Psalm 18

vs 21

More or less I guess this is true. One statement is different from the other. David probably hasn't turned away from God as such. I wouldn't say he's been perfect at keeping all of God's ways though. But that's not his point. He has asked for deliverance, and God has judged David according to righteousness, which as we know in the New Testament is accredited to him because of his faith.

vs 22

Of course, they don't use NT language in the OT, otherwise it would be... weird. This is the language that they use. Talking about the law poetically might seem a little weird to us, but that is how they knew God - through the Law he had given them that made them his people.

So when someone wants to talk about their relationship with God, they're going to talk about it through these Laws.

vs 23

Has he kept himself perfect? Well, obviously not. But he has lived a godly life. There is a difference. I think we think too much of "keeping free of sin" like "keeping free of chocolate cake". People who diet just give up on cake cold turkey, and they are seen as a 'good dieter'. And so people with that level of self control say "well, you should be able to just keep yourself from sin".

But keeping yourself from sin is much more like "keeping yourself from making mistakes". If a human being keeps writing something, either as a copy of a copy or copying someone's words, they will eventually make a mistake. In fact, history has shown us that they will continue to make mistakes. But if you are trying really hard not to make mistakes, you will make a lot fewer mistakes. You will keep yourself from making mistakes, as it were.

vs 24

And God has upheld his righteous ways by delivering him when he asked. So while we might not like it, or it might not fit into our beliefs, it's what happened. Not only was David delivered, but he then wrote a psalm about it, describing his deliverance this way, and it was then published in Psalms!

vs 25-26

It's an interesting thing to think that God responds to people dependent on how they respond to him. Of course, we also know that even in the face of human faithlessness God remains faithful, and that regardless of human frailty and sin God remains blameless, and that God remains pure regardless of human depravity. But these verses aren't about what God is, they are about how God shows himself to you. You will understand and experience the faithfulness of God if you yourself are faithful. If you are a devious bugger, then you're going to find that God shows something else to you - a shrewd side which we all know belongs to God, but we don't like talking about at parties.

vs 27

God is the ultimate Aussie. He doesn't like tall poppies. Not that God doesn't like success - he just doesn't like people who boast, regardless of their success.

vs 28

Have we forgotten our fear of darkness as a people, thanks to our cities being lit up 24/7? I don't think so. I think people still think that bad things go on mostly at night. Even with all of our modern ways of fighting the darkness, it is still something to be feared. Only God is light enough to take away that fear, and to take away all the nasties that really do lurk in the dark.

vs 29

You read this, and you think "So what? People do this stuff all the time - sounds like typical Marine training". But then when you actually read what David means when he talks about "advancing against troops" he means taking an army of 30 guys and killing hundreds and hundreds of Philistines, chopping off bits of their willies and bringing them back to Saul. He is acknowledging that he has done some pretty awesome stuff when it comes to killing armies and invading fortresses, but all of his accomplishments come back to God.

vs 30

While David may have described himself as blameless, and keeping away from sin, he reserves the word "perfect" for God. Flawless. In fact, God is so perfect and his words are so flawless that you can take refuge behind him like a shield, and know it will never break. David isn't saying that about himself - this constant, everlasting reliability belongs only to God.