AP

Psalm 26:4-7  I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites.  I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.  I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, LORD, proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

In his book on evangelism, “How to talk about Jesus”, Sam Chan makes a good case for something that might appear to be the opposite of what King David is saying here.  Today’s verses are consistent with the foundational truth that David laid down in Psalm 1, and which is alluded to in the ‘First Song of Ascent’, Psalm 120.

Sam Chan’s valid point is that if we want to be effective in leading people to faith in Christ in this day and age we need to be where they are, to follow Jesus’ own example of ‘associating with outcasts and sinners’ (Matthew 9:10); in other words, we need to make the effort to enter their ‘universe’ if we expect them to enter ours – to merge our ‘universes’ so they don’t feel uncomfortable if we do get them to come with us to church.

What we are warned about in Psalm 1 and Psalm 120 is the danger of so ‘settling into’ the godless universe of our world that we become part of it to the extent that our ‘Good News’ loses its cutting edge.  It’s the old challenge of being in the world but not of the world.  It’s a tricky, but important, call the Gospel makes upon us.  David seems to think he is ‘scoring brownie points’ by not doing what Sam Chan says we ought to be doing!  It’s the same in Psalm 1: ”Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night”, and Psalm 120: “Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar [two places notorious for ungodliness]!  Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”  Similarly with many other Psalms.

But the reality is: we do need to follow Sam’s advice, and Jesus’ example, but we can only be successful at it if we also spend quality time in God’s Word each day, and quality time encouraging, and being encouraged by, God’s people, singing God’s praises.  I am writing this with a bit of trepidation, and feeling that David would not be comfortable ‘associating with’ me as a ‘hypocrite’, because God has built me in such a way, as an introvert, that I identify myself more readily with David’s teaching than with facing up to Sam’s challenges!  I think I might find time to move out of my comfort zone and read “How to talk about Jesus” again. it’s been a few years and writing this has stirred me up – please pray for me.

– Bruce Christian