Pensees: The Song of the Slandered Saint, pt. 3 - A Re-run

The Song of the Slandered Saint, pt. 3 - A Re-run

Part 1 and Part 2

Recap
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. We are studying his experience under three headings: 1/The Scenario of Slander, 2/The Sanctification of the Slandered One, and 3/The Song of the Slandered One.

In part two of this series, I showed how Psalm 7 captures the Scenario of Slander.

1. The Slandered One feels extremely vulnerable (7:1-2)
2. The Slanderer is ensnared in the irreversible drama of his own making (7:14-16)
3. The Savior of the Slandered One is intent on the vindication of His servant (7:9-13).

Today, let’s consider The Sanctification of the Slandered One.

Slander actually has a sanctifying purpose in the soul of the slandered saint. This fact is supported by the oft-quoted Romans 8:28, but it is too easily forgotten when we are the victims of deliberate (and often unintentional) misrepresenation or slander. I believe that the Psalmist alludes to at least five benefits that the slander he endured because of Cush had on his soul. By faith, we can apply the same benefits to our soul when we are suffering the effects of slander. Consider these with me.

I. Slander helps me recognize my weakness.

As already pointed out in Part Two, when one is being slandered he feels extremely vulnerable. He feels like he is being tossed about as a rag doll in the jaws of a lion. He is utterly helpless. People determined to put a negative spin on everything he says and does blether and slur unchallenged. But this sense of vulnerability is good for the soul.

It is Jesus who said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God” (Matthew 5:2). A special blessedness accompanies the soul that finds itself utterly helpless.

Sometimes a person who is being maligned finds himself so overwhelmed by “knowing” people that he or she almost becomes paranoid about speaking up in self-defense. Like Job, they feel that if they open their mouths they will make things worse. Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless he would prove me perverse (Job 9:20). Sometimes the slander is so intense, so violent, and so persistent that even the best of people are taken in by it and the slandered saint finds himself not only helpless to respons, but paranoid. He wonders if it is not a providential work of God to place him in a lonely place for a specific purpose. Whatever that purpose is, it is not a bad thing for a Christian to feel himself or herself completely helpless to rectify the problem and utterly dependant on God.

II. Slander helps me to search my heart.

O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without a cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. (7:3-5)

Self-examination is a good thing. Those who have a vendetta against a child of God for whatever reason are not interested in that person’s personal walk with the Lord even though they may be highlighting his sins and weaknesses. But the slandered saint takes sin seriously. Even though he knows his detractors are exaggerating, being self-serving, lying, and manipulating facts for their own personal agendas, he will courageously own up to his own failures and confess his own sins.

I have been slandered. In some cases, I know the motivation behind the lies that have been said about me. I also have come to realize that there are some people who will never seek out the truth and who have no interest in the reality of things. Defending myself, explaining myself, and trying to get a hearing with them is utterly useless. However, what is important is my own conscience before the Lord God. Injustice done to me must never become my excuse for ignoring my own sins. Slander hurts because it proves that not everyone thinks as highly of us as we do. Yet it is this that we need to force us to ask ourselves if there could not possibly be a grain of truth in what our enemies are saying. Maybe we think too highly of ourselves. Slander helps me search my heart.

III. Slander helps me appreciate the judgment day.

I’m nervous about the judgment day. Scriptures say that all of my works will be tested and that I will give an account for myself. It is an intimidating thing to look forward to. But, on the other hand, I am looking forward to that day! Things will be made right that day.

Consider the new found enthusiasm David had for the judgment:

Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. (7:6-7)

Slander gives the saint an upbeat, sure-fire positive thing to look forward to about the judgment. Somethings will never be righted until then. One do not know for sure how some of my works will prove when tested, but I am sure that I will be vindicated where I have been falsely accused.

IV. Slander sharpens my understanding of God’s redemptive plan for my own soul. (7:9-10)

I think this section of the Psalm encapsulates the entire redemptive plan for the individual soul.

1. He saves me. “My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart.”
2. He sanctifies me. “for the righteous God tests the hearts and the minds.” Slander is a testing. One of the reasons slander hurts is because we have too much self-love. When we are in the crucible of misrepresentation and slander, we are in the purging fire of sanctification. Notice what is tested: a/the heart (God refines what we love), and b/the mind (God refines how we think).

There are few things more painful than the trial of being lied about, verbally abused, and deliberately misrepresented. But there are few things that so thoroughly test the affections and thinking of the saint. It truly does open the eyes to God’s sanctifying purpose.

V. Slander gets God emotionally involved in my life (7:11-13).

Ths is amazing. If we cast our burden on God, He will take up our cause in His own way and in His own time. His emotions are aroused. He is angry.

Four thoughts about God’s anger from this text:

1. God is angry because of the justice of His character. “God is just” We hate injustice. But God who is perfectly just hates injustice even more. If we have in fact been unjustly treated or represented we can be sure that God does not like it.

2. God’s anger is intensified by the persistence of the slanderer. He is angry “every day.” Some people will have a vendetta, an obsessive persistence in their slander. In their persistence they are storing up wrath.

3. God’s anger is intent on vengeance. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” Thus, we should be very patient when dealing with slander. God will avenge His maligned children. Paul said, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Romans 12:19).

4. God’s anger can be stayed by repentance. “if he does not turn” We must never forget that God is eager to forgive those who have hurt us. Thus, it is imperative that we have within us a forgiving spirit toward those who have lied about us and damaged our reputation. It is imperative that we learn to forgive them in the deepest part of our soul even though they have never asked for it.

If we could realize these five benefits of slander, we would find the grace to persevere in spite of what people thought or said about us. In fact, we might even be tempted to sing!

In our study of the Scenario of Slander, we got the right perspective: slander is clearly a temporary situation!

In our study of the Sanctification of the Slandered One, we have gotten the right priority: slander is clearly a sanctifying situation!

Next we will consider the Song of the Slandered Saint.