11:7 - Okay...if God is the embodiment of righteousness...and He loves righteousness in His people...why would I not seek to live a righteous life? Am I going to be perfect? No. But I can fight and claw and scratch every day to give my life as an offering to God. I will not attain righteousness, but I can seek it - it is the least I can do to honor the sacrifice of Christ that truly does bring me righteousness.
12:3 and 6 - I find the comparison of these verses very interesting. People with lying lips and boastful tongues are living in total opposition to the person of God. God speaks only pure, powerful, truth. It is never good to be on the opposite end of the spectrum away from God!
13:1 and 5 - Here are another set of verses that compliment one another. At the beginning of the psalm Davis questions why it seems that God is absent from his life, but he knows the character of God and chooses at the end of the psalm to trust in His unfailing love. Too often people (myself included) turn away from God when they feel disconnected, which makes little sense because these are the times when we most need Him.
Chapter 15 - I preached on this a couple months back. David asks and answers his own question. He says, "Who are the people that will be able to rest in the presence of God?" The people who seek wholeness (i.e. having a oneness in their lives that centers on honoring God wherever they are)...the truthful...those who speak honorably...those who are generous and kind. People who live out these kind of values in an effort to live their lives as worship, will never be moved from the presence of God.
16:1-2 - David understands the bottom line...he says, "There is nothing good in my life apart from what God has put there." He knows that ALL good things come from God. God is good...goodness comes from God...we have nothing to brag and boast about other than the fact that we have an awesome creator God.
17:4 - This made me sit back and say, "Huh?" David the battle king has the audacity to say that he avoided the ways of the violent? The man that was unable to build the temple because of all the blood on his hands? What is going on here? Well, as I think about it, during the early part of David's life (When this psalm was probably written), David really did try to avoid violence. He was not a violent man, he just fought to protect sheep and people. When David was being pursued by Saul, he did everything he could to bring about a peaceful solution to the problem. So okay, I'll buy it David for that part of your life.
17:14-15 - True satisfaction can only be found in God. David sees men around him who only seek material gain int he world...yet he also sees that this wealth does nothing for the men. It serves only to be handed over to their kids when they die - it is truly meaningless. David just wants to be with God and he knows that one day he will awake in the presence of the Lord and he will finally understand the meaning of satisfaction.
18:24 - This kind of talk seems very foreign to our current day Christian ears. We like to talk about how messed up we are and would never utter words like these from our mouths. David claims he is being rewarded by God for his own righteousness? That's bold. But we have to understand that they had a different understanding of how God worked, and David truly did act honorably in regards to the situation with crazy king Saul. He honored God...he showed respect to a king that was vile and evil...he refused to do violence against the king...and when the situation was resolved, David sees it as God honoring his choice to seek peace. Do you want to argue that logic?
18:46 - I grew up singing a good old hymnal praise song based on this passage. This is a beautiful and truth-filled verse. God is alive! God is an immovable presence int his universe and in my life! God is the bringing of salvation for all! That is a great verse!
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