Blessings from God
READ: Psalm 18:20-24
Everybody likes to receive a reward. For little kids, a reward may come in the form of a cookie for a small task done well, or the prize in the bottom of the box of cereal. For teens, it may be scholarships because of good grades, metals for athletic performance, certificates for participation and achievement, and ribbons for projects and papers. Yes, everybody likes getting awards, for it celebrates their accomplishment and fills them with joy.
In these verses from Psalm 18, David states that the LORD has rewarded him according to his righteousness. Certainly David was a sinner, just like you and me (just read the account of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband). The righteousness that leads to salvation comes from our Savior Jesus alone through faith in his perfect life and death in our place and his resurrection to eternal life. So what righteousness could David claim?
Recall when Psalm 18 was written…it was after God had delivered David from many enemies, particularly the evil hand of the King of Israel, his own father-in-law, Saul. Saul hated David, because the LORD was with David and no longer looked with favor on Saul. Saul spent a great deal of time and effort in hunting David down. Twice during those hunts, it is recorded that David had the upper hand on Saul, but refrained from killing him, or even harming him (see 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26). David was practicing and setting an excellent example of what Jesus preached hundreds of years later to his disciples in Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
As David had been shown mercy by God, so David practiced mercy with his enemy Saul. David’s actions did not save him from the guilt and punishment due his sins (Jesus saved David through faith), but David’s righteous actions motivated by love for God and for Saul did not go unnoticed by God. God promises that when his children follow his will, he will bless them. It's not a blessing that is earned, but that is granted by God's loving grace and promise. And that promise is for us, too. When we follow God’s will, he will bless us.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: How does the promise of God’s blessings make it easier for us to follow his will? Have you ever been blessed but didn’t realize or recognize it until months or even years later? Does God promise to bless us the way we want, or the way we need?
THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT: Thank God for sending his Son Jesus to pay for all your sins, and for giving you His Spirit to guide and direct your actions. Thank God for the opportunities he gives you to serve him, and for the blessings he gives you. Ask God for the strength to follow his will joyfully and willingly.