The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me and rescues me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents. For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name. You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever. [Psalm 18.46-50]
I suppose I should have referenced the entirety of Psalm 18 above... All of this was proclaimed by a man who committed adultery with another man's wife then had him killed to cover it up!
I particularly wish to make note of verse 20: The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.
Innocence? Yep, that's what David said. Furthermore, it is what David meant. David was apparently able to identify those things that went wrong in his life due to sin (death of a child, Absalom going rogue against him, etc...) and still understand that he had repented and been forgiven. And, in that forgiveness, David knew he was therefore innocent. In his innocence, David found victory.
Mind you, all of this must be considered occurring in the life of the man declared by God Himself to be "after God's own heart."
How serious did David take forgiveness? VERY! And how do we know David took his own forgiveness seriously? Because he himself forgave! Think about Saul. Think about Absalom. Think about others who slandered and hurt David and yet he forgave them.
It seems a man can only praise God the way David did if he truly feels blessed by God. And a man can only truly feel blessed by God if he is genuinely forgiven. And a man can only be genuinely forgive if he genuinely forgives. It all makes perfect sense!
Father, thank You for insight into David's life and victory due to forgiveness!
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