Slander

[forgiven]

Title: A Christian's Defense

Read Psalm 26:1-12

Have you ever been blamed for something you
didn't do? Leaders often are blamed falsely. The
Israelites blamed Moses for lack of water, bitter
water, enemies' attacks and lack of food. In this
psalm, David is falsely accused, so he takes four
steps to deal with his slanderers.

Step 1: An honest examination (vv. 1-3). Human
nature does not want to admit it's wrong, but we
need to examine ourselves. David walked in
integrity. Integrity means "wholeness of
character." He also walked in faith, without
wavering. We find David open before God, walking
in the light and letting God examine him. We
would save ourselves a lot of trouble if we would
let Him examine us. He wants to teach us what we
are really like. If we are right before God, it
makes no difference what people say.

Step 2: A holy separation (vv. 4,5). People
accused David of being a hypocrite, even though
he did not worship false gods. We must obey the
biblical doctrine of holy separation (II Cor.
6:14-18).

Step 3: A happy celebration (vv. 6-8). David
washed his hands in innocence. He was cleansed by
water and blood. He was concerned about praising,
loving and glorifying God. Just as Jesus sang
before His crucifixion, David sang songs of
praise around the altar, the place of sacrifice.
Do we sing songs of praise when we have to make
sacrifices?

Step 4: A humble determination? (vv. 9-12). David
said, "As for me, I will walk in my integrity."
When a person has integrity, he has a great
defense, a great shield. Character is a marvelous
shield against the accusations of men. A good
conscience gives us courage in times of
difficulty.

The Christian's defense is the grace of God, His
Word and His truth. Because of this, we're able
to walk. David's foot stood in an even place. He
was not standing alone--he was in the
congregation. Let's take the same steps David
took the next time someone slanders us.

People can hurt you with false accusations, but
you need not let slanderers defeat you. If you
walk with integrity, your character will shield
you. Keep yourself pure and avoid compromising
situations. When someone slanders you, God's
grace, His Word and His truth will protect you.

Author: Warren Wiersbe

[Betty]

Title: Vengeance

And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a
feast in his house, like the feast of a king and
Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was
very drunken. Wherefore she told him nothing,
less or more, until the morning light.

One of the most obnoxious men in the Bible is
Nabal. Nabal was a wealthy shepherd who had many
flocks and servants. It appears that David and
his men showed kindness to Nabal's servants and
gave protection to them. Subsequently David's men
needed provision and refreshment and he sent them
to Nabal. But when David's men arrived at Carmel,
Nabal lashed out at them, ridiculed them, and
refused any help to them. The Bible describes
Nabal as a churlish man "and evil in his doings."
This simply means that he was hard to deal with,
a difficult person to get along with. Not
recognizing the anointing of God on David, Nabal
demanded, "Who is David? and who is the son of
Jesse?" He ranked David among the common
mavericks of the day. Nabal sent David's men away
empty-handed. When the men returned to David and
reported to him how offensively Nabal had acted
and how unfriendly he had been, David's anger was
piqued.

Four hundred of David's warriors were prepared to
march against Nabal and retaliate for his
unfriendly attitude. This would have engaged
David in a sinful tirade against a sinful tyrant.
Had it not been for the intervention of God
through the actions of the quick-thinking wife of
Nabal, David would undoubtedly have shed innocent
blood that day. But Abigail, Nabal's wife,
intercepted the irate David, brought gifts to him
and persuaded him not to take vengeance against
her husband. She was God's messenger to God's man
and David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD
God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet
me; and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be
thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to
shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine
own hand." Nabal's attitude was unforgivable, but
David's reaction was equally unforgivable. He
would heed Abigail's advice, the same advice Paul
gave to the Roman believers when he said, "Dearly
beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give
place unto [God's] wrath: for it is written,
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"
(Romans 12:19).

When Abigail returned to tell her husband what
she had done, she wisely decided to tell him
nothing until the morning light since he was
filled with wine (1 Samuel 25:36). In the morning
(verse 37) when Nabal was sober, Abigail related
to him what she had done to spare his life and
the reputation of David. At that point the
churlish man apparently had a stroke and 10 days
later the Lord took his life. Abigail's wisdom
permitted God to return the wickedness of Nabal
upon his own head and still preserve David from
making a foolish mistake.

General Robert E. Lee was asked what he thought
of one of his fellow officers in the Confederate
Army. This officer had made many derogatory
remarks about General Lee. Lee rated him as a
fine officer and good soldier. Someone
questioned, saying, "General, I guess you don't
know what he's been saying about you." Lee
responded, "I know, but I was asked my opinion of
him, not his opinion of me!"

Although we may be slandered or maligned by
others, we are not at liberty to do anything but
show the love of the Lord Jesus unto them.
Perhaps today you have an antagonist spreading
falsehood about you. Do not plan to avenge the
wrong you have been done; give place to God's
wrath instead and speak kindly of that
antagonist. Then and then alone will a difficult
situation bring glory to the name of God.

MORNING HYMN
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes illumine me,
Spirit divine!
_____________________________________________
Author: Woodrow Kroll