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20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26 with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
28 For thou wilt light my candle; the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried; he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
33 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken in my arms.
35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation; and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise; they are fallen under my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
41 They cried, but there was none to save them; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen; a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
46 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
48 He delivereth me from mine enemies; yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me; thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
JW: David...takes the comfort of his integrity, which God had thereby cleared up, ver. 20-28; gives God the glory of all his victories, ver. 29-42; expresses his hope of what God would do farther, ver. 43-50.
[On verse 20:] 'Righteousness' - Just cause. The innocency of my actions towards Saul, from whose blood I kept my hands pure.
[On verse 23:] 'Iniquity' - from that sin which I was most inclined or tempted to.
[On verses 25-26:] 'Upright' - Thou metest to every one the same measure which he meteth out to others; and therefore thou wilt perform mercy and truth to those who are merciful and true to others. 'Pure' - free from the least mixture or appearance of unrighteousness, or unfaithfulness. 'Froward' - Thou wilt cross him and walk contrary to him.
[On verse 30:] 'Perfect' - His providence, though it may sometimes be dark, yet is always wise and just, and unblameable. 'Tried' - The truth of God's promises is approved by innumerable experiences.
[On verse 35:] 'Salvation' - Thy protection, which hath been to me like a shield. 'Held' - kept me from falling into those mischiefs which mine enemies designed. 'Gentleness' - Thy clemency, whereby thou hast pardoned my sins; thy grace and benignity.
[On verse 36:] 'Slip' - as [my feet] are apt to do in narrow and uneven ways.
[On verse 48:] 'Violent man' - from Saul, whom for honour's sake he forbears to mention.
[On verse 49:] 'Heathen' - David is here transported beyond himself and speaks this in special relation to Christ who was to be his seed, and of whom he was an eminent type, and by whom alone this was done. And therefore this is justly applied to him and to his calling of the Gentiles, Romans 15.9.
[On verse 50:] 'His king' - to the king whom God himself chose and anointed, and to all his posterity; and especially to the Messiah, who is called David's seed, Acts 13.23, Romans 1.3.
I suggested in the last post (on the first part of this Psalm) that it is quite appropriate to read this Psalm through the lens of Christ's cross, even though Wesley doesn't necessarily make the same connection. I think this is further demonstrated here, especially when it comes to the battle imagery that becomes quite vivid in this part of the Psalm. (Note: that the Psalms are in the poetic genre suggests that we should not be too rigid in our interpretation, to limit the range of possible meanings/interpretations to just one, but that there might be several ways of approaching it and each of those be valid.)
I took this picture in a visit to the hospital Carrie and I took when she was pregnant with Julianne. When I saw the sign, I thought about those places in Scripture that speak to the importance of 'clean hands,' one of which appears in verse 20 of this Psalm. Perhaps the most memorable is Psalm 24 (forthcoming post), on which a modern praise song is based. But I like in particular the way Wesley interprets 'clean hands' in this Psalm in reference to David not doing evil to Saul. This almost seems to set up a contradiction within this Psalm, doesn't it? That David doesn't actually do harm to someone aiming to harm him, yet there is the vivid battle imagery of pursuing enemies (esp. verses 37-42), using language of overtaken, consumed, wounded, fallen, subdued, given me the necks, destroy, beat, cast out...how do we reconcile these seemingly opposing ideas?
This is where I think the cross helps us. There were different sorts of enemies, weren't there? I mean on the one hand, there are the human agents that handed down and executed the death sentence (in which we have all taken part) upon Jesus. It is for these/us that Christ does not avenge himself, but cries, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." On the other hand, there is an unseen enemy that Christ pursues through his death: the evil one, the powers of darkness, death, sin... It is these that Christ overtakes, consumes, wounds, takes down, subdues, destroys, etc. Though Christ's hands were bloody in the battle, they remained clean in righteousness and forgiveness. Enemies surround us. The battle continues. But let's not forget this careful distinction. May we be the ones who, though we may be persecuted, cry 'Father, forgive!' yet also remain in hot pursuit to join Christ in the battle against evil and death, which we know will be finally extinguished. Forgiving and battling. Clean Hands Save Lives.
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