Fill Me Up
Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Psalm 26:1
In My Integrity – Would you be able to make this request of the Lord?Can you honestly say you have walked with integrity and trusted God without wavering?That scares me.I know myself too well.So, how could David say such things?His life seems to have had its own share of disobedience.Is he so much different than I am?
When I read this verse in English, I stagger under the implications. How can I expect God to vindicate me? I go away discouraged and disillusioned. I’ll never make it. My sins overwhelm me. But when I read this verse in Hebrew, things change.
The Hebrew word here is tom. It’s an unusual word because it apparently comes from two distinct verbal roots. The first meaning of tom is to see something come to an end. You will find the word in Ezekiel 15:5, for example. Basically, it means to be completed or finished. It is commonly translated in Greek with teleios. That’s important because of the connection to Matthew 5:48. You’ll see why in a minute.
The second verbal root of this word describes moral uprightness or blamelessness. It’s used in the sacrificial system to describe the offering brought to the temple. Sometimes it’s applied to human beings, as in Song of Songs 5:2 where it describes the faultless beauty of the beloved. Of course, there is the very strange object called the thummin (Exodus 28:30), a word that comes from this same root.
What’s important about this word is that it is essentially ambiguous. You can only tell which meaning should be used from the context. Sometimes it’s about completion; sometimes it’s about blamelessness, and there’s no way to tell which one unless we examine the context of the passage.
David certainly uses the word in the sense of blameless. He claims that he has faithfully trusted the Lord and that his manner of life is blameless. Wait! What about Bathsheba (and a few other notable events)? David’s use of this word must mean his manner of life is in the direction of God, not that he has never fallen along the way. In other words, he has walked with integrity because he has not allowed sins to permanently derail him. He knows repentance and forgiveness, and on that basis, he claims blamelessness. David stands before the Lord a forgiven sinner, not a faultless saint.
Now let’s look at that difficult passage in Matthew 5:48. Have you ever wondered why the Greek translation of Yeshua’s reference to Leviticus is so messed up? Leviticus doesn’t say, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It says, “Be holy for I am holy.” How could the translator make such an enormous error? Why did he use teleios instead of agathos? Do you suppose he chose this Greek word because Yeshua used the Hebrew word tom in His commentary on the Leviticus passage? If He did, then the inherent ambiguity would allow the translator to choose either teleios or agathos and still be correct. Did Yeshua tell us to be fully complete or to be blameless – or maybe both at the same time? Maybe walking toward the Lord with a forgiven heart is the same as being complete. What do you think?
Topical Index: tom, blameless, complete, teleios, agathos, Psalm 26:1, Matthew 5:48
For today’s picture, click here – Antigua, Guatemala
Isn’t this part of the tension we, as the redeemed, the ones called out, the believers in a Holy and Righteous God deal with as we grow in our knowledge of Him? In our salvation, we are complete, yes, perfect in His view. The Spirit guides us along and we are not satisfied with our “old man” rising up, because we know the “old man” is dead and we are new creatures exclusively of His workmanship! Therefore, we press forward, through the faith and grace of the Lord, living and moving and having are being in Him! In Jesus Christ, THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. We look to Him, knowing He is seated at the right hand of our Father, continuing to promote and give the grace we need to persevere IN SPITE of what appears to be great IMPERFECTION. HE is everything to HIS people! He is highly exalted! He is Holy and IN HIM, so we ARE! Good Word, Skip!
Hi Mary,
I’m with you for the most part, but I don’t think we can get rid of the “old man” in this world.
It seems to me, if I understand you, that the old man is really the yetsir ha’ra.
For me, Skip has raised a lot of complicated and difficult issues in this text.
For starters, I think it is very difficult to compare ourselves to King David.
On the one hand, most of us would probably never think of treating our spouses like David treats Michal.
And the on the other, you know what would happen if, like David, we killed Bathsheba’s husband to satisfy our sexual desires.
Like the greatest of Greek heroes, Odysseus, David is very “other” to us in the modern world.
In fact, on the surface, it would seem like Odysseus would be a better role model for us.
Although Dante put david in Hell for what he did to the Trojans.
King David not only does some very bad things, he is also completely devoted to God; in a way that I don’t think we can’t even understand.
Because he is not alienated from God to begin with, David doesn’t wander around feeling guilty.
In my view, David accepts his sin, repents, and moves on.
Maybe we should follow David’s lead., after all.
Your last comment is exactly what Brother Lawrence (Practicing the Presence of God) suggests – and does. Maybe our idea of guilt is really very Greek – kind of like Oedipus.
Shabbat Shalom (Yom HaZikkaron) Skip,
This comment deals directly with the issue of “David moving on and guilt” … not the commentary which is quite excellent. 🙂
There is no doubt that David is well aware of his sins and what is crucial to his walk with Adonai are the tears and misery he suffers as a consequence of these sins. When the corpus of Psalms is taken into consideration it is easy to see the very ups and downs … joys and torments … that come with having a relationship with Adonai.
Depsite the fact that Adonai is perfect …. Adonai is ever lasting loving kindness …. Adonai is forgiving and merciful beyond comprehension …. we still struggle at times won’t we?
The best that we can ever be is a faithful work in progress and in the end our humility, submission and willingness to admit that “WE ARE TO BLAME” is how we can be deemed innocent …. as Abba views us through the perfect righteousness of Yeshua …. praise Him forever and ever!
I think the only reason why David is presumptuous of his blameless status is because David has never taken for granted the mercy and grace of ELOHIM. David did not brush aside his transgressions …. he accepted the rebuking upon his soul which brought him to t’shuvah!
To me David does not simply accept his sins and move on …. there is great pain and consequences in having a relationship with Yeshua …. I know where you are coming from on this issue but what I see in the Psalms is a different David!
One more. The idea that we are to rid ourselves of the yetser ha’ra is, I believe, a mistake – and a grave one at that. The Bible doesn’t suggest that we obliterate the yetser ha’ra. It is the yetser ha’ra that makes us human. We are to learn to domesticate it, to put it under God’s torah – as Sha’ul says, “to bring every thought captive.” But to eliminate it would be to throw away our passion, that motivating energy that causes us to decide, to use what God gifted us, to “create” in some sense like Him. This is an enormously deep subject which I will try to tackle slowly over the next few months. It is also a very important part of the book on the ‘ezer because it is central to the command and the temptation. We are just scratching the surface here. But we must resist the tendency to break human being (singular) into pieces – some good and some bad, and then think the solution is to just get rid of the bad.
What would your life be like if you did not have to face any decisions about obedience? Would you still have the will to win, the spirit to fight, the sense of victory, the pull of devotion?
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Psalm 32.1)
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Lord, nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim, I’ll wash my garments white, in the blood of Calvary’s Lamb. Jesus paid it all- all to Him I owe.. sin had left a crimson stain..He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne, I stand in Him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Brother Skip and fellow followers of the Way, I do believe I would rather be a forgiven sinner than a faultless saint. The joy of sins forgiven is forever fresh and new. The atoning and cleansing blood of the Lamb continues to effect its renewing, reviving and refreshing work in me. I will forever lift my eyes to Calvary to view the cross where my Jesus died for me. -How marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul, He looked beyond my faults and He saw my need. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Thank you once again, Carl. Your words to this partiular study penetrate my heart and mind. It is Thy grace to claim. Oh the blood off Calvary’s Lamb. He sees me…Halleulujah, what a Savior!
Talking about being” perfect”( Matthew 5:48) as written in some English Bible versions remind me to ….
James 3: 2 ,We all stumble in many ways.If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a PERFECT man,able to keep his whole body in check. (NIV)
What he says is,… his beliefs,his philosophy, his principles ,his view ,his doctrine …etc
Perhaps we can search what King David had said in Psalm or other part of Scriptures ……
it is perfect, isn’t it ?
It always shows his love and trust to YHWH !
Although he had done a very “bad sin” but he did acknowledge it and not denied it ,then repented ( never did it again) and received Yah’s forgiveness and punishment (the death of his and Batsheba’s son) with a humble and broken heart !
I think….. we need to have such a kind of David’s pure heart !!!
Shabbat Shalom
Bathsheba (Hebrew: בת שבע, Bat Sheva, “daughter of the oath”)
Hi Christina,
Good point regarding “(the death of David and Batsheba’s son) [and his] humble and broken heart!”
I notice that you use the Hebrew form for spelling Bathsheba; would I be correct to assume that you are fluent in Hebrew?
In any case, I would like to thank you for calling my attention to my remarks above where I state that Dante put David in Hell.
Obviously, I meant Odysseus.
Mike