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Past Ponderings

Sunday, August 25, 2019

PONDERING... What If People Talk Trash? (Psalm 26)

What If People Talk Trash? (Calvary Back To School Event)
GIST: Live above reproach by loving God and His works... and seek vindication from Him alone!
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 26
When Jenna asked me to speak at this because she couldn’t find anyone else ☺️, I was honored nonetheless. Immediately, I started praying about what to bring you guys. Honestly, I have nothing to offer you, unless it is something God has been teaching me. For the last two summers, our church has been doing a “summer in Psalms”, and it’s been incredible, so that’s where my heart is right now. When Jenna told me what the focus of the event was, back to school, Psalm 26 was the first passage to come to mind. I teach at a high school, and I see the struggles that brings… and the drama that often comes with it. Psalm 26 is a prayer that was prayed when David was obviously encountering opposition in the form of people slandering his name. Have you been there? Have you had times in your life when people said things about you that you knew were untrue? Have you had to deal with the embarrassment and frustration of being wrongfully accused or having your character pulled through the mud? Chances are really high that you have, or if you haven’t, you will. And it stinks. 
If I’m honest, I know for me, it’s one of those things that really gets me fired up. Not because I’m so good that no one could ever think to say anything bad about me, but because I’m so vain that I can’t handle people thinking bad things about me. That’s my gut reaction. God has done so much in my life and changed me in so many ways, but I know that I’m still a sinner who at the core wants people to like me, and I have to be aware of that. Maybe you’re not like that. But… most of us probably are. But, slander often goes beyond just hurting our pride. It can not only ruin reputations, but also hurt families and destroy witnesses. And when it’s untrue, it’s especially devastating. So, what do we do when we’re slandered—when people talk trash against us? I feel like this psalm shows us how we’re to both react and pray in these situations. So, let’s read it together. Then, I’ll give us a quick gist, and we’ll dive in. ☺️ 

“1 Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. 3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. 4 I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds. 8 O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. 9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.”
So often when we’re slandered, we want to clear our name before the world. We want everyone to know that what is being said is false. I’ve been there. But that’s not what David is doing here. He sees the slander and seeks vindication… from God, not man. That being said, here’s our gist for this evening (just in case you doze off after this☺️): Live above reproach by loving God and His works... and seek vindication from Him alone! 

I. LIVE ABOVE REPROACH (1-5) 
In the first five verses here, we see David’s initial call for vindication, and why he’s calling for it. Out of context, these might seem like bold or even self-righteous requests. However, if you study the psalms, it’s clear David doesn’t think he’s a perfect man worthy of God’s favor. In fact, he expresses that in this psalm too! Nonetheless, he knows what God has done in his life. 
I don’t want to lose you before I get this out, so let me just start by saying this. The best defense against slander is living above reproach—and that only happens when you give Jesus control and let Him guide you! We won’t ever be perfect people, but we can be His and guided by His truth.  Therefore, this psalm starts with a→ 
Call For Vindication Based On A Salvation Transformation. (I might have had too much fun with the “tions” there☺️.) Look at verse 1. “1… Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.” Remember, David knows he’s a sinner. So when he’s talking about walking in integrity, it has to be referring to something more than just being good all the time.  Integrity means remaining true to whatever is at the core. So, if the core is bad—if who you really are no matter who is or isn’t looking is full of selfishness and sin—integrity is meaningless. However, if you’ve given Jesus control of your life. If at the core, you want to love Him and serve Him by loving the people He died to save, then having integrity means remaining true to that!  That’s what we see being expressed here. His integrity is tied to trusting in God unwaveringly! 
Then, the next verse is a→ 
Call To Be Fully Examined By God. 2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” He wants to be examined by God. He wants God to look into his heart and his mind, so not just at what he’s done, but his intentions. This is bold. He is being wrongfully accused, and he calls for God to look deeply into his heart. Why? We could speculate, but the next verse starts with the word “for” or “because”...so I’d say let’s just go there! ☺️ 
Basis Of Claim: God’s Love & David’s Heart.3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.” First, we see what David is remembering as he cries out in the face of slander. God loves him with a steadfast, unending love! We should live like this! How do you define yourself? What makes you, you? Is it your family? Your career? Your house? Your wealth? Your past? Your pain? Your struggles? David knows none of this lasts. What defines him (and all of us) is our relationship to the God who created us. In the face of whatever comes our way, the classic children’s hymn should be ringing in our heads. “Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!” David knows he’s loved with an unfailing love, so are you. Because of this, he can face the accusations that come from the outside, because inside he knows he’s been redeemed and cleansed! 
Secondly, he calls out for examination because he believes he’s innocent because he’s been living for Jesus! He’s walked in God’s faithfulness, not his own. Here it is again. You want to be able to face slander, let your life be a track-record of grace! “16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Live for Him. Let others see Jesus in you. Then, when slander comes, people will be hard-pressed to believe it in the first place, and you can call out for your Heavenly Father’s examination with a clean heart. 
So, we see David's heart is in the right place. Next, we’ll see that this impacted the way he practically lived, as well. → 
Basis Of Claim: Pure Actions. Look at verse 4-5 first. “4 I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” What is he saying here? He’s intentional with the way he spends his time and who he spends it with. He doesn’t spend his leisure with those who love sin. He doesn’t sit with them. He can’t comfortably disregard their disregard for Christ. Does this mean he has nothing to do with nonbelievers? Of course not. He’s a king. He spends time with them as part of his job. AND, if you read the book of Psalms, you’ll see that he longs to see even his enemies in a loving relationship with his LORD. But, he doesn’t live like they live or surround himself with the same sinful activities. Here’s the deal, if we’re saved, we should be different. We are to love what God loves and hate what He hates. He died to save wretched sinners. That’s undeniable love. But He hates sin. He hates its destructive influence and the way it pulls people from the fulfilled lives they were made for. As His people, we should too. We shouldn’t be ok with people running headlong toward Hell like it’s just a personal preference like a style of music or a brand of shoes. It might sound melodramatic to say this, but eternity really does hang in the balance. The things that interest us, the ways we spend our time, shouldn’t be surrounded by stuff we know displeases Jesus. Period. Easy to remember. Hard to live. That’s really the key to this psalm. We live above reproach→ 

II. BY LOVING GOD & HIS WORKS (6-8)
Ok, so I went pretty long on that first point. I’ll try to be more concise here. If we want to face slander, first we should make every effort to live for Jesus. To do that, though, we have to truly love Him and His works. I just want to make two quick observations here, but they’re convicting ones. First, we see in verses 6-7 that we should have→ 
Thanksgiving In The Face Of Personal Slander. 6 I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.” He’s only innocent because he’s spending his time at the altar. The altar is where sacrifices are made. It’s a place to admit your need and give up what seems worth something here for what really matters eternally. He recognizes his need, lays down his life, and gives thanks...out loud! He might be being slandered, but rather than hearing complaints coming from his mouth, what will we hear? Praise! He’s thanking God and telling people of all He’s done! Man, what if we lived like this? If I’m honest, I’ve grumbled...today! I’m not even being openly slandered, to my knowledge at least, and I can still fall victim to a complaining heart. What if we didn’t? What if we lived lives of praise instead? We should. I should. You should. And this happens when we love Him more than ourselves. It also happens when our perspectives are shifted because we have a→ 
Love Of God’s House and His People. Verse 8 is awesome. “8 O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.” Notice the contrast here. He hates the assemblies that dishonor God and loves the ones that praise Him! Do you love coming to church and worshiping God? Do you love other Christians, even the annoying ones? Because God’s glory, His character, dwells in them. They’ve been given the same responsibility as you of reflecting Him to the world. 
A couple weeks ago, I heard a pastor tell a story of taking a mission trip to China and ministering to 22 Christian leaders. Eighteen of them had already been put in prison for their faith. They all traveled long distances to sit on a hard floor and listen to him teach the Bible for hours and hours all day long and all at great personal risk. Some of them didn’t have their own Bibles, but had committed so much Scripture to memory they could quote entire books. When he was getting ready to leave, he asked how he could pray for them. They responded with something along these lines. “In your country, you don’t have to hide like this. You can worship openly. Pray that someday soon we’re just like you guys.” The pastor’s response was something along these lines, “I’ll pray for your freedom, but I won’t pray that you’re just like us. We have so much freedom, but we don’t use it. You’re willing to give up so much, travel so far, and risk everything to come and worship. If it’s too cold, or too warm, or we have other things going on, or we have to drive too far, or we don’t feel like it… we don’t come to church. You have committed entire books of the Bible to memory. We have on average two Bibles per person, and we don’t even open them. No, I can’t pray that you’ll be like us. But I will pray that we’ll be like you!” Do you love God and His people? If not, you won’t want to live like Him.
So, live above reproach by loving God and His works, and→ 

III. SEEK VINDICATION FROM HIM ALONE (9-12)
This last point hammers home what he’s been expressing all along. His name is being dragged through the dirt, but he doesn’t want people to view him differently, he just wants to be with Jesus. That’s what we see expressed in these next two verses, a→ 
Desire To Dwell With Jesus and His People Forever.  9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.” He doesn’t want to be punished with people who hate Jesus because his desires don’t fit with theirs. He doesn’t want vindication from people who are fleeing Jesus and seeking self. He doesn’t want their praise. He doesn’t desire their attention. He just wants to be with Jesus. See, he knows he→ 
Needs Redemption & Knows The Redeemer! Look at how this psalm ends. “11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.” He knows where his vindication comes from. It’s not from this world. It comes only from the solid foundation he’s already standing on—Jesus alone! And he’ll proclaim this in the assembly of those who love the Lord! 

TAKEAWAY
In summary, let me just go back over these points. As the school year takes off, there is a good chance you will face slander. How should you react? 
1. Live above reproach. Be a follower of Jesus...all the time. Don’t wait until slander comes! And I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I’m not saying “be good enough”. That’s not what salvation is about. Jesus died to save you because you could never make yourself good enough, but He loved you anyway! That’s why we live above reproach→ 
2. By Loving God and His works. Let His love transform you. How much do you love His Word, His people, His house? What millions of things steal His rightful place in your heart?
3. And seek vindication from Him alone! Don’t try and please the world, just turn your heart always and only toward Jesus!


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