The Great Reversal: God's Symmetrical Grace Text: Psalm 18:25-29
Introduction: The Mirror of God's Character
We live in a sentimental age, an age that wants a God who is uniformly soft, pliable, and accommodating. The modern conception of God is that of a celestial teddy bear, endlessly affirming and entirely predictable in His universal niceness. But the God of the Scriptures is not a tame God; He is a living God. And because He is a living God, He relates to men as they are. He is not a static, stone idol that you can approach in any manner you please. How you come to Him determines how He comes to you.
This is a terrifying thought for the proud and a glorious comfort for the humble. Our text today, from David's great song of deliverance in Psalm 18, lays out this principle with crystalline clarity. God's dealings with men are symmetrical. He mirrors back to us the posture of our own hearts. He is a mirror that reflects, perfectly and justly, the character of the man who stands before Him. To the kind, He shows Himself kind. To the blameless, He is blameless. But to the crooked, He is shrewd. This is not God being capricious; this is God being just. He is utterly consistent with His own holy nature, and that nature requires that He respond to men according to their ways.
This principle is the foundation of all covenant theology. God establishes the terms, and He is faithful to them. When we walk in faithfulness, we experience the kindness and faithfulness of God. When we walk in rebellion, we experience the sharp edge of His covenantal warnings. Our culture wants the blessings of the covenant without the obligations. They want God's kindness without showing any kindness. They want God's purity while living in filth. They want God to save them while they shake their fist in His face. But God is not mocked. What a man sows, that he will also reap. And what a man is, that is how he will find God to be.
In these few verses, David gives us a profound lesson in the nature of divine justice, the necessity of humility, and the source of all true strength. He shows us that the universe is not morally neutral. It is intensely personal, because the God who made it and upholds it is intensely personal. Let us therefore attend to His Word, that we might learn how to walk before Him in such a way that we find Him to be our light, our salvation, and our victory.
The Text
With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. For You save an afflicted people, But eyes which are lifted up, You bring down. For You light my lamp; Yahweh my God illumines my darkness. For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.
(Psalm 18:25-29)
The Divine Reflection (v. 25-26)
David begins with a foundational principle of how God relates to mankind.
"With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute." (Psalm 18:25-26)
Here we have a series of parallel statements that reveal the responsive nature of God's justice. The word for "kind" here is hasid, the covenant-keeper, the loyal one. To the man who walks in covenant loyalty and faithfulness, God shows Himself to be the ultimate covenant-keeper. He lavishes His hesed, His steadfast love, upon those who are steadfast toward Him. This is the logic of grace. We love because He first loved us, and as we walk in that love, we experience the ongoing reality of His love for us.
To the "blameless," God shows Himself blameless. This does not mean sinless perfection. David, the author of this psalm, was certainly not sinless. It means a man of integrity, a man whose heart is whole toward God. It is the man who, when he sins, repents honestly and gets back on the path. He is not double-minded. To such a man, God shows Himself to be utterly reliable and without fault. He is a rock, and His work is perfect.
To the "pure," God shows Himself pure. The pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see God. When we pursue holiness, when we desire to be clean before Him, God reveals His own perfect holiness to us not as a threat, but as a glorious, cleansing fire. He draws near to those who draw near to Him.
But then the stanza turns. "And with the crooked You show Yourself astute." The word for crooked here means twisted or perverse. To the man who tries to outsmart God, who schemes and twists and plays games with righteousness, God shows Himself to be "astute." The Hebrew word here can mean "to twist." It's a play on words. You want to wrestle? God will wrestle, and you will lose. You want to be crooked? God will show you that His straight line can measure and judge every crooked path you can devise. He turns the wisdom of the wise to foolishness and catches the crafty in their own craftiness. Think of Jacob, the schemer, who spent twenty years being out-schemed by his uncle Laban until God broke him at the Jabbok. God is not a simpleton to be trifled with. He is a grandmaster of chess, and the crooked man who thinks he is playing a clever game is merely moving the pieces exactly where God intends them to go for his own checkmate.
The Great Reversal (v. 27)
This principle of symmetrical justice leads directly to a great reversal in the fortunes of men.
"For You save an afflicted people, But eyes which are lifted up, You bring down." (Psalm 18:27)
Here is the core of the gospel ethic, what Mary sang about in her Magnificat: He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. God's economy is an upside-down economy from the world's perspective. He saves the "afflicted." This refers to the humble, the lowly, those who know they are in need. It is the poor in spirit who receive the kingdom. Why? Because they are not pretending. They are not putting on airs before God. They come with empty hands, and so God fills them.
But the proud, those with "eyes which are lifted up," He brings down. Pride is the fundamental sin. It is the refusal to acknowledge the Creator/creature distinction. The proud man acts as though he is the center of the universe, that he is his own god. And God is utterly committed to shattering this illusion. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). Notice the active language. He opposes them. He sets Himself in battle array against them. The proud man looks down on others, so God looks down on him. The man with haughty eyes finds that the God of heaven is higher still, and He will not suffer a rival to His glory.
The Divine Source (v. 28)
David now shifts from the general principle to his personal testimony. This is not abstract theology for him; it is autobiography.
"For You light my lamp; Yahweh my God illumines my darkness." (Psalm 18:28)
The lamp in Scripture is often a metaphor for life, prosperity, and understanding. A lamp going out is a picture of death and despair. David says that God is the one who lights his lamp. All his vitality, all his hope, all his wisdom comes from God. Left to himself, David is darkness. We are all darkness. Our natural state is one of spiritual blindness and moral confusion. We are, as Paul says, "darkness," but in the Lord we are "light" (Eph. 5:8).
This is a direct echo of the creation account. The world was formless, void, and dark until God said, "Let there be light." So it is with the soul of a man. God must speak His creative word into our hearts. Paul says that the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is the one who "has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:6). Salvation is God turning on the lights. He doesn't just give us light; He illumines our darkness. He invades our personal chaos and night with His sovereign, life-giving day.
The Divine Empowerment (v. 29)
Because God is the source of his light and life, David is now empowered to do the impossible.
"For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall." (Psalm 18:29)
This is the language of a warrior, and it is the language of faith. David's life was filled with literal troops and literal walls. He faced the Philistines, the Amalekites, and the armies of Saul. But the principle is spiritual. The Christian life is a warfare. We face spiritual opposition, insurmountable obstacles, and overwhelming odds. Left to ourselves, we would be routed instantly.
But David's confidence is not in himself. It is "by You" and "by my God." The strength is entirely derived. It is God's power flowing through him. With that power, he can charge a barricade of enemy soldiers. With that power, he can scale a fortified wall. These are images of offensive victory. The Christian is not called to a life of timid retreat or static defense. We are called to advance the kingdom, to run upon the enemy's troop, to leap over the walls that Satan erects to protect his domain.
This is the logic of the Great Commission. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. That is a troop. We are to tear down strongholds of false ideologies. Those are walls. And we cannot do it in our own strength. But by our God, we can. The power that lit our lamp is the same power that enables us to charge the enemy. The God who illumined our personal darkness is the God who empowers us to bring that light into the darkness of the world.
Conclusion: Walk in the Light
So what is the takeaway for us? It is this: the nature of your walk with God determines the nature of your experience of God. If you walk before Him with a whole heart, seeking to be kind, blameless, and pure, you will find Him to be a God of infinite kindness, integrity, and purity. You will find Him to be a light in your darkness and a power that enables you to overcome every obstacle.
But if you try to play games with God, if you walk in pride with your eyes lifted up, you will find Him to be an adversary. You will find Him to be astute, shrewd, and determined to bring you low. The choice is ours. We cannot alter the character of God, but we can choose how we approach Him.
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Confess your crookedness, and He will make your paths straight. Acknowledge your darkness, and He will become your light. Admit your weakness, and He will become your strength. For it is only when we are afflicted in spirit that we are saved. It is only when we admit our darkness that He lights our lamp. And it is only when we rely on His strength that we can run through a troop and leap over a wall, all for His glory.