I have to confess that sometimes David fills me with frustration. I read Psalm 17 and wonder if this man lived in denial. Please note. “Hear me, LORD, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed. Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.”
He must have had a selective memory. What about the lies he told to Achish when he was robbing surrounding cities and killing everyone so they couldn’t tell on him? See I Samuel 27. In Psalm 51 he is repenting for the sin of having Uriah the Hittite, killed to cover up his affair with Uriah’s wife. In his confession he says, “I know my wrong-doing, and my sin is always in front of me. I have sinned against You, and You only. I have done what is sinful in Your eyes.” Really? “You only.” What about Uriah? Didn’t he sin against him?
What was he thinking? We cannot lie to God. He knows everything about us. Psalm 17 doesn’t say as much about David as it does about God. God is gracious. God is merciful. God is wonderful to tolerate us. If you are ever discouraged about your sinful past, just remember God’s care for David and I promise you, you are going to be taken care of. God doesn’t play favorites. You have it made.
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 6, 2017
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