2 Samuel 22-23: The Lord Is My Rock

I'm not going to lie, I was a little indignant when I read David's song of praise to God for delivering him. Not because anything he said about God was false, but because he kind of glossed over his mistakes and how he got into the mess with Absalom in the first place:

The Eternal One rewarded me because I sought              righteousness;
He rewarded me because I kept my hands clean.

2 Samuel 22:21, The Voice

Hmmm, really, David? You kept your hands clean?? Somehow I don't believe you. Yes, God did rescue David from certain death-- first with Saul and then with Absalom-- but I highly doubt that it was because of any merit on David's part. God had made a promise to David, a covenant that he would be king, and God honored His promise. David even acknowledges this in chapter 23:

Isn’t this how God has raised up my house?
        Because He has made a perpetual covenant with me,
        well-ordered and secure,
    Won’t He make all things to grow and prosper,
        save me, and give me all I desire?

vs. 5

God in His mercy, honored his promise to David in spite of all his indecision, the addiction, the selfishness, and pride. If anything, God's pursuit and rescue of David shows us how much darkness there is in us-- how we get ourselves into horrible pits of sin and suffering and cannot even begin to get ourselves out. And God, in His overwhelming love and grace, gives us what we do not deserve and what we could never earn-- freedom. 

He reached down from above me, He held me;

        He pulled me from the raging waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy
        and from all those who hated me,
        for they would have overwhelmed me.

2 Samuel 22:17-18

I hope you find encouragement in these words today. That there is nothing you can do that will ever separate you from the love God has for you. Similarly, there is nothing you can do to earn it or deserve it. God rescues you out of His love for you, all you have to do is call on Him.