Jesus, Our Solid Rock
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on the Psalms. We have taken a break from our Revelation series for the summer and we are focusing on finding peace in a world of chaos through the Psalms.
I hope that you will forgive me in advance this morning. I have been in the mountains of Virginia this week for Centrikid with my band so not only is my voice tired but I also have shifted back into a little bit of an accent again. I am trying to recover in more than one way but today is going to be a wonderful afternoon to put the Spanish Grand Prix on and take a world-class nap.
Last week we looked at Psalm 25 and Zack walked us through what it looks like to be waiting on God and this morning, we will be in Psalm 26. I am going to read the whole chapter first and then we will break it down verse by verse.
Title of the message is Jesus, Our Solid Rock. The big idea of the message is as long as we are standing with Jesus, we are standing on solid ground... as long as we are standing with Jesus, we are standing on solid ground...
Here’s your context. Psalm 26 is a prayer declaring innocence. A prayer claiming to be falsely accused and a victim of evildoers. It is a Psalm of David and although we don’t have a positive time stamp on this particular Psalm, many agree that it was written while he was being relentlessly pursued by Saul. And at first glance of Psalm 26, as believers gathered here this morning, we could be downright offended by the claims that David is making. He is boasting his innocence and blamelessness before God. It is much more appropriate for us to bring our sins before God and confess than it is to stand before Jesus and brag about the things we have done right. But what we will see this morning is that David is putting himself on trial and using the fact that he walks and stands with Jesus as his witness as the source of evidence in this trial to show that he is safe. It is safe to assume that David has been wrongly accused by Saul or someone in his camp and David is as much pleading with God to remind him of his innocence as he is declaring it before God.
Let’s read Chapter 26 together again. Verse 1 says: “Vindicate me, Lord, because I have lived with integrity and have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind. For your faithful love guides me and I live by your truth.” The reason I said earlier that this voice may offend us as believers gathered here this morning is because it seems shocking to make these claims before a holy and righteous God who knows our every thought and action. It would be crazy for us to stand here this morning and instead of singing “Your promise still stands, great is your faithfulness. I am still in your hands, THIS is my confidence…” we sing and proclaim, “Look at my innocence, my heart is so clean, it’s so clean. I don’t make mistakes; you see that I’m perfect. I’m perfect Lord…” That would be ridiculous! Because we know it’s not true. We know and hopefully, believe the Bible when it says that “our righteousness is like filthy rags.” This statement from David, a man after God’s own heart seems shocking until we see in verse 3 David says, “Your faithful love guides me and I live by your truth.” David knows that we are justified and declared innocent by God’s faithful love towards us and not the other way around. God refusing to let us out of his grasp because of his faithfulness gives us confidence that we have received God’s strength. David is claiming that over his enemies’ accusations and himself and we should as well. Pastor James Boice says: “It is not David’s reputation in the eyes of other people that concerns him but rather God’s reputation he covets.” David is not claiming to have lived a life of perfection – rather he is pointing to his faith in God as his means for justification and in verse 2, he is asking God to examine his heart and mind – not to prove his perfection – but instead to find places where he is not seeking and following and trusting God or walking correctly. I love this translation because it uses the word “Vindicate” (one of my favorite Dashboard Confessional songs from the Spiderman One soundtrack is “Vindicated”). When David says “Vindicate me Lord” he is asking God to justify him and declare his innocence by argument, and his argument is Jesus’ righteousness. Right off the bat, these verses begin with the Gospel. And we will see the importance of preaching the Gospel to ourselves daily and hourly as we continue.
Verse 4 through 7 says: “I do not sit with the worthless or associate with the hypocrites. I hate a crowd of evildoers, and I do not sit with the wicked.” This again, feels like very harsh language from David, and what I love about this Psalm is the realness he shows with it. We have all been in situations where we have been wrongly accused. Many of us may be sitting here this morning watching what is happening in the world around us and feel like our motives as Christians are constantly being called to question. It could make us timid to speak up. It could make us angry feeling like our motives and beliefs are being corporately called out while we may not individually feel the same. Regardless, we can empathize with how David feels and is speaking in these verses. He is expressing intense anger and frustration and pleading with God to keep him on the straight and narrow. What David is doing in verses 4-6 is distinguishing himself from the unrighteous. And again, this is not claiming to be perfect. We can drift into dangerous Pharisee territory here. Declaring our innocence doesn’t mean we go through our lives without doing any wrong and never failing. What David is saying here is that he desires to do good, and he doesn’t want to think as the wicked think. Spurgeon says, “A man who doesn’t hate evil terribly, doesn’t love good heartily. This is an example of being placed in front of something good and calling it bad. There are many examples of this in our culture today but a great quote about this is from Jim Rohn and he says that, “We are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.”
3 of my favorite tv shows are classic examples of this and I call this the good, the bad, and the Bear. For the good, I am going to use Michael Scott in the Office. Michael has an infectious albeit sometimes horrifically inappropriate style of running the small local paper company in Scranton, PA. And yet, through 6 seasons of his presence as Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, we see the rest of his staff begin to love paper and the experience they have together as an office selling it and handling it. However, the absence of Michael in later seasons and his inappropriate behavior does lead to some corruption amongst his staff. Completely contrary to this is Walter White’s character in Breaking Bad. Walter White, a high school science teacher, receives a terminal diagnosis of cancer and proceeds to begin cooking meth with a former student and goes on a five-season rampage of corrupting himself by the cartel and drug-using company he keeps and corrupting his wife and children and family and friends because of the evil he allows himself to be corrupted by. Finally, in the show The Bear, a world-renowned chef, takes over his brother’s small sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother dies unexpectedly and leaves the family restaurant to him in the will. His kitchen staff are a rough-necked crew, reeling from the loss of their friend and dealing with it in their own ways but throughout the course of the two seasons, the main Chef, Carmen, instills his belief and passion into the rest of the team and you see them transform the grimy sandwich shop into a high caliber restaurant competing for a coveted Michelin star. They are all influenced by the people around them. And we are too. David recognizes his own propensity to sin and is asking God for protection against it. We will inevitably be around people who sin Church – newsflash, we can’t escape ourselves and we are sinners… What we cannot do is condone, support, or affirm the actions of those sinners, including our own sins we try to justify or sin.
The importance of what David is saying here is he wants to stand up for what he knows is truth and right. There is no middle ground or gray when it comes to what Jesus expects of us. Christian faith isn’t just forgiveness, it is a commitment to righteous living. Our faith produces the works. He does give us the solution to trying to remain faithful in walking in righteousness.
Verse 6 says: “I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, Lord, raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about your wondrous works. Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory resides.” You heard it here first. From your worship pastor and David, the writer of the majority of Heaven’s songbook. To combat our enemies, sin, and evil in the world, we must sing and preach the Gospel to ourselves and to others. Spurgeon sums it up beautifully by saying, “Saints sing themselves into happiness.” Are you struggling with sin? Are you feeling depressed or anxious about life? Are you questioning your salvation and your standing before God? Proclaim his works over your life! Share the good news with yourself first. Think of Paul and Barnabas. I can’t imagine a much worse place to be sitting than in a jail cell. I have never been to prison. I hope to not ever go to prison (Maybe insert section about following the laws to avoid the consequences?). But Paul and Barnabas, wrongly and falsely accused, sat in a cold, dark jail cell and proclaimed the praises of Jesus over their situation.
Verses 8-12 describe what David doesn’t want God to do and he finishes with what he would like for God to do. Verse 8: “Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory resides. Do not destroy me along with sinners, or my life along with men of bloodshed in whose hands are evil schemes and whose right hands are filled with bribes.” David makes mention of the house of God, which we will discuss in a moment, and where his glory resides. This glory is the experience of God’s presence. (Talk about Faith Eury Cho’s book) We all know David as a man after God’s own heart and this is because of the amount of time David spends basking in and resting in the presence and glory of God. He knows this may be the most essential thing to living a life of integrity and faithfully following Jesus. Because he has been in the presence of God, he boldly asks two things of God. He begins with what he doesn’t want God to do. Don’t destroy me as a sinner. Even though he is a sinner, he knows and is assured that he can claim the righteousness God gives over his life as his righteousness. David is one who seeks to follow Jesus and faithfully pursue righteousness. He then makes it known what he would like for God to do.
Verse 11: “But I live with integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; I will bless the Lord in the assemblies.” What David asks God to do for him is to save him and show his faithful goodness to him. He has claimed his integrity and the righteousness he knows he is covered by and because of that, he knows he can approach God confidently and stand on the level ground that is Jesus. The one who trusts in God has a level foundation on which to build a life. From that level foundation, we give thanks and bless the Lord in the assemblies.
What David is referencing here is the church of Jesus. In verse 5, David references a crowd of evildoers. Here, he is finishing off this Psalm by distinguishing the crowd of evildoers from the crowd of those who follow Jesus. David has a love for God’s house and being in community with other believers. It is not just his personal faith that guides his life of integrity, but the community of God’s people gathered together, uplifting praise, and holding one another accountable. The church draws us in to experience the glory of God. The church doesn’t teach us to be good, it leads us into the goodness of God’s presence. And this enables us to live in love and loyalty to God. Psalm 26 teaches us that seeking the presence of Jesus and the gift of salvation he gives us enables us to walk in integrity and trust that we are his children. Saved by the work of Christ. Adopted into his family.
The big idea of the message is as long as we are standing with Jesus, we are standing on solid ground. Life gets hard church. Evil surrounds us in this life. There are no promises that when we choose to follow Jesus our lives will become easier. In fact, Paul talks about the persecution he has faced towards the end of his second letter to the church at Corinth. And yet, he says he will boast in these trials and in Chapter 4 of 2nd Corinthians, he says that remembering the body of Jesus is what gives him the hope to endure these trials. We must preach the Gospel to ourselves daily, Church. We must remind ourselves of God’s goodness to us and the faithful love he has shown us by sending us Jesus. I leave you with two actions this morning to best stand with Jesus on solid ground. #1: We must have an outward striving to be like Jesus. Let our faith produce works in us. #2: We must have an inward trust and believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is enough for our salvation.
Are you facing trials and persecution? Are you struggling with your integrity? This week at camp, there was an adult leader who was going through a horrific battle with cancer, and yet, her joy and her hope was radiating throughout the whole staff and everyone there. She trusted in the faithful love of God and stood with Jesus. As life has tried to pull her from God and show her trials and persecution, she has instead turned towards Jesus and his goodness that is always running after us and pursuing us. Let’s adopt this same mindset with our own lives and struggles. Pray.