Psalm 26:4
4 I have not sat [yashab] with vain [shav'] persons [math], neither will I go in [bow']
with dissemblers [`alam]. KJV-Interlinear
4 I do
not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. NASB
From the previous two
verses we have already seen that an actual and legitimate evaluation is based
on the content of the soul of the believer.
God performs evaluations,
not people.
God’s evaluation is based
on what truth or understanding or wisdom resides within the soul of the
believer, as well as their application of that content to their daily life.
In this world there a lot
of believers in Christ. Unfortunately most fit into the category of vain, or
phony, or pretenders.
The word for dissemblers,
means one who is hidden or concealed, and it applies to those who hide their
true purpose or design from people, or who try to conceal their real character
and intentions.
These would be people who
talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. They know the vocabulary, they know
all the right things to say, and they pretend to be things that they are not.
And here David makes it
very clear that his spiritual life is legitimate and genuine, because it is
based on knowledge and understanding and wisdom contained within his soul, as
well as his following those practices in his daily life throughout his life.
This does not imply that
David lived a perfect life, because he made lots of mistakes during his life.
But during his life his numbers of mistakes were far fewer than the many, many
years that he lived in accordance with God’s will.
What happens with
children of school-age, who don’t read their assignments, don’t do their
homework, cut class and basically just coast through their school years with
emphasis on their social life or anything else except their daily homework?
By continuing that
pattern they don’t know anything because they haven’t learned anything, and
they become losers life. In order to get through life, you either have to
change, or fake your way through life. And in this world if you rely on
pretense or faking your way, then sooner or later your life will collapse.
It’s no different in the
spiritual life. Most if not all people in this world know some scripture of
some kind. Whether it is simply knowing the story of Adam and Eve, or Moses, or
the baby Jesus, almost everybody knows something about the Bible. And this
includes most unbelievers in the world.
As far as believers go,
most have memorized some verses, and many, if not all, have a certain sincerity
about them or they have good intentions about living a good life. So they base
their Christianity on how they live their life, or how their life appears to
others, rather than the measure of the content of doctrine in their soul.
And so they live their
lives deceiving themselves, just as school-age children deceive themselves by
thinking that they are doing enough, that they know enough, and all the talk
about study and homework is a waste of their time.
And unfortunately, this
is the way most believers think and conduct their lives. They do not want to be
under instruction every day of their lives, they think they know enough to
conduct a study on their own. And that in their eyes is sufficient.
And this would be well
and good if indeed they practiced a genuine daily study, including research, so
that they could know and understand what it is they were reading. But such is
not the case, as most believers are inconsistent in their studies, if indeed
they even have a study, and therefore they are inconsistent within the function
of their spiritual life.
Without truth and understanding
and wisdom acquired in the correct way, then all you have is pretense. Because
if you don’t know something, and you present yourself as knowing something,
then you are phony.
Attempting to evaluate
yourself is what a fool does. God is the only qualified evaluator, and his
evaluation is accurately based on what is or is not in your soul.
Therefore, if you genuinely
desire a good evaluation from God, then you have to learn and grow in
accordance with Gods mandates, not by means of your own designs.
