God's Righteousness

We all have heard about God’s righteousness, and I don’t know about you, but I often equate that with His judgment. Of course, God knows right from wrong and only participates in what is right. Of course, He judges things when they are wrong, including people who are doing wrong according to His edicts and declarations. However, His righteousness also shows up in His mercy.

I am struck with how His mercy takes into account His laws and how we break them. Yet, He provided for the fact that mankind would break His laws and not follow through, not being able to only do righteous things. As a matter of fact, He’s the only one who can perform righteous deeds all the time. He knew that, and He knew He would have to judge, but He loves us and desires us to be in fellowship with Him (see last week’s blog article), so He provided a way to exercise His great and powerful mercy toward us. His mercy is demonstrated by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

Our faith is what determines our righteousness. Scripture gives us the example of Abraham’s faith: “Then he [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).” Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way we are made righteous in God’s eyes.

God’s righteousness is part of His character. He’s always been and always will be righteous. He’s the only one who exists with righteousness without the help of another. We need faith in Jesus to make us righteous. For us, we need both God’s judgment and His mercy to be made righteous. Without judgment there would be no need for mercy, and without mercy there could be no way for us to be righteous before God.

Psalm 103 talks about His judgment and His mercy being opposite sides of the same coin as far as our righteousness goes. I memorized verses 6-8, which indicates these things about God’s righteousness:

The Lord performs righteous deeds,

And judgments for all who are oppressed.

He made know His ways to Moses,

His acts to the sons of Israel.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

I also liked Psalm 71:2:

In Thy righteousness deliver me, and rescue me;

Incline Thine ear to me, and save me.

May you celebrate your deliverance through the recognition of God’s righteousness. May you see that it’s only by His judgment and mercy that true righteousness can be extended to us. May you draw nearer to God because you understand and appreciate His righteousness.

God Desires Us

God created us to be in fellowship with Him! That’s an amazing thought. He longs for us. He wants to be close to us. Sometimes I get caught up in having to obey Him, which He does want, and lose sight of the fact that He loves us immeasurably.

As I studied several Psalms this week, I saw just how much God desires us. Psalm 8 speaks to that in verses 3-6:

When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?

And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?

Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God,

And dost crown him with glory and majesty!

Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands;

Thou hast put all things under his feet,

God considers man to be worthy of dominion over His kingdom here on earth. He could have given that responsibility to angels, cherubs, seraphim, or some other created being, but He didn’t. He gave it all to us. He esteemed us worthy. He wanted us to be in communion with Him in such a way that we would know what He would have us do to care for His creation. No one gives that much responsibility to someone He doesn’t love or trust. What I find amazing is that even though mankind has screwed up and allowed the destruction of the planet, He still gives us authority to manage His world. He has high hopes that mankind will eventually get it right – even if it’s not until the Millennial Kingdom when He comes back to make everything right.

Another Psalm passage that spoke to me was Psalm 27:4-10 which talks about how He protects us and hides us from our enemies because He desires to keep us close to Him. I especially like Psalm 27:8 and have memorized it. It tells me that one of the first commands he gave us was to “Seek His face.” That is a primary desire of His – that we seek to be in His presence. The verse says,

When Thou didst say, “Seek My face,” my heart said to Thee,

“Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

He wants us in His presence! So much so, that He told us to seek Him and to be face-to-face with Him.

When I think about His desire for me to be with Him and communicate with Him I am overwhelmed by His love for me. Figuring out exactly how I can do what He asks and seek His face is a challenge, yet in studying the Psalms as I’m doing now, I feel closer to Him and I feel cherished and valued. It gives a new perspective to my place in the world. The God of all power and glory values me. That knowledge can give me peace like I’ve never felt before.