Psalm 18 Sermon PART 3A — The Righteousness Question

religious spoken word, Anglican sermon, spoken-word liturgy (baritone, RP English)

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[SECTION FIVE — The Difficult Middle]
[Cello note sustained]
[Preacher — careful, measured]

We come now to what is, 
for many modern readers, 
the most difficult passage in the psalm.

The Lord rewarded me 
according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands 
hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord, 
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his judgments were before me, 
and I did not put away his statutes from me.

David is claiming, in effect, 
that his deliverance came as reward 
for his righteousness.
He kept God's ways.
His hands were clean.
He did not depart from God.
Therefore God rewarded him.

This passage troubles many Christian readers,
and I think it is worth taking the trouble seriously.

It troubles us 
because we have been formed by Paul 
to think of righteousness 
as something we do not have on our own.
We are sinners.
We are saved by grace, not by works.
We do not earn God's favor 
through our moral performance.
And then here is David 
apparently claiming the opposite.

But I want to suggest 
that we are reading the passage wrongly 
when it troubles us this way.

The Hebrew word for righteousness here is tsedeq.
And tsedeq, throughout the Hebrew Bible,
does not primarily mean 
moral perfection in the abstract sense.
It means covenant faithfulness.
It means being rightly aligned 
with the relationship 
that God has established with you.

David is not claiming sinless perfection.
He had committed some of the most public sins 
in the entire Old Testament — 
adultery, murder, the catastrophic census, 
the failures of his fathering.
He is not pretending these did not happen.

What he is claiming 
is that within the covenantal relationship 
that God established between himself and David,
he had remained essentially faithful.
He had not gone after other gods.
He had not abandoned the worship of the Lord.
He had repented when confronted with sin.
He had kept the relationship intact 
even when he had failed within it.

This is not the same thing as moral perfection.
It is covenant faithfulness, 
which is something quite different.

[SECTION SIX — Reading This Christologically]
[Cello note steady]
[Preacher — engaged, building]

Now here is where the Christian reading does something interesting.

The deepest application of these verses 
is not finally about David at all.
It is about David's greater Son.

When the New Testament writers read this psalm,
they hear David's claim to covenantal faithfulness 
as ultimately fulfilled 
in Christ.
For only Christ kept the ways of the Lord 
without any departure.
Only Christ's hands were finally clean 
in the absolute sense.
Only Christ embodied perfectly 
what the covenantal relationship required.

And so when Christ rose from the dead,
this was the ultimate fulfillment 
of Psalm eighteen.
The Father rewarded the Son 
according to the Son's righteousness.
The Son had kept the ways of the Father 
without departure.
The deliverance from death itself 
came as the vindication 
of the only one whose righteousness 
was absolute.

David glimpsed this from afar.
He felt his own deliverance 
as a kind of vindication 
of his covenantal faithfulness.
And he was right to feel that way 
within the covenant God had made with him.
But the New Testament reads David's claim 
as a small instance 
of a much larger pattern 
that finds its fulfillment in Christ.

The righteousness that delivers 
is finally Christ's righteousness.
And we, who have been baptized into Christ,
have been clothed in that righteousness 
in a way that covers our actual moral failures.
We pray Psalm eighteen 
not on the basis of our own righteousness 
but on the basis of his.

This is, I think, 
how the Church has always read this psalm 
at its best.
Not as triumphalist self-congratulation,
but as the testimony 
that within the covenant 
God's faithfulness produces our faithfulness,
and ultimately is fulfilled in the absolute faithfulness 
of the one who is both David's son and David's Lord.

[end]

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[intro] [British Scholarly-Pastoral Anglican Sermon] [Mid-sized Anglican parish church acoustic] [Single sustained low cello note] [Faint church ambient] [Preacher — continuing, scholarly engagement] [SECTION FIVE — The Difficult Middle] [Cello note sustained] [Preacher — careful, measured] We come now to what is, for many modern readers, the most difficult passage in the psalm. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. David is claiming, in effect, that his deliverance came as reward for his righteousness. He kept God's ways. His hands were clean. He did not depart from God. Therefore God rewarded him. This passage troubles many Christian readers, and I think it is worth taking the trouble seriously. It troubles us because we have been formed by Paul to think of righteousness as something we do not have on our own. We are sinners. We are saved by grace, not by works. We do not earn God's favor through our moral performance. And then here is David apparently claiming the opposite. But I want to suggest that we are reading the passage wrongly when it troubles us this way. The Hebrew word for righteousness here is tsedeq. And tsedeq, throughout the Hebrew Bible, does not primarily mean moral perfection in the abstract sense. It means covenant faithfulness. It means being rightly aligned with the relationship that God has established with you. David is not claiming sinless perfection. He had committed some of the most public sins in the entire Old Testament — adultery, murder, the catastrophic census, the failures of his fathering. He is not pretending these did not happen. What he is claiming is that within the covenantal relationship that God established between himself and David, he had remained essentially faithful. He had not gone after other gods. He had not abandoned the worship of the Lord. He had repented when confronted with sin. He had kept the relationship intact even when he had failed within it. This is not the same thing as moral perfection. It is covenant faithfulness, which is something quite different. [SECTION SIX — Reading This Christologically] [Cello note steady] [Preacher — engaged, building] Now here is where the Christian reading does something interesting. The deepest application of these verses is not finally about David at all. It is about David's greater Son. When the New Testament writers read this psalm, they hear David's claim to covenantal faithfulness as ultimately fulfilled in Christ. For only Christ kept the ways of the Lord without any departure. Only Christ's hands were finally clean in the absolute sense. Only Christ embodied perfectly what the covenantal relationship required. And so when Christ rose from the dead, this was the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm eighteen. The Father rewarded the Son according to the Son's righteousness. The Son had kept the ways of the Father without departure. The deliverance from death itself came as the vindication of the only one whose righteousness was absolute. David glimpsed this from afar. He felt his own deliverance as a kind of vindication of his covenantal faithfulness. And he was right to feel that way within the covenant God had made with him. But the New Testament reads David's claim as a small instance of a much larger pattern that finds its fulfillment in Christ. The righteousness that delivers is finally Christ's righteousness. And we, who have been baptized into Christ, have been clothed in that righteousness in a way that covers our actual moral failures. We pray Psalm eighteen not on the basis of our own righteousness but on the basis of his. This is, I think, how the Church has always read this psalm at its best. Not as triumphalist self-congratulation, but as the testimony that within the covenant God's faithfulness produces our faithfulness, and ultimately is fulfilled in the absolute faithfulness of the one who is both David's son and David's Lord. [end]

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