No Matter Our Imperfections

A friend of mine has the sweetest little boy, let's call him Mr. K.  He is super adorable and so funny.  And he loves his Uncle so very much, in fact, 'Unke' is his best friend.  The funny thing is, 'Unke' doesn't let Mr. K get away with anything, he keeps him in line.  If Mr. K misbehaves, 'Unke' puts a stop to it.  I was just witness to one of these moments.  Mr. K left in tears, genuinely upset that 'Unke' had been mean.  But when we asked him who his best friend was, he instantly replied "Unke" and crawled right back up into his uncles lap.  He knew that even though he had misbehaved and 'Unke' had to correct him, 'Unke' still loved him and was still his best friend.  :)

Psalm 26:1-2

1 [Judge] me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity,
And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.

When I first read this I thought, "Wow, that was bold.  I could never go before the Lord that way.  No one goes before the Lord that way."  And then I wrote in my notes, "It makes you wonder if we are doing it all wrong."

All the commentaries I use agree that David wrote this Psalm when he was exiled because of King Saul.  False accusations were running rampant.  David's name was being slandered left and right.  The only thing he could do was turn to God, the one and only who could know the truth about David's everything - "It is a comfort to those falsely accused that there is a righteous God, who, sooner or later, will clear up their innocency" (Henry).


You see, David was not being self-righteous.  He is far from being 'religious' (and therefore arrogant and prideful of his works) here.  Instead, he is harnessing the child-like humility that we are called to acquire (Matt. 8:3-4).  He knows that perfection is not what he needs to be judged righteously, that what truly matters is his heart.  He asks of the Lord, "Test my mind and my heart," he never mentions actions.  Yes, we automatically think 'thoughts' when we read mind, but 'mind' is actually translated from the Hebrew word for "kidneys," which back then represented "a seat of emotion or affection" (Strong's H3629).  David wasn't asking God to test his thoughts, He was asking God to test his affections.  He knew his affections lay in the right place, in Christ rather than the material items of the world. Like little Mr. K in the presence of his 'Unke,' David knew that no matter his imperfections, he still stood just and loved in the presence of the Lord.  

Sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes we really mess things up.  But as long as we are confident that our heart and affections belong to the Lord, we can come to Him boldly and confidently as David did...as a matter of fact, maybe we should...

 

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