“Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth.” Psalm 26:1-3

 

It’s time to be forthright!

 

Being “forthright” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means to be “directly forward” and “without hesitation.” It means to be “honest and direct: providing answers or information in a very clear and direct way.” In other words it means to be upfront with what you are confident in… “that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!”

 

David was in a hard way when he wrote this Psalm. He was being falsely accused and persecuted. David knew there was only One Who could judge him from a vantage point that would recognize his innocence. David turns to God, and without hesitation says, “Declare me innocent.”

 

I know there are times in our lives when we are falsely accused. Someone speaks against us and gets others riled up, too. All of a sudden we feel like we are standing alone with no one to turn to, no one to believe the truth. It’s a very lonely place to be. David was there, but he remembered that as much as he felt alone, he was not.

 

David not only remembered that God was there, but he was so confident in his own innocence, down to his very thoughts and motives, that he said to God, “Declare me innocent”! He pled his case as a lawyer would to a judge. He gave the facts, forthright!

 

First defense, “I have acted with integrity.” He’d done what he knew to be right, and we know that David’s sense of right came from his understanding of God. He’d lived according to what he had proclaimed, with no hypocrisy.

 

Second defense: “I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” David hadn’t waffled. He’d put his trust in God, and here he was continuing to trust. He went to God with full knowledge that God could see the truth, and David was counting on that very thing.

 

David goes on to verbalize what He knew God would do, anyway. “Test my motives and my heart.” “Test,” David said, because David never forgot how much God loved him. Everything David did, he did with God’s love for him driving him on, and he walked in the truth that God had set as a standard. David was confident that his motives would be found pure because of those two realities in his life.

 

David was not boasting. He did not think he was sinless in all things, nor did he believe he was beyond needing God’s mercy. However, in this circumstance, David was completely innocent of the charges against him, and he pled his case to God in full confidence of that innocence.

 

When people speak falsely about us and ostracize us, if we’ve lived according to God’s truths and with the understanding of His love for us driving our lives, we like David can be forthright in asking for God’s judgment of innocence. No matter what others are saying, God’s declaration over us is the final verdict: “Declare me innocent.”

 

Reminder: When people speak falsely of us, God Who knows the truth will declare our innocence.