Adulterer, murderer, RIGHTEOUS!

Psalms 71:21
Thou dost increase my greatness, And Thou surroundest -- Thou comfortest me.

Of all the things we talk about in David’s life, his adulterous relationship, his plot to murder, all of his sinful ways, we seem to overlook this one thing: his confidence in God’s righteous salvation. As I’ve read through the Psalms I’ve learned that David’s security in his relationship with God never came from his prayers for forgiveness, his sacrifices on the altar, or his bruised knees. Those things were all responses to David’s heart knowledge that through God’s righteousness, not his own, he would be saved.

I find this very interesting because David was born and reigned during a time of Law, before the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, yet somehow he had a confidence in, and knowledge of, God’s grace. How could this be? Considering the fact that David lived in a pre-Christ world, how could he possibly know about grace? Moreover, how could he possibly come to the strong and unbreakable relationship he had with God despite all of the wicked things that he did, knowing full well that he violated God’s perfect Law?

The answer to these questions is a lot easier than you may think. What made David the man he was, what gave him the confidence in his status with God, was his constant self-reminding attitude that everything he was and was to become was done because of God’s righteousness, not his own. He understood that God still loved him and wasn’t holding a grudge. David was a pre-Christ Christian!

How often does he speak of God’s righteousness? Well, I count five times in Psalm 71 alone (NKJV). David mentioned God’s righteousness (“Your righteousness”) in 21% of the verses in this one Psalm alone. If you include phrases like “Your Salvation, Your faithfulness, my rock, hope, refuge...” that brings the total up even higher. David had a right understanding of who God was and how He was restoring him, and he determined to proclaim it every chance he had.

How much greater an understanding of salvation should we have than David? He was a man who understood that everything that he had ever done was washed clean, not by works, prayers, deeds, or sacrifices, but by God’s righteousness and His righteousness alone. We who live today have the knowledge and the testimony of the New Testament Word of Truth that Jesus Christ became our sin and imparted His righteousness to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). We should be able to walk confidently, speak boldly, and proclaim unashamedly that we are righteous because He [Jesus] has made us righteous.

Because David had the confidence that it was God’s righteousness working in his life, he also had the confidence to speak bold promises and blessings into his life. David continually, because of his assurance in standing with God, made “You shall” statements about what God was going to do and was doing in his life. It wasn’t arrogance and it wasn’t pride that allowed David to boldly speak blessings into his life. It was his confident expectation of good and salvation that allowed him to say what he said.

Today, because of the righteousness of Christ that has been given to us through the cross, we also have the right to the same hope that David had. We have the confident expectation of good and salvation that can only be found in the risen Savior. We have the knowledge that God is providing, and will continue to provide, blessings in our lives. We have the peace that our sins are washed away, never remembered (past, present, and future), not because of our good works, but because of Christ’s perfect work! We have the right, through Christ, to proclaim good in our lives, to receive the blessings of the kingdom, being joint heirs with the King (Romans 8:17)! We have the right to health, prosperity, and good because Christ is all of those things and as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17)!