Bible Truth #397 - Psalm 34:16

Psalm 34:16

The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

In the book of Psalms the “face of the Lord” is a symbol of God’s divine favor. If God’s divine favor is against them, how can “them that do evil” turn God’s divine favor toward them? Is there anything “them” can do to merit God’s favor? Of course the answer is an emphatic NO! A lost man is unable to do anything that would make God save him (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5) because he is unable to do anything pleasing to God. (Romans 8:8)

We already know from the rest of the Holy Scriptures that every imagination of the thoughts of a lost man’s heart is only evil, continuously (Genesis 6:5). Well, since God’s divine favor is against them, that would explain why they are always thinking evil. Did not Jesus say that everyone who does evil hates Him? And will not come to Him? (John 3:20) Again, who does evil? The answer is every lost man.

That also explains man’s Total Depravity and why he can NOT, of his own volition and of his own so-called “free will”, do anything pleasing to God (Romans 8:8), because it is evil. For a man to do something pleasing to God, God must first do a work in him (John 6:29) and “enable” him (John 6:65).

Not only is God’s Divine Favor against “them,” Scripture tells us that God hates them as well (Psalm 5:5, Psalm 11:5). Is it any wonder the Psalmist tells us God wants to erase any memory of them from the earth? Even though they may do many mighty works in the Name of Jesus, they are still workers of iniquity and Jesus will tell them to depart from Him (Matthew 7:22-23).

The point of this Bible Truth is to convey the simple understanding of God’s Word. God is against every man who does evil, which is defined as all those NOT chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and to wipe out any memory of them.