My Only Appropriate Response

For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. 2 Samuel 22:50

My wife and I have developed this constructive behavior where we occasionally must remind each other of our appropriate response to the other. For instance, if my hands are full and I ask my wife to take out the garbage for me, and she drops what she’s doing to deal with the garbage, I should express gratitude. If, however, I complain because she didn’t immediately put in a new garbage bag, then she might say something like this, “I must not have heard you correctly. What I think what you meant to say was, ‘Thanks for taking out the garbage, honey.’ Is that right?” It’s our gentle and amusing method of reminding each other that there is an appropriate response to an act of service, and to lovingly point out that what was initially said, isn’t appropriate. When done right – without sarcasm or hostility – it’s a great way to remind the other that when our spouse does something nice for us, there is a proper response and an improper response.

When it comes to our interaction with God, King David illustrated that there is really just one appropriate response to his grace and mercy. In today’s passage, God delivered King David from the Philistines, after which David responded the only fitting way – by expressing gratitude and praise. David could have played the petulant child – What took you so long? Instead, he observed God’s goodness and recognized where he’d be without it. Appropriately, he worshipped God, giving him his proper place in David’s life.

I too have an appropriate response to God. As he has saved me from myself and as he has given me a new life out of the disaster of the old one, I must now respond appropriately. For me, that means living a radically different life, one pointed at God. Where I once lived for myself – which, incidentally, led to the disaster of the old life – I must now abandon my way to follow God. I don’t do it perfectly, but every day, upon awaking, I thank God for my new life, and I declare my intention to respond appropriately by living for him. This is no sacrifice on my part. It’s simply an appropriate response for a life saved. God saved me from myself and now the only appropriate response is to live for him.