Ok . . . as I start typing this, I don’t exactly know where it’s going . . . or if I can keep it to a “devotional size.” But I’m finishing up Psalm 18 and I came across this passage which, quite frankly, I found myself wanting to skim over . . . ’cause I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. Here’s the passage:

“The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.” – Psalm 18:20-24

So why did I try and gloss over this? Well, because I think as I first read it, it sounded kind of “name it and claim it” to me. Because there were a lot of “I” and “my” and “me” in it. The Lord rewarded me . . . because I . . . according to the cleanness of my hands. And I probably had this initial discomfort because it sounds like a “works based” faith where because David thinks he’s righteous and his hands are clean then he figures God will reward him. So that’s why I found myself just as soon skimming over this. But, . . . and I’m thinking it’s a Holy Spirit thing, . . . I found myself going back over this repeatedly because even though it “didn’t compute” at first, it is the Word of God . . . it is God breathed . . . it is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Tim. 3:16). So, what’s the Word saying here? And what isn’t it saying?

When I get to these “tough passages” I look for some help from some trusted friends. Between the commentaries on my desk and those on my computer, I have probably up to 6 different sources where I can check out what others — those far more learned than myself — have to say. And guess what? As I look at what these scholars say about this passage, they are all over the map! Some even interpreting this allegorically as being about Jesus and not David at all. Ok . . . so I’m not the only one who finds this a bit perplexing. So after a few minutes of meditating . . . which isn’t the same as hours of study . . . here’s what I’m thinking.

First, this isn’t a passage about salvation . . . it’s not about the basis for David’s acceptance before the Lord . . . David, himself, is clear about that . . . “Great deliverance He gives to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed” (18:50). David knows he is a recipient of God’s mercy. Instead, as David recounts his deliverance from Saul and his enemies, as He pens this triumphant song of praise to the Lord, he is sitting in a place of a clear conscience before God with an integrity of heart that he has pursued, and sought faithfully to obey the way of the Lord (18:21-23). I don’t think David’s claiming perfection . . . I don’t think David’s saying that he deserved God’s favor because he obeyed God’s work perfectly. But, David does say that God’s reward and God’s recompense and God’s favor were upon him when David trusted in the Lord . . . and sought the Lord . . . and followed the Lord. His hands were clean . . . in integrity of heart he lived life with a desire to do what was right because His God was worthy of such a determination.

This was the time when at least twice David could have taken matters into his own hands and taken out Saul . . . and claimed the throne that God through Samuel had promised him. Instead, he obeyed the Lord . . . he refused to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed (1Sam. 24:6) even though it was the Lord’s anointed who had departed from obedience and now, with blind jealousy, was hunting down David with only one thought in mind . . . kill him! But David lived righteously (not perfectly) . . . his hands were clean in God’s sight . . . and David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says, the Lord rewarded me . . . He recompensed me. I don’t think He’s saying that the Lord was obligated to respond to David’s obedience . . . but that He did.

And, as you read the Psalm, it’s not the boastings of a self-righteous man, instead it is the gratitude, praise, and worship of a man who humbly acknowledges God’s intervention on his behalf and says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength . . . I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised” (18:1,3). David would not always be a man of clean hands . . . the dirt of Bathsheba and the blood of Uriah would soon be upon those hands . . . and in that state, the song-writer would sing a different tune . . . a lament of his unrighteousness and his transgression and his lack of integrity (Psalm 51) and would write this song to the same God of mercy . . . and would, by the grace of that God, find favor — unmerited favor — at His hand, as well.

God is pleased with those who seek to live righteously and obediently. It starts with humbling ourselves with obedience to the message of the cross and the need of a Savior . . . and continues through our day-to-day pursuit of His word and desire to live for His glory. God seeks clean hands . . . uprightness of heart . . . a life focused on maintaining a clear conscience before Him and often applies the precious blood of the Lamb to sin in repentance. How God will intervene in a certain battle or struggle is His sovereign determination, but let us not think that He will not reward obedience or that He will not recompense clean hands . . . He longs to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, . . . enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matt 25:21). Enough said . . .

Father, thank You for leading me to wrestle a bit with Psalm 18. I am so aware of my weakness and failure . . . but I desire righteousness . . . I seek clean hands . . . I want to know You and Your word and, as much as lies in me, and by the enabling of the Holy Spirit, obey that word . . . not for my reward . . . but for Your glory alone . . . amen!