Reward and Recompense

Over the past couple of days, I kept returning to Psalm 18. This rich and dynamic Psalms speaks of God's deliverance and other mighty acts in King David's life.

Psalm 18:20-26 is remarkable in that David declares "the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he hath recompensed me" (verse 20) and "recompensed me according to my righteousness" (verse 24).

I believe God challenged me to ask, in brokenness and humility, for Him to "reward" and "recompense" me according to my righteousness. I believe righteousness simply means right standing before God. This righteousness is possible only through His work on the cross.

Both reward and recompense mean to pay or give back (the original meaning for reward means "to deal bountifully"!). Let's be clear on this point. God doesn't owe me a favor or is He in indebted to me. Rather, I believe it's His word cultivated in my life is what He honors, even rewards (Hebrews 11:6).

David writes, "I was upright before Him, and I kept myself from iniquity" (verse 23)and the following verses 24-25, show the response from the Lord to those who act in purity to those are forward or perverse.

So am I willing to put aside my sin to experience the blessing (reward and recompense) of God? It's too easy to focus on the rewards, but not on cultivating God's seed (His word) in my life...even when it seems the present field of my life shows only dirt and the harvest not apparent.