Psalm 17:1-7
About a decade ago my in-laws from Massachusetts were visiting and came to church with us. They’re Roman Catholic but always came to Southwood when visiting Lincoln. It happened to be Lent, and Southwood invited each attendee to write down a sin on a slip of paper and put it in a bowl near the altar to be burned on Easter Sunday. Our family walked up to drop our sin-laden slips into the bowl, but my mother-in-law, Maureen, stayed behind, still holding her slip of paper. My wife said, “Mom, why didn’t you put your slip in the bowl?” Maureen replied, “I couldn’t think of anything.”
We ribbed her mercilessly about being the only one in the whole congregation who was sinless and, in the process, probably accumulated more sins to put in the bowl the following week.
When my mother-in-law passed away a few months ago, I thought more about her faith and that moment of “sinlessness.” Of course she never would have considered herself perpetually sinless, but Maureen certainly did have a quiet, confident faith that I admire and that I sometimes struggle to understand.
David’s confident faith is even more astonishing in Psalm 17:
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
2 From you let my vindication come;
let your eyes see the right.
3 If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;
my mouth does not transgress.
4 As for what others do, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand. Psalm 17:1-7 (NRSVUE)
At first glance, these verses sound almost arrogant. After alI, how many of us can proclaim this kind of purity of word and deed? When we read elsewhere about David’s many moral failings, we find his confidence even more startling. Yet David’s proclamation suggests that it is God who will make him pure. In verse six he seems to say, “I know who you are and have absolute faith in your steadfastness.”
I struggle to relate to David’s confidence because I am a doubter. My faith and my doubt walk side by side, elbowing each other in the ribs as they go. My self-righteousness and my guilt have a similarly contentious relationship.
I suspect, however, that there is a faith—in David and my mother-in-law--rooted in the brash assurance of redemption: a faith that proclaims, “If God has declared me redeemed, who am I to argue?”
Questions for Reflection:
- Does faith feel like a daily choice over doubt or a comfortable, constant assurance?
- What do you take away from the story of David, a man who fails in so many ways while still speaking with such beautiful confidence that God will protect and guide him?
Prayer:
Steadfast Lord, remind us that faith is a gift offered without limit, and let that knowledge give us the confidence to do your work in the world. Amen.
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