Election night,
As I sit here listening with undulating concern for the outcome of the Presidential election I began to question my feelings that were, at moments, identifiably worried. I decided to take refuge in God's word; it just so happened that the next chapter in my trek though the entire Bible was II Samuel 22. This chapter is a praise written by King David telling of his gratitude to God for delivering victory in a major military action. Here is a sample:
"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge...I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies."
The passage goes on at length; David continuing the same vein that God is his rescue and salvation. Then the passage takes a very interesting turn; David begins to explain why God chose to save him from the hands of his enemies:
"...He rescued me, because He delighted in me. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 'For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not acted wickedly against my God. For all His ordinances were before me; and as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless toward Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before His eyes."
At first this passage startled me; even more than the bitter close election poles, I was not sure how to interpret David's words. It seems to me this passage is profound, and my comments are hardly enough to even touch the surface of the import within chapter 22, but here are my thoughts anyway. On the surface reading it quite clearly tells of the importance of following God's law. On a slightly closer reading one is struck by the reality of David's situation. Here is a man who prior to writing this passage had committed adultery with a married woman, and had her husband murdered. This fact cannot be overlooked, when reading David's words "I was also blameless towards him" for David certainly was not "blameless." So was David lying or mistaken? Certainly not, indeed is it not a fact that David as having faith in God was seen as blameless on account of the future work of Christ? Though he did not know of Christ, David trusted God and this faith, just as Abraham before him, was credited to him as righteousness.
But there is something more. It seems that a plain reading of the passage does lend itself to say that David's "good works" were a factor in God's delivering him. Just as one reads in the New Testament "blessed are the meek...blessed are the poor in spirit..." Indeed we as God's children are chosen for good works, and God does pleasure in blessing us even for those works that He planned in advance for us to do "for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2). What an amazing and gracious God we have! He not only saves us of out mere mercy, but he gives us blessings on account of the very "good works" that He prepared for us to do.
So what is the import? We need to strive every day, and every hour to do the will of God. Yes, those of us who are Christians are already saved (justified before God: seen as if we were morally perfect), but that should never allow us to get comfortable in regards to our thoughts and actions in this life. We need to strive diligently to do those things God would have us do: "...And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness...but present yourselves to God as instruments of righteousness."
David saw that he was blessed from doing what God desired, how much more will we be blessed for doing God's will out of gratitude for our salvation?
"Go and sin no more."
Suddenly the election doesn't seem as worrisome. But yet there is still a tie to the election; for just as David was blessed in his military endeavors on account of his faithfulness, so it reflects on our nation who is placed in power at the political level. A nation who follows God's law will be blessed, and those that do not will be destroyed (psalm 2). Christians need to take politics seriously because nations do reflect the values of its citizens. Issues like abortion, homosexuality, and homelessness are certainly grating God's patience. How long do we expect Him to hold back His wrath?
So I challenge all Christains to take a stand for God's law not only in everyday life, but also in the voting booth and beyond. For God is the God of faithfulness, and He will bless our faithfulness personally, through our family, and through our nation.
troubled, yet troubled no more,
sorrowful
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Email: stock_jeremy@hotmail.com