“Really?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, August 29, 2024
Psalm 18: 20-50 (Forward, p. 31) CEV p. 564
This second section of the psalm begins with some assertions by David that seem almost unbelievable, certainly things that could never be said of him later in life. They suggest that he is entirely praise-worthy, entirely honourable, and good repute and conduct:
“You are good to me, Lord, because I do right, and you reward me because I am innocent” (verse 20).
“I do what you want and never turn to do evil” (verse 21).
“I keep your laws in mind and never look away from your teachings” (verse 22).
“I obey you completely and guard against sin” (verse 23).
“You have been good to me because I do right; you have rewarded me for being innocent by your standards” (verse 24).
And so, it goes. It is, to my way of thinking at least, the idea that God has blessed him, rewarded him, for ‘being such a good fellow.’ To me, that kind of thinking, a thinking that God owes us something because we are good or righteous, is especially suspect or questionable. It leaves out totally any concept of the mercy of God.
However, having said all this, such an attitude or resolve on David’s part is entirely laudable—and certainly worthy of imitation. To always keep God’s laws in mind and obey God completely are two things that we should all strive for. It is too bad—quite tragic in fact, that David fell so far from this ideal, this resolve.
There is, a couple of other things that I cannot leave this psalm without mentioning. The first is the bloodthirstiness, the ferocious warfare, that David mentions. Victory over his enemies, subjugation of foreign nations and peoples, and worse—wholesale slaughter, are what David glories in. And, supposedly, secondly, it is entirely due to the intervention of God. This makes some of the wars, past and present, conducted in the name of religion or righteousness or national security, sound positively tame.
So, what are we to make of this psalm? On the one hand, I, for one, would laud David’s intention to live righteously. We would do well to imitate him in this. And, on the other hand, I would never want to maintain that God’s help was something that I ‘had coming’ because I am ‘such a fine fellow.’
And certainly, I would not see such vicious retribution, such reprisals, as we see in David as being God’s will. These last two points are ones that many on the more extreme right side of the political or religious spectrum would do well to take note of.
Forward notes: “You will save a lowly people, but you will humble the haughty eyes” (verse 27).
“Humility is the state of being humble or modest. As an adjective, humble can mean to be low in importance or status, insignificant, inferior, or submissive. And as a verb, humble refers to the lowering of pride or arrogance. So, humble people are saved, but God humbles the haughty.
“In recent years, I have devoted myself to learning a second language. At first, I viewed this as a valuable skill to help me in my work. It seemed like something God should bless. I had some early success, and I started to feel confident—and a bit proud—of my ability. Worse, my goal of improving my Spanish became the primary objective of volunteering to work with Spanish speakers. So, of course, I stumbled. I repeatedly made beginner mistakes and was humbled. I have since learned to examine my motives and continue to work on keeping my pride in check. I am aware that pride interferes with growth and blemishes God’s gifts. It seems I am destined always to be the practitioner, never the master.”
Moving Forward: “What abilities do you take pride in? Should you re-examine how pride separates you from God and God’s will for you?”
A concluding note: It is somewhat ironic that David maintains ‘how good he is’ (verses 20-24) and yet speaks of how God puts down the proud but saves or rescues the humble.