City of God Church: Lafayette, IN

When I'm Wronged

What I'm about to say isn't radical.  Someday...someone will wrong you.  They will falsely accuse you of something.  They will talk about you behind your back.  They will ridicule you.

As a leader David faced a lot of criticism and false accusations.  In the midst of other coming against him how did he respond in a godly way?  How should we respond in the face of criticism or harm from others?

Psalm 7

[1] O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, [2] lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. [3] O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, [4] if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, [5] let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah 

[6] Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. [7] Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.

[8] The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. [9] Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! [10] My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. [11] God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 

[12] If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; [13] he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. [14] Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. [15] He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. [16] His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. [17] I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

So in light of David's reflection here...how should I respond when I've been wronged?

1.  Ask, "Am I in the wrong?"

David didn't simply blow of the criticism he was receiving. In v. 3-5 he asks God to show him if he is guilty of what he's been accused of. When we're criticized by others we have to be willing to look past the way in which they may have come after us, and look at the message they are speaking.  Is this person speaking truth into my life?

2.  Leave Retaliation to God

When we've been wrongly accused or judged it's easy to want to get back at the person.  In v. 6-7 David is willing to leave retaliation against this person in God's hands.  As a Christian we have to be willing to do the same.  One day all people will be judged by God.  For those who don't know Jesus they will receive the punishment that all of us deserve, and if they are a Christian Jesus has already been punished for their sin against you.  Be willing to let that be enough.

3.  Worship (v. 17)

In all things David was willing to worship God.  Yes he was in the midst of conflict, but in the midst of that he was able and willing to constantly go to God in worship.  Life will always be difficult, and loving God is praising his glory in the midst of difficulty.