Because I Deserve It
Psalm 18
God, you should answer my prayer because I deserve it!
Would you ever be so bold, or foolish, to pray like this?
One of the many reasons I practice the spiritual discipline of praying the psalms is to learn how to pray. The psalms challenge me to practice thanksgiving and praise in addition to petition. They teach me how to pray in times of suffering, how to focus on the beauty and greatness of God instead of my problems. They teach me how to pour out my heart to the Lord as I wait upon Him to act in His time and in His wisdom.
And they often remind me that Jesus was, is, and will be the final answer to almost everything I am praying for. Sometimes, that shows up in the strangest of places.
Psalm 18 is a long prayer from David after God delivered him from the hand of Saul. If this were a modern hymn, it would have six verses.
Verse 1 would praise God for being our rock, fortress, the One worthy of our praise (18.1-2).
The second verse would articulate his distress, how the cords of death encompassed him (18.3-6).
The third verse, though often skipped in modern hymn singing, is the triumphant verse. It describes in detail how God stepped into the battle and delivered him. This verse would use phrases like “He bowed the heavens and came down” and “He flashed forth lightnings and routed them” (18.7-19).
The fifth verse, and yes I know that I skipped the fourth verse, would describe the many ways God strengthened David during the battle. We would sing phrases like “God who equipped me with strength” and “Your right hand supported me” (18.28-45).
The sixth and final verse would triumphantly end the song with boisterous praise with phrases like “the Lord lives” and “blessed be my Rock,” singing of God’s great salvation and steadfast love (18.46-50).
Now, let us return our attention to the fourth verse.
In the fourth verse, David gives the reason why God answered his prayer, and his reason is, shall we say, audacious. Why did the Lord answer his prayer, bowed the heavens and came down? “The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness” (18.20). In fact, David makes at least fifteen bold statements about why God rewarded him and answered his prayers including reasons like his righteousness, the cleanness of his hands, keeping the ways of the Lord, not wickedly departing from God, keeping all His rules, not putting away His statutes, walking blameless before Him, and keeping himself from guilt (18.20-27).
In other words, God answered his prayer because he deserved it.
I find it very hard to pray like this. In fact, I don’t want to pray like this. I don’t want God to deal with me according to my righteousness. I know I don’t deserve God to answer my prayers. I want to base my prayers on His mercy, not by blamelessness. Is this just the difference between the old covenant and new covenant, or is there something else going on here?
As I wrestled in prayer over this song, the final verse answered my questions: “Great salvation He brings to His king, and shows steadfast love to His anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (18.50).
Just like in Sunday School class, the answer to all your questions is “Jesus.”
The only King, the only anointed One, the only offspring of David who could truly pray like this is Jesus, the Christ, the sinless Son of God.
Take a moment and reread Psalm 18, but as a song of Jesus instead of a song of David. The cords of death encompassed Jesus (18.4). Jesus called upon the Lord (18.6). The Father rescued Jesus from the strong enemy and those who hated Him (18.17). The Father dealt with the Son according to His righteousness and clean hands (18.20). Jesus was and is blameless before the Father (18.23). Jesus pursued His enemies and overtook them (18.37). The Father made His enemies sink under the feet of Jesus (18.38-40). The Father made the Son the head of the nations (18.43). The Father brings great salvation to His King and shows steadfast love to His anointed, Jesus (18.50).
Jesus lived the perfect life so that we don’t have to and because we never could. And now, because the Father has put all His enemies under the feet of Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior and Perfect High Priest, we can cry out to the Lord dressed in His righteousness.
We can pray with confidence: the Lord will deal with me according to the righteousness of His anointed Son.
With this in mind, may we sing together the opening verse:
I love You, O Lord, my strength
The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer
I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised
And I am saved from my enemies