July 13, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"Blameworthy from the Blameless"
Psalm 26:1
New International Version
1 Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
It's possible, of course, that David might have written this particular song prior to the events surrounding Bathsheba and long before the offensive census. Even so, is it not the height of presumption for anyone to claim being blameless? Yet this is the same David who talked about his sins being ever before him. So David's claim to be blameless makes no sense...unless, perhaps, byway of relative comparison with his enemies. Compared with their wickedness, he was as pure as a newborn infant! While it may be true that he was “a man of blood," unlike his enemies he was not bloodthirsty! Despite his great sins, David had an extraordinary love for God's truth, a fervent desire to serve the Lord, and an unabashed passion for worship. As we think about our own sins, there is danger in making self-serving comparisons with those who may be even greater sinners, as if we could rationalize our "less-serious" sins. On the other hand, because we and they are all sinners, there must be some critical factor separating the righteous from the unrighteous, the “blameworthy" from the "blameless." If that factor isn't a sinner's heart for God like David's, what is?
The question for all of us is: Do I minimize my sins by comparing them with others, or am I reminded of just how much all of us need God's saving grace?
