Today we'll be looking at another portion of David's song of praise to the Lord in Chapter 22. In this song he's thanking the Lord for the many times He's protected him from his enemies.
David has found himself in such tight spots before that there's no way he could have solved his problems by himself. His problems weren't solved by any human intervention but by the Lord alone. He depicts this as the Lord personally reaching down with His hand to pull him out of a hopeless situation. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me." (2 Samuel 22:17-20)
I don't know about you, but I don't often think of the Lord as personally reaching down and snatching me out of danger. I tend to think of Him just speaking the word and making it happen. But I think David may be onto something here, because who's to say the Lord doesn't literally grab hold of us and snatch us out of danger like an earthly father grabbing his child before it toddles into the roadway? Of course all the Lord has to do is issue a command that saves us from danger; after all, He spoke the universe into existence and I don't believe He had to stand up from His throne in heaven or lift a finger to create the universe or anything in it. But the stars and the planets are not His children and we are, so He very well may interact with us in much the same way as a father grabbing his young child out of harm's way. David may be using poetic license when he described being rescued by the Lord in this manner or he may not be. The Lord interacts with each of us as our personal Savior. The Lord is able to be with and watch over each of us individually. In some form or fashion He may actually reach down and grab us out of the path of danger.
David says the Lord rescues him because He delights in him. Does this mean David always does what is right? No, we've witnessed him committing some major sins on the pages of the Bible, and we haven't even been told about the more common day-to-day type of sins he may have committed. I believe David is referring to the father-child relationship between the Lord and himself. I realize not everyone had good and loving parents and I want to be sensitive to that, but those of you who did have good and loving parents know that your parents delighted in you. They delighted in you even though you didn't always obey them. They may not have always been happy about your behavior but they delighted in your very existence because they loved you. The Lord hasn't always been happy with David's behavior but the Lord has always loved David. He didn't stop loving David when David was disobedient. The Lord is still delighted with the fact that He created David and that He and David have a personal relationship. He's had to discipline David from time to time but that's what a loving and responsible father must do in order to correct behavior that is harmful to their child or to others.
David's next statement could be taken in the wrong context if we're not careful. Some of the critics of the Bible say he's claiming to have lived a sinless life. They say he's promoting a belief in "salvation by works" rather than "salvation by faith". I do not at all agree that David is saying any of these things. Most mainstream Bible scholars don't believe he's saying any of these things either. Let's take a look at David's statement below and then we'll discuss it.
"The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of my Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All His laws are before me; I have not turned away from His decrees. I have been blameless before Him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight." (2 Samuel 22:22-25) If we were to take David's statement literally, I think we'd have to conclude that he's telling a bald-faced lie or that he's suffering from delusions. The only person who has ever lived who could make the statement David makes and have it be literally true is the Lord Jesus Christ. David did not live a sinless life. You and I don't live sinless lives. No one since the beginning of time, other than the Son of God, has ever lived a sinless life. I don't believe David is saying he's lived a sinless life or that he has any righteousness in himself at all. I think he's referring to the fact that he has been redeemed by the Lord. I think he's speaking of "salvation by faith", in other words. David, on his own, is not righteous. But by faith in the Lord, and by looking to Him for forgiveness and salvation, David has been washed clean of his iniquity.
All of us who have been saved by faith can make the statement David makes without having it be a lie. Oh, it's true that we've been unrighteous. It's true that we've violated the laws of God, sometimes accidentally and sometimes willfully. It's true that we've disobeyed Him in spite of respecting His commandments. It's true that we've sinned against Him in spite of loving Him. We are not capable of living sinless lives as long as we are on this fallen planet in these mortal bodies. But if we've been saved by faith, we've been forgiven of our sins. We will not have to give an account of them before the judgment seat of our God someday. He has cast our sins behind His back. (Isaiah 38:17) He is the One who, when we repent of our sins, "will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness". (1 John 1:9) He is the One to whom David appealed when confronted by the prophet Nathan of his sins of adultery and murder, the One to whom David said in Psalm 51, "Have mercy on me...Blot out all my transgressions...Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin...Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow...Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity...Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed." There's no way we could read those words and believe David is claiming any righteousness of his own in 2 Samuel 22. What he is doing is crediting the Lord for imputing righteousness to him. If David has any cleanness of heart and hands, it's the Lord's doing.
David can say that the Lord delights in him because he delights in the Lord, even though he makes mistakes from time to time in his earthly weakness. David can say that the Lord looks upon him as if he is righteous, for the Lord has imputed righteousness to him in exchange for his faith. You and I have had the Lord's righteousness imputed to us as well, for we have placed our faith in the atoning death of His Son whose blood cleanses us from our sins. Our righteousness is not our own and when God the Father looks upon those who are saved by faith, He sees the righteousness of His Son. He accepts our prayer of repentance for the sake of Christ. He has mercy on us and forgives us for the sake of Christ. He accepts us as His children, in whom He delights, for the sake of Christ.
David lived many centuries before Christ but he believed the Redeemer was coming. He understood that the sacrifices of the Old Testament were somehow symbolic of the great atoning sacrifice that was to come. He didn't know when or how the Lord was going to fulfill His plan of redemption for mankind but he trusted that the Lord would bring it to pass. He trusted in the Lord's mercy and love toward the people He created, and on the basis of that mercy and love he appealed to the Lord for forgiveness of sins, believing that the Lord would accept his prayer and grant him the mercy he asked for. This is why David can make the statement that the Lord delights in him as a father delights in his child. This is why David can claim the Lord sees righteousness when He looks at him. This is why David says he is clean in the Lord's eyes---not because he's made himself clean by his own efforts but because a perfect and holy God has imputed righteousness to him for his faith.
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