"Made My Way Blameless.”

“The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.” (Psalm 18:32 ESV)

Having been delivered from a mass of enemies and the sins of Saul, David wrote this Psalm glorifying God for providing him strength. I find it interesting that David also wrote that God made his way blameless.

This is the Old Testament and there are only prophecies and shadows of the coming Messiah. However, we know that God had “set aside” the sins of David. In his adult life there was murder and adultery which should have caused his life to be taken, yet it was not.

When we look at our own sins, when we are aware of God and the significance and depth of our depravity, we can feel like we should also be taken by God, punished for our sins. However, you are not the first and will not be the last to commit those sins even if they are egregious before God. Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1Corinthians 10:13)  Paul would know. Before he came to Christ, as Saul, Paul oversaw the murders of countless Christians.

David was not alone in sin before God. There was Abraham who lied about His wife and doubted God. Noah who was naked and drunk passed out after the flood receded. It would be easy to think God “swept these sins under the rug.” Yet our God is a just God and sins do not go unpunished. This is the reason Christ came in the incarnation. So, how were these great sins paid for before a just God?

Well, the answer is found in Romans 3 where Paul writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-26). God did not sweep away these prior sins of the Old Testament. In His patience, or “Forbearance”, He passed the over these sins knowing His plan of redemption was in play, active, and moving forward as foretold in the Old Testament writings.

Why did God need to show He was just and the justifier. We find the truth in Psalms 5:5, God wrote through David, “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” Those who say God hates the sin, not the sinner are wrong as we are told in this Psalm, God hates all evil doers. Looking further, we find this in Proverbs 17:15, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.” So then, if God hates all evil doers and justifies them in salvation, how can God justify the wicked and not be an abomination? How can He be just and the justifier? Pastor Paul Washer calls this the “divine dilemma.”

The propitiation of Christ, the act that satisfied the wrath of God against sin, paid for all sins, past, present, and future. In this act the sins of those prior, Abraham, Noah, David, and so on, were paid for to show the righteousness of God. To show that He was not only just, but the justifier. In His death and resurrection Christ paid for all sin and imputes His righteousness, gives it as a gift, to all who believe in Him.

We are dead in our sins and trespasses, unable to respond to God, We have a credit account given to us by God’s forbearance full of our sin we must pay for when God calls us from this world. If you know Christ as your Savior, that sin debt is paid in full, borne by the shed blood of Christ on the cross. If you do not and refuse to come to Him, you will pay that sin debit through and eternity in hell. Harsh and blunt words, but they are true and sugar coating them only leads people to that pit.

How much sin is in your ledger. It grows every day and will not stop without the intervention of the Lord our Savior Christ Jesus. Will you not come to Him today? Ask for faith, believe and find forgiveness. It is the only way to avoid what Christ describes “to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’(Mark 9:48)

Seek Christ and find hope, forgiveness and redemption.

Grace and Peace.