David and The Problem Of Slander
(Slander is when people say evil things that are false against someone.)
Bible Passages about David:
Ruth 4:13-22; 1 Samuel; 2 Samuel;
1 Kings 1:1-2:11; 1 Chronicles;
David wrote many of the Psalms; see Psalm 7 for this study;
Matthew 1:1; John 7:37-42; Acts 13:21-23; Romans 1:3;
2 Timothy 2:8; Revelation 5:5; 22:16.
Introduction
The Bible is a wonderful book. It encourages us in many ways. One special thing is the way that it deals with people. There is reality about human problems and troubles. The Bible never tries to hide the
People may have said evil things about you. This probably makes you feel hurt and sad. You may have done or failed to do something. People have said unkind or false things about you. To know that people respect you is something of great value. (Read Ecclesiastes 7:1; Proverbs 22:1.) To steal this from somebody is an awful
Paul makes an appeal to us. He urges us to think only about good, worthwhile things. (Read Philippians 4:8.) Love ‘thinks no evil’. (This is one translation of 1 Corinthians 13:5b.) We should fill our thoughts with good and holy things. Then it will be easier to obey an order of James. He tells us not to gossip. (Read James 3.) There is a prayer for every
Slander is a painful experience. Christians in each century have known it. Dr Barnardo was one who knew it. He lived from 1845-1905. Many children in Britain lived and slept outside. He gave them love and a home. But people still spoke against him. His suffering was unnecessary. It has been like this for many hundreds of
We want to think about this problem for ourselves. To do this, we will study Psalm 7. David wrote it. Its title tells us the occasion when he wrote it. It says that it is ‘about the words of Cush’. He was ‘from the family group of Benjamin’. There may be a link between the words ‘Cush’ and ‘Kish’. Kish was Saul’s father. So, maybe people in Saul’s family were saying evil things about David.
It was probably at the period when Saul was chasing him. If it is, 1 Samuel chapters 24-26 tell us what was happening at the time. One thing is definite. David suffered because of nasty and cruel speech. He goes to the
1 – Declare the truth
This is the main idea of Psalm 7:1-2. David clearly declares his trust in God. He does this in a definite way. He says: ‘
It should be the same for all who suffer like this. People may be saying cruel things about you. You should go to God. You should declare your confidence and trust in him. One translation says: ‘I come to you for protection.’
There may be many unkind words. They may be completely false. They are like dangerous swords. Your first act must not be a natural human act. A natural reaction is to attack with words too. But your first act must be to hurry to God. Tell him how much you love and trust him. Remember the words of Proverbs 18:10. ‘The
2 – Examine the facts
This is something that we must always do. It is the subject of Psalm 7:3-5. At first, everything that people say against us seems false. But there may be some truth in their words. We must examine our lives in front of God. David says: ‘
So, he stays in front of God. He asks God to examine his life. Other men have examined the details of his behaviour. He is bold and asks God to do the same. First, he found safety in the tower. Now he stands in God’s court. ‘
In a later Psalm, David prays. He asks God to forgive any secret faults (19:12). (Read Psalm 139:23-24 too.) He knows that God will be a completely fair Judge. (Read Proverbs 17:3-4; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10.) If David has done wrong things, God will clearly show this to him.
A
3 – Expect God to act
This is the main idea in Psalm 7:6-10. David is sure that he is innocent in the matter. He calls to God again. This is because he knows that God alone is the judge. He believes that God loves what is fair and right. God will deal with those who accuse him. He will do this in his own way.
Notice 3 beliefs about
3.1 – A fixed judgement
‘The
There is a Day of
Malachi says something important here. (This is in the book of Malachi. It is the last book of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the first part of the Bible.) Malachi 3:16 speaks about a special book. It is the Book for Remembering. There is a clear link with the subject of
3.2 – A personal judgement
Some people have
3.3 – A universal judgement
‘The
David prays 3 prayers to God in Psalm 7. It is because of these great facts about the
· Be my judge (7:8).
· Examine me (7:9). This includes his emotions and his thoughts. David uses a word picture here about metal. People put it in a fire to make it pure. (Read 1 Peter 1:6-7.) David is praying: ‘Make me all that you want me to be.’
· Protect me (7:10). The attacks of people may be very cruel. But David is sure about God. God will defend and protect him.
4 – Leave everything to God
This is the main subject of Psalm 7:11-16. When people attack you, the natural reaction is to attack them. Here, David refuses any thought of this. That is not his task. It is God’s business. God is a fair and good judge (7:11). The one who accuses David may refuse to
But one thing is certain. That person must explain his actions to God. He will have to do that in the Day of
Someone may say something cruel against you. You must go to God. You must remember that he is holy. Perhaps you are with him for some time. You become sure that you are innocent. But you must refuse any thoughts of trying to prove this. You must decide not to attack that person. Tell the
They said cruel and awful things to Jesus. But he refused to answer them. (Read Matthew 27:14; Mark 14:61 and Luke 23:9.) Peter was not like that. When people accused him, his reaction was to swear. (Read Matthew 26:74.)
Peter noticed this big difference. Maybe that is why he repeats it in his letter. It is in 1 Peter 2:23. ‘People said bad things to Jesus Christ. But he did not say bad things to them.’ This is how Peter ends chapter 2. Notice how he begins the chapter. He appeals to
So, let us follow our
David refuses to attack those who attack him. That is God’s responsibility. But David has noticed something. Those who hurt people will hurt themselves too. (Read Psalm 7:15-16.) Some people like to gossip. They tell unkind things about other people. Someone who wants to please God will not listen to them.
There are even some Christians like this. They gossip about people. But we should ask God to guard our talk. We know what cruel words can do. They can make people very unhappy. We may hear unkind things about other people. We must refuse to repeat these things. Our silence could stop their pain.
5 – Be grateful to God
This is the main idea of Psalm 7:17. David has brought his trouble to God. He is sad and anxious. But being with God changes things. One translation says: ‘I will give ... thanks’ and ‘I will sing praise’ to God. (Praise means to admire and appreciate God.) These two things are of great importance in a time of trouble.
This Psalm describes some of David’s troubles. There is something sad about trouble of any kind. It can make us unable to see things clearly. Our troubles and sad feelings are all that we can think about.
The sincere Christian refuses to allow this. He may have many difficulties. But they will not stop him from being grateful to God. There may be many things to disturb him. But he can still be grateful for many other things.
It may be hard for you to think of the good things. But you can still ‘sing praises to the
For Discussion
- The people who wrote the Old Testament used many different words about God. Sometimes they said ‘He is the place where we are safe’. Or, they said ‘He will protect us.’ (Read Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm. 9:9; 18:2; 46:1; 91:9). We must make sure that God is ‘our shelter, and the place where we are safe’ (Psalm 46:1). What does that mean, when we try to do it?
- David asked God to ‘Get up…Wake up’ (Psalm 7: 6). These words suggest something. It was a sad time for David. And perhaps he felt that God was far away. Maybe God did not care about his troubles. How would we deal with thoughts like that?
For More Discussion
- God knows what we are thinking. He knows what we want (Psalm 7:9). What difference should that make to our lives?
- David often called his God the ‘Most High’ (Psalm 7:8, 10, 17. [Note: Not every translation of the Bible uses these exact words]. What truths was David remembering? The people who accused him said harmful things about David. How do you think that the true things helped him to cope?
- David called God ‘my God’ (Psalm 7:1, 3, 6). What did David mean at that time?
- What are the qualities of someone who has an ‘honest heart’? (Psalm 7:10)
- People might say things about us that are unkind. And they might say things that are not true. (Read Psalm 7).
How should we respond at a time like that? - Read James 3 again. We can hurt other people by careless talk. How we can avoid doing this?