Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers.
Psalm 26:9 NLT
v.9 Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers.
Mark 15:7, The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Mark 15:28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”]
Luke 23:19, (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.)
Matthew 27:38, At that time two robbers *were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
Isaiah Chapter 53:12 cf. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
As I read Psalm 26 I was struck with the realisation and shame that the very thing David feared, Jesus suffered.
David fears being counted among the worst of sinners.
And yet Jesus died among sinners, traded places with a murderer and was crucified among criminals. When he was innocently teaching and proclaiming God’s kingdom, his enemies accused him of being friends with sinners: Luke 7:34, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
Doesn’t it really bother you when you get blamed for what others have done? As a child did you ever protest to your parents that the guilty party was a brother or sister but that you were innocent? No one wants to be wrongly accused. And it is difficult when you are guilty by association. When you are painted with the same brush others might use to label the truly guilty.
I can’t get past this focus today. David didn’t want to suffer this shame. Who does? But Jesus willingly suffered this shame. Jesus is willing to be related to me and to you. He takes upon himself all our deserved shame, even though He is completely innocent.
David was so confident:
Psalm 26
2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.
Test my motives and my heart.
3 For I am always aware of your unfailing love,
and I have lived according to your truth.
4 I do not spend time with liars
or go along with hypocrites.
I could not be so confident. I know I am guilty and I have spent time with sinners, even murderers.
But Jesus could be confident because He was perfect and has never sinned.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:18-19
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Hebrews 7:26
MAIN POINT: Jesus willingly suffered the very thing that David prayed to Him not to suffer.
David wants to be seen as innocent. vv.2-4, 9
We have seen in the Psalms so far through chapter 26 that David is concerned with his sin. David begs for forgiveness. David confesses His sin and pleads regularly his innocence. David invites God to examine and look for sin. David requests that God teach him how to live a righteous holy life. David wants to live according to the word of God, according to the regulations and expectations of God. David does not want to be seen as a sinner.
David understands that sin disqualifies him from being able to be in God’s presence. V.6,8
There is a good reason for this concern. Sin kept people from coming into God's presence, sin kept you from celebrating God's festivals. Sin was condemned and sinners could be even executed for their sin. Sin is serious business and costly too. Sacrifices for sin were costly and various sins would disqualify the sinner from ceremonial and relational freedom. David understood the holiness of God and thus he longs to be holy and be free from condemnation, free from blame and free from the filth of sin. David knows nothing can be hidden from God and so he willingly brings everything in his life, including his thoughts into the scrutinising light of God’s gaze.
The Son of David, Jesus, bears the shame of our sin, makes friends with sinners and dies in shame among sinners. (see verses above)
Jesus passed every test God put Him through, and God put him through the worst of tests. No one suffered more than Jesus. Jesus suffered the pain, the judgement and the shame of all sin for all time. One of my pet peeves is seeing an image of Jesus on the cross, wearing a loincloth. The Bible is very clear on this point. Crucifixion was meant to be humiliation to the fullest extent. The soldiers took his clothes from him and gambled for them. Even today and in all history if you intend to humiliate someone, you strip them naked. Like Adam and Eve who hid themselves, Jesus would be subjected to all the shame mankind could dish out. I am completely confident that Jesus hung there on the cross with all the others naked with nothing to cover his nakedness. Not even his own hands could cover him for he was nailed in place. What David feared, Jesus suffered.
Conclusion:
Can you look away?
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