It's fine.
We, of course, want them to feel comfortable to stay in here, if so led, but also want to provide
! a nursery opportunity for them as well, ages zero to three, but I'm glad that they found their place.
And it's time for us to open our Bibles and turn to Psalm chapter 26 this morning.
Psalm chapter 26.
We're continuing our summer series through the Psalms.
We've kind of paused our series in Genesis for several weeks during the summer to walk
through the Psalms together, and we've come to Psalm chapter 26.
And so when you found that in your copy of God's Word, either your own or the one in the pew Bible
there in front of you, in the seat back in front of you, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word
from Psalm chapter 26.
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.
O 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.
Be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground.
In the great assembly, I will bless the Lord.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we praise you for this psalm.
We praise you for this prayer for vindication.
And Lord, we ask now as we open it up that you would speak through the preaching of your word.
We pray in Christ's name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Well, I have had the joy of experiencing a couple of knee surgeries in my life.
And both times the process was exactly the same.
The goal is to open you up, to open things up and to see what's inside.
But they don't just cut you open right away.
There's a process in place.
So step number one is that you go and voluntarily put yourself up on the doctor's table.
And they start tugging at your leg and shifting your knee all around.
They're testing to see, the doctor's testing to see if there's any structural lack there in your knee.
He's testing the structural integrity of your ligaments.
And then step two, from there you go and they sign you up for x-rays.
Now, you know that you don't need x-rays.
They know that you don't need x-rays.
But for some reason, they sign you up.
They want to see if you have broken any bones.
And they put you in the x-ray room and get your x-rays.
And it's really pretty impressive.
You get a photographic image of the inside of your body.
You get to see on a sheet of paper your bones and how they interact and how they hold together.
Again, they want to see, is there anything lacking here?
Is there anything that needs to be fixed?
That's step number two.
And then from there, step number three is that you finally get to go to the MRI machine.
And you lay down flat and the machine moves you back into this little tunnel that spins and whirs and makes all sorts of noises and moves around.
And that's where they proceed to produce another image of your insides that show all your ligaments.
They can see, finally, if you've torn something, if everything's holding together, if everything's as strong as it ought to be, or if there is anything lacking.
But still, that's not the final step.
The final step is that the surgeon gets the knife and he cuts you open.
And he finally gets to look firsthand and lay his eyes on what is going on inside of you.
And if he's good at his job, then he fixes it.
But you think about that whole process.
You have been completely exposed inside and out.
There is nothing to hide in that moment.
You are quite literally laid bare before him.
And if you have any flaws, any lack of integrity, any weaknesses at all, by this point it has been found out.
And now the surgeon can get to work.
I wonder if you have ever asked the Lord to open you up, to take a look, to cut you if necessary, but to examine you inside and out.
And to see if there's anything lacking in you, any shortfall in you, any lack of structural integrity in your life.
In our psalm this morning, David lays himself out before the Lord.
He willingly places himself on the Lord's examination table.
And he invites God, take a look.
Examine me.
See me inside and out.
Test the integrity of my heart.
Peek into all my thoughts.
Peek into all my ways.
It seems like King David here has been wrongfully accused.
His enemies are saying one thing about him, but he says, Lord, you take a look at my life and you'll see something different.
You'll see that I am innocent.
So let's look here at Psalm 26.
And what we'll see here this morning is three ways that King David is blameless.
This will be our outline this morning if you're taking notes.
These are three categories of blamelessness that David lays out before the Lord.
And really, these are three categories of blamelessness that Christians, all of God's people, ought to strive towards.
We ought to be striving towards blamelessness in all of these ways.
So three ways that King David is blameless.
First, we see David says all his paths are pure.
All his paths are pure.
Look there to verse 1 with me.
David is emphasizing here in verses 1 through 3 that his walk, his paths, his ways are pure.
And you remember how David prayed last week in Psalm 25.
What did he pray?
He said, Lord, make me to know your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.
Lead me in the truth and teach me.
And it seems like in this instance now here in Psalm 26, the Lord has answered that prayer in David's life.
David is not walking in sin.
He says that he has walked in unwavering trust in the Lord.
And so whatever the accusations are that David is facing from the outside here,
he calls out to the Lord in prayer and says,
Vindicate me, O Lord.
I have walked in my integrity.
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
His paths are pure.
He claims unwavering trust in the Lord.
You know, our first thought, if we know anything about David's life,
ought to be, well, that's not really true, is it?
Has David forgotten about Bathsheba?
Has David forgotten about Uriah?
Has David forgotten what he writes later in Psalm 143?
This is the same David who writes Psalm 143 verse 2.
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
Is this not the same David that wrote Psalm 14 where he says,
There is no one who does good.
Not even one.
David knows that he's a sinner.
And so how is he so bold as to call out to the Lord and ask him to open him up
and to test all his ways and to vindicate him
and to claim that his walk, his ways, his path is totally pure?
It's important that we realize that this is situational blamelessness.
Not total, complete, absolute blamelessness.
You see the difference?
He is, in this situation, blameless.
No, he's not totally sinless.
He's not without sin.
But in this instance, he is innocent.
David is being wrongfully accused.
He has been walking the path of purity.
And yet his enemies from the outside accuse him and try to tear him down
by saying something that he has done, which he has, in fact, not done.
But you can imagine a courtroom scene where one party is accused of a crime
that they did not commit.
They are innocent.
They know they're innocent and they have the receipts to prove it.
Their appeal to the judge might sound a lot like what David is doing here in Psalm 26.
Vindicate me.
I have walked in purity.
Of course, that person isn't totally, perfectly without sin.
Yet in this particular instance, they are innocent.
So they lay out their defense and they plead their case.
That's exactly what David is doing here.
David knows that he's not sinless.
If you look at verse 11, he says,
Lord, be gracious to me.
Sinless people don't need grace.
In fact, in verse 2, he says,
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.
In other places in Scripture, these words, testing and trying,
they refer to being refined like gold or silver.
Purified.
Tested through the refiner's fire.
So David is asking God on one hand to see how he's walked in innocence in this instance,
but at the same time, burn up anything that's lacking in me.
Take me and burn up all the dross in my life.
I want to walk in faithfulness.
I have walked in faithfulness in this instance,
but yet I still know that there's sin yet to be dealt with in my life.
And so would you come and would you burn it off?
Would you cut me open and expose all the impurities and then get to work healing me
and putting me back together as I ought to be?
Try me and test me in my heart and in my mind,
for your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
David is praying as a sinner, yes,
but as a sinner who has been brought by the grace of God into covenant with the Lord.
A sinner who keeps his covenant love and his faithfulness ever before him,
so that even as a sinner,
David desires to be blameless and to be holy,
and he wants blamelessness to characterize all his ways,
all his paths.
Friend, to be a Christian,
of course, it means to know that you are a sinner.
That's where it begins.
The Spirit of God, through the Word of God,
convicts you of your sin,
convicts you of your need for forgiveness,
and by his grace,
you put your faith in Christ as your only hope,
the Savior of sinners.
That's what it means to be a Christian.
But then, once you are saved by the grace of God,
by faith in Christ,
you begin to all of a sudden have this strange desire
to walk in the ways of the Lord.
Where did that come from?
This foreign desire to be blameless in all your ways,
to walk in the path of purity.
You want to represent the King in your life,
so that when others stand to accuse you of wrongdoing,
we don't want to give them any material to work with.
I'll give you an example from my own life,
real life example.
There was an individual within the church,
not this church, by the way,
who had become so distrusting,
and so divisive,
and so deceptive,
that really he began to deceive himself,
and believe his own lies.
And what he did,
was he spread an accusation within the church,
that the leadership was basically mishandling money.
We were taking money that was supposed to go support a church plant,
in another place,
and instead we were pocketing it.
That was the rumor that was spread.
Now of course,
there's paper trails for everything.
And we literally,
quite literally,
had the receipts to show,
no,
this is in fact not true,
but he was bent on uncovering some wrongdoing in us,
and so he persisted,
to the point where this individual hired a private investigator,
just to dig something up,
just to find something.
And we knew this,
because he finally admitted it to us,
that he had done this.
Now of course,
on one hand,
we were grieved by this.
We never want to see an individual fall to this sort of sin,
and deception.
We hated to see this happen,
but at the same time,
I'll tell you what,
there was absolute peace,
in knowing,
that there was nothing to be found.
There was peace in knowing,
that by the grace of God,
are we sinless?
No,
absolutely not.
But in this instance,
were we blameless?
Praise God,
yes.
So we could say,
whatever happens,
Lord,
you vindicate us,
and we will keep your steadfast love,
in front of us.
We will walk in integrity,
by your grace,
your faithfulness has guided us,
so vindicate us,
Lord.
I wonder,
if someone were to investigate your life,
your week,
past month,
past year,
would they find you,
walking in faithfulness?
Is there anything lacking,
in your ways,
any part of your path,
that needs to be tested,
and needs to be refined?
David says,
his paths are pure,
but not only this,
he says second,
his people are pure.
His people are pure.
Look there with me,
starting in verse four.
He says,
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.
David says,
my people,
that I surround myself with,
the company that I keep,
is godly and pure.
David's not guilty,
and now we see,
he's not guilty by association either.
He does not sit with the wicked,
he doesn't associate with hypocrites,
those who just look godly on the outside,
but the inside is impure.
He hates the assembly of the evildoers.
Well, there's echoes here of Psalm 1,
aren't there?
The blessed man 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,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Throughout the book of Psalms,
and really throughout the entire Bible,
the word tells us clearly,
over and over and over again,
that there are two categories of people in the world.
There are the righteous,
and there are the wicked.
There are sheep,
and there are goats.
There are wheat,
and there are tares.
There are the seed of the woman,
and there's the seed of the serpent.
There's God's people,
and not God's people.
There's those in Christ,
and there are those who are in Adam.
There are those who are bound for judgment,
and those who are bound for glory.
Only two kinds of people in the world.
Now, we don't tend to think in such black and white terms,
do we?
But the Bible absolutely does,
and David says,
I am not one of them.
They aren't my people.
Of course, this raises some questions,
doesn't it?
Questions about the ways that Christians interact
with the non-believing world.
Questions like,
well, aren't we supposed to be around non-believers?
Do we just want to live in a Christian bubble,
and never interact with the world around us?
And didn't Jesus interact?
Didn't he eat and drink with sinners?
How am I supposed to reach the lost world
if I'm never around them?
These are all good questions.
Christ has given us a commission
that cannot be accomplished
apart from being around non-believers.
The great commission call is to
go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
Christians are called to be ambassadors of Christ,
but that very term ambassadors,
it means that we don't belong to this world that we're seeking to win.
We go out as citizens of another kingdom.
We go out as servants of another king,
representatives of another king.
We're called to shine as lights in the midst of darkness.
There's a distinction here.
And so, no, we're not meant to just retreat in our Christian bubble.
We're meant to advance the gospel
and bring the wicked out of darkness and into the light
by the only means that God has given us to do so
is the power of the preaching of the gospel.
So we engage the lost
while recognizing that we are distinct from the lost
by the grace of God.
When we engage our lost friends
and our non-believing family members
and our lost co-workers
and our lost neighbors,
we need to remember that
there is a spiritual distinction
by the grace of God between us.
And that's a distinction that can only be removed
by the Spirit through the gospel.
If you are in Christ,
then those who are not in Christ
are no longer your people.
David says he is not to be included in the wicked.
Don't group me in with them.
They are not my people.
So we ought to ask,
well then, David, who are your people?
And the obvious answer is
that would be the community of the righteous.
Get this courtroom image back in our minds.
As the prosecution comes with the accusations
and the time comes for the defense now
to call up some witnesses to the stand,
that case is a lot harder to defend
if there aren't any witnesses, right?
Or even worse,
if all the witnesses that David calls up
are known liars,
known evildoers.
David says,
I have witnesses.
I have people who can attest
that I am walking in purity.
They can speak on my behalf.
I'm not walking alone.
I am walking with the community of faith.
David wants to surround himself
with the believing community.
He wants to be amongst God's people
who are also striving to walk in the ways of the Lord,
who are locking arms with him
and helping him to walk in integrity,
who are calling out to the Lord with him
and for him,
who share the same desire to know
and to honor the Lord in all of life.
These are his people.
Now listen,
every Christian is called
to be a part of a community like that.
You know where we find it?
It's in the local church.
The local church.
The church is the community of the righteous
here on earth.
When you become a Christian,
something happens in you.
There is a bit of an uprooting.
It's a transfer of belonging
that takes place.
The people that you used to associate with,
the things that you used to do,
the things that used to be normal
and just a part of who you are
are no longer a part of who you are in Christ.
They become strange to you.
And so as you maintain those relationships
with your non-believing friends
and please, if at all possible,
maintain those opportunities,
but as you maintain those relationships,
you now interact as a missionary
in those contexts,
not as one who belongs.
The Christian's primary hub
of life and friendship and community,
it becomes the local church.
And it's here with these brothers and sisters
that you find your people.
Friend, we all need that,
but I would dare to say
in our individualistic age,
we're all prone to make
a few tragic mistakes.
For one, we can try and carry on
with our old friends
and our own old lives
as if nothing has changed in us.
That'll never work.
If you are in Christ,
you are a new creation.
The old has gone.
Behold, the new has come.
Everything changes.
Still another tragic mistake
is that we can seek to live
as a disciple in isolation
from other believers.
That'll never work either.
Not for long.
We need God's people around us
to help us to grow
and to walk with us.
But still another tragic mistake
is that we can come around God's people
without ever truly committing
to God's people.
We can come around
without building our lives around them,
without them really being our people.
And so we attend a church service on occasion,
but we're not actually linked in
as part of the body.
We may attend a scattering
of Christian activities,
Bible study here,
Bible study there,
prayer group here,
but we're not really just locked in
with a people.
We all need others
who are committed
to our spiritual good,
who will link arms with us
and help keep us
on the path of righteousness,
who we can call to the stands
to give a defense on our behalf
because they know us
and know our lives
and know our heart.
David says,
I am with the people of the Lord.
My people are pure,
but not just this.
Third.
Third, he says,
my praise is pure.
My worship is pure.
Look there to verses 6 through 8.
David says,
I wash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar,
O Lord,
proclaiming thanksgiving aloud
and telling all your wondrous deeds.
This is worship language.
This is temple language.
David, as God's king,
is committed to worship.
He's committed to lead God's people
in worship.
He knows firsthand
that the Lord is worthy of his praise.
He is moved in his heart
to give honor and praise to the Lord
for who he is
and what he's done.
He is eager to go and gather
with God's people
and proclaim,
tell all the wondrous deeds of the Lord.
He's committed to worship.
But not just this.
Look at this.
David is committed to worship
as God has prescribed.
He is committed to worship
as God has commanded him
to worship.
You ask yourself,
why does David wash his hands?
What's the deal with that?
Why is he going around the altar?
Is this just David's preference?
Is that how he likes to worship?
Is this what he wants to do?
Is this how he prefers to come
and to worship the Lord?
He worships this way
because God has so commanded him
to worship this way.
This is a description of worship
in the temple.
I mean, just think of all the prescriptions
and the precautions
that the Lord made
for proper temple worship.
This wasn't open to interpretation
for the individual worshiper
to decide how they wanted
to worship the Lord.
The Lord prescribes
what is proper worship.
David here,
he's coming
and he's committed
to purifying himself,
to approaching the altar
where sacrifice would be offered
for atonement
of the people of God.
He's committed
to proclaiming the glory of God.
David is saying
that he is committed
to worship,
but not just however
he feels like worshiping.
He is committed to worship
as God has intended.
We should realize
it is not up to us
to decide
how God
is to be worshipped.
There's so many conversations
around worship.
Most of them have to do
with preference.
Most of the disagreements
with worship
have to do
with personal preference.
We should realize
our preference matters
very little
in worship.
God himself
gets to determine
how he wants
to be worshipped.
We saw
a couple of weeks ago,
didn't we?
Uzzah
struck down
for touching
the ark of the Lord.
Why?
Because God had commanded
no one can touch the ark.
He wasn't supposed
to be carrying the ark
in the first place.
You think of Saul's
tragic mistake.
Saul got impatient
waiting on Samuel
and so Saul
offered up worship.
He offered up sacrifice.
What's wrong with that?
God said it's not lawful
for Saul to offer sacrifice.
That's for Samuel to do.
So the kingdom
is taken from Saul.
You think about
Nadab
and Abihu
and in Leviticus chapter 10
offering up strange fire,
unauthorized fire
to the Lord.
That's worship.
They're worshipping the Lord.
What's wrong with that?
God had not commanded
them to do so.
Not in that way.
The Lord struck them down
over and over
and over
and over again.
We see that the Lord
tells His people
how He desires
to be worshipped.
It's not up to us.
Our gatherings here,
we're not perfect,
but our gatherings here
seek to follow
a reformation principle
called the regulative
principle of worship.
You may have heard
that term before.
Basically what that means
is that our worship
is regulated
by the Word of God.
We want to worship
as God has prescribed.
And so we sing
God-centered,
congregational songs
that teach
and move us
with the truth.
We read the Scriptures.
We're commanded
to do so.
Old and new,
we offer up prayers
for all people.
We observe the ordinances
of the Lord's Supper
and baptism
and we center
all of it
on the preaching
of the Word of God.
Basically,
we sing the Word,
pray the Word,
hear the Word,
preach the Word,
see the Word.
Why do we do this?
Is it because
we just got together
and said,
this is what we want to do?
This is our preference?
No.
It's because the Lord
in His Word
has prescribed us
to worship
in this way.
David has committed himself
to worship
as God has prescribed,
but
if that were all it was,
it would still not be enough.
Faithful,
obedient worship,
totally adhering
to the Word of the Lord
completely in line
with all of His revealed will
would still be rejected
by the Lord
if not for this third component,
which is
David is committed
to worship
from the heart.
It is
empty
and vain
to simply follow
all the guidelines
and get everything right,
check all the boxes,
go through the motions,
do things the right way
if your heart
is not engaged
in worship.
Wasn't that
the Pharisees' problem?
Wasn't that
what Jesus
condemned
the Pharisees for
through the words
of Isaiah?
Well,
does Isaiah
prophesy about you,
hypocrites?
This people
honors me
with their lips,
but their heart
is far
from me.
We don't want
to worship
like that
because that's
no worship
at all,
is it?
David worships
the Lord
ultimately
because he says,
verse 8,
O Lord,
I love
the habitation
of your house.
Lord,
I love
the place
where your glory
dwells.
Lord,
I love
the gathering
of the saints
in the temple.
Lord,
I love
coming
and proclaiming
the goodness
of God.
I love
coming
to worship
the Lord
because I
love the Lord.
His heart
is engaged
in worship
of the Lord.
Is that
true of you,
church?
Why are you
here today?
Why did you
stand and sing
the hymns
that we sang
moments ago?
Why are you
sitting here
listening to a sermon?
It's just out
of habit?
A routine?
Something you
feel like would
be good to do?
Your family
brought you here?
Your wife
brought you here?
Your husband
brought you here?
Is it something
that feels right?
Or is it
the response
of a heart
that is in love
with the Lord?
Do you love
to gather
with God's people
in worship?
Do you love
to come and sing
loudly the truths
of God's character
and His goodness
even if you're
not very good
at singing at all?
Do you love
to hear His word
read?
Do you love
to hear the word
preached?
Do you love
to worship
because you love
the Lord
and know
He is worthy
of it?
One sign
of God's grace
at work in you
is an ever-increasing
love for the Lord
and a desire
to worship Him
not necessarily
according to
your preference
but according
to His
preference
a desire
to gather
together
with God's
people
you know
that's what
eternity
has in store
for us
together
for the rest
of eternity
all of God's
people
the congregation
of the redeemed
will worship
and praise
the name
of the Lord
out of completely
purified hearts
that are just
filled to the brim
with love
for the Lord
so that it
overflows
in songs
of praise
for the rest
of eternity
does your heart
want to be there?
we get a taste
of it here
as we gather
together
with God's
people
in worship
David closes
out this song
appealing
to the Lord
again
he says
Lord
lay me
bare
vindicate
me
refine
me
expose
all my faults
let me
be counted
among the
righteous
verse 9
do not sweep
my soul
away with
sinners
nor my life
with bloodthirsty
men
and whose hands
are evil
devices
and whose
right hands
are full
of bribes
but whatever
happens
look at this
commitment
as for me
I shall
walk
in my
integrity
my foot
stands
on level
ground
in the
great assembly
I will
bless
the Lord
he is
resolved
he will
be
blameless
friend
can we
say the
same
are we
committed
to
blamelessness
do you
desire to
walk in
the paths
of righteousness
for his
name's sake
are you
committed
to walk
in his
path
surrounded
by his
people
offering
up a
praise
that flows
from a
heart
that knows
him
and loves
him
I wonder
if the
Lord
were to
cut
us
open
and lay
us
bare
examine
us
inside
and out
what would
he
find
if you
were to
be totally
exposed
before the
Lord
what would
he
find
lacking
you know
the word
tells us
that
that time
is coming
when each
and every
one of us
will stand
before the
Lord
the judge
and we
will give
an account
for our
lives
on what
basis
will we
cry
on that
day
Lord
vindicate
me
Lord
don't
sweep
me
away
with
the
wicked
Lord
count
me
among
the
righteous
will
it
be
on
the
basis
of
our
righteousness
on
that
day
situational
moment
to
moment
blamelessness
will only
get you
so far
one
good
day
one
unworthy
accusation
one
good
hour
innocent
in this
case
but not
in that
will only
go so
far
on that
day
you must
be
totally
blameless
inside
and out
for your
entire
life
for the
Lord
the
judge
to
declare
you
righteous
on that
day
so what's
our hope
our only
hope
is the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
the
true
totally
blameless
king
of God's
people
Jesus
Christ
not
David
Jesus
Christ
is the
only
one
to
walk
in
true
and
total
perfect
blamelessness
not just
in this
situation
and that
but in
all
situations
there's
only one
who can
cry out
for vindication
and receive
it not
on the
basis
of
mercy
but on
the
basis
of
pure
and
perfect
merit
it's
Christ
Jesus
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
is the
perfect
sinless
son of
David
who walked
in
integrity
all the
days
of
his
life
never
once
yielding
to
sin
or
temptation
all
his
paths
are
pure
and
his
perfect
son
of
God
came
to
seek
and
to
save
the
lost
yes
he
ate
and
drank
with
sinners
not
as
their
associate
but
as
their
savior
those
who
were
unclean
touched
him
and
what
happens
they
become
clean
those
sinners
who
come
to
know
him
by
faith
they
become
saints
it's
Christ
who
has
come
to
purchase
a
people
for
himself
a
pure
and
spotless
bride
of
Christ
it's
Christ
who's
the
great
dividing
line
between
the
righteous
and
the
wicked
and
it
is
Christ
it
is
Christ
who
is
the
center
and
the
substance
of
all
our
worship
he
is
the
one
in
whom
all
God's
glory
dwells
our
love
is
attached
to
him
he's
the
only
one
the
only
true
perfect
righteous
man
and
the
good
news
of
the
gospel
is
that
by
coming
to
him
in
faith
sinners
like
us
may
be
counted
righteous
in
the
sight
of
God
the
only
hope
for
sinful
people
like
you
and
I
to
be
vindicated
on
that
day
and
not
swept
away
with
the
wicked
is
that
Christ's
righteousness
might be
credited
to
our
account
by
faith
this
is
exactly
what
he
came
to
do
for
our
sake
he
made
him
to
be
sin
who
knew
no
sin
so
that
in
him
we
might
become
the
righteousness
of
God
Christ
also
suffered
once
for
sins
the
righteous
for
the
unrighteous
that
he
might
bring
us
to
God
out
of
the
anguish
of
his
soul
he
shall
see
and
be
satisfied
by
his
knowledge
shall
the
righteous
one
my
servant
make
many
to
be
accounted
righteous
and
he
shall
bear
their
iniquities
praise
God
we
worship
a
just
God
who
will
vindicate
the
faithful
he
is a
God
of
justice
and
praise
God
we
worship
a
merciful
and
gracious
God
who
justifies
sinners
like us
by faith
in
Christ
the
true
and
perfect
righteous
king
Lord
we
praise
you
for the
good news
of the
gospel
we
confess
that
not a
!
not a
single
one
of us
can
cry
out
to
you
in
this
way
on
the
basis
of
our
righteousness
and
say
declare
me
innocent
but
it's
only
by
faith
in
Christ
that
sinners
are
accounted
righteous
in
your
sight
and
so
we
pray
Lord
that
if
there
are
any
who
don't
know
you
in
this
way
that
have
not
yet
cried
!
out
to
you
in
faith
Lord
would
you
by
the
power
of
your
spirit
right
now
draw
them
to
faith
in
Christ
for
the
church
Lord
the
community
of
the
redeemed
we
pray
that
all
our
ways
would
be
blameless
before
you
father
lead
us
guide
us
to
walk
in
holiness
all
the
days
of
our
life
until
the
day
that
you
return
and
we
gather
together
and
worship
for
you
before
you
for
the
rest
of
eternity
so