Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, and plan deception all the day long. But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. Thus I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response. (Psalm 38:12-14)
It is unfortunate but true: a person committed to serving God and who is obviously blessed of the Lord is marked for destruction by their adversaries. David was well acquainted with this situation, having to continually evade Saul and his allies early in life. Then there were the whispers that circulated around him when he stumbled in the affair with Bathsheba. It was necessary and appropriate that he repented of his failure but that didn’t stop people from slander and gossip. No doubt, he wanted to defend himself but, at a some point, David decided to focus solely on his relationship with the Almighty and stop listening to the naysayers and critics.
If a brother in the Lord comes to us with truth and in love, it is important that we are able to receive what they have to say, even if it stings. On the other hand, when people go around talking about us to others, whether they spread truth or lies, it is important that we are slow to respond, if at all. In fact, I’m of the view that the less we say, the better — it’s what we do that will count in the long run. If it can be avoided, don’t respond to false accusations in order to justify yourself to others because, when someone has a nefarious intent, your argument only incites them to say more about you. Of course, it is our natural inclination to defend ourselves, and especially when someone spreads falsehood but, let us take a cue from David — “I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response.”
As followers of Messiah, we are called upon to dedicate our entire life — heart, soul and strength — to His service. We gladly change our attitude and lifestyle in order to conform to His image because we are called upon to take up our cross and die to self. But how many of us have considered that means we must surrender our reputation as well? Are we willing to entrust that to Him when others are dragging our name through the mud uncontested? That is what David did — that is what Messiah did. So let us also be willing to focus so intently on our Father in Heaven that what others say about us no longer matters. What matters is that we exhibit His character in our life for others to see and to trust Him with our reputation — He can do a much better job of defending us than we can.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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