Psalm 119:137-144 Righteous are you, O LORD, and upright are your judgments.… In this section we have, mainly, a further eulogium of God's Word. Righteousness is the key-note of these verses, even as the initial letter with which they all begin is the first and prominent letter in the Hebrew word for "righteousness." But the remembrance of the righteousness of the Word of the Lord sends his thoughts to the righteousness of the Lord himself. The name of Jehovah does not often occur in this psalm, but here it is openly and emphatically given. For the most part the psalmist has been praising the richness and volume and preciousness of the stream, which, of course, could not be done without implicitly praising the fountain whence the stream issued. But here that fountain - the righteous Jehovah - is explicitly named and glorified. It is good to rise up from the gifts to the Giver of all. Note - I. JEHOVAH IS RIGHTEOUS. (Ver. 137.) To receive, retain, and hand on this foundation-truth was Israel's great function. To no other nation had God so revealed himself. It was not merely the unity of God that Israel was commissioned to teach, but, what was yet more important, the righteousness of God. But no other nation knew either the one truth or the other. When we remember that men become like the gods they worship, it is evident that the truth of the righteousness of Jehovah cannot be over-estimated in its practical power. And today, amongst ourselves, it is the foundation and stability of all our national life. We cannot understand all we see, but we can and do believe in a righteous God. II. HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS EVERLASTING. (Ver. 142.) In days when the oppression of ungodly men was rampant and raging ruthlessly against the righteous, what could sustain their soul but this immovable conviction that the Lord's righteousness was everlasting? It might be for a while obscured, but it should surely shine out again ere long. Men die, but God liveth (Psalm 90:1). III. HE HAS GIVEN TO US TESTIMONIES OF HIMSELF. (Ver. 138.) The Scriptures in a very real sense are God's Word. They contain, embody, and enshrine it for all generations. To assert that they are of purely human origin, as are the poems of Homer, the works of Shakespeare, or any other product of human genius, is to be insensible to their distinguishing characteristic as a revelation of God. The treasure is often in earthen vessels, but it is there all the same, and is ever to be distinguished from the vessel that contains it. IV. THESE TESTIMONIES ARE THEMSELVES RIGHTEOUS. (Vers. 138, 140.) Compare them with any, even the purest of human laws, or philosophies, or sacred literatures, and let honest verdict be given: will not their righteousness shine out as the light? There are few who will now dispute this. V. THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS, LIKE HIS WHO GAVE THEM, IS EVERLASTING. The lapse of ages, the increased light of science and experience, the testing to which they have been and yet are perpetually subjected, has not lessened, but rather heightened, the estimate of their righteousness (ver. 144). VI. THE RESULTS OF THESE CONVICTIONS UPON THE BELIEVING SOUL. 1. Intense zeal. (Ver. 139.) 2. Ardent love. (Ver. 140.) 3. Affectionate retention of God's Word in the memory. (Ver. 141.) 4. Rejoicing in tribulation. (Ver. 143.) 5. Longing to understand more. (Ver. 144.) - S.C. Parallel Verses KJV: TZADDI. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments. |
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