
2. Warnings for the Nabal (5-6)
3. Three Description of the Wicked (Nabal)
First – (v 3) They have strayed from the right way to live
· They are doing things that God himself finds perverse
Second – (v 4) evil people don’t know, don’t perceive what they are doing
· They should and they are responsible for this
· But they act as if they are dangerously oblivious
· They are destroying (consuming) the lives of others
· Have as much care about it as if they were eating bread
Third – (v 4b) They don’t call upon the Lord
· In other words, they really don’t care what God thinks – God is irrelevant
· So they don’t call upon the Lord for his opinion
4. Warning to the Nabal (vv 5-6)
v 5 “There they are in great dread.”
· Of course, this is a visionary look into the future
· The whole problem with these people is that they don’t dread God
· But the Psalmist knows a deeper truth – there ways will lead to destruction
· He sees them in the future in complete dismay, destroyed, shattered
· Why? God is with the righteous. God will not allow this to happen.
Verse 6 – A taunt toward the wicked
My translation: “Will you put to shame the counsel of the afflicted when the Lord is his refuge?”
· What is the counsel of the afflicted?
· It is their best attempt to get out from under the oppression of the wicked.
· “You will scoff and belittle their best effort to be set free from your control.”
· When the Lord is his refuge?” How stupid.
D. What can we learn from this?
1. God is a moral God who has created a moral universe.
· God is not just an old grandpa upstairs who can easily be fooled
· he is not just a Santa Claus God who wants to be nice
· he’s not just your buddy and pal when you need a friend
· God is a moral lawgiver who hates injustice and all evil
· God is the reason why there is a right and a wrong – if there isn’t a God, who can say that anything I do is wrong?
2. Belief in God is a control belief.
· People who really believe that God is aware of how they live – searching for the righteous person like Diogenes
· that God hates evil and will punish all wrongdoing
· that all wrongdoing will be punished
· they will behave differently
· its important to remember this when you do your taxes
· We need to remember that God is searching, looking at our lives, desiring to see righteousness in us
· believing in a moral God, who is watching, who hates evil and punishes evildoer – that belief will change your actions
· your not so quick to rationalize evil if you know you will pay in the end
3. Also – People who are nabal do not call upon the Lord (v 4)
· those who are righteous do – inquire of God for his direction
· When you are in a moral conflict – cannot determine what right and wrong is
· Don’t just say, “forget God, I’m going to do what I like.”
· Inquire of God. Ask for advice from friends and your minister.
· that is a hallmark of someone who is righteous, and cares about right and wrong
· God has always honored my inquiry, and given me the direction I needed.
II. The Second Problem – The Scope of the Indictment
A. VV. 1-3 seem to say that
1. All have played the fool, everyone in the whole world
2. Yet verses 4-6 distinguish between “the evildoers who consume my people” and the lowly righteous who take God as their refuge.
3. What can be made of this contradiction?
· In which group do we fall?
· All are unrighteous according to vv 1-3
4. yet the righteous are mentioned in vv 4-6
5. v 4 “my people” v 5 “the company of the righteous” v 6 the poor who take refuge in God
B. Paul, in quoting this passage in Romans 3, holds on to the tension
1. “All have sinned, but those who believe in Jesus Christ are justified by grace.”
2. It is an important tension to retain.
3. But how do we make sense of it?
· If everyone in the world is really, at bottom, totally corrupt, self-centered, and controlled by sin
· How do we account for the fact that some are mentioned as “righteous.”
· What is the use of trying to live a moral life?
C. A Hard Fact – All of us are “unrighteous
1. We believe in the doctrine of Original Sin
· Because we are Christians, we cannot quickly say, “I’m not unrighteous, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, washed in the blood...etc.”
· yes, that is all true, but remember, that is all a gift we do not deserve
2. It is critical that you and I be able to honestly say
· apart from God’s grace, I am the worst of sinners
· anything good in me is totally because of God’s mercy
· If God were to search the world like a divine Diogenes, looking for the truly honest person – a honesty which came from within
· he would have to pass me by
· all my righteousness comes from God, not from my own doing
3. Because of God’s grace, I am in the company of the righteous
4. Remember what a Nabal is?
· a person who is too arrogant to recognize those to whom they are indebted
· this condition makes one unable to realize how dependent they are on God’s grace
Conclusion
1. Read Philippians 3:4-11
2. Have you been becoming holier-than-thou?
· forgetting the God on whom you are totally dependent?
· acting as if you have some kind of self-derived goodness?
3. Have you been acting as if there was no God?
· forgetting that God is looking for the righteous person
· failing to really pray and seek advice about the moral questions you face?