Nobody likes a know all, or the guy who is always perfect. We recognise we all have failings. We as believers, moreover, recognise that we all are sinners and in desperate need of a Saviour. Someone who waltzes in and claims to be without fault with a trail of evidence to say otherwise generally gets short shrift. So when we land on a passage where a sinner is described as righteous, blameless, or makes assertions about that, we understandably stop in our tracks.
David in this passage is certainly not claiming sinless perfectionism. But David is recognising that the general pattern of his life was oriented to seeking after righteousness, rather than his sinful desires. Because of that, he could expect God’s blessing in general in his life, as God is faithful to his character and merciful to those who seek after him. We too, resting in Christ for our true righteousness, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to seek after righteousness, can be just as confident of deliverance.
In the first portion of chapter 22, David spoke of the powerful deliverance he had experienced from his foes thanks to the mighty intervention of God into human affairs. In these following verses, David goes on to expand on why God intervened in David’s life as he had.
The following verses, read out of context, could cause trouble for the faithful reader who recognises his own sinfulness. David proclaimed that “The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me” (v.21). Was David proclaiming himself free from sin?
No. Rather than memory-holing his sinful acts, most notably regarding Bathsheba and Uriah, David was referring to his general pattern of living, especially in relation to the way that he treated his enemies. After all, David had more than one opportunity to kill Saul and gain the kingdom himself rather than wait upon God’s timing, and yet he acted uprightly then. Same with other foes.
In other words, David’s life had a general pattern of seeking after righteousness. Just as Job was “blameless” and “upright” (Job 1:1) despite being a sinner like us. Noah, likewise (Gen. 6:9).
David’s keeping of God’s ways and not wickedly departing from God (v.22) refer to his pattern of covenantal faithfulness to God, not a perfect standard of righteousness. David had God’s decrees before him, and did not turn aside from them (v.23). A general statement, not an exhaustive one. In this way, he was “blameless” before God and sought to avoid the guilt of sin (v.24), like Noah and Job were described, and as Abraham was called to be (Gen. 17:1). For this, God rewarded him and treated him as clean (v.25).
It is these sorts of attributes that God likes to bless, because that is God’s nature. God is merciful and so blesses those who show mercy, with those considered blameless God is blameless in his acts (v.26).
With those who have been purified (which implies impurity to be cleansed, right?) God deals purely, while those who walk twisted paths find God’s acts towards them tortuous (v.27). God saves those who humble themselves before him, and brings down the proud (v.28). Claiming sinless perfection is more the latter than the former!
For those who God delights in because they seek after righteousness, God deals mightily. God is like a lamp to them as they walk in darkness (v.29); that is, he is a source of blessing and provision. He provides the means to overcome overwhelming odds (“a troop”) or obstacles (“a wall”; v.30).
God’s ways are perfect, and he keeps his promises (v.31). In him, David sang, his servants can put their trust. God is, for those who seek after righteousness, “a shield for all those who take refuge in him” (v.31).
This holds true for us too. God is not a cosmic vending machine that we load some coins into when we need a pick me up! A true relationship with God is one where we orient our lives towards pleasing God. We can never earn our salvation! But we can pursue a lifestyle which seeks after righteousness as a general pattern of living.
If we do so, we will recognise our sinfulness and humbly seek God for forgiveness. We will trust in the means of rescue God has provided us; Jesus Christ, our righteousness. And God’s goodness will be poured out for us in our lives.
We are empowered to seek after righteousness by the Holy Spirit, working in our lives to drive out sin and replace it with holiness. We will not see sinless perfection; not this side of glory anyway. But our lives will slowly become more God-centred, and more like Christ’s.
Deliverance from sin and death is the true deliverance we need, far greater than the trials and troubles which plague our current days. We can trust God’s promises to deliver us because his ways are perfect, and he blesses those who seek his kingdom and righteousness.
