The Purpose of God’s Bounty

“That” introduces a causal idea.  It speaks to why David wants God to deal bountifully with him.  We mentioned that it was not for personal gain or for any other self-oriented reason.  This phrase gives us the real reason.  He desired God to deal bountifully with him so that he, in turn, could live for and serve the Word.

This is not to say that he did not benefit personally or that he did not realize that he would benefit, but only that his own benefit was not his main or primary motivation.  We are not automatons and we rarely do things for a single motivation.  We are complex beings and we do things for complex reasons.  That being said, we are certainly capable of doing a thing for a single, or main reason; and of having a main or major concern in the accomplishment of a thing.  That is what is in view here.  It is not that David was unaware or even unconcerned about any personal affect or benefit God’s gracious action in his life would have.  It was simply that that was not his first, or primary concern.

How noble and how very spiritual this is!  How wonderful this is to emulate for us.  This is the very essence of the reason that David was such a good example for us to follow after.  It is true that he fell into sin, sometimes very grave sin.  It is true that he was a fleshly man who did a very poor job in many areas of his life.  But, when push came to shove, David was more concerned with God’s priorities than he was with his own.  It is so that he frequently failed to serve those goals consistently or well; but yet they were goals, and were honest ones at that!

Once again this underscores for us the possibility of our own lives being like David’s.  In fact, they inevitable are!  We are all less than perfect in our pursuit of God and in our accomplishment of His plan and purpose.  But, this imperfection is not the end all of our spiritual experience.  What is most significant is that His priorities be our priorities and that the chief aim of our lives be the serving of His Word.

This is not to say that the actual accomplishment of what the Word commands is not important.  It certainly is.  In fact, that is actually the focus of this verse and nothing we have said thus far ought to be taken to excuse or justify disobedience of the Scriptures.  Such “keeping” of the Word is of paramount importance to God and ought to be the chief goal of the believer.  It was David’s number one goal.  He was anxious for God to deal bountifully with him “so that” he could live and obey the Word.

“Live” is a Hebrew word that basically refers to living or having or sustaining life.  There is nothing in any of David’s intent here to tie this to the physical necessities of life; food, water, shelter, etc.  David already had these things in spades.  He was king and all of the resources of the kingdom were his to use as he saw fit.  There was no lack or fear of lack in his life.

Rather, his conclusion here is precisely the same as Solomon’s.  If one has all of the physical things that life has to offer, but yet one is not walking with God, keeping the Word, one really is not living!

This speaks both to the sustaining of life,