Extending God's Grace:
As those who have been saved by God's grace, we are to demonstrate concern for
those who are lost and held captive by the power of sin.
Here now is Gene Getz:
In this particular psalm,
David actually outlines
what we might call a very sad situation. And it begins right from the very
beginning in verse 1. Psalm 36:1:
"An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression
of the wicked person: There is no
dread of God before his eyes."
An oracle, basically, can be defined as a message from God. Sometimes it's a
prophetic message.
But it definitely is a message from God
Himself. And David is sharing that oracle
with us in this particular psalm. Now
it's interesting that the apostle Paul-- jumping immediately
into the New Testament--probably
had this psalm in mind when he penned the opening chapters of the book
of Romans. And we see that clearly
by his affirmation, in a sense, of what
David has written here. Notice
what Paul wrote in verse 18: "For God's wrath is revealed from heaven
against all godlessness and unrighteousness
of people who by their unrighteousness
suppress the truth." In essence, this is what David is saying
in this particular psalm. He's talking about people
who suppress the truth. And that is a natural outcome
of what David says: "There is no dread of God before
his eyes." That is certainly suppressing
the truth. In Romans 3:18, jumping ahead a couple chapters in the book Romans,
we see this affirmation continuing. And here,
basically, is where we see Paul's affirmation continuing.
And here, he basically quotes David
because we read: "There is no fear
of God before their eyes."
David says there's no "dread" and Paul uses the word "fear."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." In other words,
it's basically a very clear statement
of what David said. He's referring back to this
psalm. Now, if you go back to the psalm, you'll see that David
elaborated in Psalm 36,
verses 2 to 4: "For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to discover and hate his sin."
And as I was thinking about that, I couldn't help but think about
our culture in terms of the way people
think. The way they operate. Particularly,
thoughts that came to my mind. For example,
in the political arena, wherever we find ourselves
on planet earth. And certainly within our
own culture, where people almost seem to be blind
to the truth that God has outlined.
Or even suppressing the truth. Look at
the business world and the direction of our culture in that particular
arena. In terms of the way people operate. The way they focus. The self orientation.
Think of the entertainment industry which is probably the worst.
Because when you look at the entertainment industry and you read
the opening lines here, think about it.
"For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to discover and hate his sin."
I think we see this taking place throughout
our whole culture. Well, David goes on to elaborate. He says, "The words
of his mouth are malicious
and deceptive; he has stopped acting
wisely and doing good." I don't think we live,
or have lived, at a time in our own culture
where people are so blatant
in their communication about each other.
And how they define each other. And to me, it
is a tragedy.
The psalmist goes on to say, "Even on his bed he makes malicious plans. He sets himself on
a path that is not good and does not reject evil."
And when you think in terms
of a path. You know, setting yourself
on a path that is not good.
Again, if you go back to the book of Romans, you see this
illustrated. Paul had to be thinking
about these concepts when he penned these words
here in Romans chapter 1.
He says in Romans 1:24, "Therefore God
delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts
to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves."
Never in our own culture have we seen this so
graphically and openly demonstrated. Particularly in the world of pornography,
which has become so dominant, so prevalent,
so available within our culture. And that world simply opens up the secrets of the
hearts of individuals,
which has, of course, been around for centuries.
And I think Paul, here, is not just referring to
the present moment of the Roman Empire. He's being
historical. As he's looking back on the cultures of the world.
From the time of Abraham following the flood
to the time of what happened in the Babylonian culture.
And Assyrian culture. How that all spilled over into Israel.
How it became prevalent within the Roman Empire.
And how it's become prevalent throughout what we call our own
history. Particularly since the coming
of Jesus Christ. So it is also, not just a historical
and present statement from Paul, it's prophetic.
Now he goes on to say, "This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions."
When it comes to immorality, when a step goes downward from God's will,
there's only one other way to go and it's downward.
And Paul calls this degrading passions: "For even
their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones." Dealing
even with the area here, obviously, of blatant homosexuality.
And then you have Romans 1:28: "And because they did not think it worthwhile to
acknowledge God, God delivered them over
to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong."
And when you read what Paul said there, and how he described it,
it's a very, very sad situation.
So here we have this downward spiral.
This downward path that David
talked about, even back in this psalm.
Now thankfully--thankfully when you read
both David and when you read Paul, as we have done.
And the concepts are connected. Definitely.
We see that as Paul was even quoting David.
But thankfully, David addressed
God's faithful love. And so did Paul.
Let's look first at David. God's faithful love.
He says, "LORD, Your faithful love reaches
to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds."
And as I was meditating on this particular
statement, even as I was preparing
this presentation within the last few hours,
my mind went to--just picked up on--
a song that was written. And it's called "The Love of God."
And going back and just reviewing how that song came into existence, there was
a man by the name of Frederick
Lehman. And he was having a very difficult time. He was a businessman in
California. And he basically lost everything.
Went through some very difficult times
economically. Had to
go to work in a way that was just very unusual for him.
Giving up his leadership in his business. But just to put bread on his table.
The way he had to work. But
he loved God. He's a born again Christian. And he heard a message
one Sunday evening on "The love of God." And he was inspired to write some words
about God's love, which I think relate back to what David was talking about
here in terms of God's faithful love.
And he penned these words and he actually
wrote two stanzas of the song. Actually he was a musician. And so he went
and he actually worded--he added music to the words.
Now in those days, normally, you had to have
three stanzas. And somehow--I mean-- that's just the way they thought.
If you don't have three stanzas to a song, it's just not quite appropriate. So
he just couldn't find the third stanza.
But the first stanza, if you think in terms of
what David wrote here, when he says
in Psalm 36:5: "LORD, Your faithful love reaches
to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds."
Listen to this first stanza: "The love of God
is greater far, than tongue
or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell; the guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His
Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned
from his sin." He's capturing
the breadth and the depth and the length and the height
of God's faithful love just in nature. And using that
to illustrate what God did in Jesus Christ.
Now back to that third stanza.
As he was you wrestling with this idea, he happened to find a little card
that he had tucked away--on which it had
a poem. And as he read that
poem, he found that it just
fit the music that he'd already written.
And the rhyme and rhythm of his
poetry. The interesting thing was that
many, many, years before,
a man that was in prison--at least, this is as far as they can reconstruct this--
wrote these words
on the prison wall. And here are the words
that fit what he was trying to capture:
"Could we with ink the ocean fill," ...
And I love the metaphorical language.
"Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made" ...
Can you imagine that? "Were every stalk
on earth a quill," ... Every stalk.
"And every man a scribe by trade," ... Every man.
"To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry." ...
Think about that.
"Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky."
On a prison wall by a prisoner. But here's an even greater miracle.
Sometime later, they discovered that
in the year 1000, a Jewish rabbi
had written these words in Hebrew.
And somehow, this prisoner had those words.
But the part of that miracle is that even
the meter in the Hebrew text
fit the meter that he
had developed. That is that Lehman had developed in writing
this song, "The Love of God."
And that's what David is talking about here. He goes on
to say in Psalm 36:7 "God, Your faithful love is so valuable that people take
refuge in the shadow of your wings."
Psalm 36:10: "Spread Your faithful love over those who know You,
and Your righteousness over the upright in heart." As I was thinking about that, I
couldn't help but think about what Paul wrote in
Romans. In chapter 8.
Later on when he talked about the fact that nothing
will be able "to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
Those of us who are in Christ.
That's God's faithful love.
And of course, Paul then picks up the theme
to develop and reach that grand crescendo, as it were, in Romans 8.
In Romans 3:21:
"But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness
has been revealed--attested by the Law
and the prophets--that is, God's righteousness through
faith in Jesus Christ,
to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Isn't that a great concept?
So let me share with you the principle once again:
As those who have been saved by God's grace,
we are to demonstrate concern for those who are lost and held captive by the power of sin.