This is a devotional meditation, based on Psalm 43. Let's start with reading this psalm.
Declare me innocent, O God!
Defend me against these ungodly people.
Rescue me from these unjust liars.
For you are God, my only safe haven.
Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?
Send out your light and your truth;
let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you live.
There I will go to the altar of God,
to God—the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp,
O God, my God!
Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
(Psalm 43)
Sometimes, betrayal takes us by surprise. Especially when it’s at the hands of fellow Christians. Especially when those Christians are acting like ungodly people, spreading lies and injustice.
I recently read an article about gossip and slander as the scourge of many churches [1]. Somehow, these things have become ‘acceptable’ in our churches, as if they’re not really sins. Not a crime, just a misdemeanour.
And yet, in the 26 “sin lists” of the New Testament, slander and lying are mentioned exactly as often as murder. [2]
David knew all about what it feels like to be lied about. He encountered this regularly. In this Psalm, he cried out for rescue from these liars.
Who were the people lying about him? The majority of them were Israelites—God’s people.
When we’re in the midst of slander and gossip, we often feel tossed about and discarded by those we’ve trusted and called friends. They now act like our enemies. We wonder if, perhaps, God has tossed us aside, too.
We feel driven, whipped into trudging along an unwilling journey by the taskmasters of grief and oppression.
But then—oh, glorious then!—down reaches the hand of God, the the righteous God who loves justice. He sends out His beacons of light and truth, to shine in the darkness that has whispered its lies of undefeatability and inevitability to our ears. His light dispels the darkness. His truth reminds us of His victory. And they lead us to His holy mountain, the place where He lives.
We are not content to simply come to His mountain. We are not content to pause at His threshold. No! We rush in, to His altar, directly to Him.
In our deepest distress, He allows us complete access. We can run directly to the Source of all joy.
He is Immanuel, God with us, full of grace and truth.
In His presence, everything else melts away. We sing beneath the shadow of His wings [3], even when danger lurks nearby, because we trust completely in His provision and protection. We don’t care if evil knows where we are, because we serve the Conqueror of evil!
Our praise bursts forth.
Why are we discouraged and sad? We will hope in the Lord our God.
We will praise Him again.
This “again” is not some abstract time in the future. Again starts right now.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me praise His holy name! (Psalm 103:1)
NOTES
[1] See https://leadingfromthesandbox.blogspot.com/2023/11/gossip-and-slander-scourge-of-many.html?m=1
[2] In my personal study, I made a spreadsheet to track which sins were mentioned and when. I defined a “sin list” as any time three or more sins were mentioned in a list within the New Testament.
[3] See Psalm 57:1, 63:7.
