Falsely Accused
Prairie Baptist Church – 10/4/09
P.M. Service
Text: Psalm 7
Key verse: Psalms 7:10 - My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
Premise: How do we deal with false accusations as we try to live righteously before ungodly and sometimes vindictive people? David gives us five great responses to this type of unfair attack.
The Introduction
John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, he began to be suspicious of his passenger. John checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them, but it wasn’t there! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, “Hand over the wallet immediately!”
The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, “Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?” Our Daily Bread, October 2, 1992
This is a psalm of deliverance. It is deliverance from a different type of persecutor, that of the false accuser.
We notice it is “concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite”
No one knows who this Cush is but there are some suggestions.
A. It could refer to Shimei who cursed David as David was on the run from Absalom (2 Sam. 16:5)
B. It could refer to an actual person name “Cush” from the tribe of Benjamin, or,
C. It could be a coded reference to Saul who persecuted David without cause.
i. “Cush” could be a play on “Kish”
ii. Saul was the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin
Whoever, it might be, there seems to be a accusations made against David that are not true, and David feels oppressed because he knows he has done nothing to deserve this.
Sometimes, we may have the same experience David is having:
A. People may lie about us to get us in trouble
B. People may try and set traps to get us to stumble
C. People may hate us so much as Christians that they gossip and spread rumors about us.
D. People may even invent conspiracy theories about us to make us look bad to others and ruin our testimony.
E. John 15:18-21 - 18“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
1. Let God Be My Trust – 7:1-5
2. Let God Be My Tower – 7:6-11
3. Let God Be My Triumph - 7:12-17
So, what do we do when we are falsely accused?
Five (5) responses to false accusation:
Body
1. Rely On God – 1-2
A. A small boy riding a bus home from Sunday school was very proud of the card he had received, which had a picture and a caption that read: “Have Faith in God.” Then to his dismay the card slipped from his hand and fluttered out the window. “Stop the bus!” he cried. “I’ve lost my ‘faith in God!’” The driver pulled the bus to a stop, and as the lad climbed out and went to retrieve his card, one of the adult riders smiled and made a comment about the innocence of youth. A more perceptive adult observed, “All of us would be better off if we were that concerned about our faith." David had that concern and reliance on God as well.
B. For David, God is his refuge, his impenetrable protection
i. He knew the power of God to save him from his persecutors
ii. He knew the consequences if God did not intervene for him
C. How many times do we fail to get the protection of God because we fail to ask for the protection of God?
i. It is not that God does not protect His children anyway.
ii. But, He desires to hear that we trust Him
iii. We exercise faith and He responds to that faith – Matt.7:7 - “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
D. God never fails us – Zephaniah 3:5 - The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame.
E. When we suffer for doing what is right, God defends us - 1 Pet. 4:19 - Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
2. Review Your Innocence – 3-5
A. Setting out from Hamburg, Germany, one day to give a concert in London, violinist Fritz Kreisler had an hour before his boat sailed. He wandered into a music shop, where the proprietor asked if he could look at the violin Kreisler was carrying. He then vanished and returned with two policemen, one of whom told the violinist, "You are under arrest."
"What for?" asked Kreisler.
"You have Fritz Kreisler’s violin."
"I am Fritz Kreisler."
"You can’t pull that on us. Come along to the station."
As Kreisler’s boat was sailing soon, there was no time for prolonged explanations. Kreisler asked for his violin and played a piece he was well known for. "Now are you satisfied?" he asked. They were! Today in the Word, December 22, 1992.
B. Here, David sets the wheels in motion asking for God to review his actions
i. “If” is an awfully big word
a. It does not imply doubt in one’s innocence
b. It reveals confidence in one’s innocence
c. It is like saying, “go ahead and check me out; you will find nothing wrong; of this I am sure!”
ii. If he is guilty, than allow his enemies to trample him and take his life (lay my honor in the dust = a picture of death)
iii. This is confidence that no wrong will be found in Him
iv. This is confidence in righteous behavior
C. David was self-confident of his purity and could say these things comfortably in the midst of false accusations (self-examination)
D. We can face our accusers with confidence because:
i. Our consciences are clear as we live honestly - Heb. 13:18 - Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
ii. When we live with a heart of integrity - Proverbs 10:9 - He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known.
3. Request God’s Vindication – 6-13
A. Here, David looks at an aspect of God and it’s relation to is situation; that of Judge:
i. God as judge or judgment is mentioned in verses 7, 8 (2x’s), 9, 11)
ii. Praise attracts the attention of God (6-7)
a. David attracts attention to the throne of God and His judgments
b. He appeals to God’s desire for praise from His people to move God to action on David’s behalf.
c. God loves praise and responds to praise
• Psalm 5-:23 – Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
• Jesus started His prayer of example this way – Matthew 6:9 - Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
• Paul and Silas praised God and were released from prison - Acts 16:25-26 – 25But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
• It is the necessary element in prayer - Ephesians 5:17-20 - 17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
iii. David prays for two different types of judgment (8-9):
a. David, the believer – he recounts his righteousness and integrity (8)
• For us, that would be our salvation and good works.
• Salvation – already justified by Christ and made perfectly acceptable to God
• Works – what we will be judged on at the Bema Seat for rewards, not salvation (2nd Cor. 5:10)
b. For the unbeliever – his wickedness will be judged (9):
• On this earth in various ways
• At the Great White Throne judgment for condemnation (Rev. 20:11-15)
iv. David acknowledges God as a just and ready judge (10-13)
a. God is prepared for judgment at the right time (11-13)
b. For the believer, God saves and defends (10)
B. His vindication is the confirmation of innocence and the judgment of his enemies.
4. Remember The Consequences – 14-16
A. One day, a mother explained to her five-year-old daughter that if she chose to disobey her, she would have to live with the consequences. "Oh, Mommy!" she said with a terrified look on her face. "Please don’t make me live with the Consequences. I want to live here with you!" We should want to live with God, not the consequences of wrong actions.
B. David now turns his attention to what the wicked do and its consequences:
i. Evil man does evil things (14) – it is his nature (Matt. 12:35)
ii. The wicked eventually get caught in the trap they lay for others, especially the righteous (15)
a. The pit speaks of not only animal traps but pits prepared in times of warfare.
b. Pits would be dug to trap the enemy but would often backfire
iii. An illustration of this would be Haman in the book of Esther. He had connived and sought to destroy the Jews. He had prepared gallows for them and in the end, because of His treachery and being found out, he was hanged there himself.
C. We can take comfort in this and also learn a lesson:
i. The comfort – that there is no lasting success for the enemy of our soul
ii. The lesson – Gal. 6:7-8 - 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
a. Every action has its consequences
b. When we do right, it will reap reward
c. When we do wrong, it will reap retribution
5. React With Praise – 17
A. There was a tenant in an apartment building who was a widow woman who loved God dearly. Her landlord on the other hand despised God and her faith. One day she ran out of food and money and with no one to help she turned to God in prayer. She prayed, “Oh dear God please help me in my time of need, I look to you and you alone to provide my needs, now please send me some food, for I’m tired and hungry. The landlord heard the prayer through the wall and though, “ I’ll show her once and for all that God doesn’t care for her, that He doesn’t hear and answer prayers.” So he went to the grocery store and bought a bill of groceries and used his access key to get into her apartment and set the groceries on her dinning room table. When the woman came in and found the groceries she began to praise God and thank Him for answering her prayers. The landlord was listening and went to her apartment and told her she was a religious fool and that God didn’t give her the groceries he said, “I gave you the groceries.” No she said, “Your wrong and I’m right, God sent me these groceries even if He had to send them by the devil.”
B. David sums up his feelings about God:
i. He does not dwell on his situation
ii. He closes with honor and glory to God
C. Not only is it good to start with praise but also good to end with praise:
i. We praise God for who He is
ii. We give God His proper place as the most supreme in our lives
iii. Psalm 71:15-16 - 15My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. 16I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
Conclusion:
Have you ever been falsely accused and how did you respond?
Did you or do you react in a godly way or did you react in the flesh?
Maybe you are going through something like this right now.
If so, how are you going to deal with it in a way that pleases and glorifies the Lord?
