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The Trees Of The Lord - Part 2 of 3

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• Let's open our Bibles to Psalm 92. Psalm 92. And we're going to read all 15 verses, Psalm 92, beginning with verse 1. This is the second in the series on the trees of the Lord. Psalm 92, verse 1: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High, to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work. I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep."

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• "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever. But thou, Lord, art most high forevermore. For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, thine enemies shall perish. All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn."

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• "I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ear shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock."

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• "There is no unrighteousness in him." I trust that you will remember in the first message that I brought dealing with the trees of the Lord, I dealt basically with Psalm 92, verses 1 through 5. Also told about my visit with Rush Dooney years ago when he took me to visit those giant sequoias and then stood and talked for an hour just on how Christians are compared to those sequoias. Also pointed out in the Bible how even in Psalm 92, Christians are here compared to palm trees and cedar trees. In the book of Isaiah, we're compared to willow trees. In the book of Zechariah, we're compared to myrtle trees. So there's a lot to learn concerning trees here. When you look at Psalm 92, Psalm 92 is a psalm of creation. And the very first five verses demonstrate how that we are to rejoice in God our Creator. I also told you last week that Psalm 92 was a psalm that was sung on the Sabbath day.

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• I quoted Martin Geier, and I'm going to quote him again, and he said this: "The songs which the Levites formerly sang in the sanctuary are these. On the first day, they sang Psalm 24, verses 1-10. On the second, Psalm 48, verses 1-14. On the third, Psalm 82, verses 1-8. On the fourth, Psalm 104, verses 1-35. On the fifth, Psalm 81."

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• "...verses 1-16. On the sixth, Psalm 93, verses 1-5. And then on the Sabbath day, they would sing Psalm 92, verses 1-15." I pointed out how that this is a psalm that celebrates the work of God's hands. If you will look again in verses 4 and 5, and David said, "For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work"—singular—"I will triumph in the works of thy hands." And then he says, "O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep." I pointed out last week that—and I would also point it out again this week—if you would look at Psalm 28, verse 5, and then we want to look very quickly at Colossians chapter 2, but in Psalm 28, verse 5—in fact, we will read verse 4—just to demonstrate that David is here dealing with

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• the wicked, and he makes an astounding statement. In Psalm 28, notice if you would please verse 4, David says, "Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands. Render to them their desert." That is the wicked. Here's one: "Because they regard not the works of the Lord"—and remember the works of the Lord were summarized with creation, redemption, and providence—he says, "because they regard not the works of the Lord," and then he says, "nor, neither, the operation of his hands." And this reason

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• "he shall destroy them and not build them up." So you would have to ask, what is the operation of his hands? And if you will look in the book of Colossians chapter 2, he will tell you that. Colossians chapter 2, and notice if you would please there, verse 12. In fact, let's read verse 11. He says, "...in whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead." So the operation of God deals with not only the resurrection, but it also deals with salvation as well. So the work of his hands is indeed very important, not just in creation but in redemption and providence as well.

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• Now as we progress through this psalm we are going to see that David is rejoicing in God's creation. He compares trees to the saints of God. We are going to pick up where we left off. We finished verse 5 so we are going to begin with verse 6. And notice what he said, astounding statement. He said, "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this." So now what David is going to tell us and demonstrate for us is something that a brutish man nor a fool will ever understand. Let me explain to you first of all that a brutish man is a man that does not think, he does not consider, he does not meditate. A brutish man, like an animal, moves on instincts and on feelings. That which separates humans from the animals is our reasoning ability and our ability to think.

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• Now, fool in the Bible is not a mentally deficient person, but a fool in the Bible is someone who will not listen, who will not learn, who will not be taught, and who will never change his ways. So David now says in Psalm 92 and verse 6, watch it again, "A brutish man knoweth not that, and a fool doth not understand this." Now I want to show you just how the Scripture deals with a brutish man and with a fool. Look very quickly in your Bibles to Psalm 49, if you would, and verse 12. We'll start there, Psalm 49, verse 12. Remember David is talking about the brutish man and he's also talking about a fool. So he says in Psalm 49, verse 12, "Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not," that is he does not continue in his honor, "he is like the beasts that perish." Then if you'll skip down to verse 20, "Man that is in honor and understandeth not," that is he has no understanding, "is like the beasts that perish."

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• Now turn right over to Psalm 94 and look if you would please at verse 8. Psalm 94 and verse 8. Again, we're talking about the brutish and we're also talking about fools. He asks, after he makes a statement, he says, "Understand, you brutish among the people, and you fools, when will you be wise?" Again, a brutish man is someone who will not understand. And a fool is someone who will not be taught. That is why Peter in 2 Peter 2 and verse 12 said, "But these, as natural brute beasts, are made to be taken and destroyed."

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• Now listen, "they speak evil of things which they understand not and they shall utterly perish in their own corruption." So again he talks about individuals who claim to be wise and yet they are nothing more than brute beasts and they speak evil things they understand not. We're going to look at this passage a little bit later, but even godly Asaph, who was a Levitical singer, when he was envious at the wicked said in Psalm 73 and verse 22, "So foolish was I and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee."

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• So you need to stop and ask yourself this question. How is it that a Christian can be as a beast before God? That's what Asaph said. "I was as a beast before thee." Now, listen very carefully. Proverbs 1 in verse 7. Everybody can quote the beginning of this verse. Proverbs 1, verse 7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." But the rest of the verse says this: "but fools despise wisdom and instruction." So the man that will not listen, the man that will not learn, the man that will not heed, God calls him a fool.

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• Let me say it again. In the Bible, a fool is not someone who is mentally challenged or mentally disabled. A fool is someone who refuses to listen and learn. So in Proverbs 1 in verse 22, he asks again, "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge." So you can't teach a fool anything. He refuses to listen. Now I want you to look back to Psalm 92 in verse 6 and let me repeat what I just said previously. Psalm 92, verse 6: "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this." So what David is about to do in verses 7 through 11, he's going to reveal a truth that brutish men nor fools will understand or grasp. It's just that simple.

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• Now, let me just point out as well what he's going to do is he's going to compare the wicked to the just. He's going to tell us how the just, those who are saved by grace through faith, are like unto trees. And he's going to show how the wicked are like unto grass. Okay, Spurgeon said it like this, let me quote Spurgeon. In fact, before I do, let's look at verse 7. After he tells you that a brutish man is not going to understand this, and a fool is not going to grasp this, in verse 7 he says, "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever."

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• Then if you'll skip down to verse 9, "For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, thine enemies shall perish. All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered." So Spurgeon says this: "In this and the following verses, the effect of the psalm is heightened by contrasts. The shadows are thrown in to bring out the light more prominently. What a stoop from the preceding verse, from the saint to the brute, from the worshiper to the boar, from the psalmist to the fool."

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• "Yet, alas, the character described here is not an uncommon one. The boarish man, for such is almost the very Hebrew word, sees nothing in nature. And if it be pointed out to him, his foolish mind will not comprehend it."

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• "Now listen, he may be a philosopher, yet such a one is a brutish being that he will not even own the existence of a maker for the ten thousand matchless creations around him, which wear, even upon their surface, the evidence of profound design. The unbelieving heart, let it boast as it will, does not know. And with all its parade of intellect, it does not understand. A man must either be a saint or a brute."

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• "He has no other choice. His type must be the adoring seraph or the ungrateful swine. So far from paying respect to great thinkers—now listen, so far from paying respect to great thinkers who will not own the glory or the being of God, we ought to regard them as comparable to the beasts which perish, only vastly lower than mere brutes, because their degrading condition is of their own choosing. Listen, O God, how sorrowful a thing it is that men whom thou hast so largely gifted and made in thine own image should so brutify themselves that they will neither see nor understand what thou hast made so clear." Then he makes his last comment, "Well might an eccentric writer say, 'God made man a little lower than the angels at first, and he, man, has been trying to get lower since.'"

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• Now, I think that's very accurate. But notice what he said about all of these philosophers and all of these great intellects who refuse to acknowledge God. Think of Stephen Hawking. No doubt he has an intellect, but he denies God, denies creation. And what Spurgeon is saying, instead of regarding these men as great minds, we should regard them as mere brutes because they have no reasoning ability when it comes to the things of God.

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• Now, so in Psalm 92 when David says in verse 6, "A brutish man doth not, neither doth a fool understand this," he is now going to give you a strong contrast between the righteous and the wicked. And he is demonstrating that the wicked are as grass, while the righteous are as trees. So in verses 7-11 he compares the wicked to grass. And in verses 12-15 he compares the righteous to trees.

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• Now, let me just say in one sense of the word we are all like unto grass in that our time is short and we wither and we die. I'll show you scriptures that teach that. But there is a difference, a large difference, between what is known as natural frailty and the judgment of God. It's interesting when you stop and think about it. From the day that you were born, you begin to die.

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• And I don't care if you live to be 120, 320, the time is relatively short and the older you get the quicker the time goes by. It's just that simple. But if you look in your Bibles first of all at the two passages, Isaiah 40 and then 1 Peter chapter 1, because you're going to see that Peter quotes from Isaiah 40 just momentarily. And in this passage he's showing in one sense of the word that all flesh is as grass. That is, we are all frail. We're all going to die. In Isaiah 40 beginning there with verse 6, "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever." If you will compare that with 1 Peter chapter 1, because Peter now quotes from Isaiah 40.

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• 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning there with verse 23. 1 Peter 1, verse 23, he says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." So, Peter is quoting from Isaiah, and he makes the same statement. All flesh is as grass, and the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away. Now, I do not care how handsome a young man is.

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• Give him 50 to 60 years. I don't care how beautiful a young girl is, give her 50 or 60 years. Now I don't care how many muscles you have. Wait 50 or 60 years and those muscles are gonna sag. That's all there is to it. Because we are as grass, we wither and the flower fades and it falls off. It's just that simple. However, when you get back to Psalm 92, it is not mere human frailty that is being discussed.

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• It is the judgment of God. So look in verse 7, if you would, from Psalm 92 again, and he says this—this is what the brutish man nor the fool will understand—"When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever." So in other words, the wicked may seemingly prosper and the wicked may be in positions of power, but they're going to be destroyed. Now, I want you to hold Psalm 92 and look in your Bibles to Psalm 37, because there's a problem that I want to not only illustrate but try to give you a solution to as well. And the problem is so many times the righteous fret over what the wicked possess and so many times the righteous envy the wicked in the sense that, hey, they do what they want to, they go where they want to go, they have what they want to have. I can't do all of that. Well, in Psalm 37, verses 1 and 2, look what God says: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Why? For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the

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• green herb." Skip down to verse 35. David said, "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." Look at verse 38. He says this: "But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be cut off." Turn over to Psalm 90 and look at verses 5 and 6. Psalm 90, verses 5 and 6. He says, "Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth." That's a short period of time, from morning to evening. He says that God takes them away as a flood, as a sleep, like grass. Want you to look in your Bibles to Psalm 129. Psalm 129. And I want to give you a quote by Spurgeon. Look in Psalm 129 and notice if you would please verses 5 through 7. Psalm 129, verse 5, he says, "Let them all be confounded and turn

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• back that hate Zion." And so if you hate God and His people and His wall and His kingdom, He says, "Let them all be confounded and turn back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up, wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom." So most of us have seen sod roofs. Sometimes you have an entire sod house. But a sod roof, grass may grow up through it, but the sod is very limited and the grass really cannot grow or possess deep roots.

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• And so it comes up, the sun comes out, it withers and it dies. The man who mows or the man who harvests grass can get nothing from it because it cannot stay there long enough to produce. And so this is what he says, let them that hate Zion be like this grass.

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• Now Spurgeon said it like this, talking about Psalm 92, he says, "He points out and exposes by striking an appropriate figure the folly of imagining that the wicked obtain a triumph over God, when He does not, it may be, immediately bring them under restraint." So many people think just because God does not instantly smite the wicked, or just because God does not restrain them right away, that they're getting a victory over God. Now he's quoting again, he's talking about Psalm 92, verse 7. He says, "He makes an admission so far, He grants that they spring up and flourish, but adds immediately by way of qualification that they flourish like the grass only for a moment, their prosperity being brief."

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• "In this way he removes what has been almost a universal stumbling block or ground of offense, for it would be ridiculous to envy the happiness of men who are doomed to be speedily destroyed, of whom it may be said that today they may flourish and tomorrow they may be cut down." Now I just read this week George Soros has 18 billion dollars. I cannot even imagine 18 billion dollars. So here's my question: Would you as a Christian be willing to trade your place in the kingdom of God for George Soros just to have $18 billion? I wouldn't.

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• I don't care what he has. He could have $118 billion. I don't want it. I'd rather have the Lord Jesus Christ and I'd rather be saved. I'd rather have His grace and mercy than if He gave me $118 billion and I live 300 years. What is that? I'm still going to die and face the judgment of God. So this is what he is saying. Now, I want to show you something. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73. Turn to Psalm 73. You see, one of the problems that we face is very simple.

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• A lot of Christians stumble over the fact that the wicked oftentimes are in great power, have high positions, and have an awful lot of money. Look at the Clinton Foundation. Look at the Rockefeller Foundation. Look at all of these people that you and I both would know are absolutely as corrupt as they can be, and yet they have more money than you and I could ever even think of.

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• Let me go a little bit further. Think of it like this. Think about the churches that deny the inspiration of the Scripture, and deny the person and work of Jesus Christ, and yet they have huge buildings and money coming out of their ears. And yet you have one little struggling group of 20 or 30 people who really believe the Bible, who really love the Lord, who really want to teach the truth, that can hardly pay the light bill. Why is that?

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• Alice and I, when we go north on 75, when you get outside of Atlanta on the right hand side, there is a humongous church building. I mean, it's just huge. And I've often said jokingly as we would go by, I sure would like to have one Federal Reserve note for each brick in that building. I have no idea how many bricks are in that building. I can assure you if I had just one Federal Reserve note for each brick, it'd be more money than I could spend in a number of years. And the sad thing is probably that building is only used on Sunday morning, you know, etc. Well, one of the problems that Christians have is oftentimes they envy the wicked and it causes them to fret and be disturbed.

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• Asaph was a godly man. He was a Levite. He was a Levitical singer. He is the one that wrote Psalm 73. Look at it, a psalm of Asaph. You will find he's mentioned in the Bible a number of times. Look at his problem in Psalm 73. Let's begin with verse 1. He says, "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." So he makes that statement. Yes, God is good. Then he says, "But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped."

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• In other words, I nearly fell and broke my neck. It nearly got me. So what was it that nearly slew Asaph? Verse 3, "For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."

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• Now, he's going to describe some of the prosperous things that happen to the wicked. He says in verse 4, "For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm." In other words, man, they've got good health right up to the end. You know, they don't really suffer. Verse 5, "They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men." They don't have the problems we have. Verse 6, "Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment." Now look at verse 7. Boy, "Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish." You know, I have not thought about this often, but it has entered my mind: If I had a million

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• dollars, what would I do with it? Just stop and think about it. What would you do? There's nothing that I particularly would want a million dollars for. But he says their eyes stand out with fatness and they have more than their heart can wish, and certainly they do. Watch, if you would, verse 8, "They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily." They are arrogant, they are proud, they are heady, they are high minded. And watch, if you would, how blasphemous they are. Verse 9, "They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth."

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• They could care less whether they curse God or man. He says in verse 10, "Therefore his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say"—this is wicked now—"How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?" Now he identifies them. He says, "Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches." Now watch.

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• Where Asaph nearly stumbled and fell and broke his neck. He said, "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children." Now watch this. He said after he looked at the wicked and saw how they prospered and all that they had, "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain. I have washed my hands in innocency." In other words, all day long I've been chastened since I believe in the Lord and follow his law. All I've received is trouble, trouble and heartache and poverty and so that's all. And look what he said in verse 16: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me." Lord, how is it? I'm here serving you, wanting to honor you, and I'm doing without, and I'm suffering, and I'm troubled all the time, and just look at the wicked. They never, ever go through what I'm going through, and they have everything.

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• Well, I thought that was just too painful. Ah, here's the solution. Look what he said. "Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image."

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• "Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee." Asaph said, "When I thought to know this, it was too painful, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and I understood their end. Lord, you put them in slippery places. Their foot is going to slide in due time. You're going to cast them down. They will be cast down into desolation as in a moment."

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• "They will be utterly consumed with terrors, and thou shalt despise their image." Now here's my question: Would you be willing to trade places with a man like that for a few million bucks? Not I. Not I. So the problem that Asaph had was he was envious at the wicked. He did not understand that when the wicked spring forth as the grass, it is that they may be cut down forever. Hengstenberg said this: "The annihilation of the wicked comes into notice here as the basis of the deliverance of the righteous, which is the proper theme of this song."

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• "Nothing except it be of God can stand, whether it be skill, riches, honor, or power. It rises and flourishes to appearance, but in the end it is only a thistle bush and a noxious weed, good for nothing but the fire." Wow. Spurgeon said it like this: "They grow to die. They blossom to be blasted. They flower for a short space to wither without fruit. Greatness and glory are to them but the prelude of their own overthrow."

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• "Little does their opposition to the Lord matter, even if they have blasphemed Him. It is as if He is a mount and abides the same though the meadows at His feet bloom or wither. Even so, the Most High is unaffected by the fleeting mortals who dare oppose Him. They shall soon vanish forever from among the living. But as for the wicked, how can our minds endure the contemplation of their doom forever? Destruction forever is a portion far too terrible for the mind to realize."

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• "I have not seen nor ear heard the full terror of the wrath to come." Wow! And I've got to give you this one. Zachary Bogan said, "Little do they think that they are suffered to prosper, that like beast, they may be the fitter for the slaughter. The fatter they are, the fitter for the slaughter and the sooner slain." And then he quotes Psalm 78, verse 11: "He slew the fattest of them."

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• We need to understand something. We need to understand, just because a man does not suffer, and just because a man has more money than he can shake a stick at, and just because everything goes right for that man, does not mean that God approves of that man. And just because a man is poor and suffers, and is always in adverse circumstances, does not mean that God disapproves of that man.

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• God's approbation and disapprobation is not based upon our condition in life. Great prosperity is oftentimes the forerunner of great destruction. The Puritans used to say it like this: "God often curses His enemies with riches." You might look at me and say, "Well, how can that be a curse?" Well, the answer is because most of the time the wicked end up trusting in their riches, in their wealth, in their position, in their power, and not in God. If you look in Psalm 49, Psalm 49, notice if you would what God says concerning the wealthy. Psalm 49, notice if you would beginning with verse 6. Psalm 49, verse 6: "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him," and they cannot even do that for themselves, much less someone else.

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• He says, "For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever, that he should still live forever, and not see corruption. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names." Notice what he says, "and they leave their wealth to others."

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• I read years ago about an extremely wealthy man who died. The pallbearers were carrying the casket to the gravesite, and one of them leaned over and whispered to another one, "How much did he leave?" And the other one responded, "He left it all." And that's true. He left it all. There was nothing there. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 62 and verse 10. Psalm 62 in verse 10, God says, "Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Our Lord said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." If our money is our treasure, if our wealth is our treasure, that is exactly where our hearts are going to be as well. And if you will look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17, here is the epitome of the answer, or the epitome of the solution. 1 Timothy chapter 6, notice if you would please verse 17, look what the Word of God says. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17: "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."

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• And do you note and do you understand that all riches are uncertain riches? Stop and think about the multi-millionaires in 1929 who went to bed multi-millionaires and woke up broke and were jumping out windows committing suicide because they lost everything. Think of the people that had the money in the stock market when it goes, it's gone. Think of the people who have all their wealth in electronic digits. All I'm saying is all of this is uncertain riches. And God said we better make sure that none of us trust in uncertain riches, but rather we trust in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

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• Now do you understand why David said a brutish man will not understand this, neither will a fool? Why Peter again said, "But as natural brute beasts, as natural brute beasts they are made to be taken and destroyed." Because they speak evil of things they do not understand. And if you will turn right over to the book of James—Hebrews, James—James chapter 5, you've got to understand this: usually wealthy people, extremely wealthy people, get that way and continue to stay in that way by cheating others and by stealing from others. So look in James 5, beginning verse 1. God

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• says, "Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of your laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth. And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."

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• "You have lived in pleasure on earth, and been wanton. You have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter." And he goes on to tell what else they've done. But notice the fraud, notice the theft, and notice what God says. You've lived in pleasure on the earth, you've been wanton, and you've nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You've just fattened yourself for judgment.

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• Now, go back in your Bibles to Psalm 92. Watch this if you would, Psalm 92. So David says in verse 6, "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this." And that which he does not understand is that "when the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever." So, they are springing forth, they are flourishing, it is but for a moment. And then he says in verse 8, "But thou, Lord, art most high forevermore." What is he talking about, that God is most high forevermore? He is saying that God is going to maintain his position as the sovereign judge of heaven and earth and God's righteous judgments will be exercised upon the wicked. He will still remain and retain the high and exalted position that he's in. You know the Bible says in Psalm 47, verse 8, that "God reigneth over the heathen. God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness."

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• Stop and think about this. The wicked may not acknowledge Him. They may despise Him. They may blaspheme Him. But that doesn't matter. He still reigns over them. He still maintains this high, exalted position. I've got to show you this. I want you to watch this. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 40. You know, I would think that this should take the wind out of our sails just a little bit, because look how we and what we are compared to in Isaiah 40 and verse 22. The Bible says, "It is He"—well, you read verse 21, we are talking about God—verse 21: "Have you not known? Have you not heard?

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• Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He"—that is God—"that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." Now notice the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. How many in this room are afraid of grasshoppers? If you were afraid of a grasshopper, which I doubt you are, but if you were, all you have to do is step on him.

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• And as we say in South Georgia, he is squished or squashed or mashed, whatever. He's gone. And here is the sovereign God and saying the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers. Do you realize if every wicked man that has lived, that is living, and that shall live united with all of the demons out of hell, it would accomplish—it would not affect God at all. It would not cause Him any uneasiness. Because they are nothing but grasshoppers. Just step on them. That's all. Wow! How about this one?

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• You remember in Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar is driven insane for seven years. He's eating grass like an ox. His hair grows like bird feathers. His fingernails like bird claws. And in the end of the seven years his understanding returns. And he says this in Daniel 4, verses 34 and 35: "At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me.

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• And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. Listen, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou?" So we've gone from grasshoppers to nothing. Wow. God maintains his position. God is sovereign over the wicked. God will judge the wicked. Charles Spurgeon said it like this: "God is at once the highest and the most enduring of all beings. Others rise to fall. But He is the Most High to eternity."

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• "Glory be to His name! How great a God we worship! Who would not fear Thee, O Thou High Eternal One? The ungodly are destroyed forever, and God is Most High forever. Evil is cast down, and the Holy One reigns supremely, eternally." And that certainly is true. And you have to understand something. A lot of people get depressed and discouraged very easily. And they will say, "Well, look at it.

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• I mean, Christianity is now being despised and Christians are being persecuted in the land of the free and the home of the brave." I mean, listen, folks, we have really genuinely deteriorated in this country. When you consider that you can put a man in prison for making a salve, or you can put a man in prison for selling raw milk, or for feeding the homeless without permission, we've gone a long way. But when you stop and think, it doesn't matter how low we go, listen to me, God is still on the throne.

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• And the Bible says that his strength is made perfect in weakness and God will inevitably find a weak individual whom he will empower and raise up and overthrow the wicked and the ungodly and establish again his rule and his law, of course. Because God is the Most High. None can overthrow Him. None can hinder Him. None can thwart Him. None can stop Him. He is God.

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• Now, if you'll look back to Psalm 92, verses 9 through 11. Watch it. He says this: "For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, thine enemies shall perish. All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered." Now, here's a contrast. "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn. I shall be anointed with fresh oil." So there is a difference between believers and the unbelievers. Then he says in verse 11, "Mine eye also shall see my desire upon mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire upon the wicked that rise up against me." So these three verses really illustrate and explain exactly how high the Lord really is. He is very capable of abasing those that are high, proud, arrogant, and wicked. And he's very capable of raising up the poor and the needy. In fact, the Bible says he lifted up the poor and the needy out of the dunghill. He takes us from the lowliest, stinkiest place and places us on high, and he will take those that are high and put them down in the dunghill. And David said, "Mine eyes shall see my desire upon mine enemies, mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me." God shall overthrow them. And what's God gonna do for David?

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• He said, "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn," that is, I'm gonna be placed on high. "I shall be anointed with fresh oil." God will rejuvenate me, God will renew me, God will revive me, and God gives us victory in time and in history as well as eternity. Jesus Christ has already won the victory. That's why the Bible says we are already more than conquerors through him that loved us. We're not the losers, we're the winners. We're not the victims, we're the victors. And we're not the conquered, we're the conquerors. And no matter how bad it looks, God is always sovereign and God is always on the throne. One more time, I want to tell you this.

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• Look at it in verse 7. This is what the brutish man will not know. This is what the fool will not understand. "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever." Stop. Let that sink in. Years ago, when my father was alive, he had a back pasture that had not really been used for years. And he decided that he wanted

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• to make a field out of it. Well, the pasture had grown up in this old tall sage grass, sage straw, thick. And so I was home and he said, "Would you help me burn that field off?" I said, "Yes, I will." So when we got to burn the field off, the wind was blowing this way. It wasn't a strong wind, but it was blowing this way. And I told Dad, I said, "Well, before you set a fire up here with the wind, I said, let me go to the other end and I'm going to set a fire against the wind and I will back burn about 50 yards or better. So when it does come this way, it's not going to jump into the woods." He said, "That's fine." I told him I'd wave at him when I was ready for him to light the fire up there. So I burned back about 50 yards, 75, and I waved for him to set the fire up there. If you've ever burned a field off or burned anything off, you understand that fire creates its own wind. He set that straw on fire and it was like—and I look and the only way

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• I could get out of that field was to jump over the fire that I had set and get in that place that had already been burned. I mean, it was almost instantaneous. And yet it was 30, 40 acres. Just whoosh! And it was gone. "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever."

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• And when God sends His judgment, it will be instantaneous. It will be complete. It will be total. We need to understand there's no way on God's green earth that we could envy the wicked or desire to be with them or desire to have what they have. We need to understand their feet are placed in slippery places. And their destruction shall come upon them in a moment. And terrors will utterly consume them. And God shall despise their image forever. The wicked are compared to grass. The righteous are compared to trees. Let's pray.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy. We do pray that you'd help us understand that which David is showing us and teaching us, how the wicked, when they spring as the grass, shall be destroyed forever. Lord, help us to honor thee, to love thee, to serve thee, to praise thee, and to thank thee for thy so great salvation. And may, Father, we love thee with all of our hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, amen.

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• so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:42:49Z