In The Presence of Perfection

“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” (Ps 17:15 AV)

What a verse!  David’s heart is on full display.  He loves the LORD so much that the one thing he desires most is to be in the presence of his holy and righteous God.  In particular, it is the quality of His holiness and righteousness that David desires the most.  God is many things.  He is all-knowing.  He is all-powerful.  He is benevolent and merciful.  Our God is full of grace and truth.  The LORD is patient and kind.  He is immutable.  Our God is the Creator with a sovereign plan.  He is just and the justifier of all those who come to Him.  God is many things.  But the one attribute which David desire the most, as expressed in this psalm, is the righteousness of God.  He looks forward to the day he meets his God face to face and the one attribute which he desires the most is absolute moral perfection.

There is no human comparison.  Even if we outwardly did everything right, our inward man still fails in motive and disposition.  We could never cross man or God, and we would still be imperfect.  We could follow the letter of the law and not offend our God our or fellow man and we would still fall short.  The dispositions of the heart may never come out, or our impure motive well hidden, and we would still be a disappointment to those who love righteousness.  All one has to do is drive anywhere in a major city and you will know yourself like you have never known yourself before.  All you would have to do is try to return something the day after Christmas, and the evil you will begin to rise from the depths of your soul.  When illness inconveniences you or pressures of life begin to pile up, all of a sudden you discover the darker side of your nature.  What is true of Self is true of everyone else.  This causes difficulties to arise between one another.  We second-guess motives.  We experience our spirit of discernment to find fault with one another.  Because sin and mankind are synonymous,  we have no understanding of a perfectly moral and righteous Being.

This is the reason David desires the presence of God as he does.  He has had a lot of disappointments in his life.  Being king comes with its cost. Being king often means being alone.  There are not too many he can call friends.  Those who would be friendly do so with an angle.  His own family disappointed him.  His wife left him, his best friend betrayed him, and his sons rebelled against him.  Heads of state stabbed him in the back and even his own nation turned on him.  To say David experiences disappointment would be an understatement.  No wonder he desires the company of almighty God.  He seeks the presence and fellowship of someone who can never disappoint.  There would be no question as to motive, demeanor, or actions.  Our righteous God awaits the company of His saints so that He might show Himself as He is.  A righteous Creator who loves us in ways we can never understand.