Oil for my lamp

DEVOTION

PSALMS

OIL FOR MY LAMP

Ps 18:20-29

20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. 22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. 27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. 28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. 29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

NIV

How can David say he has any righteousness? The Hebrew words means to be right either morally, legally or naturally. Combined with the cleanness or purity of his hands, it might imply his acts, his life is based on believing and trusting in God. He has kept the ways of the Lord. We know that there is no righteousness apart from Christ. He is our righteousness. So in this sense as we remain in Christ, we keep the ways of the Lord. His way is Christ, for Jesus is the truth, the light and the way.

John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

NIV

We have not turned from God, for we have remained in Christ. This truth and this truth alone affords us the right to be called the children of God. Does it mean we are sinless? No, but it does mean that we are holy and blameless in the sight of God, because he sees us in Jesus. We also always have his laws before us. We cannot live a moment of the day without knowing God is with us, he is sustaining us, he is watching over us, he is directing our path. When we are faced with temptation, we know he is there to give us the strength to overcome. However, in those moments we do fail, and we do, he is there to forgive when we repent and seek his forgiveness. We know David was not a perfect men either, but here his heart is always bent toward God and that is where ours should be also. God rewards us according to our righteousness, which is according to being in Christ. Our reward is eternal life. We have kept ourselves from returning to a life of sin, we have remained faithful to our Lord, believing in him. Is it possible to not believe in him and still be a believer? What if we trust more in our own ways, our own abilities, our own intelligence and understanding than in God? Is that truly remaining in him? If we want to see God working in our lives, we need to remain faithful to him. That implies trusting him in every aspect of our lives, not just for salvation. We could get this confused in some ways. We could be doing life our way, but just saying God has directed me to do this or that. That would be wrong on so many levels. If we want to experience the faithfulness of God, we need to be faithful to him. If we want know his blamelessness, than we have to remain in Christ and be blameless, living blamelessly in Christ. If we want to see the purity of God, we need to be pure. That Hebrew word for pure means to clarify or brighten. Could that mean being brightened, becoming the light of the world because Christ is in us? It might also mean purity of thought, but most likely this clarify or brighten has to do with living in the light and being the light, then we will see the light of God. Humility rather than haughty is the way of the believer. How can we have any pride in ourselves? It is foolish to think that we have reasons for pride. We cannot afford to think we have great talent, abilities, skills, knowledge or intellectual prowess. Sure we might exhibit some of those traits or qualities, but is it really because of us? So many of the non-believers have those qualities and they are like that because of human effort. Why should we be any different? It comes down to pride or humility. We might be very smart, or very well versed in biblical truths. We might be very skilled at our trade. We might be extremely talented in the arts. We might have many abilities in multiply areas of life. But to be prideful about it is simply wrong. Because we are children of God, we need to always give him the credit for all that we are, and all that we do. With God by our side we can overcome any enemy, scale any wall, be the best we can be. God keeps our lamp burning. Give me oil for my lamp, keep me burning for the Lord, give me oil for my lamp, I pray. That implies my lamp cannot burn without the oil of the Lord.