Facing Slander
Psalms 140
October 16, 2022
Tonight we return to our study of the Psalms
And we come across Psalms 140.
As you see by our title, tonight we are talking about “Facing Slander”
That’s what David is dealing with here.
Only, it’s not just David.
We see that this Psalms is “For the choir director”
That is to say that this wasn’t simply a Psalm David sang in private,
But song that God intended for the entire congregation to learn.
And I think the reason would be obvious.
1. Because we will in no way get through this life without being a victim of
slander.
2. Because it is highly likely that at some point you will be tempted to
participate in slander.
This Psalm gives us great insight into the sin itself,
And also HOW TO HANDLE IT.
But more than just a Psalm on dealing with slander,
(as is true with all the Psalms,)
It is a testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ
And yet another way in which He proved Himself to be
“the author and perfecter of faith”.
SO TONIGHT, let’s examine this 140th Psalm and allow the Lord to deal with our hearts.
We’re going to break this Psalm down into 4 points; really just an outline,
And see what God would teach us.
#1 DAVID’S PLIGHT
Psalms 140:1-5
David’s plight is obvious, he is a victim here of evil men
Who have set out to use slander in order to destroy him.
(1-3) “Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars. They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.”
• David calls them “evil men”
• David calls them “violent men”
And it is because they are doing their best
To use their tongues to stir up evil against David.
THEIR OBJECTIVE is to bring him down from the throne and ensnare him.
(4-5) “Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men Who have purposed to trip up my feet. The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.”
This is no mild game.
These are not innocent discussions.
We have men here who are using their tongues to ruin David’s life.
If you look at verse 9 David says they “surround me”.
That is the basics of what is going on.
And just the words that David uses here
Gives us quite an indicator about the nature of slander.
• Words like “evil” in verse 1 and 2
• Words like “violent” in verses 1 and 4
• Words like “wicked” in verse 4
In verse 3 we see an analogy of David:
“They sharpen their tongue as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under the lips.”
David compares them to snakes
Whose threat comes from the poison in their mouth.
YOU LIKELY RECOGNIZE the last line of verse 3 as one of the famous verses Paul used in his testimony to the fallen nature of humanity.
Romans 10:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”
The “poison of a viper” is lethal poison.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT LETHAL DANGER HERE.
SLANDER IS NO INSIGNIFICANT SIN.
James 3:8 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”
It is no wonder then that God condemns slander so vehemently.
Proverbs 6:12-15 “A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.”
Solomon says a man with “a perverse mouth” will be broken with no healing.
In the very next verse in Proverbs is familiar to you:
Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
I don’t know if you picked up on it but the sin of slander there is included in 3 of the 7 things God hates.
• “a lying tongue”
• “uttering lies”
• “spreading strife”
That should tell you something
Of what God thinks of men who use their tongues for evil.
But it’s NOT JUST the tongue that is the issue.
Jesus taught us:
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
And David certainly agrees.
For even though it is the slander that he hears
David knows it didn’t originate in their mouth.
(2) “Who devise evil things in their hearts…”
Men who slander are men who devise evil.
They are men who carry within them the malice of murder.
The tongue is merely the weapon of choice to commit that murder.
Remember what Jesus taught us?
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
I hope this is painting a clear picture for you of the sin of slander.
It is a man with a murderous heart
Who uses his tongue to destroy his neighbor.
AND GOD HATES IT.
Proverbs 10:18 “He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.”
Proverbs 16:28 “A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.”
Furthermore we know that men will give an account for all their words.
Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”
And thus slander is expressly forbidden for God’s children.
Psalms 34:13 “Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.”
Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
Now that is a quick rundown of the sin of slander.
It is when you spread a lie about someone else
With the intent to cause them harm.
• It is when you say something untrue about someone so as to ruin their
reputation.
• It is when you speak something untrue with malicious intent so as to put them
in negative consequences.
THAT IS SLANDER AND GOD HATES IT.
And here we find that David has become a victim of it.
MY GUESS IS THAT
At some point in your life YOU HAVE ALSO been a victim of it.
And if you have then you know it is a painful thing to endure.
• It will make you want to go on a global campaign to set the record straight.
• It will make you want to track down the spread of lies and cut out their tongue.
We live in a day where
• Bad news is printed on the front page and retractions are buried in page 12.
• An accusation can ruin a career, split a family, and even put someone in
prison, whether it is true or not.
• Even when the truth comes out many times the damage is already done and
the reputation is already irreparably stained.
And if you’ve been a victim of that
Then you understand where David is coming from here.
Evil men are trying to ruin him with lies.
That is David’s plight.
#2 DAVID’S HOPE
Psalms 140:6-8
Here is where we can certainly learn a thing or two from David.
When David catches wind that lies are being told about him,
• He doesn’t run to the paper.
• He doesn’t run to the source of the lies.
• He doesn’t get on social media and try to defend himself.
David goes one place.
He goes to God.
WHY?
(and this is great!)
(6) “I said to the LORD, “You are my God;”
Now, notice the verb tense there.
David is speaking past tense here.
• “You are my God” is NOT a declaration David is making today.
• “You are my God” IS a declaration that David has made years ago.
THIS ISN’T NEW.
David declared YAHWEH to be His God way in the past.
Today he merely acts on it.
(He puts his money where his mouth is)
For the second line we move into the present.
“Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.”
I hope you’re picking up on what we’re seeing here.
I think on a Sunday night we might say that
• Most everyone in here has at some point in our past made the declaration that
God is our God.
• Most in here have said Jesus is Lord! You are my God!
The problem is that when trials or troubles come our way
It is to our shame that we seem to forget our confession
And we try to go fix the problem ourselves.
DAVID DOESN’T.
He has God on his side and so that is where he goes.
And incidentally,
God has a track record of saving!
(7) “O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation”
David remembers God as the One who saved him.
• God is the One who saved him from sin.
• God is the One who delivered him from is wickedness.
• God is the One who saved him from wrath and hell.
Surely if God can save him from hell He can save him from slanderers!
Surely if God can deliver David from His own wrath
He can save him from the wrath of men.
God also has a track record of protecting David even when the danger is lethal.
(7b) “You have covered my head in the day of battle.”
I wouldn’t presume to know exactly what David has in mind here, but in my mind I imagine it to be a reference to when in battle and the enemy fires that volley of arrows at you.
It would be a pretty scarry thing to just stand there and see all those arrows come flying through the air to land in the midst of the crowd and David praises God for protecting him from such dangers.
And if God is able to protect David from men with swords
Then surely God can protect David from men with tongues.
So do you see what David has done here?
As bad as slander is, it is just another giant
That David stretches out next to God.
Just like Goliath got really small when David stood him up next to God,
So does now this slanderous attack.
• David doesn’t have to correct the narrative.
• David doesn’t have to kill the slanderer.
• David merely takes his defense to God.
After all, “You are my God”
You are the One who defends me.
You are the One who saves me.
So here’s a new threat God, deal with it too.
(8) “Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted.”
In short, don’t let them succeed.
• Their objective and their goal is to ruin me.
• Don’t let them.
• Save me like You saved me from sin.
• Protect me like You protected me in battle.
THAT IS DAVID’S HOPE.
THAT IS THE BELIEVER’S HOPE.
Do you know that you don’t have to fear the slander of men?
• I know it is painful.
• I know it is irritating.
• But you do not have to fear it.
WE HAVE A PROMISE:
Romans 8:33 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;”
That is a tremendous promise.
God justified you when He knew the worst about you.
If someone approaches Him and calls you a dirty rotten sinner
It’s not like God is going to be surprised.
Slander may make your life a little more uncomfortable
But it cannot threaten your eternity in the least.
FURTHERMORE it can’t stop the ministry God has for you.
Do you realize how much Jesus was blasphemed?
Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Matthew 12:22 “Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
Jesus was accused plenty
And still fulfilled God’s perfect purpose in His life.
Think about Paul.
Acts 24:5 “For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
If you read 2 Corinthians it is clear that
• The false apostles accused Paul of being a minister for money
• And even for sexual gain.
There is good reason to believe that Paul’s thorn in the flesh
Was in fact one of these character assassins.
Paul calls him “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan”
And yet God told Paul that his weakness was a good thing!
That thorn was a weakness that God could use with His strength.
So I’m not saying that being a victim of slander is an easy thing,
But if God is for you, it’s not nearly the threat it may seem.
THAT IS DAVID’S HOPE.
David’s Plight, David’s Hope
#3 DAVID’S DESIRE
Psalms 140:9-11
Very simply, David desires justice.
• He basically asks that they fall into the pit they are digging.
• He is asking the God who will not be mocked for them to reap what they are sowing.
(9-10) “As for the head of those who surround me, May the mischief of their lips cover them. “May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.”
• He asks for them to fall under “the mischief of lips”
• He asks for “burning coals” to “fall upon them”
• He asks for them to fall “into deep pits from which they cannot rise”
Let them feel the irreparable sting of slander in their own lives.
NOW THAT MAY SOUND VINDICTIVE.
(And we don’t have a problem when we read David’s imprecatory prayers)
But here it’s NOT so much about David getting revenge
As IT IS about God putting an end to slanderers in general.
(11) “May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”
It’s not so much David’s slanderer as it is all slanderers David is after.
He is simply asking God to put an end to anyone
Who would slander with their tongue.
AND IN FACT GOD WILL.
Revelation 21:27 “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”
No liar will be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven.
David will get his request.
God will one day put an end to every lying tongue.
Psalms 101:5 “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.”
David wants God to rid the world of tongue-murderers
And one day God will.
And then one final point from David.
#4 DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 140:12-13
We always love it when David says, “I know…”
“I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.”
In other words, It doesn’t matter how dark or bleak it looks right now, I know how this thing ends.
• I know whose side God takes.
• I know who God defends and who God destroys.
• I know who gets to stand with God when this is all over.
Liars and slanderers do not get to stand with God, but the afflicted do.
And so even though the affliction may be painful,
It is actually a cause for rejoicing because it reminds you that
You are in the company of those whom God saves.
Listen to Jesus:
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Slander just puts you in good company.
• Let it be a boost to your hope.
• Let it be a boost to your confidence.
The Bible actually says when you are slandered you are blessed.
1 Peter 4:14 “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
THAT’S A GOOD THING.
AND THAT IS DAVID’S CONFIDENCE AS WELL.
But as I told you at the beginning.
This is not just a sermon about slander,
Though there is plenty of application to be made.
THIS PSALM IS ABOUT THE TRUE AND BETTER DAVID.
This Psalm is a picture of the coming Messiah
And how He would be slandered and yet overcome.
• We heard how Jesus was called demon possessed.
• We heard how Jesus was accused of being a drunkard.
• We heard how Jesus was called a blasphemer
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
What David talks about in Psalms 140 is EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID.
• When they reviled Him as a demon-possessed blasphemer.
• When they challenged Him to prove He was the Son of God.
• When they mocked Him as a false prophet.
• When they laughed at Him as a phony King.
HE DIDN’T run around trying to set the record straight.
HE DIDN’T lash out at those who were lying about Him.
“but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
He knew how it would all shake out in the end.
But there’s MORE to that than just Jesus’ example of handling slander.
If we keep reading what Peter said:
1 Peter 2:23-25 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
• Jesus was reviled.
• Jesus was blasphemed.
• Jesus was slandered.
WHY?
He was taking the slander that we deserve.
What was false about Jesus is true about us.
• We are the filthy blaspheming sinners that Jesus was accused of being.
• But “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross”
He was being treated as we deserved.
AND YET still did not once lash out at His accusers.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”
• He took the sharp barbs of the serpent.
• He took the poison of the viper.
• They purposed to trip up His feet.
• They hid a trap for Him.
• They set snares for Him.
And while David may have thought himself completely innocent,
CHRIST WAS completely innocent.
And He bore the slander so that we might be justified before the Father.
And God did maintain His cause.
He was raised from the dead and He ascended to heaven.
Jesus is the One who conquered the lies of the enemy.
And now, we are called to follow (not in David’s steps), but in Jesus’ steps.
TO CLOSE TONIGHT:
TURN TO: 1 PETER 2
Read verses 12-21
Did you catch how Peter addressed these people who were being slandered?
(12) “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
They may slander you now, but on the day when the Judge returns
They’ll be forced to admit their lie.
You stay the course.
And you notice then that this is all funneling down to verse 21.
(21) “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps”
I hope you get the point here.
Christ suffered for you.
• Christ bore your reproach.
• Christ bore your slander.
NOW – YOU BEAR HIS
You follow His example and do for Him what He has done for you.
TURN TO: 1 PETER 4:1-6
There it is again.
“since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with same purpose…”
And even when they “malign you” (vs 4) you stand strong
And know that God will judge all these things one day.
And then down to 4:14-16
(14-16) “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”
Slander is painful, but slander is part of the calling.
When it occurs just know that
You are walking in the footprints of Your Savior.
• Take their reproach to God who will judge rightly.
• Do not fear their slander or reproach.
• Rather see it as a badge of honor and an indication that you look like Jesus.
That is dealing with slander.
(12-13) “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.”
