Psalm 35:11
“False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.”
Everyone at some point in their life will be lied or gossiped about. It is never pleasant to be at the bad end of lies or gossip. Maybe you are going through a divorce and the lies being said about you are far from the truth. Maybe you are the recipient of church gossip that has assumed things about you that simply are not true. Maybe at the workplace someone said something about you that has put your job on the line. It really doesn’t matter what the lies may be, they simply are not true and are destroying your name. Your first response is to retaliate and say things about the false witnesses that will expose them.
We don’t know the story behind the psalm above, but one thing we do know is that David was dealing with people who were saying false things about him. When you read about David’s life, you see that most of his life he truly tried to help people. Yes, he went through a small spell when he attacked others, but that was a very small portion of his life; however, his life was filled with instances when people falsely said things about him that just were not true. David shows us by example how to deal with false witnesses.
First, be friendly towards the false witnesses. Verse 14 says, “I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother…” Though these false witnesses were not David’s friends, he treated them as if they were. This will be one of the hardest things to do. When I think of treating someone as a friend, there are several things I do for friends. I pray for friends. I am friendly with friends. I protect friends. These are just some of the things you would do for a friend. When you are dealing with false witnesses, pray for them, be friendly when you see them and don’t ever allow false things to be said about them. When they are maligned, you need to tell the truth.
Second, tell God about your situation. In verse 17, David told God everything. Instead of whining to others about his situation, he told it to the One Who could handle it. Though you will be tempted to tell everyone about the attacks, the best way to handle them is to tell God what others are saying about you. God will take care of them if you will tell Him about it.
Third, act as if nothing happened. In verse 18, you see David in the temple thanking and praising God. He went on with his weekly schedule as if nothing happened. This is truly one of the most important things you can do. Don’t change your weekly routines, but keep doing what you have always done. Don’t come to church later, but keep going to church at the same time. Keep going to the same places you have always frequented, and don’t avoid them just because you know they might be there. Staying in your routine will show that the lies are not going to change who you are and what you do.
Fourth, do right! In verse 24, David asked God to judge him. He could do this because he was doing right though others were not. Don’t lower yourself to the character level of the false witnesses, but keep doing right. Your action to do right in spite of the lies be thrown at you will eventually be the thing that vindicates you.
Friend, you can’t deal with false witnesses. The only one who you can change is yourself. If you will take care of what you are supposed to do and do it right, then God will take care of the lies being said about you and will publicly vindicate you. Wait on God, keep doing right and you will see the lies will eventually be exposed.