In Psalm 18, King David says:
21For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. 22All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 23I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.
Can Christians pray this prayer? Or are we uncomfortable with a known adulterer and murderer declaring himself blameless through the Holy Spirit?
At our houseparty, Archbishop Glenn Davies taught us that God included within the OT Law, stipulations for sacrifices for sin. If an Israelite wanted to keep God’s Law, he was required to offer sacrifices to atone for his sin. This shows us (i) that the Mosaic Law assumed God’s people would sin, and (ii) that to keep the whole OT Law, one had to offer sacrifices for when they broke any of the laws contained within it. So even though John the Baptist’s parents sinned, Luke 1 can say:
6Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.
In the same way, even though Christians sin, countless times a day, the Bible describes us as blameless. Why? Because like David, Christians spend their lives following (and hopefully loving) God’s laws, AND repenting whenever we break any of them. So while no human can reach sinless perfection this side of heaven, the Bible never describes Christians as ‘sinners’, or ‘the wicked’. Rather Christians are ‘the righteous’; who ‘live by faith’ (Rom 1:17), and ‘persist in doing good’ (Rom 2:7). As such, if we are truly repentant, we can pray with confidence ‘I have not done evil by turning from my God’.
Brendan McLaughlin
