May 22 Daily Devotional

On Being Slandered: A Meditation on the Seventh Psalm

Psalm 7

1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

Devotional

(continued)

When Love Is a Vice

But there is a so-called love toward enemies advocated today that should be abhorred. It is a shallow, sick, senlimentalism that is neither Christian nor virtuous. What is commanded in the Word of God, and so wonderfully exemplified in the true servants of God, is turned into a vice. True, we are to love our enemy as ourselves, but if we harm ourselves in order to show love to our enemy, we are sinning against ourselves. And to sin in order to do good is forbidden in Scripture. How unbecoming for men, to say nothing of Christians, to surrender tamely to their enemy all that his avarice desires. Is this not partaking of his folly? Under the pretense of loving our enemies, we are loving instead their enmity. One has said, "Though I am commanded, when my enemy thirsts, to give him drink, yet it is not when he thirsts for my blood. It is my duty to give him an alms, but not to let him take my estate. Princes and governors may very well secure themselves with laws and arms against implacable enemies for all this precept: they are not bound to leave the state defenseless against the projects, plots, and insurrections of those who arc pleased to think themselves persecuted if they are not permitted to reign. We may, with a very fair comportment with this precept, love our enemies' persons, while we hate their principles and counterplot their designs." These words were never so timely as now.

Judgment and Mercy

How can a man ask God to judge him according to his own righteousness and integrity? Was this boasting on David's part? Did he forget that there is none righteous, no, not one? Who could stand, should the Lord regard us as we are in ourselves? No, David was not boasting, but only comparing himself with his enemies. With respect to their charges he was innocent, but he well knew, as he stood before a holy God, that he was foul and needed to take refuge in His mercy alone.

When a good shepherd sees his sheep already in the mouth of the wolf, the more is his compassion drawn out toward it, and the more is he set to do all in his power to deliver the sheep. His love for the sheep is great when it is in such great danger. Such a good shepherd is the Lord. Knowing His character, David's faith is cheered. God will not forsake him. but will be the more inclined to help him when the fury of men is manifest. Since God preserves the righteous, those who do His will stand protected. When is God's grace so magnificd as when He delivers from great peril?

No arm of man can save. God alone was the Psalmist's Saviour. By His grace we are delivered from sin through His offering up of Himself on the cross, and by His grace all His children are defended and preserved.