The Seduction of Self-Righteousness: Part 2
I read through the Psalms regularly during my devotional time with the Lord. And during one of those devotional times, I read Psalm 18, which was composed by David after God delivered him from all those seeking to destroy him—including King Saul, his father-in-law, and predecessor.
Over and over, David gives praise to God for delivering David from his enemies; for protecting David, sparing his life, and giving him victory in battle. But what intrigued me on this day was not the fact that God had delivered David but David’s reasoning as to why God delivered him. David makes statements like this repeatedly throughout the psalm:
“He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me…”
“The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me…”
“For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt…”
“So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight…”
“…With the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous…”
“For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down…”
This psalm is overflowing with David’s praise to God for his faithfulness to David for the 15 or so years between David’s anointing as king of Israel and actually becoming king. God had protected David, guided him through battles and tragedy, encouraged him, and vindicated him against all accusations of wrongdoing. God truly was with David!
But it also seems that, to some extent, David truly believed that he was delivered from his enemies and exalted by God because of his righteousness—his right actions and behavior—in life. Because he followed God’s laws perfectly, obeying God and refusing to compromise in righteousness, David was victorious and exalted.
In other words, God was on David’s side.
As I read these incredibly confident declarations by David, the Lord reminded me of a very different psalm of David that sang a different tune. Psalm 51 is a psalm David wrote after the prophet Nathan came to David with a message from God revealing David’s secret: he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his loyal men, Uriah. Not only this, Bathsheba had become pregnant by David, who tried to secretly manipulate Uriah to cover up his sin. And when that didn’t work, David conspired and had Uriah killed by abandoning him on the frontline of a battlefield.
Once David’s sin was exposed, and there was nowhere left for his sin to hide, David broke down in grief over his sinful behavior and repented. In his brokenness, David wrote words like this:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love…”
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin…”
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment…”
“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me…”
“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you…”
“Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness…”
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise…”
This is a very different song from the one he wrote when God delivered him from his enemies, and he finally had a clear path to becoming the king of Israel. This song is full of humility and repentance. This song weaves the acknowledgment of God’s saving grace with the powerlessness of humanity to live righteously in their own strength, like the beautiful blend of melody and harmony.
While David was not wrong in his song in Psalm 18, we hear a man closer to the heart of God in Psalm 51—even in the midst of his sin and brokenness! Any hint of self-righteousness has been exposed, and David begins to catch an even clearer glimpse of who God is than he had before.
And despite his failure and the ongoing consequences of his sin that he had to deal with for the rest of his life, David’s repentance away from his self-righteousness and towards the grace of God allowed David to end his days in respect, peace, and the comfort and love of God.
I can’t help but hear in David’s psalms the words of both the Pharisee and the tax collector of Jesus’ parable:
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’” (Luke 18:9-14)
Luke tells us that Jesus told this parable because some who were present “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.” Because those who were present felt that they had acted better than others, worshiped better, sacrificed better, followed the rules better, and therefore were more deserving of God’s favor than others, they had become self-righteous. And as an unavoidable result, they began to treat others with contempt. They started to treat others as if they were lesser people, of little value, despised, and so worthless they were easy to throw away. This is the modus operandi of self-righteousness!
But no one chooses to be self-righteous; they become self-righteous. The problem with self-righteousness is that you quietly and blindly descend into it while thinking that you are actually becoming more spiritual, wiser, more justified, more important…more righteous!
The good news is that you can never descend so far away from God that his arm cannot reach you, his love cannot heal you, and the blood of Christ was unable to redeem you! You can always find your way back from the dark pit of self-righteousness and into being righteous in Christ by his grace.
So how do we do this? How do we find our way off the high pedestal of self-righteousness?
Repentance.
Repentance is not simply expressing your sadness about having sinned. Repentance is changing your thinking and motivations so much that it changes how you live. Repentance is not an apology but a deep commitment to humble yourself before God and submit to his life and ways.
No one chooses to be self-righteous. They become self-righteous.
David sounded a lot like the Pharisee before he sinned with Bathsheba and sounded a lot like the tax collector after he sinned with her. And in between, David cries out these words when his sin and spiritual blindness is revealed by the prophet Nathan: “I have sinned against the Lord,” and in response, Nathan said, “The Lord also has put away your sin” (2 Sam. 12:13).
David acknowledged he had sinned against God. He admitted that he had missed the mark and had not been living according to the way God intended for his children to live in this broken world. David sinned. No excuses. No justifications. No self-righteousness. Just courageous, radical humility with God.
This kind of humility is modeled for us by Jesus, who was given the three greatest temptations to be seduced by self-righteousness.
In Luke 4, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil. During this time, the devil tempted Jesus to prove his worth and identity by doing three things: turn a rock into bread to satisfy Jesus’ stomach, worship the devil in exchange for the authority and glory as ruler over all the kingdoms of the earth to satisfy his purpose, and to throw himself from the pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple to force angels to save him as a means of proving he was the Son of God as a means of satisfying his sense of identity.
However, in each temptation, Jesus denies the seductive whispers of self-righteousness on the lips of the devil and declares truth from Scripture: Humanity is dependent on God for life and satisfaction (Luke 4:4); Only God is worthy of worship, glory, and praise, not humanity (Luke 4:8); and God tests people to see what is in a person’s heart—not the other way around (4:12).
No excuses. No justifications. No self-righteousness. Just courageous, radical humility with God.
The Early Church Father, Irenaeus, once said,
“The pride of reason, therefore, which was in the serpent, was made nothing by the humility found in the Man [i.e., Jesus].” (Against Heresies, V:21:2)
If you have found yourself becoming seduced by self-righteousness, the answer is to drop to your knees, open your heart to the love of the Father, and repent with courageous, radical humility.
Don’t go another minute entangled by self-righteousness. The longer you allow it to wrap around your heart, the more likely you will self-sabotage yourself with excuses and justifications.
Don’t be seduced by self-righteousness. Don’t settle for a lesser lover of your soul.
Be Free!
