In yesterday's study we began a look at Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermon on the second half of this psalm, beginning with verse 6. In today's study we continue our look at Spurgeon's outline, which began with the first point of possession, when David says, “You are my God” (v. 6).
So what do we do when we are surrounded by “people of the lie," above all when we find so much of their terrible evil in ourselves? The answer is to do what David did. We turn to God as the only one who can deliver us both from others and ourselves; we place our needs before him and then praise him for the deliverance he gives.
Speaking of the psalm, Charles Spurgeon says, “David's enemies were as violent as they were evil, as crafty as they were violent, and as persistent as they were crafty.” That is true. But if Paul's use of the psalm is accurate, these judgments must also be made of us. We also are violent, evil and crafty, either actually or potentially. And if that is the case, then David's prayer for deliverance from those who love evil for its own sake must also be a prayer for deliverance from ourselves. We too need a Savior, and the only one who can save us from ourselves is God.
The first two stanzas of this psalm (vv. 1-3 and vv. 4, 5) are nearly perfect parallels, and what they are describing is those who love evil. Such people “devise evil plans," “stir up war," "plan to trip my feet,” “spread out the cords of their net” and “set traps...along my path.” David has written about people who were his enemies before. What is unique about these verses is their portrait of people who love evil for evil's sake.
Psalm 140 is about people who are incorrigibly wicked, who seem to practice evil for its own sake. Does a psalm about evil really belong with others that are written chiefly to praise God? I think it does, and for two reasons. First, it is a reminder that even in our moments of most transcendent praise we still praise God in the midst of a very wicked world. Second, in spite of its somber theme Psalm 140 nevertheless does deal with praise, particularly in the last stanza: “I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.”
