“For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments [were] before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.” (Ps 18:21-23 AV)
We have to be careful we don’t create a standard that cannot be met. The statement above is a pretty definitive statement. If we are not careful, we might assume David never sinned in his life. The verses above explain why God brought mercy. God delivered David because David lived in the ways of the LORD. This was not the only reason. God made a covenant with David. That was the strongest reason. However, for the sake of the passage, the reason God delivered David was his consistent, godly life. If we read without remembering David’s history, we might assume David was perfect in all his ways. However, the Bible tells us of several of David’s missteps along the way. Occasioning the death of all the priests save one at Nob comes to mind. The fact he took multiple wives is another. David also fled to the enemy of God for sanctuary. All the while David fled, he never went to church nor is it recorded that he offered sacrifice in lieu of his absence. If we looked deeper into David’s life, we can find he was not perfect in all his ways if by that we mean he never sinned. This is not what David is claiming. What David is saying is even though he may have faltered and fell into sin, as a pattern of life, he sought to obey the LORD. Most of all, he never put away from himself the word of God. Even though he fell into sin from time to time, he did not refuse the word of God. He got right as the word of God would require and lived to strive after righteousness one more day.
In my generation and home state, we were required to learn a foreign language in order to graduation from High School. Two years of a foreign language was on the books. One had to take two years of a language which one didn’t know. My school offered Spanish, German, and French. Seeing as it was required to graduate, most students started in their freshman year. That way, if they struggled, they had for years to complete a two-year requirement. It started out ok. But learning a foreign language when English stumps you is not exactly a walk in the park. Trying to understand the rules of a language when you don’t understand the rules of your own is a herculean task. Learning a foreign language and speaking one conversationally are two different things. The first gives no grace. Either it is right or wrong. The latter does show mercy. The goal of communication is far more important than the specific rules that govern speaking that language. If both speaker and hearer can convey thoughts and ideas, technicalities are overlooked and the goal of having a conversation is greater. This doesn’t mean learning and growing in that foreign language ceases just because a simple thought was exchanged. Having helped many who do not speak English as their first language, our propensity is to correct the error. Translation becomes a natural thing we do. We forgive mistakes and correct them. What we do not do is turn up our nose because the structure of a sentence or the pronunciation was not perfect. BTW, I flunked first year French, and the law was changed the summer following my freshman year! Praise God! There is a God in heaven.
When it comes to God’s mercy, it works the same. Yes, the LORD does require of us perfection. He requires us to be transformed into the image of Christ. What that doesn’t mean is God refuses to show us mercy and favor if we fail. In fact, if we were sinlessly perfect, there would be no need for mercy. Sometimes, we place a standard on ourselves that is so high that we lose any hope of the mercy which God desires to show. We expect to never fail and if we do, we seek God’s mercy by trying to earn it rather than simply accepting it. David was no angel. Neither are we. It matters not how externally righteous we may appear. Internally, we are still fighting the old man. We are still fighting emotions, dispositions, attitudes, or thoughts that are an offense to God. David made some very wrong choices. The Bible tells us he was a man after God’s own heart. Not because he was sinless. Rather, when he did fail, he trusted in the mercy and deliverance of God rather than any external conformity to God’s law. What David did do was no matter how much he may have fallen, he never put the word of God out of his life. He never got to where disobedience resulted in permanently staying that way. This is the spirit which God expects. This is the motivation God seeks. He demands perfection. But when we are not, He forgives and expects us to strive again.
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