Psalm 119:40

Psalm 119:40

A righteous God!

We’ve noted so many times, on our journey through the Psalms, that the different aspects of God’s character are interlinked. For example, when talking about God’s love there is usually an immediate link to His faithfulness. We’ve also noted that righteousness and justice are also paired together. God is righteous, we all know that, but righteousness does not stand alone, it is reflected and revealed in many different ways. If God is righteous then He must judge righteously, He will look at the facts, He will consider the pros and cons, He will refuse to be swayed by excuses or the exaggerated claims of witnesses. When God makes a righteous pronouncement, it will be absolutely water-tight and correct. 

In the same way, God’s righteousness is reflected in the faithful way in which He acts. He cannot be bought. He cannot be charmed. He cannot be swayed by fine sounding arguments; His righteousness means that He is faithful and true to His own character. That is how we know that He will never fail us, the weak and the downtrodden may look to Him for protection, the oppressed may seek His judgements, the needy may appeal to Him for His provision. 

Our verse today recognises the righteousness of God. The writer is effectively saying, “Look, You know how much I love Your precepts and long to be ruled by them. I love the completeness and the purity of Your Law. Look at my heart, look at my desires and in Your righteousness treat me with the dignity and favour that I deserve. Lengthen my life. Let me live long that I might continue to honour You and uphold Your commands.” 

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