Is Anyone Good Enough?

Verses 20-30 are the reason why I wanted to delve into Psalm 18 in the first place. These verses confuse and challenge me. The text asserts God has saved David from all of his enemies because David is righteous. The reason this challenges me is because I know all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We’re all broken messed up people dealing with emotional baggage of one form or another which is a direct result of our own sinfulness. People can blame Adam and Eve all they like, but let’s not give the first couple too much credit. We mess up plenty on our own. Then we come to verses like these when David says God saved me because I am so good. Perhaps David should have read Job. This Psalm is very different from Psalms David writes after Nathan calls David out for sleeping with Bathsheba and having her husband killed. In those Psalms David seems to realize the sin we all carry. As I read this text it gives me insight into the mind of David. David started out as a righteous guerilla fighter. When you read 1st and 2nd Samuel it feels like David doesn’t pick his nose without asking God first. However, when David becomes king and sets up his kingdom in Jerusalem we see a change. David is no longer going to the Lord in person. David begins acting like other kings and relying on prophets to talk to, and receive messages from God. This Psalm seems to lie right at the beginning of that transition. David thinks very highly of himself, and perhaps this is the start of the fall of Israel as a nation.  Pride has been the death nail of so many wonderful and God given projects. It was in David’s pride he walked into sin with Bathsheba. Pride is dangerous. It can cloud our vision to the dangers around us, and we so easily walk into a ditch without ever seeing its edge. We are left wondering how did I ever end up sitting here in the mud. No one is good enough to deserve the grace God pours out on all of us. No one is worthy of salvation. That is why God’s grace and salvation are such precious gifts.