The Sliding of Sinners

Plea of Good Standing

Read Psalm 26:1-3

English Standard Version Psalm 26

1  Vindicate me, O LORD,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

2  Prove me, O LORD, and try me;

test my heart and my mind.

3  For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

and I walk in your faithfulness.

Why is David again giving a refuffal to possible accusations? He is looking at his situation and he knows that God responds to sin by justice. David sees sinners, and people who disregard God and his ways. People in his context are:

pretending to be holy people (consorting with hypocrites - vs. 4)

assembling for evil purposes and causes and planning (vs. 5)

people who are deceived, and who are deceiving others (vs. 4)

people who are not only murderers, who have committed murder, but also people who are hungry to kill people (vs. 9)

people who have evil schemes and plans, and ways, and they bribe to further an evil cause (vs. 10)

There are times that when the evil around us, can make us feel contributing to the evil, because, a deceived person, will presume on you. “Ah, you are just like us!” Well, actually, David said, “no, I am not like you”, and this causes and caused him to seek God, and to establish the fact that he was opposed to the situation, and the culture that was pressing in on him.

David, knew God. David sought God in this context, and David knew that these people, are already in a flowing progression, and a river, a movement toward death. At some point, for sinners, David knows that a torrent of inescapable judgment from God comes on sin. David will not only begin to, but also completely avoid association with such persons, and such risks.

It is about the heart. The life may be tempted at times, to sin, but the heart, will keep you from such folly, because understanding (as Proverbs states) will save your life.

So David gives plea to God that David is not in the same boat, or the like of the people around him, that due judgment will race upon at any point. (verse 9)

Through A Test

Read Psalm 26:11-12,

11  But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;

redeem me, and be gracious to me.

12  My foot stands on level ground;

in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.

God will still test his people. God will still purify his people. Sin, is attributed to each, but God looks deeper, and knows that a faith-filled heart, he is able to work in and he is able to cover sins. Believing causes God to work. Faith in God opens the door for God’s grace.

David, at the beginning of the Psalm even asks God, in his prayer to test him. Do you do that? David saw the steadfast love of God, and he also saw the threats that were in his circumstances. David said:

I have already been walking in integrity and trusted God, without wavering.

There are threats out there now.

And I am determined to continue to walk in my integrity (vs. 11)

The result is a firm place to walk.

the result is life that is balanced, and secure in the grace of God.

We may suffer on the outside circumstances, a decision to walk in, and to continue to walk in integrity before God, brings level ground spiritually speaking.

When you believe, there is nothing that can stop your faith. Your calling, as a believer, is to keep your faith, and integrity.

David establishes that his life will be one that honors, and is exemplified in worship.

Theoretical To Experiential

When you hear about God, and you believe it. You still need to get to know God better. You can agree intellectually, and have an experience. But for you to know God, there is something that we see here that David experienced that causes him, and also all believers, to actually get to know God. It is called, the test of faith. If you believe in God, it is the test of faith that causes you to really know who he is. You can, by faith, know him now. But it is the tests and your endurance, and obedience to God in the testing that causes the fruit of whether you believe, or not.

Job 42:5-6, “ 5  I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

6  therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.”

If you are not disciplined, it means you are an illegitimate son: Hebrews 12:8, “8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

You see, you can have the name or the confession, but if God is not working in your life, it means you are a rejected son. Do you want to be his? The proof is if he disciplines you, into the truth, and keeps you there.

In David’s context, he knew that the sinners, were not being disciplined by God. They didn’t belong to God. But David, having discipline from God is also proof that God has made David a true believer.

If you trust God, and God disciplines you, you will be saved from sliding away from God, with the world, the rest of sinners, and those who deny God. God will save you, and lead you in a path that no other can see if you trust him!