Keep His Ways

In life, we go through stages. Today, we have taken a few minutes to celebrate the stage of graduation. We you graduate from High School or College that is a stage. You are ending one stage in life and going on to the next.

Other stages we go through are jobs, marriage, kids, and the list could go on and on.

No matter what stage in life we may be, there is still a need for us to keep the ways of the LORD.

Over the last four weeks, we have been looking at the Ways of the LORD. We have seen that they are right, full of mercy, and we should delight in them. Now that we see those beautiful truths, we will see our need to keep the ways of the LORD.

As our Graduates end their journey in life and begin their next, I challenge them to keep the ways of the LORD. As you and I live out each day of our lives, I challenge us to keep the ways of the LORD.

Keep the Ways of the LORD (21-22)

Psalm 18:21–22 NKJV

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 kept the ways of the LORD.

The words that we see here in Psalm 18:21-24 are the exact words that we see in 2 Sam 22. The context of 2 Sam 22 is that David is getting near the end of his life. Soon his son Solomon will be king, and David will be with his LORD.

As we look at David's life, it does not take long to see his love for God.

When he comes on the scene facing the giant, he says, 1 Sam 17:26 "Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the battle lines of the living God?""

When David is running from Saul, and his men want to kill Saul, David says, 1 Sam 24:6 "So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of Yahweh that I should do this thing to my lord, the anointed of Yahweh, to send forth my hand against him, since he is the anointed of Yahweh.""

When David was kicked out of the kingdom by his son and a man for Benjamin was cursing him, he said, 2 Sam 16:10-12 "But the king said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if Yahweh has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my son who came forth from my body seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for Yahweh has told him. "Perhaps Yahweh will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day."

Each of these passages helps us to see the love and trust that David had in the LORD.

David lived a life devoted to God even though he had some problems.

Today, the same is true of us.

We may not be able to live a perfect life, but we can live a devoted life.

One who lives a devoted life keeps the ways of the LORD.

David says that he has kept the ways of the LORD.

Again, we know that David was not perfect, but for the most part, he did follow the ways of the LORD.

David did not follow the ways of the wicked.

David did not worship other gods.

He worshiped the One true God of Israel.

David helps us to see his personal relationship with God when he says that he has not departed from "my God."

David can keep the ways of the LORD because he has the words of the LORD before him.

David has the Words of God.

David knew that the words of God were before him and that he needed to follow after them.

He did not put God's laws to the side, but he sought to live them out in his life.

David knew that the laws of God were in front of him.

The same is true for us.

We have the very Word of God, so we are without excuse when we do not follow the ways of the LORD.

How are we keeping the ways of the LORD and following after Him? Is this something we only do on Sundays, or is this a part of our everyday life?

I was blameless (23)

Psalm 18:23 NKJV

I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

This does not mean perfection.

Next, David says some things that can be hard for us to understand. David says he is blameless before God.

Looking at this passage, we can think that David is claiming self-righteousness, which is not the case.

The word used here for blameless means "complete, unscathed, intact."

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 5: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs A. Man’s Faithfulness to God (18:20–24)

Righteousness and blamelessness are not to be equated with works-righteousness nor with perfection. It is the joyous expression of love to God for all his mercies

To be blameless, as seen here, is not sinless perfection; it is to live a life entirely devoted to following God and keeping His ways.

Righteous and blameless are not to be perfect or do things by our works. It is to do our best to live our lives for God and not for ourselves.

David is devoted to the ways of the LORD. He wants to do his best to live them out each day.

David is saying that he has lived a life of faith, not sinless perfection.

God knows the actual status of our hearts.

He knows if we truly love Him or are just doing it for show.

Despite his mistakes, we know that David loved the LORD and wanted to live His life out in devotion to God.

Just like us, David had moments of weakness where he sinned.

In those moments, he admitted what he did wrong, repented his sin, and returned to God.

His blamelessness shows up in his faithfulness, not his sinlessness.

David's righteousness and blamelessness come from keeping the word of God.

Also, this text points us to a descendant of David who would be blameless in the sense of sinlessness. That, of course, is our Savior, Jesus.

David could say he was blameless in part; Jesus could say it in whole.

We are to live our lives the best we can for the glory of the LORD, seeking to keep His ways.

When we do fall short, when we do sin, thanks be to God for Jesus.

I kept myself from sin.

Next, David says that he has kept himself from sin.

There is a part that we play in living our lives for Jesus.

When we give our lives to Him, that does not mean we can do what we want.

This is not the Christian way. We are called to obey.

NLT for 23, "I was innocent before him, and kept myself from sinning."

There is a part that we play. We need to say no to sin when tempted to give in.

Like David, we must try and keep ourselves from iniquity.

How do we do this?

By taking care not to put ourselves in a position where we may disobey the ways of the LORD. (David's sin with Bathsheba started because he was not where he should have been)

The LORD rewarded me (24)

Psalm 18:24 NKJV

Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

God blessed David.

Because David lived a life devoted to God and did his best to keep the ways of the LORD, David had a life that God blessed.

David was a great king and was promised always to have a king on the throne.

One day the most excellent King who would be able to say all of these words in their fullness would come from David.

The word recompensed means to turn back or return.

The LORD would always help David to come back to Him when he would sin against God.

Just like David, we are blessed by God when we keep the ways of God.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary Psalm 18

Our faithfulness and obedience to God brings reward, including victory over our circumstances. Never underestimate the blessings that result from living blameless toward God

The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God 5. ‘He Has Rewarded Me’ (vv. 20–24)

It is in fact a confidence that those who out of love for the Lord want to walk in the ways of the LORD (v. 21) will find that the blessings of the Lord will come to meet them there. He delights to reward obedience.

This passage points us to Jesus in the fact that He would be blameless and sinless. He would always keep the ways of the Father and not depart from them. He would be blameless and never sin. His righteousness would be given to us so we can be made right with God. (Imputed righteousness)

David's hands are clean.

David says that his hands are clean not because of him but because of His God.

When we sin, we are to come to God in forgiveness and allow Him to wash us as white as snow. Ps 51:7 "Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

We see here that we cannot just look at and hear the laws of God. We must also put into practice what we see and hear. We are to keep the ways of the LORD, avoid sin, and have clean hands.

Ps 24:3-4 "Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh? And who may rise in His holy place? He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness And has not sworn deceitfully."

God does pay us according to what we do. When we sin, we pay the price. When we obey, we are rewarded. David is not saying he never sinned, for we know that is impossible on this side of heaven.

David sees God as rewarding him for seeking to live a life with clean hands keeping the ways of the LORD.

David understands what God expects of us.

We are to come to him with clean hands and a pure heart.

Often our sin keeps us from doing this, which is why God sent Jesus to take our place on the cross.

Now we came to God with the clean hands of Jesus and not that of our own.

Our hands are tainted. The hands of Christ are not.

Conclusion

Are we devoted to God, or does something else take precedence in our lives?

Are we seeking to keep His ways or just doing what we want?

We are to live holy to the LORD, keeping His ways according to His word.

What is God saying to you today?

Maybe we are here today, and we have not done an excellent job of keeping the ways of the LORD. Perhaps we have been following our path and saying we will get serious about Jesus later. Later may never come. Let us be serious about Jesus today, seeking to keep His ways.

Maybe we are here today, and we are not devoted to Christ as we should be. We may have many other things in our lives that we are devoted to, but our walk with Jesus is not one of them. Will we come today and commit life to a life devoted to Jesus?

When we choose to live a devoted life, keeping His ways, we will be rewarded. This does not mean that we will not have hurts and problems; it means that we will have the blessing of God upon us. O, how great the blessings of God are.

Invitation.