Judge Me - Psalm 26

Introduction

This Psalm, by itself, could cause someone to be arrogant. What kind of man would ask God to judge his heart? But when coupled with the rest of scripture (even Psalm 25), we find that God wants us to stand confident before this sinful world even when we bow humbly before Him. God’s word is not a jar of seashells you picked up at Myrtle Beach that is disconnected from the other. Rather, God’s word is like a tapestry where each thread depends on all the other threads. God’s word instructs us toward both humility and boldness.

The Passage

A Psalm of David. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the Lordwithout wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked. I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O Lord, That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders. O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells. Do not take my soul away along with sinners, Nor my life with men of bloodshed, In whose hands is a wicked scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on a level place; In the congregations I shall bless the Lord. Psalm 26

Explain the Passage

David wants God to judge him because he trusts in God (Psalm 26:1). This judgment involves examination and testing (Ps 26:2). David asks this because He trusts God is loving and truthful (Ps 26:3).David then separates himself from the wicked and hypocrites (Ps 26:4) to the point where he desires to have no communion with them (Ps 26:5). The reason David contrasts himself with the wicked is because he is clean (Ps 26:6). He trusts God, therefore, his sins are forgiven. The wicked do not trust God, therefore, theirs sins are not forgiven. David then enters into praise for God’s goodness (Ps 26:7) and that praise is among the assembly of worshippers (Ps 26:8). Because of David’s love for God, he does not want to be counted among the wicked (Ps 26:9). David describes the wicked again, this time as schemers of evil (Ps 26:11). David ends standing boldly because he stands in worship (Ps 26:12).

Desire God’s Judgment and Depend on Christ’s Work

Christians must re-learn to love God’s judgement. Why? Because we want God to save our life. Because God saves His people through judgement. For Egypt, the ten plagues were judgment, for Israel they were salvation. For Christians, the cross is where God judges our sin, but its also where God saves us. Also, remember, some of the heroes in the OT were called judges. Judgment is not a bad thing—especially for those of us who are righteous in Christ. Clean people want to be clean. When God examines those of us with faith, He sees all of our sin. But He also sees our faith (which may be the size of a mustard seed). When God sees our faith, He sees His righteous son, not our sin.

David asks God to examine him like we ask a mechanic to examine our car, or we ask a pastor to examine us in counseling. When we ask God to examine us, we aren’t asking him to find out just how special, perfect, nice, kind, or wise we are. We are asking Him to examine our trust in His compassion, wisdom, and love. Faith in God always looks forward to new opportunities to trust and obey. Faith should not be the posture of looking inside yourself. Our sin is like a wildfire deep in the forest. God is like a rescue helicopter pilot. Faith is the rescue rope that picks us up. A rope by itself will burn up like anything else. Faith by itself will burn just like anything else too. But, when attached to the savior, we are safe. God desires we look to Christ.

One way to think about worship on the Lord’s Day is coming in God’s presence, asking Him to examine us. We want God to see we aren’t like this evil world. Each week He measures us against His righteous law, and we confess our sins to Him. Each week He sees us trust in the finished work of Christ. Each week He instructs us from His word on how to live. God will grow us and sanctify us each Lord’s day when He judges us. Outside of Christ, God’s judgment only condemns. In Christ, God’s judgment brings the opportunity of repentance. We should desire God’s judgement on us so we can trust Him more. We must love the assembly of the saints. Enjoy worship!

Despise the Wicked

As we grow in our holiness as Christians we need to avoid two ditches. One is legalism where we add extra laws to the ones He already gave in order to prove our own holiness. Another ditch is the licentiousness where we don’t take God’s standards seriously. Today’s psalm speaks to the second ditch to avoid.

I spent 2 years of my life sharing the gospel to communists in anticipation of doing full-time missionary work. During that season I got to know some great missionaries and learned some necessary lessons. One lesson I learned is how Christians should prioritize loves according to scripture. Jesus told us to love Him so much we hate our own father’s and mothers (Luke 14:26). Its only after hating our family for Jesus that we can actually love them anyways. But I saw some missionaries love their people group more than the Lord. They wouldn’t do bible studies because some parts of the scripture would offend their culture. Love for the people group alone does not make a good missionary. Those who love the people too much typically tolerate practices they should hate. They end up not exemplifying Christ in their conduct, which always is a bad way to evangelize (when the evangelist contradicts his evangelism).We should be the kind of community that stirs one another up to love and good works (Heb 10:24), not sin and rotten works.

I believe evangelical Christians are guilty of worshipping the soul of the lost person. Most of our efforts for the last few decades have been to reach the lost people out there while neglecting to obey God in here. When christians worship the lost’s soul, they water-down doctrine, they tolerate sin, and they pat themselves on the back far too quickly. Most churches desire newcomers more than they desire new hearts in those who come. We want more visitors, but do we want healthier marriages, godlier children, and virtuous members? Do we want what’s best for whoever darkens our door or do we just want them to darken our door? We need to love Jesus first in order to love our visitors right. It’s only after hating the wicked that we can even begin to love them. Scripture says in multiple places to love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48; Luke 6:27; 1 Peter 3:9; Lev 19:18; Rom 12:14, 18-20). Scripture also says in multiple places to hate the wicked (Ps 26:5; 31:16; 139:21). How do you square this?

First, our love and our hate are defined solely by God. The wicked’s love and hate are defined by them. When the world loves, they love without God and without self-control. Some of the saddest stories you will ever hear come from your non-Christian neighbors who unconditionally love the wrong person. Because God rules over our love as Christians, we should never love anyone too much or too little. When the world hates, they kill. When we hate, we pray and ask God to judge or forgive.

Second, we love our enemies because God invites His grace to be given to them, not because of anything special about them. THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT A LOST PERSON. Modern evangelism tends to begin with a love for the world and a worship of the human soul instead of a love for God and a worship of God’s glory. Just because love for neighbor is in the mix, doesn’t mean it is the primary ingredient or the first.

Third, a healthy and godly hatred of the wicked is necessary for our own worship (and our future ability to love our enemies). For example, the Bible warns men from following the woman of folly, the harlot. In those moments, God doesn’t want you to see a cute young woman with daddy issues or a misunderstood artist. He wants you to see her as someone who will kill your marriage, your family, your reputation, and you. You can’t share the gospel to a drug dealer as his most loyal customer. You can’t preach the gospel of peace to a murderer as his accomplice. You can’t offer bold grace to a bank robber as his getaway driver. Closeness to wickedness equals distance from the gospel. The idea that we must be a legalistic pharisee in order to be a good evangelist is wrong. But so is the more popular idea that wicked people have to comfortable around you. Rahab sought the Lord’s salvation after she realized God was judging Jericho (Josh 2:9). And Jesus preached the same message of repent and believe to the tax collectors and prostitutes as He did the scribes and pharisees. This is why all evangelism is a work of God. We preach Christ without ruining His testimony. He does the rest.

Fourth, God’s word shows differences between different types of wicked people. Focus your evangelistic efforts on the lost person who is kind to the gospel, not those who are hostile to it. We find some already in judgement where God has handed them over to their sin and hardened their heart (Romans 1:18-22). Other’s there is the possibility to them turning to God or further rejecting them. If they harden their hearts, we hand them over to God (Matthew 10:14).Others turn to God for a season, then apostatize (Heb 3:12; Matt 12:43-45).

Finally, for the Christian, our hate and our love look awfully similar. It takes maturity to discern the flavors of both in a Christian life. In our hate, we pray imprecatory Psalms (Ps 94:1; Rom 12:19). Sometimes God destroys the wicked with present judgment. He will always destroy the wicked in hell. But other times He destroys the wicked by saving them from their wickedness. In the end it all looks the same. When we love, We preach the gospel and pray. When we hate, we preach the gospel and pray. God is savior and judge. Sinners will be saved. Sinners will get what they deserve. If you love children, you hate abortion.  If you love your family, you hate whatever would inflict harm against your family. Likewise, if you love God, you should hate what He hates the way He hates it.

Conclusion

When we ask God to examine us, what happens when he finds sin in us? What happens if we look more wicked than we thought? Trust Him! If He convicts you of sin, turn from that sin. Spend the next few weeks trying to kill it. If you need help, ask me, its why I’m here. Trust God when He says repent and believe.