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!