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| Q: | Psalms, 1 Samuel I am having difficulty with some of the Psalms. In several of them it seems almost that David is bragging about being righteous and so deserves the Lord's help. Examples are Psalm 18: 20-24. In verse 23 of this Psalm David says that "...I kept myself from guilt," as though it would be possible for a person to be blameless on their own. Another example is Psalm 17: 3 where David says that "If you test me you will find no wickedness in me." I know that in other Psalms David is much humbler and admits guilt, but in the examples I mentioned it seems like he is claiming to be righteous on his own account. Can you help me to understand this? | ||||||
| A: | In these verses David asks God, the righteous judge, to examine his case. He maintains that his plea is just, because he has not gone along with the ways of the wicked, but has remained faithful to the ways of the Lord. At the time when David was fleeing from Saul many men spread slanders about David to gain Saul's favor. Absalom made sly insinuations about David to steal the people's affection. As David fled Jerusalem Shimei cursed him and falsely accused him of destroying the family of Saul. Adonijah and his co-conspirators very likely derided David as feeble and over the hill. David is not guilty of the charges his enemies are making against him. David pleads for vindication against such slanderers. Although David is not without sin, he is a believing child of God. As a member of God's family he can expect that God will defend him against the ruthlessness of the ungodly. Nevertheless, David does not base his hope primarily on his own uprightness, but upon the love and faithfulness of the Lord. He knows that the Lord looks at the heart. He is confident that God has examined him to test the sincerity of his faith. It was the Lord who had called David a man after his own heart (1 Sa 13:14), so David can rightly expect a verdict of approval from God. David has pledged himself to follow God's way. He realizes, however, that he needs God's help to keep him in the right paths. Today too the enemies of the church speak ill of Christians. They condemn them for being too moralistic or for not being moral enough. They complain that church has not reformed society to their satisfaction, or they lament every attempt of the church to meddle in politics or to legislate morality. The world is never satisfied with Christians, but God is pleased with those who obey him, and they will be commended at his judgment seat. | ||||||
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