Okay, “Uncle”. I said it. Happy? The fact is, being an A- personality, I may really really want to press on toward to the goal of completing Luke in a year but am just impulsive enough to detour when God gets my attention with something else. Today is a “something else” day. It’s Psalms 26.
Frankly, when I read it this morning, I did one of my classic eye-rolls toward heaven and said, “Are you serious?”, because at first glance, David’s words seem too egotistical even for the typical confident-male. He’s led a blameless life? He’s never faltered? He’s always been mindful? Or how about washing his hands in innocence. That’s a good one. What am I supposed to do with this? This is David, after all. You know, the guy who’s spiritual blind side got him involved with another man’s wife that led to murder. And we know, being human, that that was only one flaw in the man’s life. No one is perfect.
But then I read it again. (This is especially helpful if you haven’t had your caffeine in the morning.) And each time I read it I saw the emphasis beginning to change. This psalm was less an expression of David’s delusions of grandeur and more of a love letter to God.
In verse one he demands vindication. About what? Himself? At first reading, maybe. There’s a lot of “I” statements, after all. “I have trusted, I have always, I have led...” But what is the object of his “I” statements? What is it David is right to be vindicated about? God’s character. A life spent praising a god in whom he can trust, a god of unfailing love and faithfulness rather than a life of bribes, blood and evil is a life worth living because a god like that is worth praising and living for.
And while at first sounding holier-than-thou critical of the hypocrites, evildoers and the wicked, it turns out that David isn’t actually comparing his righteousness with others. He is juxtaposing lives lived without God to a life rescued by God. This isn’t about his righteousness. It’s about celebrating God’s forgiveness of those who need it. Like him. David washes his hands in the innocence God offers on the altar of sacrifice. In the act of receiving forgiveness, David praises God for all the wonderful things He has done.
This wasn’t about David. At least not at its heart. This is about God. And then in verse 8 and 9, David tells us why. “Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells. Do not take away my soul...” David adores God. He loves God’s presence. He really does live for him in every way he can and the worst thing he can imagine is losing him in death for all eternity. He pleads for God’s mercy and redemptive love, recognizing that he is in need of both.
This isn’t about tooting his own horn; this is about loving someone so much you don’t want to say goodbye. There is a reason David was called a man after God’s own heart.
Even more wonderful is realizing that God is after our hearts too. In sacrificing His own son on the altar of a cross 2,000 years ago, we can also have a life transformed by forgiveness, by innocence. Like David, when we put our trust in God's sacrifice, Jesus, He transfers His innocence to us. And our lives are changed in the here and now and for the next to come.
Question:
Imagine your life without God...who would you be today? How would your life be different? Celebrate the ways God has rescued you both in the here-and-now and for the life to come.
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