Today's Reading: Psalm 18

His Way is Perfect

In this happy song (Psalm 18), David is recalling his recent troubles and difficulties and is reflecting upon God’s faithfulness to deliver him from them all. His heart cries out in praise and wonder for the God whose “way is perfect.”

Perfect. Think about that word. The Hebrew root word is “tâmîym” and it means to be without blemish, complete, full, without spot, undefiled, upright, whole. This word describes the character and attribute of God as being completely flawless and impeccable. God’s ways are not just “pretty good” or even “excellent” – His character and His ways are completely and utterly without flaw or blemish or fault of any kind.

David, here, is rejoicing that God has delivered him out of the hands of king Saul. As he looks back on the Lord’s work in his life, he declares that His way had been completely perfect and flawless the entire time. Although there were moments when David’s faith was rattled and he wasn’t sure how things would turn out, he now realizes with crystal clear clarity that God – who can see the end from the beginning – was working things out according to His perfect plan the whole time. His way is perfect!

We, as flawed humans, can be so short-sighted. We look only at our current pain and difficulty and we cry out for immediate deliverance. But what we can’t always see is the masterful and genius hand of our God working things out according to His perfect ways. What a blessing it is to look back on the work God has done. We may not have recognized it at the time, but as we reflect on the things we have come through, we can see that God’s way has been perfect, His word is true, and He is a shield for those who take refuge in Him.

It is a blessing to be able to look back and see God’s hand at work in our past. It is a greater blessing to trust Him here and now with our present. Knowing that His way is perfect and His word is true should have tremendous impact on the way we live our lives in the present. We should live with great peace and confidence in Him. Even when troubles and difficulties come our way (and they will), we can trust our Mighty Creator to carry out His perfect plan in His perfect time. His ways are “perfect” (without blemish, complete, full, without spot, undefiled, upright, whole) – we must live like we believe it! His word always proves true – we must trust Him through every trial.

In the end, we will look back and – like David – rejoice that God carried out His masterful plan just as He said He would!