Closeness with God Yields a Clear Conscience - Psalm 17:1-15

Psalm 17:1-15 Closeness with God yields a Clear Conscience INTRO Here we are, chapter 17 of Psalms. This collection of songs and poems thoughtfully arranged by saints of old under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Todays’ Psalm in consideration, Psalm 17,….A Psalm with clear tension between Lament & Praise….has been beautifully set up by Psalm 16. The set up…….. Easily my two favorite team related sports are soccer and volleyball. I spent countless hours playing these games in my youth. And though scoring a goal or spiking the volley ball into the sand held much glamour…and rightly so…of equal importance was that perfect assist or set up that led to the score. Whether as a half back on the soccer field placing the ball with precision onto the forwards feet at a place and time that was ripe….for a score or the perfectly timed soft set….readying my teammate to smash the volley ball into our opponents face…. BOTH were as rewarding for me as when I was given the opportunity to make the score myself. The two go together so beautifully. Even as a spectator, to watch that sequence take place with precision and finesse is a delight. WELL, the arrangement of the Psalms often, not always,…but often have this flow and….Psalm 16 to 17 are right on point with that. Similar to how Jason showed us that with chapters 14 and 15. So, Reflecting back to Psalm 16, from last week…we can see this centrality portrayal of the worshipers wonderful closeness with God. “You are my Lord…I have no good apart from you…You Lord are my chosen portion and my cup…I have set the Lord always before me…always…at my right hand and therefore I am never to be shaken….in His presence…in your presence Lord there is fullness of Joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.” Closeness with God, in the presence of your maker.…ALL consumed in Him with immeasurable delight. A glorious Psalm expressing the place we are to lift your soul to. AMEN? And to the one who bears this closeness with God as seen in Psalm 16…to them it yields a clear conscience as we will see depicted in Psalm 17. Just like the perfect set up yielding a score. The closeness of the worshiper to God seen in Psalm 16 is a beautiful set up to the clear conscience of the worshiper seen in Psalm 17. Which is the score,….the underlying truth to take in and receive together this morning. In one sentence - Closeness to God Yields a Clear Conscience. Closeness to God Yields a Clear Conscience. And, as the passages within Psalm 17 lead us in doing so,…we will expand this truth out into three parts for our contemplation. They are, if you want to jot down them down in advance. Number 1 - The blessings of a clear conscience Number 2 - Those who have a seared conscience & Number 3 - The ultimate outcome of a clear conscience We’ll expand the underlying truth in Psalm 17 for thorough contemplation of How Closeness to God yields a clear conscience… by these three focal points as the passage guides us to do so. NUMBER 1 - The blessings of a clear conscience BODY 1) FIRST POINT - (Psalms 17:1-9). The Blessings of a clear Conscience There are 3 Drawn out for us in (verses 1-9),….more than half the passage and rightly so,…for how blessed is one who truly has a clear conscience before God? Tremendously so! What plagues so many image bearers walking the face of the earth? Anxieties, sleepless or restless nights, irritability, agitated defensiveness, conflict in relationships, conflict within themselves…things like this are common place……though it is not the face we typically see worn out in public, nevertheless it is what is behind the mask eating away at the masses. And to try and appease the pain of it all,…mankind goes to great lengths to either distract themselves from it or….numb themselves to it. That’s why the pursuit of entertainment, material possessions, substance abuse, and fleshly indulgences abound to the measure people are able to pursue them because..because they are seeking escape. They are seeking escape. BUT to the one who truly has a clear conscience before God…Oh the BLISS of it all. To be able to (Hebrews 10:22) …to “draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith with your heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience….” NOW, for anyone to truly have a clear conscience before God they must, as that chapter 10 passage in Hebrews expounds upon…..they must have forgiveness of sin by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) All are guilty before God and must give Him an account of there lives. Only the sacrificial blood of Jesus can cleanse a person of all unrighteousness and make them holy and blameless before the God of Heaven. By faith in Jesus alone this is possible. So we must start there. But even there, a christian may not be walking close with God as seen in Psalm 16. And therefore be in a very tumultuous place filled with unrest. BUT one who is, like Psalm 16, close to God,…they experience the blessing of a clear conscience. ….One of those blessings IS..for we will consider 3 separate blessings of a clear conscience. So consider this Point 1 A. You following? Good stay with me. One of the blessings of a clear conscience with God IS…..an immediate audience with God. Listen to the opening here in (verse-1). “Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!” He goes right into it… One who has a clear conscience before God has an immediate audience with God because…..they’ve never left. Close means you are close and stay close. Not close to God on a Sunday morning for an hour or two, or any other slotted time for devotion…but close to God 24/7. YES, focused and constant attention on Him isn’t possible, I wish it were,…one day it will be but it’s not in the here and now…lets’ be real….but, but we can and should operate with constant awareness of His presence. That is what “praying without ceasing” means. Each day, everyday no matter where you are and what’s going on. GOD is always present in mind and heart…with you. That’s the closeness we are talking of here. That is the closeness that has an immediate audience with God. Your life is in the constant state of Coram Deo - That Latin term meaning ‘in the presence of God’. This is perpetual…never-stopping mindfulness and awareness no matter what you are doing or who you are with. Coram Deo. This type of closeness has an immediate audience with God because you never left. An immediate audience….that….because of that constant closeness….LISTEN…there is a constant reverent fear about you. We see this portrayed in how David prays here continuing on in (verses 2). “…attend to my cry…give ear to my prayer..from your presence let…let my vindication come!…Let your eyes behold the right!.” I don’t hear demands…I don’t hear grumbling…I hear respectful humble pleas offered up….I hear honor and recognition to whom David is praying to. I hear an open conversation with one in whose close presence David has never left. A blessing of such a clear conscience is…an immediate audience with God. Another blessing of such a clear conscience (Point 1 B. To keep you on track) Another blessing of such a clear conscience is…knowing that it’s been proven genuine. What do I mean by that? We can convince ourselves of a lot of things. (Jeremiah 17:11) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it??” Our own heart, yours and mine, is pleased to deceive us with believable lies..taking us captive by them that have the sole purpose to destroy us. So deadly they are….because we can have what seems to us a clear conscience about it. Your own heart can deceive you. LIES of the enemy can be very believing, and furthermore…to make matters even worse…though you don’t need any help in appeasing your own conscience with falsehood…often times….you’ll get it anyway. LIES you are believing can be supported by others…others who would seem trustworthy, but aren’t. Your adversary the devil has ample agents of evil at his disposal,…who are disguised in sheep’s clothing and ready to affirm what you want to hear,…BUT NOT what you need to hear, which is the TRUTH. LISTEN TO ME. I fight this today. Our household fights lies of the enemy…. on a regular basis. And it’s nuts because he keeps coming back with the same lies. Aaagh!! They aren’t new….they just have a fresh twist on them or find their way into our heads by means of an newly presented access point. It’s so frustrating. No one is immune to this. It’s something we must constantly be seeking truth from God’s Word for our minds to be renewed (Romans 12:2) and also speaking truth to ourselves. YES, I give you permission to talk to yourself. We all do it anyway. Pay attention to what your are saying and purpose to speak God’s Word to yourself. Speak—TRUTH. “Take every thought captive…” Renounce lies the enemy is whispering in your ear no matter how believable they are to you. If what you are saying to yourself is not supported in scripture…RED flags should quickly go up. (John 17:17) “Your Word is Truth…”. CHURCH, God’s Word is the standard for Truth. It is the validator of all other would be truths. If it is supported in God’s Word…then you can recon it reliable and trustworthy to-be TRUE. Be sure this is what you are counseling yourself with because our hearts are Oh-so-easily led-astray. “Prone to Wonder…Lord I feel it..Prone to leave the God I love”. That’s what the hymn is speaking of. We are Prone to wonder from GOD,…Prone to wonder from TRUTH. One more passage that I believe will be helpful for you in your christian life on this note. Years past there was something I valued, something I wanted to pursue in my life that I believed I had the freedom in Christ to do so. The freedom I am speaking of comes from (Romans 14:22) which says “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.”. I took hold of this verse, which is a glorious verse and a truth of God’s to celebrate. I took hold of it and continued in the pursuit that I approved of. And God walked with me through this season. He never left. He was always right there. I continued to pursue Him and He gently and relentlessly pursued me. And all along, this one thing I approved of continued to bother me. It’s like I could not put it to rest once and for all….and OH I TRIED. I tried over and over and over again. But there was something in the depths of my conscience that wouldn’t come to a place of rest freeing me to move on. It just would not. And then it happened. Being close with God, as I was, Being close to God meant I was regularly in His Word and joyfully submitted to it. And I was. I gladly wanted to obey my heavenly Father whom I loved and feared. So I’m in His Word…seeking His face and I come upon (Romans 14:23). YEAH, the very next verse from the one I took a hold of to continue the pursuit of what I approved. It reads like this. “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats (in my case - continuing the pursuit of what I approved), because the eating (continuing in what I approved) is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin..” NOW,….I am not able to describe that moment,….other than I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that I had doubt in the very thing I believed I had the freedom to pursue. AND GOD, who was there the whole time. It’s as if He had His arm around my shoulder….looking down to have our eyes meet…and just by that fatherly look in that moment communicated to my heart… “This is not the path for you Seth. To continue in doing so is sin. In the long run this will lead you away from me. That is why you still have doubt. Let it go. Put an end to it once and for all and follow me.” The lift that came to my soul the moment I surrendered as God was telling me to is with me to this very day. I felt a freedom I didn’t realize I didn’t have. You track’n? Here I thought I was free in what I approved,….while all along the truth of it was…that it was actually enslaving me. That was the reality I was living in. My conscience …though I thought it clear…wasn’t. BUT when it truly came and was proven true time and time again…the sweet blessing of that keeps me driven to not depart from having it. That I may be close to God with a clear conscience and know when HE who “searches the heart and tests the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”(Jeremiah 17:12). That I…that we may be aligned with David here in (verse 3-5) to be able to say “you have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me,… and you will find nothing. You-will-find-nothing…a clear conscience proven true. I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips (God, your instruction in how we are to live) That’s how I have lived… “I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; (All the paths of the Lord are Steadfast Love..and faithfulness) Your ways O’Lord, are infinitely wise. The “….ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her ways are peace” (Proverbs 3:17) …..from these paths OH GOD my feet have not slipped. Oh the blessing of a clear conscience proven to be true….to be able to say this to God AMEN? Closeness to God yields such a clear conscience that is blessed to be proven true. And let’s be real. This isn’t easy. A clear conscience does not come passively. There is great effort on our part in “….bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) And bottom line, we stumble, we fall short, we get angry, we say things we shouldn’t say, we do things we shouldn’t do, we don’t do things we should do, our motives are impure…we sin …bottom line - we sin which rightly brings a guilty conscience before God….but PRAISE be to God we are not left there. AMEN? The gospel message of Jesus Christ answers back and makes a way for our conscience before God to be cleared once again. WE confess our sin, repent of it, turning away from our sin and turn towards God purposing to walk closely with Him in glad obedience which yields a clear conscience. There is great satisfaction and peace in knowing it’s been proven true One more …still on POINT 1 ……one more blessing of having a clear conscience before God the passages in (verses 6-8) makes known to us prior moving onto our second point,… and that is….such a one Is affectionately confident in prayer to God. Let’s go ahead and read these 3 verses (6-8) I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; (note the confidence there; not an arrogance but a sweet humble confidence of one who is close to God. Not making demands to God but humbly asking) let’s continue… “incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, (Doesn’t that just flow beautifully. Wondrously show - depicts the pray—er’s affection for God whose steadfast love they are well acquainted with no doubt.) O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. (We have nicknames for those we are close to as a way that affectionately describes them). God has many names provided in the scriptures that reflect His character….for example: Mighty God, Healer, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, I AM, The Alpha an Omega, Creator God….names like these and many others found in scripture. BUT this doesn’t mean you can’t reverently coin your own….like we see in (verse 7) “O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.” That’s so great! Other examples of our own making could be — My friend who is ever so patient with me. or O relentless Father who pursues His wayward children. How about - Shepard of my soul and the souls of those along with me who call upon your name. Have fun in giving that a try. In fact, If you were to give a nickname to God that conveys a heartfelt truth about Him from your heart….What would that be? DAVID continues in His affectionately confident prayer……. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me. Take note: Davids prayer has nothing to do with money, possessions or power. But rather…Steadfast love to be shown - no doubt first shown to David when God was pleased to reveal Himself to him, And also, to be affectionately and tightly held close “Keep me…”- aware of his proneness to wonder and lastly protection “hide me” - mindful of his fragility and the need for God’s overarching protection. One close to God with a clear conscience has the blessing to be affectionately engaged with God with reverent confident prayer as seen here with David. And now the bridge between the blessings of a clear conscience and the ultimate outcome of a clear conscience. This bridge between the two is constructed with the contrast of those with a seared conscience. The very ones we seek God’s protection from. Those with a seared Conscience. Our 2 point in (verses 9-14a) 2) SECOND POINT (Psalm 17:9-14a) - Those with a seared Conscience God We encounter, as so often in scripture, the distinction made from the Bible between the two types of people as God sees them. We see this contrast here in (verse 9) of whom David is asking God to hide him from “from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” In the New Testament, a recognized phrasing of this distinction is speaking of either those who are “in Christ” or who are “not in Christ.” There is no other category. Every image bearer of God, every human being,…male and female alike,… fall into one of the two categories in the eyes of God. You are either in Christ or not in Christ. I take you to our Lord’s prayer in (John 17) for a sharp distinction of this very fact made by our Lord himself on the night He was betrayed. Turn there if you’d like. (John 17)…and we’ll read it all cause the distinction JESUS makes is from start to finish. Do we need more convincing? I wonder if earlier on when I was speaking of how blessed is the one who truly has a clear conscience before God? Giving attention to the many plagues that torment people who know nothing of the blessedness of truly having a clear conscience before God. Were some of you thinking. “This is true preacher but there are also those who are completely callous. To my observation, they just do not feel anything and it’s plainly evident.” Ones like in (verse 10) “They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.” Were any of you thinking that? I was. “Like, we know of some like this,….who are so consumed in being wise in their own eyes…in doing what seems right in their own minds eye that they are blind and numb to their evil ways.” We know of individuals like this. And to be real… Indeed, even christians can come to have such a seared conscience at times….and therefore be in desperate need of repentance. But there are those who operate here perpetually. This is where they exist. They are those not “In Christ”. Whose conscience is either seared altogether OR their guilty conscience is appeased daily through the varies temporary means described earlier. The Bible puts them in one category. They are not “In Christ” and therefore are all unrepentant sinners who are guilty before their creator and deserving of His Just Wrath for sin. How is one to become “In Christ” you ask? I’m glad you did. The gospel message…the message of Jesus Christ is what alone can penetrate a seared or appeased guilty conscience and awaken one to saving faith in Christ. To open the eyes of one’s heart to believe with a belief that transforms them from the inside out. Believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. Believe that Jesus came to earth to make known to us the Father, Believe that Jesus died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for their sin, recognizing they are guilty sinners who need saving. Believe that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. Believe that He ascended to Heaven, returning to the Father and will one day return again to earth… “not to deal with sin (that was already dealt with on the cross) no He will return ….to judge the world in righteousness,.… to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28, Psalm 96:13) Those, who by faith in Jesus, being therefore ‘In Christ’ and not of this world. But unless this takes place. Unless you repent. You remain not ‘In Christ’. You remain dead in your sin and await Christ’s judgement. Notice with me now how David brings this unity within God’s covenant people, those not of this world, while retaining the individual aspect of the Spiritual warfare we…are engaged in. (Verse 10-12) They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly. They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. He (hold on…what happened to they?) He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush. I dig how David does this. FIRST OFF - the poetic aspect of it that gives a deeper, illustrative picture in our minds eye to liken our enemy to. “…like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush.” STRONG mental imagery for us to better understand how vicious, stealthy and predatorily our enemy is in his intentions to destroy us. And then also, moving from the general aspect of it to the individual,…for we can all relate to this type of person and each of us may have a particular one or ones (plural) in mind that we have faced in our lives. So whether we are praying on behalf of the Millers in Alaska against those of this world who oppose that family and the gospel work God has called them to OR against those whom we may or may not see the faces of and or know the names of who oppose our efforts in Christ’s name. Whether the Millers, ourselves or any other brother and sister in Christ….All of us being in the body of Christ, being “In Christ” with one another. The prayer David offers up here as an example for us in (Verses 13-14a) fits both. “Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in-this-life.” That’s a helpful perspective to hold. Isn’t it? “…men of the world whose portion is in this life.” Those not “in Christ” and therefore not having their hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience look to this world as their portion and the Bible…doesn’t argue with them. This is their portion to experience God’s common grace on His creation. We’ll begin here as we move to our 3rd and closing point which is the Ultimate Outcome of a Clear Conscience….seen in the rest of (verse 14) and the final verse (verse 15) 3) THIRD POINT (Psalm 17:14b-15) - Ultimate outcome of a clear conscience Those who are not “in Christ” do enjoy and pursue all they are able,…the fleeting pleasures of this life under God’s common grace . An some,.. to very flamboyant measure. God’s common grace. Everything in life that belongs to God which He has bestowed upon His creation whether God is acknowledged for it or not. Provisions for food and shelter, the advancements in technology, modern medicine, that fact that we are alive and can have children, that we can acquire possessions and land. These sorts of things would all fall under God’s common grace and All mankind are able to enjoy them. Christian and nonchristian alike. WE, christians enjoy and ought to enjoy the blessings we share in under God’s common grace. It is right to do so. There is a distinction however. Those “in Christ” enjoy the blessings of God’s common grace with thankfulness of heart to the glory of God with open hands. It’s not, nor should be, what we are living for. It’s not our portion. On the other hand, those not “in Christ”, men of the the world…this is their portion. This is as good as it gets. It is what they are living for. This is spoken of in other portions of scripture. And we have it expressed here in the second half of (verse 14) You (God) fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. (When they die they leave their entire portion…their end all of this life’s portion as an inheritance to their family left behind). BUT this is not their ultimate outcome. Their ultimate outcome is Hell. Conscious eternal torment. That is the ultimate outcome of those who have not repented and come under the glad rule and reign of Christ in their heart. The Ultimate outcome of a Clear Conscience before God,….However is Assurance Closeness to God yields a clear conscience and the ultimate outcome of this is Assurance ….Assurance of being with and being like the one they live for. Their portion is that which falls under. - Amazing grace. (Verse 15) “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, (life after death), when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. (The work you began in me will be complete. No longer close to you through faith where I see things dimly but eyes wide open in your presence, a completed workmanship our yours, created in Christ Jesus..beholding your glory unobscured.) Carry over from Psalm 16… “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup…… in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” WHY? “I shall behold your face in righteousness;….I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” CONCLUSION This is what awaits. This is what we live for. Closeness to God yields the many blessings of a Clear Conscience with the Ultimate Outcome of Assurance of your Salvation - PRAY I invite you to Jesus to experience this Today. COMMUNION