The Confidence of the Christian

The Confidence of the Christian.

Pleasantville 7/14/19

Sunbury 3/17/2021

Sunbury GMC 4/28/2024

Psalm 26:1-2

A Psalm of David.

1 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity:

I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;[1]

I. Judgement

a. The Terror of Judgement

Judgement is normally to be considered as frightening, or even terrifying if you are guilty. Standing before a judge, waiting for the sentence terrifies even the innocent. This statements in this verse comes from a person who directs it to God. How could David have this confidence when All have sinned and come short of the glory of God? There should be terror in this judgement yet David had confidence enough to ask God to judge him. Let’s take a look at the confidence available to us as Christians.

The story is told of Charles Finney, when he was a young lawyer, was sitting in a village law office in the state of New York. Finney had just come into the old squire’s office. It was very early in the day, and he was all alone when the Lord began to deal with him.

“Finney, what are you going to do when you finish your course?” Asked the Lord.

“Put out a shingle and practice law.” Said Finney.

“Then what?” “Get rich”

“Then what?” “Retire.”

“Then what?” “die.”

“Then what?” And the words came tremblingly, “The judgement.”

Finney ran for the woods a half mile away. All day he prayed and vowed that he would never leave until he had made his peace with God. He was himself at the judgement bar of God. For four years he had studied law, and now the vanity of a selfish life, lived for the enjoyment of the things of this world, was made clear to him.

Finney came out of the woods that evening, after a long struggle, with the high purpose of living henceforth to the glory of God and of enjoying Him forever. From that moment blessing untold filled his life, and God used him in a mighty way, not as a lawyer, but as a preacher, to bring thousands to conversion of a useful period of fifty years.

You see the judgement is so terrifying of a though it can strike a fear into the heart that can change a life. The terror of judgment for the guilty is no small fear, nor even a phobia. When brought to mind if become a consuming horror, the knowledge of being unworthy, unready, unprepared, and guilty. The knowledge of impending and absolute certain judgement.

b. Confidence

Yet in the face of this fear, this terror, this horror David, while praying to the Lord asks for Judgment. He says to God Judge me, pass the sentence upon me. How can he say this?

He knew where he stood before God. “For I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord.”

What does it mean to walk in integrity? Integrity means to do what is right no matter the consequences. Abraham Lincoln is one of the great examples of integrity we have throughout history. There are many stories which prove his integrity. He showed his integrity when, against the advice of congress he mad the call for an additional 500,000 recruits. He was told it would prevent his re-election. With flashing eyes, he replied: “It is not necessary for me to be re-elected, but it is necessary for the soldier at the front to be re-enforce by 500,00 men, and I shall call for them; and if I go down under the act, I will go down with my colors flying.”

Another statement also show the tremendous integrity of this great president. “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”

That is what integrity looks like. When we come to the end it matter not if we have earthly friends, it only matters that we have that heavenly friend.

David could ask the Lord for this judgement because he was confident in his integrity or innocence. This is the confidence that we have as Christians. We are confident for we know our integrity, our innocence before the Lord. So much so that when we stand before the great judgment throne of God we can stand with confidence. We can say like David, Judge me, O Lord.

Where do we get this integrity? This innocence before the Lord. The verse goes on to say “I have trusted also in the Lord.”

A story is told of Bishop Bashford, in one of Episcopal tours in China, was one night forced to sleep outdoors, under the trees, the hotel keeper warned him about robbers. Being watchful and wakeful awhile, he thought of the words of the Psalmist, and then said to the Lord “There is no use both of us being awake,” so he went to sleep.

I have also trusted in the Lord. David’s trust gave him the confidence before judgement, as should our trust. If we have truly trusted in the Lord, we need not fear the judgement.

Nothing other than trust in the Lord can make us able to stand before our eternal judge with such confidence. It is not in good that we have done that we claim integrity before the Lord. When David claimed to have walked in integrity he was not claiming that the strength that enabled him to walk thus was his. Nor was he of the delusion that there was no point in his life that could be called into question. David recognized that the strength to walk in integrity was God enabling strength. He knew that fault could be found in his life. It was in himself that he trusted. He trusted in the Lord! He trusted in the Lord for forgiveness for wrong he had done. He trusted in the Lord for enabling grace to walk in integrity. So too must we.

II. Examination (testing)

Verse 2 in this Psalm says “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

David was inviting the Lord to put him to the test! He knew that his faith was founded upon God, and therefore would stand in the time of trial! he was in essence saying to God, nothing will turn my heart from you! Neither trial, nor temptation, nor tribulations. Nothing will turn me from you as you give me strength to trust in you..

Job is an example of one who went through incredible trying and came our worthy of the trust God had placed in him. We also face many trials. We face things that seem to be more than we could ever handle. We do not desire this testing. I thought of two reasons for these testing to come our way.

The first reason is God is proving us. God is testing us. He is seeing if our commitment is more than lip-service. many today say they serve God, yet they do not, when hard times come they melt like butter under the pressure. When confused they doubt rather than trust. God does not want buttery Christians, who melt under the heat of a purifying fire, rather he wants Christian who are made stronger by the fire. But then I thought, God knows the heart. Men look on the outward, men need to prove one another to see if the other is trustworthy, but God sees the heart. He already knows. So these trials then are not God seeing if we are really serving Him, for he already knows that! These trials, and examinations, must be for our benefit, not God’s.

For our good? How can they be for our good? We do not know the strength that we have through God unless it is tested. This strength is based on our faith. If we believe we cannot stand, we will not, however if we believe that through God we can, then through His strength acting through us we will! The trials come to prove to us that God has us in his hands, so that when more, and bigger trials come we know who we believe in, and we know that he is able to deliver us! Our doubts and confusion, the impurities of our faith have been burned away, and we can stand through God in the strength of the pure faith that He has given to us.

How does Jeff Straight know that he can take a car with a blown engine, and a working engine with no car, and come out with a car that runs perfectly? Because he has done it! But I would guess his first project was of a smaller scale. He built his ability through practice. Our faith is like that. Our strength in time of trial comes through standing in the time of trial. We know we can stand, because we have! We have had our faith proved to us! God knows the strength that he can impart and knows that it is limitless. In our world nothing is limitless, so we cannot understand that God’s strength is limitless. Our brains cannot understand that power. So God, in His wisdom, uses his strength to help us through a small trial, so that we know he can help us through that, then he helps us through a bigger trial, so we know he can help us through that, then a bigger one, so that in the end, we know with absolute confidence that whatever Satan throws our way, God is able to carry us through.

Examine me, test me, prove me, try me O Lord. Not for me to prove to you that I love you, but for me to prove to me that I love you, and you love me. To prove to me that I have faith, and you have power. To prove to me that whatever I have the faith for, you have the power, so that in the end I will trust in you with my whole heart and not fall.

This is the confidence of the Christian. Confidence to say to the Lord, judge me, for I am innocent before you for I have also trusted in the Lord. I have been forgiven, and cleansed. My sins cast into the seas of God’s forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us again. We know, as Christians that our great Judge will one day say to us enter in to the joy of thy rest. This is the confidence of the Christian!

The confidence of the Christian is eternal in scope. Yet sometimes it seems that eternity in heaven is so far off, so far away. Our present circumstances often seem far more real to us than eternity. Our confidence though is not only for eternity, it is for this life, this moment, this trial, this hard time, this examination. As Christians our confidence is in Christ. He proves himself to us time and time again, so that we know we can trust in him. Today’s battle is tomorrows victory! We know that if we have faith God will take us through. It is even more than a confidence that He can, it is a confidence that He will. There is no question, no uncertainty, no maybe. If we trust in Him, He Will. This is the confidence we can have through Christ Jesus, our confidence as his children, the confidence of the Christian.