This psalm is an indictment of injustices perpetrated by those in Israel invested with the authority and responsibility to maintain justice and order in the nation. It serves, however, as an illustration of God's outrage and His judgment when responsible and privileged people profane their role. In yet a broader sense it serves as a disclosure of the fundamental condition of the human race in rebellion against God's law and order. It is from that perspective that we consider our "nugget' for today.
Consider first the real character of ungodliness: "They know not, neither will they understand." Men find all kinds of excuses for their unbelief, but the real key is discovered here. "They know not," that is, they are ignorant of the truth. The reason is, "they will not understand." The failure to believe in the God of the bible is not intellectual, but volitional.
Consider the rational consequences of unbelief. Ask "Where did I come from?" and you cannot answer. Ask "Why am I here?" and and you can verify no meaning. Ask "Where am I going?" and the grave is the only sure answer. In other words, rule God out, and life loses meaning and purpose. "Death is the damp which puts out all the dim lights of vanity," wrote one Thomas Adams. Yet men, in increasing numbers, deny the existence of God, some formally, the majority by the way they live, "They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate [Titus 1:16]."
Why? The key is not lack of evidence, but lies in the will. "Neither will they understand." The authority for that charge is found in the words of the Savior to the unbelieving Jews who surrounded Him: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life [John 5:39-40]." (My italics.) And again, in a prophecy which has proved all too true, in His account of the rich man in hell pleading for Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers, "lest they come to this place of torment," the Savior cites Abraham, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (See Luke 16:19-31)." Today's rejection of the risen Christ proves Him right, and even brilliant men, "ever learning…never…come to the knowledge of the Truth [II Tim. 3:7]."
The result of this willful ignorance is, "They walk on in darkness." That is intellectual, moral and spiritual darkness, and accounts for every evil in the world today. Consider: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; [they] became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…[Rom. 1:21-22]." And again, "[The] Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness [Eph. 4:17-19]."
The tragic scope of this self imposed ignorance is evident in the last clause of our text, and it is this which lifts the imort of the psalm above the level of the injustices of Israel's administrators. "All the foundations of the earth are out of course." In other words, this rebellious attitude on the part of mankind has totally disoriented the natural order of things. Nothing works the way it should. Scripture declares, "For the creature (creation) was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature (creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now [Rom. 8:20-22]." As a result of man's stubborn unbelief, God plunged the whole natural order into a state of disarray until order is restored at the return of the "Judge of all the earth," the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do [Psalm 11:3]?" The answer is, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord [ I Cor. 15:58]." True to the Truth, we will triumph at last.
And if you are not a Christian, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved [Acts16:31]." Get your life back in order and under God's control and be ready for the coming of the King of kings!
For our edification,
"Pastor" Frasier
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