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Psalm 7
The old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me…” might be a fun nursery rhyme but lies spoken against us have real world consequences. Have you ever been falsely accused of something? Has your reputation been damaged because of words someone said about you that was not true?
In the 7th Psalm, David finds himself falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. As we examine this great Psalm let us learn how to respond to baseless attacks against our character by crying out to the God of justice like David did!
- Beware of Bitter Enemies
- Here are 7 things to keep in mind when we find ourselves falsely accused:
- Do not respond in kind.
- Do not protest widely and openly.
- Take your problem directly to God.
- The power of a holy life.
- It is possible to be a guilty sinner and yet be guiltless of a particular sin.
- Never take matters into your own hands.
- When asking God to do justice for you always keep in mind that He is the judge of all the earth and to earnestly pray against injustice against humanity in all the world.
- The Full-Orbed View of Justice: Justice is both Godward and Man-ward.
- An Illustration: Tommy and Charlie are brothers. Charlie steals Tommy’s pencil. The mother and father rush in to tell Tommy he needs to love his brother and give his pencil over to his brother as an act of love and sacrifice. If the parents are not careful, they will teach Tommy that it is okay to let people steal from you; and you are to behave in a loving disposition whilst being taken advantage of. The mother and father will then teach Charlie that its ok to steal things that do not belong to you without expecting proper justice to be served. Love is never to be used as a superficial covering, and evil is never to be condoned. Do not whitewash evil with favoritism.
- Applications:
- Champions for the poor or disadvantaged.
- Upright conduct.
- Vindication of the righteous.
When we find ourselves having evil spoken of us when we have done nothing wrong let us remember that God is a God of divine justice, and we can take our case to Him. It is okay to pray against those who are speaking evil against us if we follow the pattern laid out for us in the 7th Psalm.