Psalm 53: ‘The Song of Man’s Disease’ 1. A Divine Repetition Psalm 53:1

Text: “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.” 

Job 33:14-15. 

Good morning, ever-listening Christian!  Like the author, you try to be consistently listening to hear the instructions of the Lord God Who has saved us, and now speaks to us through His inspired Word in order to direct our paths in the way in which He has predetermined we should go in Christ’s service daily.  We do well when we succeed in listening for the ‘...still small voice...’ of God the Spirit’s guidance. (1 Kings 19:12)

“But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried (tested) me, I shall come forth as gold.  My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have gone back from the Commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”  (Job 23:10-12)

Psalm 53 seems to be, at first view, a repetition of Psalm 14, yet when we take to mind what I and many others before me have called ‘The law of the double-mention’, we see that the Lord in His wisdom sees a great need to repeat the words of this Psalm, at two stages of time and history, and therefore it behoves you and I to take double-notice of what the Spirit of God is teaching us today reference this Psalm’s content.

“Title: ‘To the Chief Musician’. If the leader of the choir is privileged to sing the jubilates of Divine grace, he must not disdain to chant the miseries of human depravity.  This is the second time he has had the same Psalm entrusted to him (see Psalm 14), and he must, therefore, be the more careful in singing it.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 245)

When once we water down the doctrine of mankind’s fallen nature, and call it anything less than Total Depravity, we make a grievous error in our belief system, and elevate the fallen nature of mankind to a level unsustainable by him.  The Fall of our progenitors -Adam and Eve - was a total fall from God’s grace, and you and I inherit that full level of Total Depravity from him/her.  The apostle Paul was well aware of this fact of our fallen nature.

“For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will (the will to do good) is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”   (Romans 7:18)

Brother Job put it a little more down to earth when he said: “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?  Not one.”  (Job 14:4)

And again, the Holy Spirit inspired words of Paul: “...There is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)

The seeming repetition of Psalm 14 as Psalm 53 can, therefore, be seen by us as God the Holy Spirit, emphasising the state of ‘man’s disease’, that is sin within our fallen nature.

“’Upon Mahalath.’  The word ‘Mahalath’ appears to signify, in some forms of it, ‘disease,’ and truly this Psalm is ‘The Song of Man’s Disease’, - the mortal, hereditary taint of sin.  It is not a copy of the Fourteenth Psalm emended and revised by a foreign hand; it is another edition by the same author emphasized in certain parts and rewritten for another purpose.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 245)

“Subject: The evil nature of man is here brought before our view a second time in almost the same inspired words.  All repetitions are not vain repetitions.  We are slow to learn and need line upon line.  David, after a long life, found men no better than they were in his youth.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 245)

R.H. Ryland (1853) wrote: “Probably the two Psalms (14 & 53) refer to different periods: the Fourteenth to the earlier portion of the world, or of Jewish history; the Fifty-third, to a later, perhaps a still future time.  Jehovah, through Christ, is frequently said to turn to the world to see what its condition is and always with the same result.  ‘All flesh had corrupted its way’ in the days of Noah, and ‘when the Son of Man cometh’ again, it is intimated that He will scarcely ‘find faith on the earth.’  The two Psalms also apply to different persons.”

“The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  (Psalm 14:2)

Perhaps we, in the 21st Century church internationally, can more fully comprehend the serious concept of ‘Man’s Disease’, that is sin.  Today we see gross sin masquerading as ‘politically correct’ human rights; and permitted to flaunt its disobedient rebellion against our Holy Lord God in public parades throughout capital cities that have become modern day Sodoms.  Apparently, it is not enough to be merely permitted such vile effrontery, but that it must be legislated into our legal systems by those obviously suffering from the said Fallen ‘disease’!

“But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My Covenant in thy mouth?”  (Psalm 50:16)

Such ungodly legislators think that they can redefine the vileness of human sin by making social laws that call sin ‘normal behaviour’ and seek to compel nations to psychologically deny what their eyes and minds are informing us is true reality!  We see a male, for example, dressed in female attire, wearing female face make-up, which doesn’t match the face hair it is caked to – and are being forced to address such individuals as ‘Miss’, or ‘Mam’, etc!  Many sincere Christian employees are actually losing their jobs today, for refusing to bend their realities concerning the gender-bending antics of depraved fools!

“Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?  They gather themselves against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.”  (Psalm 94:20-21)

Thought:  Psalm 53, once more sings ‘The Song of Man’s Disease’ – in the hope that all who hear it might turn away from their sin in repentance, before that great Day of the Lord!  Jesus comes SOON, and His rod is in His righteous hand.  Turn or Burn?

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