Let us turn again to the Word
of God and Psalm 26. Psalm 26 verses 4 and 5. I have not sat with vain persons,
neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation
of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. And verse 8. Lord, I have loved the habitation
of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. two scriptures which I've read
for a text, we see what David hated and what David loved. In verse 5 he says, I have hated
the congregation of evildoers. And in verse 8 he says, Lord
I have loved the habitation of thy house. We see in these two
verses what David loved and what David hated. David was a man
who knew much affliction and trial. He was persecuted by King
Saul, how King Saul hated him, how he hounded him. We read of
how he chased him hither and thither throughout the first
book of Samuel. Saul wanted to kill David. David's life was in very real
danger. In the previous psalm, Psalm
25, verse 19, David says, Consider mine enemies, for they are many,
and they hate me with cruel hatred. In the following psalm, Psalm
27, verse 12, he prays, Deliver me not over unto the will of
mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and
such as breathe out cruelty. Oh, his enemies were cruel, They
wanted to kill him and they spoke lies about him. Remember how
Saul spoke falsely concerning David to Ahimelech, the priest. There in 1 Samuel 22 verse 13,
And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou
and the son of Jesse? in that thou hast given him bread
and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should
rise against me to lie in wait, as at this day." Oh, David's
enemies, they hated him, and they bore false witness against
him. David didn't rise up in rebellion
against King Saul. He was not lying in wait for
him. On the contrary, David was one of the most loyal and faithful
of all King Saul's subjects, as Ahimelech declared in his
reply to the king's false accusations. Then Ahimelech answered the king
and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David,
which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and
is honourable in thine house? And David himself proved the
false witnesses to be liars when he had the opportunity to slay
Saul. You remember when David and his
men were hidden in the sides of the cave and Saul went in
to relieve himself. Now David had the opportunity
then to slay Saul. He could have done it and he
was encouraged to do so by his men. But he didn't. He spared him. He would not kill
him. Yes, he cut off the skirt of
Saul's robe privily, but he wouldn't kill him. We read on that occasion
as it's recorded in 1 Samuel 24 verse 9, and David said to
Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold,
David seeketh thy hurt. Behold, this day thine eyes have
seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in
the cave, and some made me kill thee, but mine eyes spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth
mine hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. or he was completely innocent
of the charges that were laid against him. Now, David was,
of course, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ was persecuted, even unto death. There were false witnesses
who rose up against him, and such as breathe out cruelty.
For to put him to death In Mark's Gospel we read, For many bear
false witness against him, but their false witness agreed not
together. And there arose certain and bear false witness against
him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that
is made with hands, and within three days I will build another
made without hands. But neither so did their witness
agree together. in our Lord Jesus Christ. That
scripture was fulfilled in Psalm 35 which says, false witnesses
did rise up, they laid to my charge things that I knew not,
they rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. Three
times The Lord Jesus Christ was declared to be innocent, even
by the man who delivered him to be crucified, Pontius Pilate. I find no fault in him, he said. And yet he had him crucified. It has often been the experience
of the Lord's people that false witnesses rise up against them. We've seen it in the case of
David, we see it also in the case of Elijah. You remember
how that wicked king Ahab accused the prophet of being the troubler
of Israel? And it came to pass, when Ahab
saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth
Israel? But of course Elijah was completely
innocent, he was not guilty of that charge. And he answered,
I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house,
in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and
hast followed Baalim. In the New Testament, the disciples
were accused of turning the world upside down and of acting contrary
to the decrees of Caesar. These men that have turned the
world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason hath received. And these all do contrary to
the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one
Jesus." In the year AD 64, there was
a fire which destroyed much of the city of Rome, and many people
died in the fire. the Emperor Nero, blamed the
Christians. And so hundreds of the Lord's
people, hundreds of the Lord's people were rounded up and tortured
and executed, having been falsely accused of starting the fire.
John Fox, the martyrologist, states that under the reign of
the Emperor Domitian, And I quote, there were various tales published
in order to injure Christians. Among other falsehoods, they
were accused of indecent nightly meetings, of a rebellious turbulent
spirit, of being inimical to the Roman Empire, of murdering
their children, and even of being cannibals. And at this time,
such was the infatuation of the pagans that if famine, pestilence,
or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman provinces, it was
charged upon the Christians. that Christians were to blame
for any trouble. That was in the 1st century,
Anno Domini. In the 20th century, and many
of us remember these days, under the Communists in the Soviet
Union, we used to receive reports, didn't we, from organisations
such as Friedensteiner. Under the Communists, in the
Soviet Union, various tales were published in newspapers in order
to discredit Christianity and to injure Christians. For example,
one newspaper carried a story saying, again I quote, that believers
in the village of Usatovo, Odessa region burnt down a house with
an old woman in it to make a ritual sacrifice of her. But you know, there was a Baptist.
who was on trial for his faith and he testified at his hearing
that there was not even an old woman in that village by that
name that was reported in the newspaper and he knew because
he was born in that village and he was brought up in that village.
It was a complete falsehood. It was a lie. In this century, in Pakistan
for example, there have been many Christians falsely accused
of blaspheming the false prophet, as if that were possible. Often
motivated by personal vendettas or simply religious hatred. In our own country, Christians
have been generally accused of being dangerous. because they
believe in a six-day creation. Now, I remember hearing a conservative
member of the cabinet while they were in government, I think it
was John Major's government, saying that people who believed
in a six-day creation were dangerous. Christians generally have been
accused of being bigoted, and this is especially at the present
time, of course. We are accused of being bigoted because we believe
that real marriage is between a man and a woman. and so we
could go on. The Lord's people are often misunderstood,
misrepresented and slandered. But you know, the Lord Jesus
Christ has warned us and comforted us concerning these things. Blessed are you when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you David was so persecuted all manner
of evil was set against him falsely so it was with Elijah and Jeremiah
and Daniel and many others of the Lord's people so it was with
the Lord Jesus Christ himself The disciple is not above his
master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the
disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of his household? David felt himself to be surrounded
by his enemies. by both persecutors and false
accusers. That's spoken of there in Psalm
25 and in Psalm 27, as we've already mentioned. And so here
in Psalm 26, David cries out to his God. He appeals to the
Most High, who sees what is in his heart and the way wherein
he walks. He has the testimony of a good
conscience. And what a precious thing that
is. a good conscience, we will know how precious that
thing is when we come to die, won't we? David could say, judge me, O
Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity. Judge me, O Lord,
for I have walked in mine integrity. Judge me, O Lord, he prays. What
a fearful prayer. Could you pray that prayer? Judge
me, O Lord. Would you ask the Lord to judge
you? David here, because he has a
good conscience, can pray, Judge me, O Lord. Yes, men judge me
and accuse me and condemn me as an evildoer. But what is thy
judgment, O Lord? This is what he's praying. It's
not what people think of us that really matters, is it, you see?
It's not what people say about us that's the important thing.
No, the important thing is this. What is God's judgment of us?
What is God's judgment of us? David could say, I have walked
in mine integrity. He was innocent of the crimes
of which he was accused. His conscience bore witness to
the fact. And he knew that if he appealed
to the Lord, that the Lord would vindicate him. Judge me, O Lord. for I have walked in mine integrity. Towards the end of the previous
psalm, Psalm 25, he had prayed, Consider mine enemies, for they
are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul
and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in
thee. Let integrity and uprightness
preserve me, for I wait on thee. He prayed that he might be kept.
He prayed that he might be kept in the narrow way. He prayed
that he might be led in the way everlasting. You see, his trust
was in the Lord, his God. He was looking to the Lord to
answer that prayer. He had no confidence in himself
to keep himself. It was not his own integrity
as it were, but it was that which the Lord worked in him. He had no faith in his own abilities
or his own strength or his own works. If integrity and uprightness
were to preserve him, if he were to walk in integrity and uprightness,
then it must be by the power of God and by faith in him. And so he says here at the end
of verse 1, I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall
not slide. None of those who trust in the
Lord shall slide. David then prays that the Lord
might examine him, that he might prove him and try him. Verse
2, Examine me, O Lord, and prove me, try my reins and my heart. He prays that a thorough search
might be made to see if there be any wicked way in him. Always better to be examined
now and purged of any dross now, than to be brought before the
judgment seat of Christ at the last day, and to be found wanting
there." Now there is such a thing as
self-examination, of course. Examine yourselves, whether you
be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
ye be reprobates. Well, David had examined himself. He had pondered the path of his
feet and he found to the encouragement of his own soul four kinds of
fruit by which he was convinced that a real work of grace was
begun in his heart. Firstly, in verse 3, he says,
For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes. For thy lovingkindness
is before mine eyes. The word loving-kindness in the
original is the Hebrew word chesed. Now there's really no precise
English equivalent to that word. The word loving-kindness in the
English word was actually coined by the Bible translator Myles
Coverdale in 1535. The Hebrew word chesed really
conveys the covenant love, faithfulness, grace, mercy and favour of God
towards his people. The nearest New Testament Greek
word would be charis, which is translated grace, grace. This is the first thing that
David looks for and looks to. God's covenant favour, mercy
and grace. God's loving kindness. He knows
that it is only by grace that he can be delivered from the
power of sin. He knows that it is only by grace
that he can walk in the path of righteousness. He knows that
it can be only by grace that he is enabled to walk in his
integrity. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path because of my enemies, he prays in Psalm
27. And at the end of that psalm,
he encourages himself and others wait on the Lord be of good courage
and he shall strengthen thine heart wait I say on the Lord
oh he is dependent upon the covenant grace of a faithful covenant
keeping God for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes secondly
he could say again in verse 3 And I have walked in thy truth. And
I have walked in thy truth. He had been enabled by the grace
of God to walk according to the Word of God. Thy Word is truth. Not that he was sinlessly perfect. Not that he was sinlessly perfect.
Many times he acknowledges and confesses his sins. In Psalm 25, for example. Verse
7, remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.
Verse 11, for thy namesake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it
is great. Verse 18, look upon mine affliction
and my pain, and forgive all my sins. Oh, he was not sinlessly
perfect. He knew himself to be a sinner.
That's why he is completely dependent upon the grace of God and upon
the covenant of grace. For thy lovingkindness is before
mine eyes. Though many times he acknowledges
and confesses his sins, but he sought to frame his life. All
that he thought, the way he thought, All that he did, all that he
said, he sought to frame according to the Word of God. And this
is a mark of God's elect. Not just to talk about God's
Word, but to walk in it. To be doers of the Word, and
not hearers only. And to walk in the truth is to
continue in the truth. It is to continue in the faith
and to be kept from error. It was this that rejoiced the
heart of the Apostle John, wasn't it, in his second epistle? He says, writing to the elect
lady, in 2 John verse 4, I rejoiced
greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth. as we have
received a commandment from the Father. In his third epistle
to Gaius, the well-beloved Gaius, he says, For I rejoiced greatly
when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee,
even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in truth. Always one thing to talk
in truth, but to walk in truth. is another matter. So David here,
he could declare, I have walked in thy truth. Thirdly, David
hated the congregation of evildoers. Fourthly, he loved the habitation
of God's house. These two marks of grace I will
consider briefly with you. This morning I trust with the
Lord's help and blessing every true, regenerated child of God
will know something of this love and of this hatred. I have hated
the congregation of evildoers. Lord, I have loved the habitation
of thy house. So firstly then, let's consider
David's hatred. I have hated the congregation
of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. David would
avoid the company of the ungodly. He would have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness. He would not regard them as his
friends who were the enemies of God and truth. In Psalm 139
he says, Thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them,
O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. or wickedness is contagious. John Traft says sin is as catching
as the plague. We read of the children of Israel
in Psalm 106 that they were mingled among the heathen and learned
their works and they served their idols which were a snare unto
them. You know a rotten apple will
eventually affect, it will eventually corrupt and contaminate all the
other apples in the box or in the fruit bowl. The Apostle says,
be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. Now, explaining
that word evil communications, all those words evil communications,
Charles Hodge in his commentary on that verse in 1 Corinthians
15 says that the word communications properly means a being together,
companionship. Oh, how We should choose our
friends and companions very carefully. Be not deceived, evil communications,
corrupt good manners. Solomon says in the Proverbs, in Proverbs 13 verse 20, he that
walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed. a companion of fools shall be
destroyed. Or we should follow David's example.
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit
with the wicked. Now, of course, we cannot go
out of the world and neither are we commanded to do so. There
is no warrant in the Word of God for such things as monasteries
or convents or even evangelical retreats. There must be some
degree of contact with the world and with those who are in the
world. Paul writes to the Corinthians, I wrote unto you in an epistle
not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators
of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters,
for then must ye needs go out of the world. There must be,
and there will be, some degree of contact with the ungodly.
We must do business with them, we must employ them and be employed
by them. We must live with them and we
must work with them. But David is here speaking of
sitting with them, of going in with them, of congregating or
assembling with them. Now sitting is a position of
staying or remaining, of relaxation. David had no intention of remaining
in the company of the wicked and of relaxing with them. Now,
some think that they can go into such places where the ungodly
are to be found, where the ungodly congregate, and they can witness
to them. I've heard this before many times,
often by students in a Christian union who like to go out on a
Friday night to the nightclub. And they say, well, you know,
we can witness to the ungodly. Well, Surely it is a far better
testimony to stay away from such places. That would be a far better
witness. The Puritan Thomas Watson says,
if you mingle bright armor with rusty, the bright armor will
not brighten the rusty, but the rusty armor will spoil the bright. What we need in our day, what
is needed in the professing church today, is more Puritanism. More Puritanism? What is Puritanism?
Well, James tells us, pure religion and undefiled before God and
the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in
their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Oh, but it might be objected.
Well, didn't the Lord Jesus Christ eat with publicans and sinners? Yes, he did. And we rejoice in
that. But you know, he is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners. Even when he took our nature
upon himself, even when he wrapped himself, as it were, in our humanity,
he was separate from sinners. You see, he was and he is impeccable. Impeccable. That word means not
able to sin. not able to sin. The contagion
of sin could not touch him. That's why he could touch the
leper and heal the leper. He didn't sit with vain persons
or go in with dissemblers as one of them to join in with them.
Rather he went into them as the physician or doctor goes into
those that are sick. He had a work to do. He came
to call sinners to repentance. Well, David was a very wise man,
wasn't he? He knew the plague of his own
heart. He knew that if he were to sit
with vain persons, that if he were to go in with dissemblers,
he would soon be corrupted. He had a peccable nature, you
see. He had a nature which was able
to sin. And so do you, and so do I. And so he says here, I
have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evildoers, and will not sit
with the wicked. But concerning this hatred of
David's, I have hated the congregation of evildoers. And what he says
in Psalm 139, these are strong words, aren't they? He says,
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee, And have not I grieved
with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect
hatred. I count them mine enemies. Doesn't
Christ teach us to love our enemies? Yes, he does. When we are hated,
we are to retaliate with love. But I say unto you, love your
enemies. Bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you. Ah, but we do not love the assembling
together of the wicked, and we will not go in with them, neither
will we sit with them. I have not sat with vain persons,
and neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the
congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked
we would by God's grace however do good to them and we would
pray for them and if it be possible as much as life in us we would
live peaceably with all men but we will not go in with them
nor will we join in with them we will not bow down to their
idols We will not sit with the wicked. Wherefore come out from
among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing. Now notice how the wicked are
described in these verses in this psalm. Vain persons. Dissemblers. Evil doers. Vain persons. Vain persons are
those whose hearts are set on this world's vanity. Spiritually,
they are empty. That's the meaning of the word
vain, of course. Vain means empty. And these are
spiritually empty. But they are full of the world,
whether it be worldly wisdom, or worldly desires, or worldly
pleasures, or worldly riches, or worldly power, or even a worldly
religion. Dissemblers are those who hide
themselves to do evil, or they seek to cover their sin by mere
outward good works or morality, perhaps even having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof. The word dissemble comes
from the Latin meaning to hide or to conceal. The dissembler
is one who pretends good but evil is in his heart. Like the
Pharisees that Christ spoke of who for a pretense make long
prayers. Or like Judas Iscariot who kissed
the Lord Jesus with the kiss of friendship but enmity was
in his heart. While those who are evildoers
are those who are openly and manifestly evil they are profligate
sinners well these are the wicked with whom David would have nothing
to do though he was accused of being such himself but is this
not the state of each one of us by nature if we are honest
with ourselves and such were some of you and such were some
of you we might say with the Apostle but ye are washed, but
ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Yes, this was our
state by nature, but with the new birth comes a new hatred,
such a hatred as David speaks of here. I have hated the congregation
of evildoers, and there comes a new love. You see, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Behold, all things are become
new. Let's consider then in the second
place, David's love. In verses 4 and 5, David says
where he would not be found. I have not sat with vain persons,
neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation
of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. From verse 6
he says where he would be found. I will wash mine hands in innocency,
so will I compass thine altar, O Lord. that I may publish with
the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation
of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth. David
loved the house of God and he loved the ordinances of God's
house. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the
place where thine honour dwelleth. Now the house of God in the time
of David was the Tabernacle. And the Tabernacle was superseded
in the time of King Solomon by the Temple. And now, in this
Gospel day, the Temple has been superseded by the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Gospel Church, which is His body. wherever and
whenever the Lord's people gather together in the name of the Lord
Jesus, there is the house of God. It might be in a cave, it
might be in the woods, or it might be in a chapel such as
this. The hymn writer puts it, Jesus,
where'er thy people meet, there they behold thy mercy seat. Yes,
it may be in a trouble such as this, but it might be in the
caves or in the woods, as many of the Lord's people have had
to meet together. But that is the temple. Paul
writing to a gospel church says, Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple
of God is holy. Which temple ye are. The church is the temple of the
living God. It is a building not made with
hands. Its builder and maker is God.
Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. And he himself is the chief cornerstone. and all His elect people, all
whom He has redeemed by His own precious blood, and all whom
He has quickened by His Spirit, and caused by His grace, are
the living stones which make up this magnificent, this glorious
temple. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." The New Testament
Church, the New Testament Gospel Church is a spiritual house. It's a spiritual house, God dwells
in it, by his Spirit. And every individual, graciously
regenerated member, is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
of God dwelleth in you, Paul says. And all true members of
Christ's mystical body, the Church, are built together for inhabitation
of God through the Spirit. See what marvellous things, what
glorious things are spoken of the church in this eighth verse
of Psalm 26. It's described as the place where
thine honour dwelleth. The place where thine honour
dwelleth. It's the place where Christ dwells. It's the place
where Christ dwells. The Son honours the Father, and
the Father honours the Son, as you read in John chapter 8. I
honour my Father. The Lord Jesus says, It is my
Father that honoureth me. Again he says, The Son honours
the Father and is honoured by the Father. He has magnified
the law and made it honourable, as was prophesied by Isaiah.
The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will
magnify the law and make it honourable. Christ has magnified the law
and made it honorable in that he has fulfilled all its just
demands, working out a perfect righteousness, which is imputed
to his people, and then suffering the penalty for their breach
of the law, which was death. Oh, the church of the redeemed
is the place where thine honor dwelleth. God is honored in the
person of his son. And Christ is honored in all
those whom he has redeemed God is not honoured in the congregation
of evildoers and by the congregation of evildoers we should also understand
false churches false churches there are many of them God is honoured in the congregation
of the righteous the congregation of those who are justified in
his sight through faith his saints. God is greatly to
be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. Yes, the gospel church is the
place where thine honour dwelleth. God is honoured. Whenever and
wherever the Lord's people gather together than the child of God, one who
is born of the Spirit of God, cannot but love the house of
God, the place where thine honour dwelleth. See what David says
in Psalm 27 at verse 4, one thing, now mark those words, one thing
have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. to behold
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. I remember an excellent sermon
preached here some time ago by our friend Graham Miller from
Guernsey on Acts 4 verse 23. And being let go, they went to
their own company. Peter and John had been arrested,
following the miracle wrought on the lame man, and they were
brought before the council. And being let go, they went to
their own company. That's how they regarded the
gospel church, their own company. Well, what is your estimation
of the gospel church? Is it your own company? Would
you say with Ruth to Naomi, Thy people shall be my people. Or
would you go back with Opa to the Moabites? Lord, I have loved
the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour
dwelleth. Or by way of conclusion, just notice what David says there
in verse nine. Gather not my soul with sinners,
nor my life with bloody men. Gather not my soul with sinners,
nor my life with bloody men. The souls of each one of us are
shortly to be gathered either into heaven or into hell. And I believe that the company
we choose now here upon this earth is indicative of the company
we shall be with hereafter. How can those who despise the
company and communion of the saints here upon earth expect
to spend an eternity with them in heaven? John Trapp in his commentary
says that it was once the prayer of a good gentlewoman when she
was to die, being in much trouble of conscience. Oh Lord, let me
not go to hell where the wicked are. For Lord, thou knowest I
never loved their company here. Well, may the Lord then bless
his words with each one of us. And may we know something of
David's hatred and of David's love in our own hearts experience. I have hated the congregation
of evil to us. Lord, I have loved the habitation
of thy house. Amen.