How Good Overcomes Evil
Today’s Verse:
Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. ~Psalm 52:1
We are in a spiritual battle every day of our life. Paul said, “When I want to do good, evil is always present with me.” He describes our spiritual battle as the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. In Psalm 52, David is referring to a prime enemy that was a thorn in his side. His name is Doeg.
We see the diabolical of Doeg.
“Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.” He was known as Doeg the Edomite. The Edomites were descendants of Esau and were the bitter enemies of the Israelites. He was the chief herdsman of Saul. David knew all about this man. He was boastful about his mischief. He loved evil more than good. He was a liar and did whatever gave him the upper edge over other people. He killed 85 of the priests at Nob. He was a murderer and killed to get ahead. Where he is mentioned in Scripture, there is nothing good about him. Doeg is a picture of how diabolical the flesh can become. Be careful of your flesh and how evil it can be.
We see the deceitfulness of Doeg.
“The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.” Doeg was crafty and misleading in his words. He slandered and misrepresented David when he was at Nob. His tongue is described as a sharp razor. What happened to David is a sobering reminder that people will believe a lie more than they would believe the truth. Doeg attacked the credibility of David in order to advance his own purposes. Doeg could not be trusted. As Doeg is a picture of the flesh, we must remember to put no confidence in the flesh.
We see the defense against Doeg.
“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.” First, have faith in God and not in yourself. We do not have enough strength in ourselves to fight and defeat the flesh. Second, we must have deep roots in serving God. David said he was like a green olive tree in the house of God. The idea of a green olive tree in the house of God speaks of being spiritually healthy, fruitful, well-watered, deeply rooted, and resourceful. There will always be a Doeg who opposes us. We must have the same defensive strategy as David did.
We see the demise of Doeg.
“God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.” The Doegs might make advances against us, but God has our back. God deals with the Doegs by fighting our battles for us. In the end, God overthrows the Doegs. After Abiathar escaped and came to David, David assured him that he was safe with him. David had a renewed faith in God dealing with Doeg on his behalf.
Let us remember that the goodness of God continueth forever. There is only one way to overcome a Doeg and that is when we overcome evil with good. Let God arise in your battles and the enemies will scatter.
Have a victorious God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Genesis 22-24