King David’s Secret Sauce: Works Are the Prize, Not the Price

There’s a whole paradigm, a worldview, packed into Psalm 119:56: “This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.”

It is a blessing to keep God’s precepts. Titus 2:13-14 tells us that Jesus purchased a people for himself that are zealous for good works. Somehow, good works became tied to law, to requirements, to condemnation. That is a turned-around mind!

I love the German word “verrückt.” It means “turned backward.” We have turned good works backward. Good works are God’s primary gift to us. By favor, through faith, and according to mercy he saved us so that we might be God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:8-10; Tit. 3:5-8).

Peter tells us that we will LOVE LIFE and SEE GOOD DAYS if we turn from evil and do good (1 Pet. 3:10-12). Psalm 119 is filled with David crying out to God to help him keep God’s precepts so that he can be at peace, overcome his enemies, have life, take comfort, walk in a wide place, etc., etc., etc. David loved God’s commands so much he said, “I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love!”

That’s a little weird, but wow.

It’s not “Sadly, I am obligated to keep God’s commands and miss out on the pleasures of life”; it’s “JESUS EMPOWERED ME TO DO GOOD, AND NOW MY LIFE IS FILLED WITH THE PEACE AND OVERFLOWING JOY! WHOO HOO, LET THE HEAVENS RING WITH MY PRAISES AND THANKSGIVING!”

Let’s learn from David, praise God for his favor’s power over sin (Rom. 6:14; Tit. 2:11-12), and offer it to others: there are plenty of people out there reaping the pain and depression of not being able to make good choices nor do good to others.

Good works are good. Go grab the first reward of your faith, virtue (2 Pet. 1:5).

About Paul Pavao

I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.

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