My Cleanness (2 Samuel 20-22)


Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes‘ 2 Samuel 22:25

As one who has been following David from the day he was chosen by prophet Samuel as a shepherd boy from the house of Jesse, until he made his mark in history as the mighty king of Israel, I have no difficulty in fully imbibing the spirit of chapter 22.

It is quite evident that this song of David (Psalm 18 is the same),each word of it, has been borne out of David’s acutely intense feelings . It is the poetic mind of David that made this song such a touching one. Each time we read it, the horizon of our perception about God gets wider and wider.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under his feet”. My heart turns tender in absolute awe, reverence and fear of God.

In the verses 21 to 24 David enumerates his good deeds. Reading this, questions might arise in our minds about his claims. But, swiftly he himself answers our questions.

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands—‘ is in a sense, a confession of David.

David confesses that God’s righteousness and man’s righteousness are different and the cleanness of man may not be clean in the eyes of God. And obviously, he realised that the terrible hardships he faced in life were because of the same and therefore he was not resentful about it. That is exactly why he is counting the blessings only and not complaining about the difficulties he encountered in life.

If we have the same great realisation as David, we will be able to praise God even in the midst of adversities in our lives.

George Joseph Trivandrum

David reveals his testimony on his song of praise (2 Samuel 20-22)

Vs 22 I have kept the ways of the lord and have not wickedly departed from my God
Vs 23 For all His judgements were before me and as for His statutesI did not depart from them
Vs 24 I was also upright before Him and have kept myself from mine iniquity

David wrote these words much earlier (22:1) before his sin with Bathsheba. David says he had kept the covenant and followed it’s law. David was not denying that he had ever sinned.Ps 51 shows his anguish over his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. He knew God had made him clean again _ whiter than snow ps 51:7 and had given him a pure heart.ps 51:10

We are also made clean and perfect thro the blood of Jesus.

Cynthia Sathiaraj
Chennai