Psalm 26, this is God's holy word. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me. Test my heart and my mind, for your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud and telling all your wondrous deeds. Oh Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men in whose hands are evil devices and whose right hands are full of bribes. But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity. Redeem me and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground. In the great assembly, I will bless the Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in God, we ask for your blessing upon our time as we consider your word, as we seek to open its meaning, discover your will for our lives. We pray, illumine our minds and guard our hearts. and give us obedience to do, to trust you in all things according to your word. Keep us from pride and haughtiness, grant us humility and the pattern of blamelessness in our lives as we see here exhibited. And Father, we pray all these things now in the name of Christ our King. Amen. We ask the question this morning, Does God's grace make any difference in our lives? Does God's grace make any difference in our lives? But we could put the question differently. We can ask the question this way. We can ask, are Christians the same as unbelievers? Are Christians the same as unbelievers? For all the failures and all the sins we're so conscious of in our lives, is there any distinction between the two groups? Or is the assembly of God's saints here on Sunday no different than the assembly of a gang meeting Sunday morning somewhere in Jersey City? We noted last week that there is no moral equivalence between the righteous and the wicked. They both commit sins, they both fail God, and sin is never to be excused. And yet, we noted at the same time, that the sins of the people of God are just that, the sins of those who have been saved and purchased by Christ with His blood. When we get to a text like this in front of us, where David says, I've walked in my integrity, I've trusted in the Lord without wavering, test my heart, test my mind, vindicate me. Again, in verse 11, he says, I shall walk in my integrity. Look at how righteous I am. It seems to be a lot of pride, right? Because we've been, as it were, conditioned to think by so many things that God's people have no righteousness, have no integrity, have no holiness. And yet this is far, far from the case. Grace not only saves us, grace not only brings us into the Kingdom, but you see, God's grace keeps you in God's Kingdom. God's grace transforms you to be a citizen of God's Kingdom. God's grace changes you so that now you look like your Father in Heaven. In Titus 2 we're told that The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. Notice what the grace of God does. It trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. And you see, that's the way to think about this text. What God's grace has accomplished in and for the life of David. When he talks about his integrity, it's God's grace at work. When he talks about his holiness and his innocence, it's God's grace at work. And as we move through this text, I want you to ask yourself the question, does God's grace make any difference In the lives it saves. And I want you to see that the answer is a resounding yes. Yes, God's grace changes us and makes us different than the world. First of all then, look at verses 1, 2, and 3. David here, very simply puts it, asks God to vindicate him. Literally, judge me. Here I am Lord, judge me. I open my life to your scrutinizing gaze. And I don't hide myself, but I ask you to judge me in order to defend me, plead my cause and my rights. David had been accused by his enemies of different things, of speaking falsehood, of being a hypocrite, of being an evildoer, of being a man of violence, of taking bribes in verse 4 or 5. 10 and 11 we can infer these charges. And so what does David do? He appeals not to friends, not to foe, he appeals directly to God and says, look at my life. And when we look at David's life, what do we find? What are the results of this judgment, of this verdict? Verse 1, I have walked, I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Without wavering. My life has shown a pattern of undivided trust in God. Without waffling. Without being unfaithful. Verse 3. We're told that God's steadfast love is ever before His eyes and I walk in Faithfulness. David says, I've been faithful to you, Lord. I've had ups, I've had downs, but I have been faithful to you. My life has shown a continual commitment to your truth. And I walk in it. Is this arrogance? Is this self-deception? After all, we know David, right? We know that David was a man of violence. He was a kind of mobster in 2 Samuel, if you've ever read 2 Samuel, ordering hits on this person and on that person. David, after all, we know from 2 Samuel, was a man who committed adultery, something that displeased God greatly. David not only did that, he lied about it. He ordered the murder of Uriah. How can David say this? You see, David here is not claiming perfection. This is something we need to note. David here is claiming blamelessness. He's claiming to be blameless before the sight of God. And to be blameless is different than to be sinlessly perfect. Let me explain. Blamelessness is a pattern of life. You can't ask God to be blameless in the morning and expect Him to answer your request in the afternoon. It takes time. Things in the Christian life take time. And the pattern of blamelessness in Scripture has a number of elements. It has, for instance, someone who is blameless, has no gross sins in their life, is above reproach, is in many instances worthy of imitation, and above all else, he obeys God. He or she obeys God and seeks to do God's will. Many people in scripture are called blameless, and they're called blameless not because they were perfect, not because they were without sin. Every single one of these had sin. Every single one of these persons I'm going to mention had deep flaws, and yet the pattern of their lives, the grain of their lives is on to obedience and faithfulness to God. Noah, chapter 6, verse 9 of Genesis, is called a blameless man. David, in 2 Samuel 22 and following, Psalm 18, calls himself blameless. Now, 2 Samuel 22 occurs at the end of his life, at the end of his life. Keep that in mind. Job is called, in Job chapter 1, verse 1, and in many other places in chapter 1 and chapter 2, a blameless man. Daniel. And Daniel 6 is called a blameless man. In the New Testament, lest you think this is an Old Testament phenomenon, Elizabeth and Zechariah are called blameless before the Lord in Luke chapter 1. Paul himself calls himself blameless in 1 Thessalonians 2.10. And we can go on and on and on with examples of how people of God are blameless. The nail in the coffin, I hope, is 1 Timothy 3, verse 10, where Paul says that the deacons of the church are to be blameless. Blameless. If blamelessness is sinless perfection, no one could ever be a deacon. Right? But you see, sinless perfection is not what blamelessness is all about. Rather, It's connected with perfection and holiness, of course, but it rather is a pattern of life that is above reproach, that is exemplary, worthy of imitation, and that, above all, loves God and hates sin. And that, you see, is true even of David. Even of David. Because David was, in many ways, a sinner like no one else. I hope none of us would do ever the sins of David and yet David was a repenter like no one else who came to the Lord in deep repentance and contrition and gives us Psalm 51 as a result. The Israelite who recognized his sin and came to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices for that sin was considered blameless. It's not that he was without sin, it's that he knew what to do with his sin. And he came to God in obedience to God's law. And so you see in verses 1, 2, and 3, to sum up here, what David is saying is, Lord, I've kept my life. My life shows a general pattern of faithfulness to You. I've kept my life from the general pattern of evil that characterizes the world. Does God's grace make a difference? Did God's grace make a difference in David's life? Of course it did. Of course it did. It led him to the integrity that had characterized his life. But notice two other things in verses 4 and 5 and then also in verses 6 through 8. That David hates certain things. Which tells us that God's people are called to hate certain things. Do you want to know what blamelessness is? Do you want to know what integrity and faithfulness to God looks like? You need to hate certain things. Christianity is not all about love. Often times we hear this, it's all positive, it's all love, love of God, love of neighbor, love, love, love. You can always spot a baby Christian, an immature Christian, when all they talk about is what they love, but they never get to talking about what they hate. A Christian hates certain things, and what does a Christian hate? He hates sin, in verse 4 and 5. Hatred seems such a strong word, but we're told, we're told in Scripture, in the New Testament, to hate certain things. In Matthew 5, right? In the context of serving God or money, Jesus says, you cannot serve two masters. You will either hate one and love the other, or you will love the one and despise the other. And we're told, not just that David hates sin, but he hates Something else. Verse 4 and 5, I do not sit with men of falsehood. I do not consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers. I will not sit with the wicked. Not just hate sin, generally speaking, in his life, in the world when he sees it, when he sees unrighteousness and wickedness promoted, He hates sitting with the wicked. Sitting with the wicked is an expression that we saw many moons ago in Psalm 1, right? In Psalm 1, we're told, just turn back there, we're told that the man will be blessed, this man will be blessed, who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. but his delight is in the law of the Lord." Sitting with scoffers, sitting with the wicked, you see, is not a literary posture, right? It doesn't mean that you can't take the subway, right, and sit down with New Yorkers during rush hour. It's not what that means. Rather, sitting is representative of the most intense form of association. You sit with your friends. You sit with your family, right? You don't sit with your enemies to have a meal with them. Jesus sits with us in the Lord's Supper. We who were his enemies. But you see what David is saying here is that he hates being friendly to sin. He hates and he refuses the collective commitment to evil that he sees in his day. He shuns any kind of assembly, association, organization that promotes lies and corruption and murder and the exploitation of the most vulnerable. He hates it with a godly hatred. And he says, I will not, I will not sit with the wicked. I will never give quarter to sin. I will never be a friend to wickedness. David says, Lord God, look at my life, look at me and see if there's any difference in me from that of the world, the way the world lives. God's people not only have certain hatreds, but God's people have certain loves as well. We hate sin because we love God. Because we love God, we hate sin. And we take sin seriously because it is an offense against God. And that's what we see in verses 6-8. David loves God, and he loves worshipping God. He says, I wash my hands in innocence, and I go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous works. David moves through the furniture of the tabernacle. He gets to the laver, that wash basin, where the priests were to cleanse themselves before moving on to sacrifice at the bronze altar. The bloody sacrifices that were required of God. David says, I wash my hands in innocence. And then I go around your altar. I take my time worshiping you. And I'm not silent. I'm not quiet. I proclaim aloud what you have done. And I thank you. for Your work in my life, Your wondrous deeds." And then in verse 8, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells. I love You, O Lord, and I love Your people. Where is it where God's glory dwells? Among whom? among God's people. And David says, Lord, look at my life. I have shunned this wicked assembly in order to embrace your assembly of saints. I love you and I love your people. Does God's grace make a difference? It most certainly does. You can't say that unless you've experienced God's grace. You cannot have a change of loves if God's grace has not worked in your life. You see, the people of God love and hate in the way God loves and hates. And we're called to imitate God in this way. In Hebrews 1, The writer says this. But of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. Notice what he says of Jesus. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. It's the work of the Spirit to make us love as Christ loves, and to hate wickedness as Christ hates wickedness. God is at work in your life to make you different. If you see in your heart a love of God, however imperfect it is, and a hatred of sin, then you need to know that God's grace has made a difference in your life. The Christian is the one who says, in spite of all his sins, Lord, I love You. I love You more than life itself in my more lucid moments, when I'm not surrounded by the fog of my sin and my doubt. I love You. As Peter says, When confronted by the Lord after he had denied Christ three times. Peter, do you love me? Peter says, I love you, Lord, you know, all things, you know that I love you. Where else can we go? Peter said in another occasion, if only you have words of life. And the Christian is not just one who loves God. but hates sin. Not as much as he ought. But he hates sin. He hates sin in his life. He hates sin out in the world. He sees the injustices. He sees his own unrighteousness. And he hates it because he loves God. He'd rather be with God's people on Sunday morning than anywhere else. That's what a Christian is. Because this is where He belongs. This is where He belongs. For all His sins, what is the general pattern of David's life? Love of God and hatred of sin. And then finally, in verses 9-12, we're told David's concluding prayer. He says, verse 9, Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men." What's he asking God to do here? What is David's prayer here? Don't treat me the same as unbelievers. Don't treat me the same because I'm not. Oh Lord, differentiate us. when you come on the last day to judge the living and the dead. Remember me when you come in your kingdom. And then the humility of David. The humility of David in verse 11. When he says, but as for me, I shall walk in my integrity. Here it is. Redeem me and be gracious to me. When all is said and done, unless the Lord saves, we cannot be saved. When all is said and done, our verdict lies with the Lord, not with how you think of your life. Lord, redeem me. I can only stand on solid ground if you rescue me. And you see, that's humility. That's humility. Humility is not thinking of yourself as low. Humility is a right and proper consideration of who you are. And who are you? You are nothing. In yourself, you are dead. But with God, you have all things. With God, God's grace has transformed your life, so that you're not nothing, you're something in Christ. Your life has changed, and your confidence is now God. So that you can say, unless you work, God, I remain dead. I remain lost. That's humility. False humility, you see, is refusing to acknowledge what God has done in your life. False humility says, I'm no different than the world. Think about that. Are you no different than the world, you who are in Christ? We oftentimes live in a kind of fishbowl mentality because we're Christian, we've served Christ for so many years. Some of us have never known a time when we weren't in Christ. We were raised from our earliest days in the church. And perhaps we're very conscious, at times, of our sin. And we might want to be humbled. And we might want to be more humble than God. And say, I'm no different than the world. Because our failures, our evangelical sins, as it were, are so deeply pressed upon our conscience. But you need to know, brothers, and sisters in the Lord, that God's grace has made you different. You are not in the world. You are not of the world. God's grace has changed you. And you need to get this. You need to see this. When the subjective voice in your head says, I'm no different. You need to hear the objective voice of God in His word and in the supper saying, I love you. I love you with an eternal everlasting love. And my love has changed you. So that you're not the same. And we're not the same as a wicked assembly. We're not the equivalent of the hell's angels who are meeting to plot destruction. We're not the same as corrupt politicians who assemble together to plot and design destruction upon society. We are not the same. This is God's holy assembly. And you, though you sin, though you fall and fail, you come back to God again and again and again and say, Lord, have mercy upon me. And I can only do this. I can only seek you. I can only love you because you first loved me. Does God's grace make any difference in us? Does God's grace make us different? Does it lead us to worship God? Does it lead us to depend on God more? Does God's grace transform our lives? Should our families look any different from the families who don't know Christ? Should our children look and behave and dress different and think differently from the children of the world? We dishonor God if we say, no. But you see, we honor God when we say, yes, yes, I should be different. Because God's grace has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce worldly passions and ungodliness, to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age. God's grace makes us love and hate even as Christ loves and hates. God's grace emboldens us to say to the world, I renounce evil and I will never walk in it. And I will walk in the steadfast love of my God. Amen. Our Father, Help us to know this lesson. Help us to understand this lesson. Father, for those here who do not know you, perhaps we pray that they would not grow more presumptuous and proud, but that they would humble themselves before you and say that they are lost and dead and alienated from you. And apart from Christ, they will remain dead forever. And for everyone, Father, who has confessed Your name, for all the families here, for all the children here who are in Christ, we pray that this confidence of Your Word would embolden us, that we would worship You in spirit and in truth, and that we would proclaim Your thanksgiving aloud and make known Your wondrous deeds. And Father, we ask that you would keep us from pride and haughtiness. We live right there at the edge between humility and pride. And Father, we ask, make us humble and keep us humble. And make us confident in Christ. We pray all these things in His name and for His sake. Amen.