Reputation Risk

David’s Plea

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Psalms 4:1

Theologians disagree on whether psalms 3 & 4 are connected by context. This is because the title of psalms 3 directly states that it is when he fled from Absolom and Psalms 4 does not. I tend to believe that they are connected based on the content being applicable to the context of David fleeing from Absolom. What I mean by this is that in Psalms 3 David is praying for his physical deliverance from his enemies. In Psalms 4 he is praying for his reputation and honor to be preserved.

You will recall Absolom had turned the people against David by sitting at the gates and convincing them that David did not care about them. Absolom had convinced the people that David was not a good king. they reproached his honor and were deceived.

We see here that David is broken by what has happened and turns to God in brutal honesty. He is in distress and the Lord has been gracious and heard his prayer.

Turn to God

There will be times in our lives where we to are slandered and have our reputation dishonored. It is in times like these that we must turn to the Lord. By turning to the Lord we get our eyes off of what others are thinking about us and onto God’s calling in our lives. We come to realize that we are not put here to live up to other peoples expectations of us, but to fulfill God’s calling in our lives.

What others think about us is secondary to what God thinks of us. When people oppose and criticize us for following God’s call in our lives, they have a problem with God and not us.

The Peoples Sin

We see here 2 sins of the people. the first is that they are dishonoring God’s chosen king and the second is they love the deception and worthless gossip they recieved.

Dishonor God’s anointed

David knew very well that you don’t mess with God’s anointed king. He had an opportunity to kill Saul and take the rightful kingship that belonged to him. He chose not to because God had anointed Saul to be king.

Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to [a]relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good [b]to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward that David’s [c]conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 David [d]persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, [e]left the cave, and went on his way.

8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself 1 Samuel 24: 1-8

WOW! David could have killed Saul, but instead prostrated himself before Saul. He even felt guilty about cutting the hem of robe.

We should never stand in the way of God’s anointed, nor should we bow to public opinion over God’s calling in our lives.

Loved deception

The second fallacy is they preferred deception over truth. They believed the lie Absolom had told them and wanted David ousted as king. They failed to seek truth and chose to believe a lie.

Many people believe lies and form opinions based on lies rather than seeking the truth. They choose to believe a lie because they really don’t want the truth. This happens when a person refuses to listen to someone who has an opposing view. They don’t want to hear their point of view, but choose to believe what others say about them because it lines up with their agenda.

David’s Instruction For the Peoples Sin

David gives the people 3 instructions on how to overcome their sin: 1. Recognize that God has anointed Him as King. 2. Tremble and do not sin. 3. Offer sacrifices and trust in the Lord

Recognize David as God’s anointed king

He was telling them not to believe what Absolom had told them, but to remember Samuel’s anointing him as king.

When a person is called by God to fulfill a ministry of God, we would be wise to recognize God’s call in their life and support them rather than stand in their way.

Tremble and do not sin

David was telling the people to consider the consequences of standing against God. This should cause them to tremble and not take action on their sinful attitude.

There are some that will choose to slander the character of God’s anointed in order to further their agenda or preference. I doing this they face the consequences of standing in God’s way.

I see this in many churches today. There is a power struggle in the church between the pastor and the family or person of influence in the church. When God calls a man to lead a church He is anointed to do so. The church should recognize his calling and follow his lead.

If his leading is not biblically based, then the church should recognize this as well. They should work with him and show him the error of his way. If he recognizes the error of his way and makes adjustments, then he should be restored and the church should continue to follow his leadership.

Offer sacrifices and trust the Lord

David is instructing the people not to engage in sinful behavior, but to engage in acts of worship.

He tells them that as they meditate in their beds to recognize the word of the Lord and do what it says. By doing this you exhibit trust in the Lord.

Recognize the Goodness of God

David says to the people: look to the countenance of the Lord, recognize that God puts more gladness in your heart than wealth does, He gives you peace and safety.

The countenance of the Lord

We should pursue the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the world. The knowledge of the world is misery. You will find no good in the reports of the world. Just watch the news and you will discover this.

Choose to study the word rather than listen to the news.

God is our gladness

Many people believe the more money you have, the happier you will be. This is simply not true because money is not the source of our joy. God is the source of our joy!

God gives peace and safety

Christ is the only source of true peace.

27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

The worlds peace is based on external circumstances. The Lord’s peace is the assurance of His promises. We can rest in the promises of God.