Even though our scientific instruments cannot detect them, there are unseen realities in the cosmos. Angels and demons lurk and roam, but we do not hear them. God’s throne room in the heavenly dimension does not register on any radar or sonar. The shadowy realm of Sheol, where the souls of unbelievers are held, cannot be mapped by laser scanning or seismic topography. In this way, the Bible reveals what science does not, as it records visions and oracles about the spiritual realm so that we can read about the world above and the one below. Yet there is another invisible reality, which is the soul. X-rays and CT scans can peer into our bodies. An MRI can show what part of the brain is active, but none of these can image the anatomy of the soul or even tell us what someone is thinking. And so where science cannot go, Scripture can take us, which is what this psalm does as it delves into the depths of the heart and the majestic mysteries of our Savior.
This psalm is titled in the usual way, except for one detail. The author, David, is given the rank of “the servant of the Lord,” which is the high-status title for the leading covenant office that was also granted to Moses, Joshua, and the prophets. Moreover, this position is future oriented and so is particularly messianic. David’s authoring this psalm as the servant of the Lord signals to readers to expect the ultimate matters of Christ.
But with our anticipations set, this psalm breaks the ice in an unusual and even uncomfortable way. Right out of the gate, the first line reads literally, “an oracle of transgression concerning the wicked in his heart.” This steps on our pious toes by combining two things that should not go together, like sauerkraut and caramel ice cream, or toddlers and operating heavy machinery. It pairs up a positive with a negative, like the phrase righteously evil. How does this work? Like this: “Oracle” is the classic vocabulary for God’s special and holy revelation. The ubiquitous phrase is “an oracle of Yahweh,” which is the Lord’s inspired word from heaven that is steadfast, pure, and altogether true. Yet this glowing divine revelation is linked with transgression. And transgressions are not your run-of-the-mill little sins of every day but weigh in as serious felonies. Covenant rebellion, insurrection, and infidelity are the prominent flavors here. Additionally, this dark transgression is personified, as if it is the author of this heavenly oracle. Mr. Transgression discloses a hidden secret; he is making visible something that is normally invisible. Hence, this oracle is about what is in the heart of the wicked. The matters of the heart and soul are generally unseen to the human eye. Sure, the heart often expresses itself in external actions, attitudes, and words. A wicked heart yields an evil life, but this can be faked. A nice and pious personality can conceal heinous sin within. Thus, the oracle divulges what is shrouded deep inside.
It is as if transgression is ratting out its master. Sin is a tattletale on what is really in the heart of the wicked person. And its first press release hits us as appallingly atrocious: “There is no fear of God in his eyes” (v. 1). Fear, as the acknowledgment, reverence, and heeding of the Divine, is the baseline of all piety. Also, the name given is deliberate, of God. The fear of God can differ from the fear of Yahweh in the Old Testament. To fear Yahweh is the sincere faith and worship of the one true God. Fearing god was the honor paid to the deities of polytheism. Today, those who are adherents of Islam and Judaism fear god. It is not the true God, but their respect for the divine makes them live more uprightly.
Yet with zero fear in their hearts, these wicked are functional atheists. Without the respect of God, the restraints on sin disappear to let wickedness run wild. Again, in our current environment, we all know atheists who are relatively upright, but this is because they live off the borrowed capital of theism and the deterrents of natural law. Such is a blessed inconsistency, as consistent atheism perverts morality into survival of the fittest and selfish ambition, the freedom to let sin abound since no god is holding one accountable. Such a person is the psalmist’s focus, but even this libertarian atheist wears a disguise.
As it says next literally, “He flatters God in his own eyes” (v. 2; my translation). Flattery is the camouflage for his perverse heart, and this brownnosing is directed at God, which means the wicked one speaks a good game. Religious clichés and saintly habits color his external presentation. He loves religious holidays. She always prays in a public restaurant. They appear to have a sense of the holy. “Praise the Lord” and “I will pray for you” are common features of their conversation. They are Oscar-level actors and actresses of religion. And note what is the purpose and goal for their flattery of God—literally, “to discover sin and to hate” (my translation). This line is a bit difficult, but it is best understood as the flatterer performing more sin and being fruitful in hate. Simply put, he excels in religious flattery so that his sin can multiply, so that he can hate even more. He does not believe in or is concerned about any god, but the religious traditions of society make this challenging, so the flatterer plays at the sanctimonious game in order to excel in wickedness and evildoing.
And the ongoing description of the no-God-fearer aligns with this well. The words of his mouth are injustice and evil. His tongue spits sin on the beat, and the beat gets sicker. His questions and statements are calculated to sow and reap evil. His accent is a vile drawl; he is fluent in the dialect of the profane. And all these iniquitous words are emulsified with deceit, which means they are dressed up as truth and honesty. He runs a campaign to establish his reputation as a straight shooter, a frank talker who does not beat around the bush but says it like it is. His teeth are rotten with lies, but he wears gold and silver grills to distract from his rank breath of falsehoods.
Likewise, he plots sin on his bed, which refers to his private life, his inside voice. Within the seclusion of your bed, you can think and say whatever you feel like with no consequences. When this evildoer is all by his lonesome, he schemes and dreams of wickedness galore. Then, having planned his web of woe, he goes out to put it into effect. He refuses to practice any wisdom, to put out any goodness. His fear-free heart is allergic to wisdom; he is phobic to doing good. Wisdom is one of the greatest gifts that the Lord grants. The golden gloss of the image of God shines forth in wisdom, and the more we reflect the goodness of the image, the more properly human we are. But these wicked hate wisdom; they consider the wisdom of the image as taboo, a gross and untouchable thing.
Hence, this evil person takes his stand on the road called “No Good” (v. 4). Scripture frequently uses the image of a path, a road, for the way of godliness. We are called to walk in the ways of God, to follow in his steps. Yet the wicked have chosen an alternate route for their life. And the road sign on their street does not read “wisdom,” “godliness,” or “faith” but is etched as “No Good.” They receive their mail at 666 No Good Avenue, Evil Ville, CA 90210. They reside in the bubble of sin, so that they continually reject the good and always accept evil. At a restaurant, they peruse the menu and never order organic, farm-to-table proteins and vegetables; instead, they always select the one- hundred-percent artificial, super-processed foodstuffs.
And from this oracle into the invisible heart and covert ways of the wicked, it is no wonder that Paul refers to this psalm in Romans 3 in his ode to total depravity. This is our fallen nature in Adam. Such evil still champions the nature of those outside of Christ. Indeed, the takeaway image here of those who have no fear in their hearts is those who do only evil all the time. And there is one more feature to their depraved anatomy, and this is mentioned in verse 11: “Let not the foot of the arrogant tread on me; may the hand of the wicked not banish me” (my translation). This discloses their violence against the psalmist, against the godly in the Lord. Here, the psalmist names the wicked as Proud Foot and Wicked Hand. Long before Tolkien imagined the Proudfoots of Hobbiton, David named the evil Proud Foot, who tromp and stomp with hubris on the upright. So also, their hands are skilled in wickedness. Foot and hand, they are master craftsmen in sin and violent persecution of God’s people. In their duplicity, they may brag of kindness and peace, but in reality, they salivate and plot the genocide of the righteous.
And most poignantly here, the Proud Foot wants to banish and squash David, as the servant of the Lord. The lover of evil lusts to crush the head of the Lord’s servant, which elevates this struggle to the cosmic level. The soul of the wicked depicts our depravity fallen in Adam. And now, the seed of the serpent is ever pursuing the seed of the woman. The stakes are high in this psalm. Yet when the danger is dire, our Lord’s resolution exceeds expectations, as we will discover in part 2 on Psalm 36.
©Zach Keele. All Rights Reserved.
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Zach Keele
Rev. Zachary Keele grew up on a ranch in a small town named Crawford, Colorado. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He has served as the pastor of Escondido OPC since 2006.
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