The Lord 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 wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me. (Psalm 18:20-21)

It might be overstating the obvious but, nevertheless, there is an inherent blessing in obedience to God. Whatever the instruction, whether it be a positive or negative command, there is a benefit. When we do what He instructs us to do, we will realize a reward — sometimes immediately, sometimes in the future. When we restrain ourselves and abstain from what He tells us is forbidden — i.e. we keep our hands clean — we will reap the benefits of saying “No” to self and “Yes” to God. Those benefits really come in handy when we find ourselves, like David, surrounded by enemies who seek our destruction.

On more than one occasion, David could have, very easily, ended the persecution he suffered at the hands of Saul by ending the king’s life but he restrained himself; he refused to take the life of God’s anointed. Saul, on the other hand, was continually making bad choices which led to even more bad choices demonstrating something Paul speaks of in Romans —  “lawlessness leading to more lawlessness” (Romans 6:19). In contrast, David was blessed with the ability to arrive at clear and upright decisions during his ordeal because he did not depart from God. As He said, “all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me.”

That is to say, regardless of his circumstance and the advice of others, David did not stray from what was right in the eyes of the Almighty. In certain situations, it seems to us that life could be made a lot simpler if we took matters into our own hands because, let’s face it, doing what is right is not always convenient. However, we must keep in mind that there is a reward for righteousness; there is a beneficial recompense for keeping our hands clean from the world’s corruption. We can overcome all obstacles and all temptations when we keep His Word before us; we will be victorious if we keep our gaze fixed on our Master.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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