The Psalm of the Word (Part 18): Righteousness

The Psalm of the Word

Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.

You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And exceeding faithfulness.

My zeal has consumed me,
Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.

Your word is very pure,
Therefore Your servant loves it.

I am small and despised,
Yet I do not forget Your precepts.

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.

Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight.

Your testimonies are righteous forever;
Give me understanding that I may live.

(Psalm 119:137-144)

The focus of this lesson is on righteousness. God’s word is righteous because He is righteous. We can also be righteous if we follow His word.

God is Righteous

Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments” (Psalm 119:137).

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth” (Psalm 119:142).

God is the definition of righteous (Psalm 119:137). If we wish to know what righteousness is, we must look at God and His character. The psalmist wrote elsewhere, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways” (Psalm 145:17), meaning that He is perfectly and completely right. John wrote, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

David went on to say that God’s “righteousness is an everlasting righteousness” (Psalm 119:142). Righteousness is His nature. God told His people, “For I, the Lord, do not change” (Malachi 3:6). His righteousness, which is “everlasting,” existed with Him from the beginning and predates both man and society. Therefore, His standard of righteousness does not change with the changing morals and opinions of the world around us.

God’s Word is Righteous

You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness and exceeding faithfulness” (Psalm 119:138).

Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live” (Psalm 119:144).

The fact that God’s word is righteous is based upon the fact that God Himself is righteous. So David wrote, “Upright are Your judgments,” and, “Your law is truth” (Psalm 119:137-142). It is as he wrote elsewhere, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:7-9).

God’s word is a reflection of Himself. He has given His commandments “in righteousness” (Psalm 119:138). Remember that Jesus was the Word in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). During His time on the earth, He was perfect and sinless (1 Peter 2:22). God is righteous – that righteousness was perfectly demonstrated in the life of Christ – and His word is righteous.

God also “commanded [His] testimonies in…exceeding faithfulness” (Psalm 119:138). The word for faithfulness means to be steadfast or secure. As we noticed in an earlier lesson, God’s word is “forever…settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). Jesus, who is the Word in the flesh, “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

All of this points to the fact that God’s word is “righteous forever” (Psalm 119:144). His word will not change (Psalm 119:89). Peter, quoting God’s word to Isaiah, wrote, “The word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25; cf. Isaiah 40:8). Peter then said, “This is the word which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:25). Forever we can go to the word of God for understanding that leads to life. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).

Because God and His truth are forever righteous, we have no right to change the gospel that reveals His righteousness. This is why Paul told the Galatians, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-9). The same condemnation exists for us today if we attempt to change the unchanging truth of God’s word.

We Must Be Zealous for God

My zeal has consumed me, because my adversaries have forgotten Your words” (Psalm 119:139).

Biblically speaking, zeal is an intense desire to please God. The psalmist said he was “consumed” with zeal “because [his] adversaries have forgotten [God’s] words” (Psalm 119:139). Having a zeal for God means we will be zealous for the things of God.

This is seen with Jesus when He cleansed the temple. David wrote, “For zeal for Your house has consumed me” (Psalm 69:9). This was the passage the disciples recalled when the event happened. Notice John’s account: “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume me’” (John 2:13-17). Consider the results of His zeal for God’s house.

  • He defended God’s house (John 2:16).
  • He openly opposed those who were acting contrary to God’s will for His house (John 2:14-15).
  • His right to oppose them was questioned (John 2:18).
  • His actions were in harmony with God’s word (John 2:17).

To see how this applies to our lesson, replace God’s house with God’s word.

  • We must defend God’s word. As Paul said he was “appointed for the defense of the gospel” (Philippians 1:16), we must be as well, “always being ready to make a defense” for our faith in God’s promises (1 Peter 3:15).
  • We must openly oppose error. This will include marking false teachers (Romans 16:17), withdrawing from them (2 John 10-11), and refuting their false doctrines (Titus 1:9; 2 Corinthians 10:5).
  • Our right to voice opposition to false teachers will be questioned. This is why Paul told Titus, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:15). When we teach “words of sober truth,” some may accuse us of being “out of [our] mind” (Acts 26:24-25).
  • Our actions must be in harmony with God’s word. We must have authority for all that we do (Colossians 3:17). As we teach others, we must recognize that the same message applies to us as well (Romans 2:21).

Zeal does not permit us to act rashly without regard to what is right. Paul said that the Jews had “a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Because their zeal was not based upon God’s word, “they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). Many today claim to do things in the name of the Lord, but are actually practicing “lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23). We must be zealous for God, but that zeal must lead us to act such a way that is in harmony with His word.

We Must Delight in God’s Word

Your word is very pure, therefore Your servant loves it” (Psalm 119:140).

Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight” (Psalm 119:143).

In these verses, the psalmist mentioned two reasons why he delighted in God’s word and why we should as well. First, God’s word is pure (Psalm 119:140). There is nothing impure or wrong to be found in what God has revealed to us. David wrote elsewhere, “The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6). This applies to “every word of God” (Proverbs 30:5) as “the sum of [His] word is truth” (Psalm 119:160).

Second, God’s word provides help in time of trouble. The wise man said, “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (Proverbs 30:5). God, through His word, is a shield for us. When trouble comes, we need the word of the Lord. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). However, those who do not follow His word, when the same storms of life come, they will be swept away.

We Must Humbly Obey

I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts” (Psalm 119:141).

David said he was despised by others, as we will be. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

By saying he was “small and despised,” David also showed that he did not think too highly of himself. We must have the same sort of humility if we are to please the Lord (Matthew 5:3). Paul wrote, “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3).

David’s humility was connected with his obedience: “Yet I do not forget Your precepts” (Psalm 119:141). This meant that he obeyed God’s word. Later in this psalm, he wrote, “I do not forget Your law” (Psalm 119:153). He explained that further when he said, “I do not turn aside from Your testimonies” (Psalm 119:157). The righteousness of God is found in His word (Romans 1:16-17). We must humbly obey it. James wrote, “In humility, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:21-22).

Conclusion

God is righteous; therefore, His word is righteous. We can also be righteous, but only if we follow His word. Therefore, let us be zealous for God and humbly obey Him.


This entire series is available in paperback. Click on the link for more information – The Psalm of the Word: A Study of Psalm 119.


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