All The Feels | Week 3 | Bill Bush

Pastor Bill Bush · Apr 25, 2021

Big Idea

Disgust will either disciple you closer to God or destroy you — the difference lies in whether you diagnose it, trust God's justice, and pursue His goodness.

Feelings like disgust aren't good or bad — they're warning lights meant to be managed, not chased or ignored. When disgust hits, Pastor Bill shows from David's story in Psalm 52 that we can let it disciple us by first looking inward, trusting God's justice instead of forcing our own, and choosing to pursue God's goodness through love, even before we feel calm.

Key points

1
1Anger is usually a secondary emotion, and often the deeper feeling underneath it is disgust.
Pastor Bill tells a long story about a teammate showing up late to a bowling playoff game and staying on his phone instead of bowling, which made him furious. He realized his anger kept building because he was actually disgusted by the teammate's disrespect, and defines disgust using words like disapproving, revolted, and appalled.
2
2Disgust will disciple you or destroy you — it either draws you toward God or consumes you.
This is stated as the big idea of the message: disgust can either move a person closer to Jesus or cause them to explode or implode. The rest of the message unpacks how to let it do the former using Psalm 52.
3
3Psalm 52 grows out of David lying, hiding, and Doeg the Edomite betraying him, resulting in Saul slaughtering the priests of Nob and their families.
Pastor Bill walks through 1 Samuel 21-22, showing David lying to Ahimelech the priest out of fear while on the run from Saul, and Doeg later reporting this to Saul, who orders the priests, their families, and even their animals killed. Unlike Saul, who made excuses when confronted with sin, David confessed and owned his failure immediately.
4
4Diagnose your disgust before you act on it — much of its intensity comes from what's going on inside you, not just what happened out there.
Pastor Bill admits his rage at his late teammate was fueled partly by his own upbringing and by guilt over having been late himself and having harshly confronted someone else for it. He argues we must deal with our own disgust before we deal out our disgust, using the parenting example of being hardest on kids for the things we hate about ourselves.
5
5Trust God's justice instead of trying to force things right yourself.
Working from Psalm 52:5, But God, Pastor Bill explains that our first response to disgust is usually but you or but me rather than but God. He teaches that God is patient, not unjust, and that no injustice will go unaccounted for in the end, illustrated by the analogy of waiting for a boat to fill before leaving a doomed island.
6
6We can be right about what's wrong and still be wrong about how to make it right, especially when we look to government or politics instead of God to fix things.
Pastor Bill critiques how Christians across the political spectrum replace trust in God with trust in government, when Scripture shows government only checks evil, it doesn't correct it. He warns that fighting for laws without leading with love won't change hearts, and that the world should know Christians by their love, not their political battles.
7
7Pursue God's goodness by resting in His unfailing love, which frees you to love others even in your disgust.
Using the image of the long-lived, fruitful olive tree from Psalm 52:8-9, Pastor Bill teaches that trusting God's unfailing love is what sustains a righteous response. He reminds listeners that God delights in those who trust Christ and is never disgusted with them, which should shape how they treat others.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the response as a three-step process: diagnose your disgust, trust God's justice, and pursue God's goodness.

Diagnose your disgust before reacting
When something disgusts you, stop and ask why you're really so intense about it — look inward first, because some of the fire may come from your own history or guilt, not just what the other person did.
Trust God's justice instead of forcing your own
Remember that no injustice will go unaccounted for in the end, so let 'but God' be your response instead of 'but you' or 'but me' when you're tempted to take matters into your own hands.
Stop placing your trust in government or politics to fix what's wrong
Examine your Facebook feed and conversations — are you leading with love or with anger at politicians and opponents? Remember government checks evil but only God's justice and love correct it.
Choose to be loving and nice before you feel calm
Don't wait until you've cooled down to act kindly; decide to show love and respect in the middle of the conflict, at home or elsewhere, and let that kindness calm you down.
Rest in God's unfailing love for you
If you trust Christ, know that God delights in you and is never disgusted with you, and let that truth free you to extend the same grace toward others.

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“And we're gonna look at that today in the Psalm we're gonna see. Because what are we supposed to do with that feeling? Because you remember the first week we opened up and said, what are feelings? Why did God give us to them? Why are we wired? And we said feelings are guides, not goals”
From the transcript
“And where we're gonna be is in Psalms 52, but we're not gonna start in Psalms 52. Because the like I said, these Psalms were were hymn books. They were they were poetry. They were written”
From the transcript
“it says in Psalm 52, for the choir director. That's actually in the scripture because this was a it would it would it would write. It says, for the choir director, a Psalm of David regarding the time Doeg the Edomite said to Saul, David has gone to see Ahimelech”
From the transcript
“So we know exactly the context for this Psalm that King David wrote. And so now that something happened to him that we can read about, we're gonna go to the original because we have to understand what actually happened and what David did before we read what he wrote”
From the transcript
“So verse one of chapter 21 says, David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. Why are you alone? He asked. Why is no one with you”
From the transcript
“If you jump down to verse seven now, it says, now Doeg the Edomite, that's the guy that Psalms about, we're gonna read in a minute, Saul's chief herdman was there that day being detained before the Lord”
From the transcript
“David asked in verse eight, Ahimelech, do you have a spear or a sword? The king's business was so urgent that I didn't even have time to grab a weapon”
From the transcript
“So then let's jump over to chapter 22. Saul is now angry with everybody. He's giving full vent. He's out of control, and he's like, you guys are all helping him”
From the transcript
“And then down in verse nine, it says this, then Dobe the Edomite, he was there, who was standing there with Saul's men spoke up. He says, when I was at Nob, he said, I saw the son of Jesse talking to the priest Ahimelech, the son of Ahithub”
From the transcript
“So verse 18, the king said to Doge, what's up, Doge? I'm just making sure you're still with me. This is a lot of setup in this sermon, and some of you just, like, zone out”
From the transcript
“He says, why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? He's being sarcastic. What kind of a great warrior killed unarmed priests that didn't do anything? He goes, you do you don't you realize God's justice continues forever? All day long, you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor. You're an expert at telling lies. You love evil more than good and lies more than truth. You love to destroy others with your words, you liar”
From the transcript
“He says verse five, but God. Remember Pat last week talked about big buts in the Bible and how they're important? This is a huge, huge but right here”
From the transcript
“But God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home, just like you did those families, and uproot you from the land of the living”
From the transcript
“Verse six, the righteous will see it and be amazed. They will laugh and say, look at what happens to mighty warriors who don't trust God”
From the transcript
“And then what does that take them to? Verse nine, I will praise you forever, oh God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people. I'll trust in your good name”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

There's a moment most of us know well — when something someone did just turns your stomach. Not mere frustration, but something deeper, something that feels almost righteous. That's disgust, and Pastor Bill named it plainly: disgust will either disciple you or destroy you. It won't stay neutral. David wrote Psalm 52 after one of the most gut-wrenching betrayals in his life — Doeg the Edomite had reported David's whereabouts to Saul, setting off a chain of violence David couldn't stop. The disgust David felt was real, and he didn't pretend otherwise. But notice what he did with it: he brought it to God in the form of a psalm. He let it become something. The first four verses of Psalm 52 are David essentially holding up a mirror to the boastful person in front of him — describing the love of evil, the tongue like a sharp razor, the delight in destruction. It's raw and honest. But here's what Pastor Bill wants us to sit with today: feelings are guides, not goals. They function like warning lights on a dashboard — they're showing you something real, something worth paying attention to. The question is never whether you feel disgust. The question is where you take it from here.

For reflection

When you've felt strong disgust toward someone recently, what did you do with that feeling — did you examine it, express it, suppress it, or something else?

Pray

Pray for honesty about an emotion you've been carrying without examining.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Psalm 52 was written after one of the darkest moments in David's life — a moment tied directly to a choice he made. Before we dig in, take a second to think about a time you felt genuine disgust at something wrong in the world. That feeling is exactly where this message starts.

Discussion questions

1
Pastor Bill described feelings as 'warning lights on a dashboard' — they show us something rather than being something to chase or avoid. Looking at Psalm 52, how does David seem to be using his disgust — as a warning light or as a destination? What clues do you see in the psalm itself?
2
In 1 Samuel 22:22, David says plainly, 'I am responsible' for the deaths that followed his deception at Nob. Pastor Bill noted that David's distinguishing mark wasn't sinlessness but confession. What do you think it cost David to say that — and what does it suggest about what honest self-examination actually looks like?
3
Pastor Bill argued that much of the intensity behind our disgust is often fueled by something we dislike in ourselves, not just what the other person did. How does that idea change the way we might read David's sharp words against Doeg in Psalm 52:1–4 — given what David had just done?
4
Psalm 52:5 shifts to a declaration that God will ultimately deal with injustice. Pastor Bill suggested that confusing God's patience for indifference is a root of much of our anger. What is the difference between trusting God's justice and simply going passive when something is genuinely wrong?
5
Pastor Bill also observed that we can be right about what is wrong but wrong about how to make it right — including when we look to institutions or systems rather than God to correct evil. How might that distinction shape the way a community of people responds to injustice together?
6
Psalm 52:8–9 ends with an image of David as an olive tree flourishing in God's house, resting in His unfailing love. Pastor Bill's third move was: don't wait until you feel calm — choose the loving action now, and the calm will follow. What might that look like in practice for people trying to live that out in ordinary, everyday relationships?

Pray together

Ask God for the honesty to look inward before we deal our disgust outward, the trust to rest in His justice, and the courage to lead with kindness before we feel calm

Topics

Disgust and Anger Emotional Healing God's Justice Self-Awareness Unfailing Love

All The Feels | Week 3 | Bill Bush

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together