Pensees: The Song of the Slandered Saint, pt. 2

The Song of the Slandered Saint, pt. 2

It was words — hurtful words — that became the human inspiration for this psalm. The heading of the Seventh Psalm reads, “A meditation of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamanite.” It is worth pointing out that these headings should be read as inspired writ (in some languages the heading of the psalm is numbered as the first verse). The point is that when David wrote this Psalm he was in midst of emotional and spiritual trauma induced by words.

Slander is a real and present danger. The wickedness of slander is mentioned in Paul’s litany of evils that will abound in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Just as those that are lovers of money, disobedient to parents, and without self-control (to name a few from Paul’s list) exist and thrive in the Church today, so do slanderers. The question for us today is not so much on the evil of slander as how to cope with slander when one feels himself to be the victim of this evil.

As I stated in my last post, we will examine the Song of the Slandered Saint (Psalm 7) with three short considerations:

1. The Scenario of the Slandered Saint – Get the Right Perspective
2. The Sanctification of the Slandered Saint – Get the Right Priority
3. The Song of the Slandered Saint – Get the Right Passion

The Scenario of the Slandered Saint

There are three parties involved in slander: the slanderer, the slandered one, and God. These parties are evident in this Song. Notice first of all

A. That the Slandered One feels extremely vulnerable. “They tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces,” cries the hurting soul, “while there is none to deliver” (v.2). No one has really known what it is like to be slandered who has not had the two dominate feelings of weakness and loneliness nearly overwhelm his soul. When one is being lied about by individuals with a persistent and dogged determination to blacken and mar one’s reputation, the soul that is the object of their slander feels like a rag doll in the jaws of a lion. He feels like he is being toyed with. This sense of vulnerability is often because of the feasibility of the lies and misrepresentation. The slander that I carried a gun with me at all times (a real live example) was laughable because it is so unrealistic and infeasible. The slander that I am an inconsiderate, power-mongering jerk hurts. It hurts because it’s feasible. The feasibility of it makes it quite believable to many people. Thus, one finds himself weak and powerless to respond to slander that is really a skewing of reality, and he is pained to see glib assessments of his character spouted off by normally solid people who perhaps don’t even realize that they are stabbing spears in the heart of a lonely saint. The first powerful feeling that marks the scenario of slander is weakness.

The second strong feeling that accompanies weakness is loneliness. “There is none to deliver.” Even if one is surrounded by sympathetic friends, it is often the case that sympathetic friends really don’t know the truth. They are just loyal. While the loyalty is appreciated, the slandered saint sometimes feels that only God can really vindicate him. This will ultimately be reassuring, but it is a test of faith at the beginning to deal with the loneliness into which one has been thrust by slander. Invariably, the Slandered Saint will cry out to God to remind the Omniscient One that “there is none to deliver.” He should take heart, however, and realize that the reality for the slanderer is actually less desirable.

Notice, secondly,

B. That the Slanderer is ensnared in the irreversible drama of his own making. The language in Psalm 7:14-16 is stunning. There are two striking metaphors: one of birthing, and the other of digging a pit. The Psalmist says that the slanderer first of all conceived evil, than became pregnant with evil, and finally “gave birth to lies” (Psalm 7:14 ESV). The language is vivid: the lies that afflict the Slandered Saint now are actually the culmination of past and abiding corruption in the Slanderer now. One that is impregnated with evil is one that is in bed with sin, and often even slanderers are surprised at the chimeras of distortion that they give birth to even though they rarely have the courage to abort. I am persuaded that one of the chastisements of slander is the loss of control by the slanderer of his own stories. The second metaphor kicks in: they end up falling into a pit that they dug.

If you are a soul afflicted by slander, please remember that the scenario for you is much more heartening than it is for the liar. Liars will not prosper, no matter how long it takes for their lies to come to light. Yet, even this does not complete the scenario of slander as described in Psalm 7.

There is, finally,

C. The Savior of the Slandered One who is intent on the vindication of His servant (Psalm 7:9-13). God is a God of Justice. He hates injustice. He is intent on establishing the righteous and setting the records straight and it will certainly happen in His perfect time.

Among some of the possible reasons why God is slow to vindicate His slandered servant besides the servant’s sanctification (to be discussed in the next post), is to give the slanderer an opportunity to repent. Notice that the Psalmist says, “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow” (Psalm 7:12). No matter how intense the pain of slander, we should never lose focus on the fact that the slanderers are souls, potentially redeemable and, if believers, a children of God who, like us need to repent of sin for the healing of their souls. We ought to pray for their repentance.

Praying for their repentance can be an exercise in self-love if we are not careful. We may desire our vindication more than God’s glory. Yet, it is very important that we “pray for our enemies” with a goal in mind that is ultimately glorifying to God. What is more glorifying to God than when a sinner repents?

So, for the Christian the scenario of slander is often exactly as we see it in this Psalm.

A. The Slandered Saint feels extremely vulnerable.
1. He feels weak, as if he is the helpless prey of a powerful lion.
2. He feels alone, as if no one can help him but God.

B. The Slanderer is ensnared in the irreversible drama of his own making, and

C. The Savior of the Slandered Saint is committed to justice.

The message of this first consideration is clear: Get the right perspective! It will strengthen your heart.