Day 8/1 – Accountability

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Accountability
Day Two Hundred Thirteen

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17

God designed the church in such a way that you have people who are willing to watch for your soul “as they that must give account”. God does this to protect you. Only two people can destroy you: you and God. Others cannot hurt you. The purpose of accountability is to protect you from yourself.

The Bible describes three types of accountability. The first calls attention to overt sin, usually regarding the negative commands and heresy. For example, in II Samuel 12, Nathan calls King David to account for his adultery and murder. In Galatians 2 Paul rebukes Peter because of false doctrine. The second regards things that are not sin but may be counter-productive to your walk with Christ. Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians illustrates this.280 The third type addresses decision making, as illustrated by Jehoshaphat and Ahab seeking counsel from the prophet.281

In the first, your accountability comes to you whether you want them to or not. Scripture commands that they confront you. In the second, your accountability comes to you because you ask them to. In the third, you go to them; they do not come to you. Remember, biblical accountability is conferred, not usurped. Those who seek to hold you accountable do you a favor. As you hold others accountable, you can never know the degree to which they allow it. Finally, accountability usually is not reciprocal and does not have to be.

God gave you accountability as an expression of His grace. You must decide the degree to which you want to appropriate that grace.

280 cf. 1 Corinthians 10, esp. vv. 23-33
281 cf. I Kings 22:6-8

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Psalm 57-59 Romans 4 (New King James Version)

Psalm 57-59
Prayer for Safety from Enemies
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
2
I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.
3
He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who [b]would swallow me up. Selah
God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
4
My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6
They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah
7
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8
Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9
I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [c]nations.
10
For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [d]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58
Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2
No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5
Which will not heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6
Break[e] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7
Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8
Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9
Before your pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10
The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11
So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
The Assured Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [f]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.
59
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[g]Defend me from those who rise up against me.
2
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
3
For look, they lie in wait for my life;
The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
4
They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
Awake to help me, and behold!
5
You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the [h]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6
At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
7
Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips;
For they say, “Who hears?”
8
But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the [i]nations in derision.
9
I will wait for You, O You [j]his Strength;
For God is my [k]defense.
10
[l]My God of mercy shall come to meet me;
God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.
11
Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
13
Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
14
And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15
They wander up and down for food,
And [m]howl if they are not satisfied.
16
But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
17
To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.
Footnotes:
• Psalm 57:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
• Psalm 57:3 snaps at or hounds me, or crushes me
• Psalm 57:9 Gentiles
• Psalm 58:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
• Psalm 58:6 Break away
• Psalm 59:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
• Psalm 59:1 Lit. Set me on high
• Psalm 59:5 Gentiles
• Psalm 59:8 Gentiles
• Psalm 59:9 So with MT, Syr.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Vg. my Strength
• Psalm 59:9 Lit. fortress
• Psalm 59:10 So with Qr.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Vg. My God, His mercy; Kt., some Heb. mss., Tg. O God, my mercy; Syr. O God, Your mercy
• Psalm 59:15 So with LXX, Vg.; MT, Syr., Tg. spend the night

Romans 4
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham our father[a] has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was [b]accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted [c]as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Abraham Justified Before Circumcision
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be [d]sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
Footnotes:
• Romans 4:1 Or (fore)father according to the flesh has found?
• Romans 4:3 imputed, credited, reckoned, counted
• Romans 4:4 according to
• Romans 4:16 certain