Sept 22 - 2 Samuel 22:26-27 (Psalm 18:25-26)

To the faithful

you show yourself faithful,

 

to the blameless

you show yourself blameless,

 

to the pure

you show yourself pure,

 

... to the crooked

you show yourself shrewd

 

2 Samuel 22:26-27

(Psalm 18:25-26)

If you didn't see a pattern in this passage, read it again … out loud. 

 

God often reflects back to us what we give to him. 

 

·         When we are faithful to him, he delights in being faithful to us ... rather than constantly having to discipline us. 

·         When we are pure, we discover in him a beauty in life that transcends the perversity of this world. 

·         And when we are honest and blameless, we discover the same freedoms that children who walk in the paths of righteousness and integrity do in the eyes of their parents. Trusted children are given increasing freedoms and are showered with unexpected blessings. 

 

But the pattern breaks with the fourth phrase. God doesn't return crookedness (perverseness or wickedness, according to other translations) with crookedness or perversity. 

 

You say, "obviously," right? But this is important ... and even important for understanding the first three. 

 

Our actions don't determine God's actions.

 

We can't coerce him or obligate him. He is always "shrewd."

 

The Pharisees tried to manipulate God with outward purity. Jesus called them "whitewashed tombs": outside they looked white and pure; inside, said Jesus, their hearts were filled with death and decay. 

 

God will always be shrewd. He knows our motives. He understands our hearts. 

 

But God also delights! Like a good Father, he's always looking for an excuse to bless us. And he is eternally and joyfully faithful to the faithful. 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is glad that God is

shrewd rather than manipulatable