Your righteousness is found in Christ

Psalm 18:16-24

“He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.  He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.  They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me.  For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.  For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.  I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.  So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.”

Verses 7-15, are describing a theophany where God reveals His power through natural phenomena such as an earthquake or a thunderstorm.  (Taken from page 896 in the HCSB).  We also see David describing God acting as a warrior, who fights for His people.  If one has any doubt of this visit Israel and talk with the pilots, who watch the enemy’s planes fall from the air when they were not shot at in the six-day war.  Israel was outgunned and the enemy had three times as many aircraft, but when God fought for Israel, the war was soon over.

As we now begin with the descriptive language of David telling how God reached down and fought for him and his people when they were trapped, and in great distress, we begin to see David’s dependence on a big God.  David like the old man praying by the bridge understood something that many of us who go by the name of Christian need to grasp.  God does delight in us not because we are performing well, but because we are His children when we enter into Christ, and He comes into us.

David was living under the Law of Moses, and he had a performance-based acceptance whereas today we no longer are under the Law but grace.  It’s sad when we try to earn what we already have by doing good works.  Our righteousness is not found in our action, but Christ who is our life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice