Crisis & Choice, Pt 8: “The Last Laugh”

THE LAST LAUGH (PSALMS 52)

On the cover of the May 21, 2001, Newsweek magazine was the full-size head of a man, except that the face of the man is indistinct because the print is in the form of a red X-ray film or an undeveloped photograph. The word E V I L in bold covers his nose and mouth, but not the sharp, hollow, piercing eyes that seem to stare right at readers of the magazine. Underneath the word E V I L is this question: “What makes people go wrong?”

When I saw the cover for the first time, I remarked, “What a choice for a model!” Little did I know, turning to page 3 I discovered that the cover was not a model, but a hated, vilified and controversial murderer. At the bottom of the page was an explanation of the cover design:
COVER: Photograph of Timothy McVeigh by Gamma. Colorization by Steve Walkowiak for NEWSWEEK.

Tim McVeigh, you may recall, single-handedly blew up the Oklahoma City federal building to vent his anger at the government, killing 168 innocent victims, including 19 children. The Newsweek edition was published in conjunction with McVeigh’s original execution date, May 16. McVeigh’s execution by lethal injection was carried out a month later, June 11, after his lawyers had failed to delay the execution a second time.

Psalm 52 is an agonizing poem and prayer from a man who felt responsible for the evil that was thrust upon others, causing their death (1 Sam 22:22). David visited kind priest Ahimelech, who sheltered, fed and, unwittingly, armed him when he fled from King Saul (1 Sam 21:7-9). Doeg the Edomite, Saul's head shepherd, reported to Saul that the priest was harboring David, Saul’s sworn enemy. Saul then ordered Doeg to execute the priest, his family and other known priests in the town of Nob. Altogether eighty-five priests were killed. Only Ahimelech’ son, Abiathar, escaped. If that wasn’t enough, Doeg also killed the men and women of the town, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. (1 Sam 22:18-22)

With the knowledge of what Doeg the Edomite, a descendant of Esau, had done, David penned this intense, wrenching and probing psalm. This is the only psalm that covers the massacre at Nob and only five of 150 psalms that begin with the agonizing “Why?” question (Ps 2:1, 10:1, 22:1, 52:1, 74:1).

What bothered David was not only the act of evil, but the arrogance of evil - the boldness, the heartlessness and the shamelessness of evil to boast, to argue and to champion its merits, which include causing trouble, creating havoc and challenging righteousness.

Why are people attracted to evil? What moral responsibility do we have to evil’s challenges? Will good or evil triumph eventually? How does evil work on people and cling to them?

Evil is a Choice
52:1 For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? 2 Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. 3 You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah 4 You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! (Ps 52:1-4)

One of the most captivating stories of good vs. evil is Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.” A wealthy, ambitious and ruthless shoe executive who built his residence on top of a hill received news that his son had been kidnapped, except that his chauffeur’s son was the one wrongly kidnapped. Gondo, who had planned to use his funds for a hostile takeover, did not want to pay the ransom that would have bankrupted him, but relented for moral reasons after a titanic emotional battle.

After a lengthy and clever investigation the police tracked down the mastermind who had also killed off his partners. The kidnapper turned out to be a young man who had lived down the lowly, filthy and destitute hills, but had a promising future after completing his residency at the hospital.

The jailed kidnapper requested for Gondo and mocked the executive who bothered to appear: “Are you glad because I’m going to die?” Gondo replied, “Why should you and I hate each other?” The young man then gave a chilling, eerie but provoking reply: “I don’t know. I’m not interested in self-analysis. I do know my room was so cold in winter and so hot in summer, I couldn’t sleep. Your house looked like heaven, high up there. That’s how I began to hate you. That gave me a purpose in life. It’s interesting to make fortunate men unfortunate.”

Evildoers elect to draw the first blood. They strike first and they strike hard. There is no moderation, restrain or compassion in their schemes, system or soul. They are cold-blooded, thick-skinned and heavy-handed.

The word “boast” (v 1) is the same word for “hallelujah” in Hebrew or praise in English. Instead of praising God or boasting in the Lord (Ps 34:2, 44:8), the mighty man (v 1) blows his own trumpet, toots his own horn and sounds his own praise. Bragging about evil is the worst form of bragging in the Psalms. People have been known to boast of the cravings of their heart (Ps 10:2-3), to boast of their great riches (Ps 49:6) and even to boast in idols (Ps 97:7), but admiring evil is inexcusable, because admiring evil is the same as approving, commending and embracing it. And embracing evil is abominable to the Lord.

The evil (v 1) that David referred to is the most common word for evil in the Bible, outnumbering another, lesser word for evil three-to-one. This is the word that describes Noah’s generation (Gen 6:5), the men of Sodom (Gen 13:13) and the specific kings of Israel and Judah that “did evil in the eyes of the LORD” – altogether 14 times in 2 Samuel (2 Kings 8:18, 8:27, 13:2, 13:11, 14:25, 15:9, 15:18, 15:24, 17:2, 21:2, 23:32, 23:37, 24:9, 24:19).

The admiration of evil is intensified by the word “love” (v 3). The Hebrew usage for “love” is similar to English. One can love an abstraction such as evil the same way as one love a person or an object. There is only one other passage in the Bible on people who love evil -Micah 3:2: “You who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones.” The evil man concurs, connects and cooperates with evil. He believes, persists and delights in using evil to accomplish his goals.

The evildoer has a distortion that goes uncorrected, which includes deriving a twisted satisfaction, an inexplicable pleasure and a sickening gratification from evil. He conveniently practices falsehood and deceit to plot or devise the destruction and ruin of others (v 2). David compares the evildoer’s tongue to a sharpened knife that can wound, mutilate or kill. They have no qualms about causing financial loss, personal suffering, tragic disasters, bodily injury and even deadly consequences upon others. They do not care or feel for the victims. Innocent lives are collateral damage or acceptable losses to them. He loves “every” harmful word (v 4), or “all” words that are intended to gulp or swallow a victim whole (Jer 51:44). Biting, chewing and tasting are meaningless to evil people. An evil man has a voracious serpent-, beast- or monster-like appetite.

Evil Has its Consequences
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, 7 “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” (Ps 52:4-7)

A truck driver was driving a rig in a long line of tractor-trailers when a police officer pulled him over for speeding.

Astounded that he alone was caught, the driver asked, “Out of all these trucks that were going just as fast as I was, why did you pull me over?” “Have you ever gone fishing?” the officer asked.

“Yes,” the man replied. “Well, have you ever caught all the fish in the pond?”

The last of the wicked will not escape God’s capture and judgment. Psalms 37:10 says, “A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.” The righteous, those who spurned, resisted and opposed evil, will have the last laugh (v 6). This is the only record of righteous laughter in the Bible. The righteous will laugh in the end because evil has met its match. The tables will turn on evildoers, evil is on its last leg and the other shoe will soon drop.

The righteous, according to Brown-Driver-Brigg’s Hebrew Lexicon, are those who are justified and vindicated by God. Rightly, the only fear in the heart of the righteous is the fear of God (Gen 42:18, Ex 1:17, Josh 24:14), not the fear of other gods (Judg 6:10, 2 Kings 17:35), the fear of evil or even the fear of evil news. Psalms 23:4 says “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Another passage, Psalms 112:7, says the man who fears God will have no fear of bad or “evil” news.”

The unrepentant will experience a drastic and bitter ending. His greatest enemy is no other than God, who alone has the ability to crush its advance. The reign of evildoers is brunt, but it will be brief. They will make a lot of fuss and noise but will fall short of their goals; they will charm some supporters temporarily but will exhaust all goodwill eventually; they will win some wars but will surely lose the battle. They will not surrender unconditionally, but they will still succumb to the power of God.

The Hebrew word for “ruin” is used frequently for the ousting, the toppling and the smashing of idols (Ex 34:13, Deut 12:3, Judg 2:2, Judg 6:28, 2 Kings 10:27, 2 Kings 23:15, 2 Chron 34:4). Like the idols of old, evildoers will suffer a horrendous fate. God will beat them out of shape, smash them to pieces and grind them to dust.

The evildoers’ fate gets worse and worse. God will not only grab hold of him but will tear him away from the tent and uproot him from the earth (v 5). The word tear has the meaning of plucking, yanking, pulling and ripping evil from his tent or home. Next, God will strike into the ground, uncover its roots and sweep the remains. No struggle is possible, no protests are entertained and no stone will be left unturned by God.

Evil Must Be Countered
8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. 9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. (Ps 52:8-9)

Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest-ranking U.S military officer captured in the Vietnam War, in a book titled “In Love and War,” recalled how he survived his 8-year imprisonment before he was released. Besides enduring the brutal conditions there, he did not know his fate and had no means to escape. Jim Collins, a respected journalist, interviewed Stockdale for USA Today when the book he and his wife wrote was released shortly after September 11, asking Stockdale how he could survived the ordeal. Stockdale, who limps from repeated torture, answered, “I never lost faith in the end.”

Collins then asked, “Who didn’t make it out?” Stockdale replied, “Oh, that’s easy. The optimists.” The confused journalist quizzed, “The optimists? I don’t understand.” Stockdale explained, “Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.” Stockdale then turned to Collins after a long pause and said, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose—with the need for discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” (USA Today 11/27/01)

Finally, good things happen to those who wait and trust in the Lord. But before we can laugh we will first have to trust (v 8). Our trust in God must withstand the test of time. Trust is not trust unless you are challenged, shaken, and persecuted. The Hebrew text uses two different words, accurately translated as “forever and ever,” to describe a believer’s unceasing trust in God. Trust is not an instance of devotion or an act of piety, but a life-long dedication and commitment to God. Make no mistake, David ended his psalm with a repetition of the word forever in the last verse (v 9). Those who believe fighting evil is a breeze is sorely mistaken.

Psalms has 46 references to “trust”, the most of all the books in the Bible (v 8). The reasons for David’s confidence and assurance in God are many. The Lord is our strength and our shield (Ps 28:7), our refuge and our fortress (Ps 91:2), our help and shield (Ps 115:9, 115:11). He never forsakes those who trust in Him (Ps 9:10), but delivers them (Ps 22:4). His unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him (Ps 32:10).

Hope (v 9) or “wait” in Hebrew is not endurance, tolerance or resignation to the fact. Biblical hope is positive, never negative; is patient, never pessimistic; is persistent, not panicky. It is not folding hands and doing nothing in the meantime. David praises God while he waits. Those who wait on the Lord possess integrity and uprightness (Ps 25:21). They are courageous and strong (Ps 27:14), keeping His way (Ps 37:34) and keeping His word (Ps 130:5).

Conclusion: Ps 37:19 says the righteous will not be ashamed in the time of evil. Christians have always been in the forefront of any battle against evil, from slavery to oppression. It’s been said, “All it takes for evil to succeed is for good folks to do nothing.” Godly people have no part or association or fellowship with evil and its forces. God has promised that He will keep His people from all evil (Ps 121:7), that He will recompense the evil to their foes (Ps 54:5) and that He will deliver his faithful ones from the hand of the wicked (Ps 97:10). Have you committed yourself to shun the evil path (Ps 119:101) and do you pray when you are tempted by evil (Ps 141:4)? Do you hate evil (Ps 97:10), plot its overthrow to replace it with good (Ps 34:14)?

Small Group Discussion
1. What are some evil things that trouble you?
2. Why does the psalm begin with a question?
3. Have people boasted to you about their evil deeds (v 1)? What did they boast about? What was your reaction?
4. How does the psalmist describe the tongue (v 2, v 4) and deeds (v 3) of the evildoer?
5. How is God going to deal with these evildoers? (v 5)?
6. What will righteous people come to realize (v 6-7)?
7. How does David describe the righteous (v 8)? Do you know of righteous people who match this metaphor? How are their lives a testimony?
8. How is the last verse a contrast to the first verse?
9. How can we counter evil? What choice did David make? How can you make a similar choice?