Are You Falsely Accused? (PM Lesson Outline)
GIST: When you are falsely accused, remember God’s love and leave judgment to Him.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 7
This is the longest psalm we’ve covered so far. But don’t worry, it won’t be the longest lesson☺️. In part because this psalm lends itself to several big picture type lessons, and in part because I want us to be intentional in our prayer time this evening.
"1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, 2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, 4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah 6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. 14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. 17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High."
This psalm could be divided up several ways. However, I have been reading a daily devotional by Tim Keller on the psalms, and he broke it into three major sections. These seemed very appropriate to me, so, once again, I will give him credit for this general outline☺️. The gist? When you are falsely accused, remember God’s love and leave judgment to Him.
I. FALSELY ACCUSED (1-5)
1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, 2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, 4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
These Accusations Are Harmful and False. We do not know exactly what these accusations were, but we don’t need to. We understand that the intentions of these accusations are to destroy David--to tear down his soul. It seems these attacks might be spiritual in nature, or, at the very least (though least is hardly applicable) attacking his faith. Nonetheless, David is sure of his innocence here. If not, he’s calling some pretty serious curses down upon himself.
His Refuge is Already in God. Notice that he says, “in you do I take refuge”, not “will I” (Keller, Songs of Jesus). In the face of this great wrong, only God’s opinion matters.
II. RETRIBUTION FROM GOD ON HIGH (6-11)
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
God is the Judge. Leave it to Him, and trust that you can stand in His judgment because of the cross (Keller)! He judges us too! And the only way we can stand is because “my shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart”.
Judgment can be a sticky topic. However, as I was reading this week, the ESV Study Bible noted that “in the Psalms, judging is more often than not a saving action, God intervening on the behalf of the innocent and oppressed” (ESV Study Bible). You might be treated wrongly in the world, but rather than trying to get vindication, lay it down at God’s feet. This section said that God has indignation every day, and that can sound super harsh. Nonetheless, the point is that He takes sin seriously! That means yours...and everyone else’s...and-->
He will Establish Righteousness. Heaven is real.
III. SELF-DEFEATING EVIL (12-17)
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. 14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. 17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High."
Don’t envy the wicked. Pray for them. Their end is destruction if they do not repent. Praise God...and pray they do too.
TAKEAWAYS
1. You will be falsely accused.
2. When you are, remember God’s love and leave judgment to Him. Oh, how we need to remember this!
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