The Sin of Slander
Psalms 109
June 13, 2021
Well there is an eye-opening Psalm for you.
It’s actually quite shocking to read if you aren’t ready for it.
Some might even wonder how a song like that even made it into the Bible.
Certainly we would expect a strong rebuke from God toward David
For even thinking, let alone writing, such a Psalm.
We’ve read lots of those Imprecatory Prayers,
But this one just seems to go to a whole new level.
(10) “Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.”
Really?
(12) “Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.”
I mean that is harsh isn’t it?
One commentator I read noted that such Psalms
Almost make a Christian blush with shame when they read them.
I mean, could you imagine
• A non-believer coming up to you,
• Reading you this Psalm,
• And then asking you to explain how claim that you serve a loving God?
The Psalm presents a dilemma to say the least.
Well, just because we used it for a hypothetical,
I’ll go ahead and give you the answer.
If a non-believer does come up to you and quote Psalms 109
And then asks you how it is that you claim that you serve a loving God
THEN HERE IS THE ANSWER.
1. God hates sin, that’s never been denied.
2. God judges sinners, that’s never been denied.
But the reason we maintain Him to be a loving God
Is because God also sent His Son to atone for the sin He hates
And to save the sinners He is willing to judge.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
BUT WHILE YOUR AT IT,
• Be sure that the unbeliever who brought up the text
• Understands that Psalms 109 gives them a very detailed view of exactly what God thinks of sin.
And though God is most certainly a loving God,
Psalms 109 shows us what God will do to sinners
Who do not repent and trust in the atoning work of His Son.
YOU MIGHT THINK Psalms 109 merely represents David on a bad day.
• It may appear that David is having one of those “James and John moments”
• Where he wrongly wants to call down fire on the Samaritans.
But let me go ahead and set the record straight for you.
Look especially at verse 8.
(8) “Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”
Now let me read you another passage.
Acts 1:16-20 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. “For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’”
TWO THINGS that are very important in that passage.
1. One is the obvious thing that Peter here is quoting Psalms 109:8
in reference to Judas.
2. But the other thing that is very important is that at the beginning
of that passage Peter also reveals who said that.
“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas…”
Perhaps that changes your perspective a little bit on Psalms 109.
David sang it alright, but he did so under the directive of the Holy Spirit.
• Psalms 109 is NOT “David Gone Rogue”
• Psalms 109 is God’s genuine feeling toward those who accuse His children.
• Is the wrath intense? Yes
• Is the anger severe? Yes
• Is the prescribed judgment shocking? Yes
Well that is God’s wrath; God’s anger;
God’s prescribed judgment on those who slander His children.
SO BEFORE YOU ARE TEMPTED TO APOLOGIZE
That such harsh passages are in the Bible,
First you should point out what a terrible sin slander is in the eyes of God.
And then, while you’re at it, you can go ahead and ALSO POINT OUT that
Despite God’s fierce wrath toward accusers,
His love is demonstrated in that GOD SAVES EVEN SLANDERERS.
Psalms 109 DOES NOT flow contrary to the gospel.
Psalms 109 ENHANCES the gospel.
This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit and it addresses
“The Sin of Slander”
This Psalm was written by the Holy Spirit
To remind victims of slander that
God saves His children from those who judge their soul.
BUT FIRST TONIGHT let’s lay a foundation
To remember just how badly GOD HATES SLANDER.
• God is livid over character assassins.
• God loathes those who accuse His children.
• If you don’t believe me, just read again this Psalm that the Holy Spirit gave to David.
But this should not be new information to you.
Earlier in our study of Psalms
• David wrote in Psalms 15 asking “Who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”
Part of the answer was this:
Psalms 15:3 “He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;”
We also already studied Psalms 50:
Psalms 50:16-23 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”
And of course you know that the New Testament
Rightly continues the confrontation of that sin.
In His famous “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus likened slander to murder.
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.”
Paul taught:
Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
Colossians 3:8 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”
Peter reminded:
1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,”
James taught:
James 3:8-10 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”
So you get the idea.
• It is a severe sin to slander your brother.
• It is a severe sin in the eyes of God to be an accuser of your brother.
In fact, an interesting tidbit in this Psalm.
You see the word “accusers” or “accuser” 4 times in this Psalm. (4,6,20,29)
Do you want to know what the actual Hebrew word there is?
SATAN
That is one of the words that is attributed to the devil as an actual name.
• Devil means “adversary”
• Satan means “accuser”
• He is also called the serpent, a liar, a murderer, ect.
But you see the point.
When you slander your brother you are actually acting like Satan.
Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
And so you also understand why slander and accusation and character assassination brings with it the highest of emotions from God.
You understand why it angers God so much.
You understand why Psalms 109 is so intense in its judgment.
Psalms 109 explains to us the intense vengeance of God
On those who attack His children.
That is why Peter rightly applied it to Judas.
NOW – IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALSO HAVE BALANCE
While we hear David here really laying it down on his accusers
We DO NOT NULLIFY our New Testament commands.
Romans 12:14-17 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.”
Romans 12:19-20 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Jesus DIDN’T say to “pray against those” but to “pray FOR those”
We do remember that famous story where James and John wanted
To call down fire on the Samaritans and Jesus rebuked them harshly.
Luke 9:5 “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”
We certainly remember Jonah
Jonah 4:9-11 “Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”
All of those passages remind us that
• While there is certainly such a thing as “righteous indignation”
• While we are certainly to “hate what is evil”
• While we are to “leave room for the wrath of the LORD”
• While we do lift up our prayers for justice to God like that widow in Luke 18.
At the same time we must always remember that
At the heart of the matter
The desire of God is not to judge men but to save them.
The CHIEF AIM and the HIGHEST DESIRE
Is not to see sinners destroyed but to see them redeemed.
• That does not mean we love their sin or even tolerate their sin.
• Certainly we cry out for their repentance from sin and their salvation.
• And we do expect that one day God will judge those who persecute His children if they do not repent.
Psalms 109 merely shows us God’s just anger on those who slander.
And we need to understand it.
Indeed we need to use it when we preach the gospel.
In fact we need to remember it in the church.
Colossians 3:6-8 “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”
We certainly do not wish to walk in the sins that
Cause God to feel the way Psalms 109 causes Him to feel.
So Psalms like this one are important.
• They help us understand God’s hatred of sin and why we must repent of it.
• And they help us understand God’s love and mercy since He does forgive even slanderers when they repent.
We also gain a great understanding of passages like:
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
And they also help us understand that
Because God hates slander so much,
He will absolutely save His children when they are victims of it.
Well, anyway, after such a lengthy introduction let’s now take a look at the Psalm.
It’s really not hard to understand, more than anything it’s merely hard to swallow.
4 points.
#1 THE FRUSTRATION OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:1-5
When you read those first 5 verses it is absolutely evident that
DAVID HAS BEEN BLIND-SIDED BY HIS ACCUSERS.
He is totally shocked at their response to his love.
“O God of my praise, Do not be silent!”
• David wants an immediate response from God.
• David calls for an immediate judgment.
WHY?
“For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause.”
The first cry of David is in regard to the fact that
The words spoken about him were filled with hatred and deceit.
• They spoke awful things about him and things that were not true.
• And it is apparent that they spoke a lot of them.
• David said, “They have surrounded me with words of hatred”
It is a hard pill to swallow anytime someone has hateful words about you.
It is even harder when those words aren’t true.
• No one likes to be slandered.
• No one likes to be falsely accused.
• David was and he is shocked.
But what has David more shocked than anything is that
IT IS TOTALLY UNDESERVED.
(4-5) “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love.”
This was the real sting for David,
Namely that he felt their rage to be totally undeserved.
Following the mindset of the preacher in Ecclesiastes
• Who recently reminded us that there is “a time for love and a time for hate”
• David saw their response to him as totally inappropriate.
They should have responded with love; they responded with hate.
• He prayed for them, they slandered him.
• He gave them good, they gave him evil.
• He loved them, they hated him.
And so you understand why David is so shocked and frustrated.
Their response was totally wrong.
It was totally undeserved.
Now, perhaps that is true on David’s part.
We do have a tendency to view ourselves better than we ought.
• Carrie and I have seen this many times with our boys.
• Zech would goad Zek relentlessly day in and day out as boys do.
• And, as boys will do, Zek would eventually retaliate and throw Zech around.
• Zech would then come tell on Zek and say, “He threw me into the wall for no
reason at all.”
Sometimes we have a tendency to overlook our own offense
And that is why we are shocked when someone retaliates.
AND PERHAPS THAT WAS DAVID.
But one thing we know for sure, that certainly wasn’t true of Jesus.
And these first 5 verses drip of Jesus.
• They lied about Him
• They slandered Him
• They accused Him
• They hated Him
• And all He ever did was love them.
Was His love at times harsh and confrontational? Yes
But it was love none the less.
He would have forgiven and saved any one of those Pharisees
If they had repented of their sins, but they would not.
Instead they attacked Him.
And chief on that list, according to Peter, was Judas.
• Who gave perhaps the most inappropriate response to Jesus that any man ever gave.
• He literally repaid Jesus evil for good and hatred for His love.
But you see the frustration of the afflicted
#2 THE FURY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:6-20
The longest section of the Psalm and certainly the most inflammatory.
• David is hot!
• He has had enough.
• And inspired by the Holy Spirit David lays out his expectation of judgment.
And again, while this comes across as extremely harsh,
Let it show you just how angry God is
At those who slander His own.
I remind you again that Peter told us that this Psalm (as they all are)
Was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
This is God’s rage against those who accuse His Son.
David talks about THE ACCUSERS FATE
(6-8) “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office.”
As we said, Peter applied that to Judas.
• Any man who has the audacity to slander and accuse God’s Son certainly deserves such a fate.
• And any who does the same to those who are clothed in the righteousness of God’s Son suffers that fate as well.
Do you understand that?
• Believers in Christ stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• When they are slandered, it is seen by God as a slander of Christ.
This is severe and David lays it out as such.
We also see THE ACCUSERS FAMILY
(6-10) “Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out.”
It is not just to do away with this sinner,
But also to root out any influence that he has left behind.
• Many times in the ancient world, when a king was assassinated all of his heirs were assassinated as well so as to make sure that there was no retribution.
• When Achan sinned and troubled Israel, Achan was judged alone. All his family and all that he owned was stoned to death as well.
That is the sort of picture we see here.
Don’t just judge him, but root out any and all lingering influences
that he may have left behind.
THERE IS NO PLACE FOR SUCH A MAN
Or for his ideology which may survive in his children.
No doubt that is severe.
We also see THE ACCUSERS FATHER
(14-15) “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth;”
Now David goes backward to pick up the accusers parents.
• Certainly they do not escape guilt since they raised such a vile man.
And David wants them to also suffer the consequences
Of failing as parents and not instilling better judgment in their child
Than to respond in such an inappropriate way.
We see also THE ACCUSERS FOLLY
(16-19) “Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.”
This man
• Had no compassion; no mercy; no sense of justice at all.
• He had no loyalty to God nor to man.
• He did not care for the poor or the humble.
• He had no mercy for those who begged and pleaded.
• He ran from blessing and instead preferred cursing.
David said he actually clothes himself in cursing.
He loves it.
He loves to malign and accuse and attack.
It is his very nature.
It reminds of Paul’s compilation of sinful men in Romans 3.
Romans 3:13-14 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”
He is just a vile man who greatly deserves the fury of God.
And that is why David says, (20) “Let this be the reward of my accuses from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my soul.”
This is the very fury of God for those slander God’s children.
• This was inspired by the Holy Spirit
• This was fulfilled in Judas
• It is applied to any who accuse God’s children
THAT IS A SEVERE WARNING AGAINST SLANDER
The Frustration of the Accused; The Fury of the Accused
#3 THE FRAILTY OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:21-29
And here we see the MOTIVE behind David’s prayer.
• He could have very easily entitled this as another one of those “Destroy Not” Psalms
• Where in David was held back by the command to never take your own revenge.
Certainly we saw that in the meekness of Christ.
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;”
• It wasn’t that Jesus couldn’t fight back,
• But in His meekness He refused to fight back.
• He was constrained by His obedience to the will of the Father.
Perhaps David saw himself as under those same constraints.
Either way David speaks of himself as a helpless man,
Unable to defend himself, and unable to right the wrongs against him.
(21-25) “But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me; For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust. My knees are weak from fasting, And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness. I also have become a reproach to them; When they see me, they wag their head.”
You can almost see Christ on the cross here.
• He is reviled
• They wag their head
• They divide with the tongue
• They accuse and malign and slander Him
And this is where David sits.
All He can do at this point is
“entrust Himself to Him who judges righteously”
And so David prays:
(26-29) “Help me, O LORD my God; Save me according to Your lovingkindness. And let them know that this is Your hand; You, LORD, have done it. Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, they shall be ashamed, But Your servant shall be glad. Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor, And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.”
He cries out to God for His great loyalty.
• “Save me according to Your lovingkindness”
He cries out to God for His vindication
• “let them know that this is Your hand”
He cries out to God for His judgment
• “Let them curse, but You bless”
He cries out to God for His vengeance
• “Let my accuses be clothed in dishonor”
It is a cry to God.
It is an appeal to God from David.
He cannot defend himself and so God must defend Him for them.
SOME MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY SEEING CHRIST HERE
For we know His prayer for His accusers while He hung on the cross.
He actually prayed:
Luke 23:34 “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
And there seems to be quite a disconnect here.
Certainly Jesus could not pray for forgiveness with His mouth
And at the same time pray for vengeance with His mind.
Not at all.
So how do we handle it?
• Is David out of touch?
• Or more appropriately were the Holy Spirit and Jesus in conflict on this subject?
NO, OF COURSE NOT.
It is only a conflict if you imagine that a desire for mercy
Cannot coexist with a commitment to justice.
God is merciful AND holy.
• He will judge sinners
• He will forgive sinners
• Both are well within His right and prerogative.
ON THE CROSS
• we do not see Christ desiring vengeance or judgment in the least.
• He came to save sinners and we are grateful that He did.
• AND YET, AT HIS SECOND COMING you will certainly the very vengeance of
this Psalm come forth.
Just because Christ desired mercy
Does not mean that He is not committed also to justice.
Slanderers are welcome to Him in repentance.
In fact, He said:
Luke 12:10 “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”
• Those who come to Him seeking mercy will have it.
• Those who reject the Holy Spirit’s call to come to Him will receive the very
vengeance spoken of here.
And we also see Christ in this passage
• In His meekness by the fact that though He would have been justified,
• He chose to leave judgment in the hands of God.
• Though He was strong He became weak for us.
The Frustration of… The Fury of… The Frailty of the Accused
#4 THE FAITH OF THE ACCUSED
Psalms 109:30-31
And here we get even more at the heart of the matter.
Psalms 109, though it is graphic and severe and detailed,
Is NOT primarily about the judgment of the wicked.
It is PRIMARILY ABOUT the salvation of the accused.
• When God’s children are slandered, God rises up to vindicate and save His children from their attacks.
• He will most certainly do this with Satan when he saves us ultimately from his accusations.
But in reality, Christ does this for us continually.
Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
And David seemed to understand this.
(30-31) “With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”
• David cried to God because he knew God would agree with the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be angry at the wrong.
• David cried to God because he knew God would be sympathetic to his weakness.
• David cried to God because he knew God would ultimately save him.
And it reminds us again why we do not take our own revenge.
Our God will certainly save us from the accuser.
If we live like Christ in this world we can expect to be treated like Christ.
• We can expect to be accused
• We can expect to be wrongly accused
• We can expect to be hated and lied about
• We can expect hatred to be returned for our love
• And all the while we seek to live like Christ and bless instead of cursing.
However, we know that our God avenges His children.
“For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”
That is our hope and that is good news.
