In the opening of Psalm 52, the heinous felonies of Doeg the Edomite struck us with horror, but then the Lord assuaged our grief and stirred up our fear of Yahweh by revealing the judgment of this wicked mercenary. In this psalm, however, godly veneration is not the only reaction of the righteous at the judgment of Doeg, for they also laugh at him. But what is this laughing at Doeg’s demise? This is not some malicious joy or perverted glee in random violence. Sure, there is a touch of delight here at God’s justice being done, but this laughter is punitive; being shamed is part of the punishment for Doeg’s gross boasting about doing evil. By his bragging, Doeg shamed his innocent victims and scorned their deaths. For his deriding the holy priests, he will be derided in return.
The content of the laughter is even recorded in Psalm 52:7. The righteous fear God and mock Doeg by saying, Behold the man. There is a play on words here with verse 1. The word for “mighty man” or “warrior” sounds like the word for “man.” He bragged to be a heroic warrior, as strong and proud as an undefeatable force. But in the Lord’s justice, this mighty champion is exposed as mere man. Hence, his spiritual felonies are listed. He did not make God his refuge; Doeg had no faith or trust. Instead, he trusted in his large sums of money. How fitting for a mercenary! He did not need God because he had money. Money was his infallible insurance; his get-out-of-jail-free card. Finally, Doeg found strength in being destructive; that is, he magnified himself by destroying others. He gloried in murdering toddlers and holy priests. Money and bloodshed were the altar at which Doeg worshiped. In his judgment his trust proved vain and helpless, and so he is shamed for his proud reliance on violent power and money.
Now that Doeg is judged and shamed as an uprooted thistle, David contrasts the criminal with himself. “He is an uprooted tumble weed, but I am a green olive tree.” David’s personality test comes back: olive tree. But why this comparison? To be likened to a noble tree like the olive tree is an image of enduring life and blessed beauty. You may know that olive trees can live for a couple of thousand years. Where Doeg’s destruction was forever, so the tree-life granted to David is eternal. The color green sparkles with fruitfulness and beauty. He bears upright fruit for the Lord in every season.
Finally, there is the location of his planting, within the house or temple of God. A tree within the sanctuary of the Lord is everlasting life with God in his paradise. A tree in the holy place basks in the light of the Lord’s holy joy and rests in the peace of his presence. Simply put, David enjoys eternal life with God like an olive tree. And why such beatitude for him? Because he trusts in the Lord’s steadfast love forever. By faith in God, Yahweh makes him an everlasting sacred tree. David does not attain this life by his obedience but through his faith. Sure, grace made David mostly upright. He was not guilty of the high crimes of Doeg, but he was not perfect. Thus, he is planted in the heavenly home of the Lord through faith, as he trusted in the gracious love of Yahweh. The evil Doeg trusted in money; he found confidence in destruction. But such refuges are houses of cards. In reality, there is only one sure refuge and safe place, the Lord himself, and one enters the enduring shelter of God by faith alone.
Furthermore, being planted in the Lord’s house, his faith yields its most proper fruit, worship. “I will thank the Lord forever.” Praise and thanksgiving are the abundant fruit of faith; grateful worship is our highest good and most delightful duty. Moreover, the psalmist praises God for his great deeds. He offers his thanksgiving because the Lord acted; he has done it. In a general sense, this includes praising God for all his wonderful deeds throughout history. But in the narrower context of this psalm, the Lord’s deed is judgment on the profane murderer of priests. He is thankful for God’s punishment of arrogant evil, which is why hope enters the picture in verse 9. “I will wait for,” or better, “hope in your name.” He hopes in God’s name, for it is good. And hope assumes that the good is not present, so you wait for its coming. The Lord has acted in some ways, but the fullness of his good is yet to arrive.
The Lord has put under his feet some of his foes, but the full number of wicked enemies still waits to be subdued under his justice. This psalm that mourns the violence of arrogant evil finishes with a faith that always trusts in the Lord, a gratitude that praises, and a hope that waits for the day when the Lord will set all things right. The psalm leaves us with a patient faith until the last enemy is put beneath the feet of the Holy One. In this, it is not hard to see how David’s experience laid out a pattern for his greater Son.
Christ had to endure all the various trials that plague our common humanity, and David’s very human drama paved the path for Jesus. Thus, as the anointed one of the Lord, David was on the mission of God to inaugurate the kingdom. And on his royal quest, David was betrayed by a cruel Edomite, which resulted in the shedding of priestly blood. Likewise, Jesus came as the Son of David to preach the kingdom of God. In his sacred mission, Jesus even referred to David’s time in Nob getting bread. Just as David could eat holy bread on his holy calling, so Jesus and his disciples could eat grain on the Sabbath. And sure enough, during his charge from the Father, Jesus was opposed by Edomites.
But who belonged to the family of Esau in Jesus’s day? It was Herod! Yes, Herod was of Edomite stock. Thus, Herod the Great massacred all the infant boys in Bethlehem hoping to kill Christ the king. Then his son, Herod Antipas, beheaded John the Baptist. This Herod even held a quick trial for Jesus and confirmed his death sentence. Sure, the high priests officially condemned our Lord and handed him over to the Romans to do the killing, but behind the scenes, the razor tongue of the Edomite Herod was helping to plot destruction.
Additionally, how did the evil-loving priests and Herod hook Jesus into their scheme? They resorted to money. They paid a mercenary, Judas, to betray our Lord. For a meager sum of thirty silver pieces, Judas handed over the Holy One to the fangs of those who boast in evil. And just as Doeg’s plot resulted in priestly deaths, so Judas’s paycheck ended in the shed blood of our true and perfect high priest, Jesus Christ. David’s path to the throne was stained with priestly blood, so for our Lord to ascend on high for us, he first had to be slaughtered. The road to resurrection passed through the cross and the grave.
Yet where the death of the Nob priests was nothing more than a tragic injustice, Christ’s death was an atoning sacrifice for our redemption. His perishing on the cross laid the solid foundation for our faith to eternal life. Because he died for our sin, Christ is our refuge of redemption, the powerful anchor for our faith, the effective grace for our hope. David’s faith here shows that he was not saved by his good deeds but by the steadfast love of God. So our faith rests in Christ as our atoning sacrifice, our righteousness, and the efficient cause for our resurrection. Because Christ is the author and finisher of our salvation, and we are united to him, grace makes us into a green olive tree.
Sure, in our sin we resemble a thistle, a goathead, a thorny tumble weed destined for uprooting. But the love of Christ transforms you into a beautiful tree planted in the heavenly holy place. Grace recreates you into a fruitful tree of praise in the paradise of God. Presently, you have eternal life in Christ by grace. And in glory, like a beautiful olive tree, you will bloom and fruit for the everlasting praise of our triune God. Yet until that day, we wait on the Lord; we patiently hope for Jesus to put all his and our enemies under his feet.
Yes, part of what we hope for is the judgment of all evil. One of the burdens of the pilgrim life is witnessing so much wickedness and evil. Perverse injustice saddens our soul. The arrogant boasting in evil grieves our hearts and irritates our righteous anger. Infamous criminals escaping justice and glorying in sin pains us. And at times, these lovers of evil will even stab us with their destruction. Thus, our hope longs for justice to be done.
Sure, in the new covenant, we pray first for the conversion of our enemies. Like our Lord on the cross, we petition, “Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do.” But when the season of grace comes to a close in our Lord’s second coming, then we, with holy delight, will praise our Lord for judging the evil one and all his minions. Yes, the drying of our last tear is our consolation that death and evil will be no more. May we then trust our Lord and wait patiently for his coming. Let us thank him ceaselessly. And as trees planted in Christ, let us be fruitful for God’s glory, now and forever. Amen.
©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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