You Will Find Nothing - Psalms 15-17

 Psalms 17:3-5 (ESV)

You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,

you have tested me, and you will find nothing;

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

My steps have held fast to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

What an epitaph.   Imagine the above verses written your memorial stone.   Imagine being able to pray to God and saying:

 “You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find NOTHING.”   

The irony here is that the same person who wrote those words, also wrote these words right after he was caught in adultery and a murder plot:

Psalms 51:1-4 (ESV)

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

King David, on the one hand is full of filth and vile before God.  On the other hand, he can right, YOU WILL FIND NOTHING.   How is this possible?   There may be a number of interpretations for such a claim but here are two:

1.  David is indeed full of sin.  He is not at all claiming sinless perfection, as Psalms 51 points out (as well as many others from his pen).   The context of this song/poem/prayer is that he is looking for vindication from his enemy.   He is asking for God’s protection as his enemy attempts to do him harm.   He will latter write that his foe has “surrounded” him and are attempting to “cast him to the ground.”    In the above verses he is NOT saying he is sinless before God, but deserves to be vindicated because he is free from guilt to deserve this attack by this unnamed enemy.   

2.  This Psalm is a liturgical song/poem/prayer and a petition that was no doubt used by the worshiper prior to worship to say I have confessed to you God and you have made me pure.   He has “purposed” that his mouth will not transgress and he has “avoided the ways of the violent.”   He states he has “held fast to your paths.”    These are all the confessions of a man who knows that, in and of himself, he cannot do any of this.   So, God has given him the power and the grace and the mercy to fulfill those things.  His guiltless life is not because of his own sinlessness, but rather God’s power and grace to forgive and enable him to write such statements. 

Whatever the reason for the verses they give us what should be our desire each day with God.  IN CHRIST we ought to pray, read and quote the same thing to God and before man each day.  IN THE SPIRIT we ought to claim this type of walk before God and man each day.   Let us desire to live before God through the gift of the Spirit and the power of Christ in such a way that mankind can’t claim anything against us and God, having tested us, WILL FIND NOTHING!