The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. Psalm 18:20
If you look at my phone, you will see many apps for restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, and any other establishment that offers a reward program for patronizing their establishment. I like to get rewarded for buying things from places I would go regardless of whether they rewarded me or not. If you are going to offer me free coffee, a 10% off coupon, or cheaper gallons of gas, I’m all in. I’ll be honest and say that there have been many times that I have chosen a place of business because of their reward program. It’s safe to say that I like to be rewarded for choosing a certain product. One of my biggest disappointments in using those apps is when I have a reward in my queue that expires because I didn’t use it in time.
David, in Psalm 18, took part in God’s reward program. The Lord had delivered David from his enemies, and he was taking the opportunity to thank and praise the Lord for His watch care over him. It is in the midst of this praise that David said that the Lord rewarded him for his righteousness. Now, as Christians, living righteously should be second nature. It should be something we do just because we are Christians. To be rewarded for doing something that I should be doing already is icing on the cake. But, isn’t it just like our God to demand righteousness from His children and then turn around and reward them for it? I like to be rewarded no matter where it comes from, but I will take the rewards from God for living righteously over anything a physical, earthly establishment can offer me.
May I encourage you to live righteously today? God has so many blessings that He is waiting to pour out upon us if we will just live like He commands us to live. I often imagine that God has a shelf full of blessings in Heaven that He is just waiting to give us. I imagine that one day when we get to Heaven, we are going to be truly disappointed to see all the rewards that could have been ours if we had trusted God more and lived more holy and righteously before Him. I like to get rewarded, and I can only assume that you do, too. Let’s determine to earn the rewards of faithful children of our Heavenly Father. I know it is well worth the effort.
Read also: Psalm 18:20-26
Quote of the day: “One of the greatest rewards that we ever receive for serving God is the permission to do still more for Him.”- Charles Spurgeon