4. ‘The Ungodly Wicked’: Defined by God’s Word! Psalm 73:5-12

Text: ”Ye shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?...Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit…Wherefore (a conclusion) by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Matthew 7:15-20.

Good morning, discerning Christian!  When the Lord God called us with His effectual call to Salvation; granted you and I repentance from our sin; faith to believe (trust) in Christ; and quickened us by His Holy Spirit from a dead spirit to one alive in Christ Jesus – He granted us Spiritual discernment, a discernment which we are called to improve daily, through the earnest study of God’s written Word, and in constant fellowship with Christ Jesus.  Praise God for Spiritual discernment!

“And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free…If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”  (John 8:32;36)

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth; but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual.  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are Spiritually discerned.”  (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.”  (2 Timothy 2;15)

This below, however, is how ‘the ungodly wicked’ are Spiritually defined in Psalm 73:5-12:

Untroubled: The ‘wicked’ are Bible-defined as untroubled in daily life, in comparison to the Christian, who seems to be getting difficulties every day!  In a great battle, the warrior-soldiers are found constantly at the front of the conflict, at the forefront of the fighting; in the vanguard of the fiercest contentions – while the arm-chair generals are usually found miles away from the danger, contemplating the odds, in comparative personal safety.

Such arm-chair generals are of no immediate danger to the enemy fighters, and therefore, seldom are the focus of the opposition.  The Devil and his demons do little harm to professing Christians who seldom don the full armour of God to contend with them for Christ.

Verse 5.  “They are not in trouble as other men.  God has given them over to the desires of their own hearts, that they who are filthy may be filthy still: like a sick man, are they to whom a wise physician forbids nothing, since the disease is incurable.” (Gerhohus1053-1169)

Verse 5. “…Neither are they plagued like other men. Fierce trials do not arise to assail them: they smart not under the Divine rod.  While many saints are both poor and afflicted, the prosperous sinner is neither.  He is worse than other men, and yet he is better off; he ploughs least, and yet has the most fodder.  He deserves the hottest Hell, and yet has the warmest nest.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 314)

Proud: Because they receive little if any Divine chastisement – for a Father only chastises His own children – they become arrogant an haughty, “…pride compasseth them about as a chain.”

“Therefore, pride compasseth them about as a chain (they are entrapped by it); violence covereth them as a garment.”  (Psalm 73:6)

Violent: Their violence is not always personally doled out, but administered often by the mark of a pen, or the secret nod or wink of conspiracy in secret meetings.  Yet being proud and having little fear of God, they often desire to have, and take what they want by one means or another.  They believe sincerely that they are, in fact, worth all things they desire.

Gluttonous: Nothing is enough for the wicked, the reprobate, who only has this world and its desires in mind and heart.  They become gluttonous, greedy, selfish, and grossly covetous of material things.

Verse 7. “They eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. There is no satisfying a gluttonous man/woman. As we often say, “His/Her eyes are bigger than his/her belly.”  A heartful of whatever it is the wicked crave/covet – is not enough.  “More, more, more!” This is the cry of their reprobate hearts.  Satisfaction is NEVER achieved.

Corrupt:  Because the inner heart-motivation of the wicked is greed, they must, by sheer necessity, be able and willing to be corrupted, and to corrupt others to get what their lusts covet.  Their treasures are all in this world, and therefore, they just cannot get enough to satisfy the needs of a never-dying soul.

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  (Matthew 16:26)

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.  But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  (Matthew 6:19-21)

Oppressors of the Godly: Their father, the Devil, is a bully and a constant oppressor.  Like father, like son with the wicked, Christ-rejecting reprobate.  By their fruits shall ye know them.  The spirit of ant-Christianity, is merely the Devil in disguise, oppressing God’s people.

Disobedient to God: Mark well how many laws being brought in to Government legislation worldwide, that not only favour the ungodly, the oppressor, the perverted, and those that detest the Ten Commandments of the Living Lord God Almighty.  These are the actions of those being Biblically-defined as ‘the wicked’.

Ill-gotten wealthy: The wicked always seem to prosper in amassing ill-gotten gains.  No doubt their father, the Devil, and the corrupt natures they possess – will make them rich in this world’s material goods, but paupers in the Kingdom of Heaven to come.

Thought: “Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.”  (Psalm 73:12)