The Prayer of the Righteous

“All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;” (Ps 44:17-18 AV)

David predicates his prayers often on the established fact of his righteousness.  He was a man after God’s own heart.  A man who loved the law.  This didn’t mean David was a perfect man.  In fact, have failed miserably in several areas of life.  He was an adulterer, a murderer, and a liar.  The difference between David and Saul, however, was his respect for the law in that when he failed, he followed the law to make things right.

We have no righteousness.  Our righteousness is in Christ!  Every time I read of David’s defense of his own righteousness, I know that I cannot make those same claims.  That is, in my own righteousness.  What we can do is make our plea in the righteousness of Christ.

The doctrine of imputation means that the Father took our sin and placed in on His Son at the cruel cross of Calvary.  In turn, He took the righteousness of Christ and placed in on us.  In essence, the act of God’s justice for the saint was to swap places of the sinner with His Son so that when He sees the sinner who has accepted that gift of salvation, what He sees is the righteousness of His own Son.

This doesn’t mean we should ignore the battle for practical righteousness.  In striving for godliness, we are striving not to prove ourselves, but rather, to please the Father who gave us His Son! I can ask forgiveness for all my shortcomings and sin, but I have no righteousness of which to claim.  My righteousness is not my own.  Praise the LORD!