Hello, you're listening to Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. Stephen Pollack is the pastor of Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania. The church is located at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. Thank you for joining us today as Dr. Pollack opens the Word of God and lets the Bible speak. Let's take our Bibles again this evening. We'll turn to the Psalm 7. You'll see the title there. The titles are significant. Again, the manuscripts we have of the Old Testament scriptures, these titles are part of that and are deemed as being part of the scriptures of truth. The word is used here regarding the Shigion of David. No certainty regarding what that means, but likely a type of song or a psalm. More than likely that's the reference there. And it is which he sang unto the Lord concerning the words of the Benjamite. O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust. Save me from all them that persecute me and deliver me, lest ye tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. Let the enemy persecute my soul and take it. Yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about. For their sakes therefore return thou on high. And the Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. I will let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just. For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword. He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He ordained his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he traveleth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and his fall into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Again, the title here gives the background for this song. Again, a song that David has used of reflection, of consideration, a song that's come as a prayer to the Most High God. There is this individual known Cush the Benjamite that is using words against David. We don't have all the details regarding these events. But it is worth noting that David's relationship with the Benjamites was complex. Saul, of course, King Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, and it is possible, even likely, there was persistent hard feelings in some quarters against David. He, of course, took over after Saul. Shammai cursed him when he was fleeing from Absalom. Sheba le revolt. Again, these are the events of the Benjamites, and here Cush uses words that cause great damage. The commentary, the Kil'n'Dalish commentary says this, this muster, he must have been one of the many servants of Saul, his kinsman, one of the tail-bearers like Doeg and the Ziphites who shamefully slandered David before Saul and roused him against David. And that is the general thought here that Cush has given words against David to Saul, slandered him to the hurt of David. And it is worth again reminding ourselves that words do indeed cause damage. We may pretend that we are not wounded, you know, the old rhyme sticks and stones and all that and names may never hurt me. But some of the deepest wounds we suffer comes from the misuse of words against us. If you've experienced that, you will know that to be true. Slander here does seem to be the main issue. Again, down in verse number 14, it says, Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. In fact, Spurgeon, in The Treasure of David, refers to this psalm as the song of the slandered saint. If you look at verse 3 and 4, you will see that the accusation is that David has done something against one that he was at peace with. Again, he brings the form of the words in a prayer. If I have rewarded evil, verse 4, unto him that was at peace with me. So this individual is at peace with him, but he has returned evil unto him. That's the accusation here. Likely it is a reference to, well in the accusation of Cush, a reference that David has in some manner harmed Saul himself. You will note the parenthesis at the end of verse number four and that section does fit as a parenthesis. Yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. You think the times that David delivers Saul, when he could have taken Saul's life. And so it looks to be the case, again, that David is being accused, falsely accused, of maybe being a traitor against Saul's reign or something like that. Now you feel the depth of David's anguish in verse number six. You think of how keenly aware David was, the soul was the Lord's anointed, how careful he was in all of his actions. And so you get to verse number six. He's grieved. He's wounded in his soul regarding the slander that is against him and he presents this prayer. Rise, O Lord, and there is a call unto the Lord to act. How are we to respond to slander or to false gossip against us? Well, at times we may be able to set the record straight. At times, we may be able to defend ourselves. You consider the actions of Paul in the book of Acts and his trials. At times, he is given the opportunity to correct the false accusations that are presented against him. And sometimes, again, those slanderous words can be defended. But often, often we find it impossible to change the minds of those who slander. Or we just don't have the means to undo the impact of false words. Slander takes ground. People suspect there must be some truth in the words. Again, you know the old proverbial statement, you throw enough mud, some of it will stick. And you get this idea that, well, I just cannot correct all the false thinking there may be against me in some situation or another. It's sadly the case that today we live in a society that people place such a low value on truth that they feel free and at liberty to damage others using outright lies. And they have no conscience about such actions. Now, we may not be David. We are not kings of Israel, that's for sure. And many of you, you're not involved in public pastoral ministry or mission work. You're people who are faithful in membership of a local church. And yet many of God's people have gone through this sort of ordeal. It's not surprising. I've heard this sort of situation coming several times in my pastoral ministry. So-and-so said something against me years ago. I'm only finding out now about the impact that's felt in my family or my neighborhood or something else. And sadly, sometimes in the context of the church. So we may not be able to correct slanderous words, but we can always take the matter to the Lord. Again, one man, if I can paraphrase one man's thoughts, put it this way, false accusations may deceive our fellow men, but they cannot deceive God. So what we're seeing here really is a lesson on how to deal with, again, sin against you. So here it's a very particular issue, it's slander. But how do we respond to any ill treatment or any slanderous words? How do we respond to sin by others against us? Well, I really have three directive statements to you, three things that I want you to take on board and really seek to apply them in your lives in the coming days. First of all, I want to encourage you to live with a good conscience before God. You should make that a prime aim and objective in your life day by day. I'm going to live with a good conscience before God. Again, just by way of a reminder, you know what a conscience is. It is that inner voice. It's placed there by God in creation. Again, God puts an awareness of his law into the hearts of all of his creatures. Yes, it's damaged by the fall, but it's there in every creature. Every human being has a conscience. And so you have that revealed for us in Romans chapter two. But that conscience that is again damaged by the fall must be informed by the word of God. Again, for a conscience to be accurate, it must be properly informed. Again, not based upon man's opinions, but based upon the word of the living God. And so what is a good conscience? Well, a good conscience is a conscience, number one, properly informed by scripture, and number two, a conscience that does not accuse you. So you've got conscience that's governed by the word of God, that then does not accuse you, that's a good conscience. And that is something we should all strive to have. David can pray here, I believe, because he has a good conscience. Verse number three, oh Lord my God, if I have done this, Then jump down to verse number five, let the enemy persecute my soul and take it. If I've done this, then whatever will be upon me, let it come. And he's really bringing this to God on the basis that he has a good conscience. In fact, he argues in verse number eight, The Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to mine integrity that is in me. Now we as God's people, well informed regarding the nature of sin, may be very slow to pray in this regard. We may misunderstand it and think that he's somehow claiming sinless perfection. And the only way we could pray this, if we are sinlessly perfect, but he's not claiming that. I don't believe he's claiming that in this regard. What he is saying is before God, with judgment day honesty, he is saying, I am not guilty of these accusations. What is being said against me is false. You've got that there in verse 14. He refers to the bringing forth of falsehood. And so he hears these false accusations, but he has a good conscience and he is aware before God that he is not guilty of what he's being accused of. And that good conscience, he then brings before God. You see, we see this in the scriptures. The importance of living with a good conscience before God, amen. I mentioned Paul already in the message regarding his ability to defend himself in the book of Acts. On one of the occasions, he's before the high priest, Ananias. And he says to the council, men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Oh, they were mad at that statement. They thought he was a rebel and he was against the Jewish law. And he's standing there saying, before the high priest, he's saying, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Living a good conscience and using that in public testimony. In fact, later on in Acts 24, he says this, and herein do I exercise myself. He's trying, he's working in this regard to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Good conscience. Paul's words there highlight the twofold benefit of a good conscience. It is both before man and it is toward God. The benefit towards man is that it can be this answer to men's accusations. It's a very freeing thing. If someone says something about you and you get on your knees before God and say, I know that's not true. You see, slander, slander is the giving of falsehood. It's a terrible thing if people say things negatively about you, and you've got to be honest and say, well, that's true. That's entirely true. What they're saying is true. I did that, or I said that, or I should have done this, and all the things you just got to admit to the criticism. That's not slander. Maybe gossip. Slander is bringing a falsehood against you. And so when someone slanders you, and you can get before God on your knees and say, no, Didn't do that. And then from your knees, you can get before men. And you can get before men and say, I didn't do that. It's a tremendously freeing thing. Perhaps in a church context, someone comes to you and says, I heard this about you. And you can look them in the eye. Not looking down, no evading eye contact. You can look them in the eye and say, what was said about me is not true. That's a very powerful thing. Again, you think of how Peter uses that in 1 Peter 3, he says, having a good conscience. That whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accused your good conversation in Christ. The power of a good conscience. You know, you don't know what someone will say about you in 10 years time or five years time. But you can govern what happens today. that you speak and live in a manner that's upright before God, that no matter what happens to you in the future, you can say, well, no, that's just simply not true. Undoubtedly, the devil's device is often to bring these accusations against God's people. And so they can be answered if you have a good conscience. But there's also a Godward aspect to this. It is an assurance, therefore, in the presence of God. You see, David pleads his cause here with all sincerity. Now, we are not sinless, but we can bring a cause to God with real integrity. That's what he's doing here. Again, it is a tremendously bold assertion there in verse number eight where he says for God to judge him according to his integrity. That's a tremendous thing and requires a good conscience. So if you're to pursue this good conscience, you must know the word. You see, one of the dangers is that we accuse ourselves falsely. We have done wrong, but we don't understand we've done wrong, and so we have a misunderstanding of the word of God or a misapplication of the word of God, and we pat ourselves on the back when actually we should be on our knees in repentance. So you've got to make sure you seek to know the word. To that regard, if slander comes, it is often wise to bring that slander to some trusted counsellor and say, I've been accused of this. Please, do you think I'm guilty? Have I done something wrong against the Word of God? And come with that transparency and that openness of heart to try to understand where you stand in that regard. So you're trying to ensure that you know the Word of God. And so be in the Word, study the Word, understand how you should live in this world, and then depend upon the Spirit of God to lead you in righteousness. A good conscience cannot be achieved in the flesh. You may long for a good conscience, but the only way to have a good conscience is to depend upon the power of the Spirit of God. You cannot do right in your own strength. So when you see this psalm and you realize, oh, I don't know what's in the future for me, but I want this conscience. You've got to live your days with an open Bible and upon your knees praying to God for his grace to help you by his Spirit, enabling you to live this life. So that's principle number one. When it comes to lessons regarding slander or sin against us, seek to live with a good conscience before God. But secondly, leave the sin of others with God. We've already noted the trouble that comes when we're slandered. It's very hard to address, very hard to fix the trouble. By the way, I should make an application in that regard. When we recognize how hard it is to fix the impact of slander, it should make us all very cautious with what we say about others. We're very cautious. We'll be saying something that's not true about someone else. We are all susceptible to making wrong conclusions. But it's true. Again, of many sins that we cannot fix the trouble. The damage is done and justice, at least on this earth, cannot be achieved. And so the psalmist cries out, verse number six, Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies, and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. And he continues in that regard. I'm not going to read those verses again, but he continues all the way down through that section, calling upon God to do justly in this situation. Of course, Paul is the one who reflects this in Romans 12. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. It is written, Vengeance mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. A sense of leaving God to do justly. Now, one thing you see in this Psalm is that does not only involve waiting for God to do justly in the final day. I believe what David does here is he's asking God for justice on the earth. Verse number six again, he's asking for God to bring about the judgment that God has commanded. and that the congregation of the people will compass around God and that for their sakes God will return and deal with this matter. It's this idea of a public dealing with sin in the presence of the congregation as God commanded in his law. He's praying for justice to be done. He's not suggesting he takes justice into his own hands, but he's praying for it to be done and to be seen to be done. You see, when we are faced with the sins of others, we are in a rightful place to pray for justice to be realized in whatever is an appropriate way. I'm leaving that open-ended. It may be an apologies required, maybe prison. It may be death in the case of murder. Whatever justice requires, we can go before God and pray for it to be done. It's okay for us to pray that. to pray for in terms of church discipline. If we are wronged in the congregation of the saints, it is appropriate for us to pray for God to deal with that in the terms of church discipline. It's also not wrong for us to pray that if actions have been done against us that require civil judgment that they're also dealt with in the civil courts. We're praying for God to work in justice, justice that will seem to be done. That's not wrong. Now it's interesting in the case that he presents here, later on down through the words, he refers to this man conceiving mischief and making a pit and digging it, and then the mischief returning upon his own head. That's also how God can sometimes bring justice, through providential circumstances. Like Haman, who makes the gallows, hangs upon the very same gallows, and God sees that justice is done in his own way. We can pray for those things, cautiously, open Bible with good counsel, we can pray for God to do justly on the earth. But ultimately, we must accept that God will do justly. It's one thing to ask for God to do justice, but we must also by faith accept that God will do justly, even if those who sin against us never see that justice on this earth. Again, verse number eight, he rests upon this, the Lord shall judge the people. He has this assertion, verse number nine, Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. He believes that God will judge. Now, look what he says in verse number 12. If he turn not, he will wet his sword, that is God. And so he gives room for repentance. If you've been sinned against, it is right and proper for you to pray for mercy, for pray to God that he'll give the gift of repentance. But if repentance does not come, then there's a recognition that God will bring justice. Sin will be dealt with. There will be no sin not dealt with before God's eternity. all will be dealt with either in the cross or in that last place of hell. There is, of course, here a very messianic aspect to this. You think the slanders of Christ and those who accuse the Christ of God falsely, and yet Christ has said in 1 Peter 2 to commit himself to him that judges righteously. Christ was able to be reviled and reviled not again because he put his trust upon the righteous character of God. So we must live our lives seeking to have a good conscience, but also leaving the sins of others before God in prayer. The third line, just finally, I want to encourage you to let the attributes of God fill your heart. Encourage you to really get hold of who God is. And though others may harm you and sin against you, you will do well by keeping God in the forefront of your minds. You see, at times when we are mistreated or evil spoken of, we may lose out with the Lord. We may become bitter. Why did you allow this to happen? Have I kept my hands clean in thee? And as people speak against us, we may become self-centered and self-absorbed and lose out in our fellowship with the Lord. And so as we are to encourage others in our discouragement and pray for others in our adversities, here I want you to really resolve in your minds to let the knowledge of God govern your hearts and your minds. Verse one, O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust. Verse number 17, I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. It's a recognition that he's living by faith in God. You see, a knowledge of God stabilizes our hearts and minds when our emotions are raised. When emotions are raised, we can act impulsively, impetuously, and we can do things that harm and say things that cause more harm. We've been sinned against and we then sin in response to that. But knowing our God governs our responses. Knowing that God is righteous and that He is our refuge. Such knowledge settles our hearts when our emotions are in turmoil. We are able to rest and trust in God. His sovereignty, His justice, His mercy to our souls. We run to God and we know that in God of heaven there is a refuge for our souls. And such a knowledge of God, it settles the child of God no matter what happens to them. Whether it be sins committed to them or against them by others, or whether it be some other adversity that comes upon their lives, they're settled because they know their God. And so the believer who has the attributes of God filling their minds will be found often in the Word, deepening their knowledge of God. They'll be digging to know more about their God. They'll be found often in church, in the place of public praise. They won't allow slander to keep them out of the house of God. Though people may speak ill against them, they'll be there praising God with all their hearts. And they'll be often in the closet. In the word, in the house of God, and in the closet going to God in private. Because we must confess that slander does hurt. And sin against us does hurt. And the refuge we find is in the justice and the kindness and the goodness of God. And so we find ourselves running to the God of heaven in prayer. This is a very personal psalm, isn't it? It certainly points forward to Christ, but it's also the experience of many of God's people. They find themselves and they fear their soul will be teared by the lion, rending their soul in pieces. and they want the God of heaven to deliver them and to give them grace. Save me from all them that persecute me and deliver me. So please, seek to live a good conscience. Let the sins of others go before God and let the God of heaven fill your hearts and your minds for his name's sake. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of Let the Bible Speak from Malvern Free Presbyterian Church. If you'd like more information about the gospel or the church, please call 610-993-3170 or email malvernfpc at yahoo.com. We extend an invitation to all to join us as we worship the Lord each week. You will be made very welcome. The church is situated at 80 Mallon Road, Malvern, Pennsylvania, at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. We meet for worship on the Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A Bible study and prayer meeting is also held on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We preach Christ Crucified.