Christ Church Leavenworth
WLC 144: Defending Their Innocency
April 26, 2026
Defending the Innocent
INTRODUCTION
This morning we are continuing our study of the ten commandments in the WLC and we are still in Q144 which asks, “What are the duties required in the ninth commandment?” The ninth commandment, as you recall, is “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” The answer provided by the Westminster divines is this, “The duties required in the ninth commandment are, the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbour, as well as our own; appearing and standing for the truth; and from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice, and in all other things whatsoever; a charitable esteem of our neighbours; loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name; sorrowing for, and covering of their infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency; a ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of an evil report, concerning them; discouraging tale-bearers, flatterers, and slanderers; love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth; keeping of lawful promises; and studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report.”
The phrase we will be focusing on this morning is, “defending their innocency.”
The text cited by the WLC in support of this duty is 1 Samuel 22:14, but in order to understand how this verse applies to the duty to defend our neighbor’s innocence, we will need to understand the context in which it takes place. So, here’s some background. Even though Saul was the king of Israel, he was jealous of David. Saul’s son Jonathan discovered that his father was plotting to kill David. Since David was Jonathan’s best friend, he warned him of his father’s plans. As a result, David fled. He stopped to catch his breath in a town just outside Jerusalem called Nob where a man named Ahimelech was serving as the priest.
Because David had left in such a hurry, he did not have any food or even a weapon with him. So, he asked Ahimelech for some assistance. Ahimelech was happy to help. David was a famous warrior and the news of Saul’s change of temper towards him had not yet reached Nob. So, he gave David some bread and then he gave him the only weapon he had on hand: Goliath’s sword which was being kept on display as a trophy. This was the same sword that David had used to cut off Goliath’s head. A man named Doeg the Edomite was also there that day, however, and saw it all take place. Later, when Saul got word that David had gotten away, he was frustrated and began throwing accusations around. He wanted to know who was helping David. Doeg took this opportunity to report what he had seen and that is where our text picks up.
1 Samuel 22:11-18 “Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. And Saul said, ‘Hear now, son of Ahitub.’ And he answered, ‘Here I am, my lord.’ And Saul said to him, ‘Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?’ Then Ahimelech answered the king, ‘And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.’ And the king said, ‘You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.’ And the king said to the guard who stood about him, ‘Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.’ But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, ‘You, turn and strike the priests.’ And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.”
In these few verses, we see several examples of people failing and fulfilling their duty to defend their neighbor’s innocency. Let’s begin with the failures. The first example is King Saul. This whole episode is a result of him falsely accusing David in the first place. Instead of defending David’s innocence, he accused him of treason.
Saul was insecure and, just like any of us when we feel insecure or afraid, he was tempted to look for ways to blame others for the way he felt. Because we don’t like the way we feel and because we don’t like taking responsibility for our feelings, it must be someone else’s fault. As Spurgeon once noted, "We accuse others to excuse ourselves.” It is often easier to make up things about our neighbor than it is to face the reality about ourselves. And so, we slander our neighbor’s innocence in order to defend our own guilt. But take heed and take note: the sins of others, whether real or imagined, can never cleanse us of our own.
Another example is Doeg the Edomite. He knew that Ahimelech was not trying to help David usurp Saul’s throne. He knew he was innocent. But he also knew that Saul was looking for someone to blame and he hoped that there would be a finder’s fee. Saul slandered David to try to keep from losing his kingdom, Doeg slandered Ahimelech to try to gain a position in Saul’s kingdom. So, we see that our guilt can lead us to lash out at the innocent, either because we are scared of losing something or because we are greedy to get something else.
Now, let’s move on to a few examples of people fulfilling their duty to defend the innocent. Consider Saul’s servants. When Saul ordered them to slaughter Ahimelech and the priests, they refused. They presumed a standard of “innocent until proven guilty” and defended it by refusing to obey a tyrannical order.
A second example is that of Ahimelech himself. At any given point in his interrogation, he could have changed his story to try to save his own skin, but he didn’t. He could have defended his innocence by casting doubt on David’s, but he refused to bear false witness, even if it meant being falsely accused. He stood by David and his decision to help him. Ahimelech was an innocent man who paid the price of a guilty man in order to defend the innocence of another.
CALL TO CONFESSION
Well, since we are so often more concerned with getting our guilty selves out of trouble than we are with keeping our innocent neighbors out of it, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be related to this duty or to others. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.
CORPORATE CONFESSION
Gracious Father, if You were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared. Called by You to the throne of grace, and confident in our great High Priest, we bow before You and confess that we have sinned against You and been unfaithful to Your holy covenant. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick, so that we often do what we hate, and neglect what we love. Out of our mouths we both praise You and curse our fellow men. You promised mercy to our fathers through the seed of the woman. Turn our hearts again, Father, to consider Jesus, who crushed the serpent’s head, and saved His people from their sins. Forgive, cleanse, and restore us for His sake. Amen.
DECLARATION OF PARDON
Saints, arise and hear the Good News!
The assurance of pardon today comes from Romans 4:4-8
“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’”
The story of Ahimelech points us to Jesus: he was falsely accused and killed for defending his friend, just like Jesus. He was an innocent man who was treated like a guilty man, just like Jesus. But as good of a man as Ahimelech was, Jesus is better. A man will scarcely die for an innocent person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— as Ahimelech did for David, but God shows His love for us in that while we were still guilty, Christ died for us.
Saints, hear the Good News: in the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!
Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise.
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