I am always a little surprised at how frankly David speaks with his God. Turn, O Lord, deliver my life. Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who will give you praise? (vs. 4-5) David seems to be trying to picture a corpse rising up in the congregation of the saints to extol the greatness of God. That would certainly turn heads at the next funeral, but we all know the dead, in their uninhabited bodies, do not speak. It is this logic David uses with God. If You allow me to die now, I cannot praise You for the answer You could give me if You saved me. I could not say to everyone: "Look at how great is my God's loving kindness toward me!" So, don't save me because I deserve it - save me because Your steadfast love is beyond describing.
Perhaps David caused his own misery. Maybe his own sin put him in the position of needing a savior. Can God be counted upon to rescue us even when we don't deserve it? Think about it. Here is a better question: Do we ever deserve it ? Even if in this particular instance David was guilty of a specific sin, there were times in his past that he was imperfect and yet unpunished. God does not always save us from the ramifications of our terrible choices, but His love always causes His heart to open to the voice of a repentant child, restoring us to our relationship with Him.
The absolutely breathtaking thing about our God is that He does not exact perfection from us before He loves and accepts us. This is counter to what many Christians have been brought up to believe and certainly counterintuitive to those who reject the message of Christ. It is that very love and acceptance that leads us to seek forgiveness and try to please the heart of our Father. Contrary to popular belief, God is not in His heaven eyeing the world for the opportunity to bomb the best sinner out of existence like a heavenly game of Angry Birds. He actually loves His creation and longs for the opportunity to rescue us from our own ways.
Consider this verse from Romans 5: ....but God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not cleaned up sinners. Just plain sinners. Not even looking for a Savior. God planned our salvation before we knew we needed it. That is how thrilling He is. Knowing we could not keep the commandments, He came to be the sacrifice whose blood covered all sins for all time. Perhaps, as Paul says in Romans 5, we would die for a good person. Christ died for the worst of us, too.
David is, of course, correct when he says we cannot open our mouths to praise Him as our casket hangs suspended over the open grave beneath. That is too late to let people on this earth know of the wonder of forgiveness. Today is a good day for that. While you have breath. Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! (Psalm 150)
Perhaps David caused his own misery. Maybe his own sin put him in the position of needing a savior. Can God be counted upon to rescue us even when we don't deserve it? Think about it. Here is a better question: Do we ever deserve it ? Even if in this particular instance David was guilty of a specific sin, there were times in his past that he was imperfect and yet unpunished. God does not always save us from the ramifications of our terrible choices, but His love always causes His heart to open to the voice of a repentant child, restoring us to our relationship with Him.
The absolutely breathtaking thing about our God is that He does not exact perfection from us before He loves and accepts us. This is counter to what many Christians have been brought up to believe and certainly counterintuitive to those who reject the message of Christ. It is that very love and acceptance that leads us to seek forgiveness and try to please the heart of our Father. Contrary to popular belief, God is not in His heaven eyeing the world for the opportunity to bomb the best sinner out of existence like a heavenly game of Angry Birds. He actually loves His creation and longs for the opportunity to rescue us from our own ways.
Consider this verse from Romans 5: ....but God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not cleaned up sinners. Just plain sinners. Not even looking for a Savior. God planned our salvation before we knew we needed it. That is how thrilling He is. Knowing we could not keep the commandments, He came to be the sacrifice whose blood covered all sins for all time. Perhaps, as Paul says in Romans 5, we would die for a good person. Christ died for the worst of us, too.
David is, of course, correct when he says we cannot open our mouths to praise Him as our casket hangs suspended over the open grave beneath. That is too late to let people on this earth know of the wonder of forgiveness. Today is a good day for that. While you have breath. Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! (Psalm 150)
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