Most people don’t like going to court. Standing before a judge can be intimidating. Even in a system where the rule of law is the standard, sometimes you just don’t know what will happen. Guilty people get off on a technicality, and the innocent (at least of that crime) get put away. And it can be hard to know the outcome before the verdict is read. We know this because of the late breaking news reports of verdicts. People stand outside the courtroom waiting to hear the outcome. It is often not easy to figure out which way a jury will vote.
The truth is that we all are guilty, that we all deserve hard time. Some of us deserve it more than others. And King David was no exception. Even leaders, great leaders, are not perfect. We all have chinks in our armor. We all have the feet of clay of the book of Daniel.
David faces what he sees as injustice happening and he is receiving the negative results of the injustice. He seeks a judgment. He wants the gavel to fall. He wants those who are opposing him to be brought down to size.
David’s fear is that he will be torn to pieces. I am not sure if he feels this literal threat, or if he is just driven by his fear to express this to the LORD. Fear can be a powerful force. People do all sorts of strange things when driven by fear. I can only imagine feeling like someone was going to tear me apart. The horror of the Muslim videos of executions brings this fear to the surface. “We could be next,” the person driven by fear responds.
So David makes his case, or at least he wants to make his case, before the court of heaven. He wants the Lord to examine his conduct. From David’s perspective, he doesn’t deserve the feared action. From his angle, he has not done anything that deserves this.
David hasn’t repaid evil for kindness. He hasn’t tipped the scale in his favor. He hasn’t done evil to someone on his side, and he hasn’t been unjust with his enemies. So if you were a friend of David you knew David wouldn’t take advantage of that friendship. And if you were his enemy you knew David would be fair in his dealings. That is a quality that is needed in a friend and leader. He was fair in all circumstances and to all people.
Would you be bold enough to offer the LORD what David offered? Would you want the LORD to allow your enemies to have their way with you if you were found guilty? This is what David offers. If he is guilty, then he tells the LORD to let the enemy come.
But David has a confidence. He has examined his life. He knows his heart, at least as well as it is humanly possible to know. And so he lays it before the LORD for examination and confirmation. If he is found to be in the right, he wants the LORD to give the verdict and punish his oppressors. He doesn’t want any more delay.
What makes this so hard for us is that we either don’t examine our hearts, or we do and we know we wouldn’t be able to make these statements. We don’t really want justice, because our own guilt would be laid bare. So we not only do evil ourselves, but we end up condoning others who do it. We end up not point our finger at any sin because we are afraid others might come to discover our sin. So we become silent about sin.
But unless we are honest about sin, we can’t be honest about our need for grace. Jesus, the perfect sinless man was punished for our guilt. If we accept that payment, our guilt no longer is part of the judgment equation. If we confess our sin, the guilt that we have carried is reckoned as being Jesus’. And since He rose demonstrating victory over the grave, we have no fear of judgment. What a relief!
The Arnold Journey 