Scripture Reference: Psalm 36

1. The Futility of Sin – Continued

Please read Psalm 36:1-4 for the background to this section.

When one does not have a God to whom one is accountable, one’s mouth will be filled with “trouble and deceit.” Recently an online friend who knows I teach online sent me a link from a professional journal in which a survey was taken. In that survey of fifty-two major corporations in America, over 50 percent of the executives confessed that, if it meant their “getting ahead,” they would lie in word and deed. That is amazing and staggering! Yet I have to say this, sometimes it is no better in church, isn’t it? Professing Christians may even lie to one another. Oh yes, a Christian might consider it a “white” lie, but any lie is still abhorrent to God. So a sinful man suggests or at the least implies, “Do your own thing, and you’ll still be able to achieve your goals without God.” However, with that attitude, the deepest most satisfying goals of life will never be achieved.

Sin and rebellion will not cause it to happen. Now, this man the psalmist speaks of has deteriorated badly. Once he had apparently acted right, but no longer. Once he probably felt that God had certain claims on his life, but now he was living as though God were nowhere. He lay awake at night scheming evil. He was not suddenly overtaken with temptation, rather, he was meticulously plotting his sinful activity.

“He does not reject evil.” The word “evil” in Hebrew means “to break up that which is good.” It is close to the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek word pornē (whore) from which we derive pornography (which literally means, the writings of a whore). It demonstrates and means in essence, vulgarity, lewdness, depravity, and corruption. It seems that this man in the psalm once knew to do right, but now he lies in his bed conjuring up filth. When one goes away from God there isn’t anything one won’t do. It causes many believers to wonder how people who once professed faith in God can be caught in gross sin and still seem not to care about God.

When one listens to the voice of Satan instead of God, one will daydream and “meditate” as it were, on dirt and filth. You might be saying to yourself, “I wouldn’t, I would never do that.” However, the truth is, yes, you would if you were to ignore God. You could indeed find yourself in this man’s shoes; any of us could. This man’s persistent pursuit of evil had resulted in deceitful words and diabolical deeds. Such a lifestyle leads one down a dead-end street. If we are to yearn for a life that excels, we must understand and acknowledge that sin in any form is futile. It offers nothing deeply satisfying or enduring. How well the saints of God recognized the emptiness of sin.

“Moses . . . refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:24-25).

Young Joseph rejected the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife, was falsely imprisoned for his stand, and yet ended up second only to Pharaoh Himself (see Genesis 39:1 to 41:47). Think also of young Daniel who “resolved that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). They were aware and acknowledged by their actions the futility of sin.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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