RETURN TO SYLLABUS
PSALMS 52
LESSON #10/P2
IN TIMES OF DECEPTION AND LIES
- MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 52:8
- PSALMS 52 TO PSALMS 55 CONSIST OF A SMALL GROUP OF TEACHING OR INSTRUCTION (MASCHIL)
THAT HAVE A PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE. THEY TELL US A LOT ABOUT THE ANTICHRIST AND THE FUTURE
TRIBULATION PERIOD. THE FUTURE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS REMINISCENT OF ISRAEL’S HISTORIC
SLAVERY IN EGYPT.
To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of
David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the
house of Ahimelech."
THE BACKGROUND AND THE SPECIFIC EVENT BEHIND THIS PSALM IS IN 1SAM 21.
- READ 1SAM 21:1-9
- SAUL WAS KING OVER ISRAEL, AND SO JEALOUS OF DAVID THAT HE TRIED TO KILL DAVID. DAVID
FLED FOR HIS LIFE WITH HIS MEN. FROM FATIGUE AND HUNGER, DAVID STOPPED FOR FOOD FROM THE
PRIESTS OF THE TABERNACLE. AHIMELECH, THE HIGH PRIEST, GAVE DAVID THE HOLY BREAD FROM THE
TABLE OF SHEWBREAD IN THE TABERNACLE. HE ALSO GAVE DAVID THE SWORD OF GOLIATH.
- DOEG, ONE OF KING SAUL’S MEN, SAW THE EVENT AND IMMEDIATELY TOLD SAUL.
- IN ANGER, SAUL SENT DOEG TO KILL ALL THE PRIESTS AS WELL AS ALL THEIR FAMILES.(1SAM
22:9,18)
- IN THIS PSALM, DOEG IS THE BOASTER, THE DECEIVER, THE LIAR, THE TRAITOR, THE RICH MAN,
AND THE WICKED MURDERER. HE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OR PREFIGURE OF THE ANTICHRIST THAT WILL
COME. THROUGH DOEG, WE CAN COME TO UNDERSTAND MANY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
ANTICHRIST.
- THE PRIMARY AND PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION:
READ PSA 52:1-9
- THE BOASTER (1)
- THE PSALM BEGINS WITH A MAN BOASTING OF HIS SIN. (1)
- BOASTING OF SIN IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF AN UNBELIEVER WHO DOES NOT KNOW OR ACKNOWLEDGE
GOD.
- =1= SOME PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW CHRIST PERSONALLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT BORN AGAIN, BUT THEY
MAY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS SOME KIND OF A GOD OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. THEY JUST DON’T
KNOW WHO HE IS. HOWEVER, THEY KNOW THAT SOMEDAY THEY WILL STAND BEFORE HIM IN JUDGMENT.
- =2= SOME PEOPLE ARE CERTAIN THAT THERE IS NO GOD AND NO FUTURE JUDGEMENT.
- =3= SOME PEOPLE KNOW THERE IS A GOD BUT CHOOSE TO DEFY HIM. THEY KNOW THERE IS A FUTURE
JUDGMENT BUT THINK THEY WILL WIN IN THE END.
- IT IS THIS THIRD KIND OF PERSON TO WHICH VERSE 1 REFERS. HE THUMBS HIS NOSE AT GOD IN
DEFIANCE.
- THIS IS THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ANTICHIRST.
- THE ANTICHRIST IS A PERSON WHO WILL COME ON THE WORLD SCENE DURING A FUTURE 7 YEAR
PERIOD CALLED THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. HE WILL SET HIMSELF UP AS A WORLD RULER AND PROCLAIM
HIMSELF AS A GOD.
- THE DECEIVER (2)
- THE DECEPTIVE TONGUE IS A VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ANTI-CHRIST.
- READ DAN 11:21, 32
- READ REV 13:5
- THE ANTICHRIST WILL OBTAIN WORLD RULERSHIP BY FLATTERY AND DECEPTION.
- IN OTHER WORDS, HE WILL NOT TAKE CONTROL BY FORCE BUT PEACEABLY. HE WILL DECEIVE THE
WORLD INTO THINKING HE HAS THE SOLUTION TO WORLD PEACE. BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT,
THEY WILL ELECT HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE WORLD.
- THE ANTICHRIST’S ORATORY WILL CUT LIKE A SHARP RAZOR. (2)
- HIS ORATORY WILL BE SO DECEPTIVE THAT HE WILL CUT AWAY THE TRUTH AND TELL LIES. PEOPLE
WILL BELIEVE THAT THE LIES ARE, IN FACT, THE TRUTH.
- THE LIAR (3)
- THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE A MASTER AT LYING:
- AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION HE WILL TELL THE JEWS HE IS THEIR MESSIAH SO THEY
WILL ACCEPT HIM.
- READ DAN 9:27
- WHEN THE ANTICHRIST CONFIRMS A SEVEN-YEAR PEACE TREATY THAT ENSURES THE SAFETY OF ISRAEL
AND THE REBUILDING OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE, THE TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS.
- HOWEVER, AFTER THREE AND A HALF YEARS, HE WILL BREAK HIS OWN PEACE TREATY AND BEGIN TO
PERSECUTE THE JEWS.
- THEREFORE, THAT SEVEN-YEAR PEACE TREATY WILL BE BASED ON A DECEPTIVE LIE THAT HE KNOWS
HE HIMSELF WILL BREAK.
- "SELAH" (3)
- THIS MUSICAL PAUSE OR REST TELLS US WE SHOULD STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS JUST SAID.
- WHAT IS SO AWESOME IS THAT THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BELIEVE THE LIE THAT THIS EVIL MAN, THE
ANTICHRIST, IS THE MESSIAH SENT BY GOD.
- READ 2THE 2:11-12
- PAUL TELLS US IN THESSALONIANS THAT GOD WILL SEND A STRONG DELUSION THAT UNBELIEVERS
WILL BELIEVE THE EVIL LIE SET FORTH BY THE ANTICHRIST. THE LIE WILL BE THAT HE IS CHRIST.
(REV 13:8)
- WHY WOULD GOD SEND THIS STRONG DELUSION?
- THROUGH HISTORY MAN CONTINUES TO DEFY GOD AND WILL NOT BELIEVE. THERE WILL COME A DAY
WHEN GOD’S LONGSUFFERING PATIENCE WILL END, AND HE WILL GIVE THE WORLD WHAT THEY
REALLY DESIRE, A MAN OF SIN, THE ANTICHRIST.
- THERE ARE TWO NAMES FOR THE ANTICHRIST IN PSALM 52:
- =1= "O MIGHTY MAN" (1)
- THIS NAME SPEAKS OF HIS WORLDLY POWER AND AUTHORITY.
- =2= "THOU DECEITFUL TONGUE" (4)
- THIS NAME SPEAKS OF THE POWER OF HIS ORATORY. IT WILL BE SIMILAR TO ADOLPH HITLER. WHEN
YOU WATCH OLD NEWSREELS OF TREMENDOUS CROWDS LISTENING TO HITLER’S EVERY WORD AND
ENTRANCED BY THEM, YOU HAVE SOME INKLING OF HOW IT WILL BE WITH THE ANTICHRIST.
- THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTICHRIST (5)
- THE WORD, "DESTROY", MEANS = TO BEAT DOWN.
- AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON THAT COMES AT
THE END OF THE SEVEN-YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD, CHRIST WILL BE THE ONE TO DESTROY THE
ANTICHRIST AND PUT AN END TO HIS KINGDOM.
- READ REV 19:19-21
- THE BEAST, WHICH IS THE ANTICHRIST, AND HIS RIGHT HAND MAN, THE FALSE PROPHET, WILL BE
CAPTURED BY CHRIST AND THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE WITH ALL WHO SUPPORT THE MAN OF SIN.
THE LAKE OF FIRE IS ETERNAL DAMNATION.
- "SELAH"
- IF WE STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS JUST SAID IN THE PSALM, WE COME TO UNDERSTAND
GOD’S ULTIMATE SOVEREIGNTY AND POWER OVER ALL THINGS IN THIS WORLD.
- GOD WILL REMOVE FROM POWER A WORLD LEADER WHO WILL HAVE ACHIEVED MORE POWER THAN ANY
OTHER WORLD LEADER IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH.
- GOD WILL REMOVE FROM POWER A WORLD LEADER SUPPORTED BY A GREAT MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN
THE WORLD.
- THE LAST LAUGH (6)
- THROUGH THE TRIBULATION SOME PEOPLE WILL COME TO REALIZE THEY HAVE PUT THE WRONG MAN IN
POWER. WHEN THE TRIBULATION KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST CONSISTS OF WAR INSTEAD OF PEACE AND
THE PERSECUTION OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS INSTEAD OF TOLERANCE AND PROSPERITY, SOME WILL TRY
TO GET RID OF HIM WITHOUT SUCCESS.
- IT IS THE BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH. (REV 6:10)
- TRIBULATION MARTYRS FOR JESUS CHRIST WILL SEE A FINAL JUSTICE AT THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST. THEY WILL BE IN CHRIST’S ARMY THAT WILL COME ON WHITE HORSES TO DEFEAT THE
ANTICHRIST. (REV 19:14-15)
- IT IS THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD THAT WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH.
- A WORLD THAT IS TOLD THAT THIS MAN IS A GOD WILL SEE HIM VULNERABLE, FALLEN AND
DEFEATED.
- THE RICH MAN AND THE WICKED MURDERER (7)
- THE KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST, AS WELL AS THE ANTICHRIST HIMSELF, WILL BE VERY WEALTHY.
- THE ANTICHRIST WILL CONTROL ALL THE MONEY AND ALL THE TRADE IN THE WORLD BY MEANS OF A
MARK IN HAND OR FOREHEAD.
- THE ANTICHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM WILL KILL MANY JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN THE SEVEN-YEAR
TRIBULATION PERIOD. (REV 13:7 REV 7:14, 15)
- THE BELIEVER’S VICTORY (8-9)
- TO THE ANTICHRIST AND THE UNBELIEVER, CHRIST IS TO BE FEARED BECAUSE A FINAL JUDGMENT IS
COMING. BUT TO THE BELIEVER, CHRIST IS THE EMBODIMENT OF LOVE AND MERCY. (8)
- BELIEVERS LOOK FORWARD TO CHRIST’S COMING WHEN THERE WILL BE AN END TO ALL EVIL.
THEN CHRIST WILL ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH FOR 1,000 YEARS (THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM).
- THE OLIVE TREE IS A SYMBOL OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM.
- READ ROM 11:17-25
- THE NATURAL BRANCHES OF THE OLIVE TREE = THE JEWISH BELIEVERS
- THE GRAFTED BRANCHES OF THE OLIVE TREE = THE GENTILE BELIEVERS
- THE GREEN OLIVE TREE REPRESENTS THE BELIEVER THAT HAS ETERNAL LIFE.
- "…THOU HAST DONE IT…" (9)
- CHRIST HAS WON THE VICTORY OVER THE EVIL DECEIVER.
- CHRIST IS WORTHY OF ETERNAL PRAISE.
- BELIEVERS WILL REJOICE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOREVER.
SUMMARY:
- DOEG REPRESENTS THE ANTICHRIST WHILE DAVID REPRESENTS CHRIST.
- DOEG WAS THE DECEIVER, THE LIAR, THE RICH MAN, AND THE MURDERER.
- HE BETRAYED DAVID TO KING SAUL.
- DAVID WAS THE VICTOR.
- EVENTUALLY GOD REMOVED KING SAUL AND DAVID BECAME KING.
APPLICATION:
- WHENEVER A BELIEVER IS IN A SITUATION WHERE PEOPLE BETRAY HIM AND DECEPTION RUNS
RAMPANT, THE TEMPTATION IS TO BECOME DISCOURAGED AND FEEL DEFEATED. DAVID ENDURED THIS
KIND OF SITUATION OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN HIS LIFE. IN THE PSALMS LIKE THIS ONE, WE SEE HIS
ATTITUDE OF FAITH AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER, WHEN, BY FAITH, HE SAYS, "But I am like
a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I
will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it
is good before thy saints." (9-10)
- IF DAVID CAN HAVE THAT KIND OF ATTITUDE OF FAITH, SO CAN WE!
HOMEWORK
PSALMS 53 AND PSALMS 54
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR
CORRECTION.
- APPLICATION OF PSA 52:
- HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED THE KIND OF SITUATION DAVID EXPERIENCED IN THIS PSALM WHERE HE
WAS BETRAYED? WRITE YOUR EXPERIENCE AND FEELINGS.
IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE VINDICATION AND VICTORY, WRITE IT HERE.
IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE VINDICATION AND VICTORY, EXAMINE YOUR ATTITUDE OF FAITH AND
PUT YOUR TRUST IN CHRIST, THE VICTOR.
PREPARATION FOR PSA 53 AND PSA 54:
- READ PSA 53:1-6
- FROM THIS PSALM, WRITE THE DEFINITION OF A FOOL.
READ ROM 3:10-18
- WHAT PARALLEL THOUGHTS DO YOU SEE IN ROM 3 AND PSA 53?
READ PSA 54:1-7
- WHAT IMPORTANT TEACHING DO YOU GAIN FROM VERSE 3 THAT WE SHOULD STOP AND THINK ABOUT
(SELAH)?
MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 54:4