Psalm 112:6-8 – “Confident in Him”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Because to ages he will not be shaken,

     a memory of ages a righteous one will be.

⁷He will not fear bad news,

    His heart being established, being confident in the LORD.

⁸His heart being supported, he will not fear,

    Until which he will look on his enemies.

My last two blogs have been composed looking at these three verses even while I have been facing what to me are insurmountable trials. I concluded my exegesis of the verses, thought I understood them, then went to work and got clobbered by two terrifying situations. Then as I struggled through those, it seemed like my workload snow-balled to where I don’t see how I can possibly get it all done. All the while, I have been very aware this is all from the Lord, that He is (very kindly) wanting me to learn how to have a heart that is “established” and how to be “confident in the Lord” even while I face what to me are terrors.

I am very thankful He teaches me this sort of thing. I have lamented for years how I am so easily given to worry and fear and I certainly would love to become (someday) a man who “will not be shaken,” who “will not fear,” and who really is “confident in the Lord.” What my present trials prove is that I’m not there yet. But I want to get there. And I know the only way to get there is by exactly what is happening here. The Lord teaches me Scripture that is precisely what I need, then gets out His blow-torch to show me I don’t “got it” and then puts up with all my whining even while (hopefully) I really am learning (a little).

What really stands out to me this morning is the phrase in verse 7, “confident in the Lord.” Interestingly, it looks like verses 7&8 are a chiasm:

            ⁷He will not fear bad news,

                        His heart being established,

being confident in the LORD.

⁸His heart being supported,

he will not fear,

Casually surveying the psalm, it’s possible the whole thing is a chiasm and this is the apex – “being confident in the LORD.” That wouldn’t surprise me at all. That really is the key to all the other blessings in the whole psalm – being confident in the Lord. A legalist would take “fearing the Lord” and turn it into “all these blessings come to the man who obeys the Lord.” Grace would say, “That would be nice if you had it in you to obey the Lord, but the plain simple undeniable fact is that you don’t. Give up your hopeless quest for legalistic righteousness and instead fall into the arms of His grace. Be a Mary, sitting at His feet and falling in love with Him. As you grow in confidence in Him, in His wisdom, His kindness, and His goodness, you will more and more find yourself actually living those very “commands,” not because you’re legalistically “trying” but simply “because He is.”

Another thing I want to observe is that most translations render this phrase “trusting in the Lord.” As I was doing the exegesis, what bothered me was that the word translated “trusting” is a passive. I fear the translation “trusting in the Lord” changes it to an active, with the implication it is something I’m doing, that somehow I’ve achieved stellar success in choosing to place my trust in the Lord. That would be okay, I guess, but the word is not active. It is passive. You could literally translate it “being trusted in the Lord,” but that obviously doesn’t work. Finally I ran across another exegete who recognized the problem and proposed the translation, “confident in the Lord.” I don’t know if that yet quite accurately translated the passive, but it’s a whole lot closer, especially if, back to Mary, that confidence is not something I’ve “whomped” up but rather the fruit of my relationship with Him. I can see that is what I need, to actually be confident in the Lord. These assignments and events are from Him. He intends them for good. I need to simply trust Him and love my way through whatever it is that’s going on.

The other encouraging thought as I head back into the fray is II Tim 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a well-ordered mind.” A “well-ordered mind.” That’s the other thing I need. I thought of that verse, then wrote out all the things I have to do. Somehow, seeing them all lain out in one place, they don’t seem quite so impossible. I will try to keep that sense in my head, of when things need to get done, what it takes to get there, and tackle them one by one.

Well, God help me. I’m headed back to the fray. I pray I can go even just a little bit more “confident in Him.”

Psalm 112:6-8 – “Because He Is”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Because to ages he will not be shaken,

     a memory of ages a righteous one will be.

⁷He will not fear bad news,

    His heart being established, being confident in the LORD.

⁸His heart being supported, he will not fear,

    Until which he will look on his enemies.

As is often the case, close exegesis of this passage provides some interesting observations.

As I’ve noted before (and many before me), this psalm is, in a sense, a reflection of the one before it. Psalm 111 is specifically about God Himself and what He’s like. Psalm 112 then reveals that the godly man is in fact a God-like man. This reflectiveness is true in the verses before us and I think the parallelism in itself is instructive. In 111:7 & 8, we’re told that all the Lord’s commandments are “established, sure, steadfast” for ever and ever. In 112:8, we’re discussing the godly man’s stability and the same Hebrew word is used, saying that his heart is “established, sure, steadfast.” In 112:7, it was just said that the godly man’s heart is “steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” In that case it is another word for steadfast, but notice how beautifully it all fits together. God’s commandments are steadfast forever and ever and those who believe His promises will have a heart that is steadfast too – trusting in the Lord. His Word is sure so we can have hearts that are sure. He is stability and so we can be stable! We can be stable because He is.

I’ve lived long enough to know that I am anything but stable! Like the Biblical metaphor, without Him I am like a reed blowing in the wind, swayed by everything that blows for and against me. My heart in itself is anything but “established.” Whether it’s worry or lust or anger or laziness, it doesn’t take much to push me in any direction. This reminds me of how all my life I have enjoyed setting fence posts. It is cool to me to use the post-hole diggers, make a nice vertical hole, then drop in a post and either pack in dirt around it or even pour in concrete. The end result is a post you can grab and it notably does not move. You could run headlong into it and you will only get badly hurt. It does not move. God’s Word is that way. And there’s something in my heart that loves God’s Word in the same way I love those fence posts – because it’s so stable. Unlike me, it doesn’t move. It doesn’t shift around. It is what it is.

The wonderful news is that God’s Word actually allows me to be stable. Because His Word is established and sure and reliable, I don’t have to be blown hither and yon. He actually makes me stable even though I’m not. A hurricane force wind could blow against me, but I know that as long as I hold tightly to my fence post, I won’t get blown away. It’s not that I’m stable but my fence post is. It’s not that I’m stable but that He is.

I related in my last post how I’ve just recently gone through a terror at work. As I’ve bemoaned, my heart has been anything but stable. Traumatized would have been a better word. But through it all, I have been able to just keep working, keep trying to be kind to other people, keep doing whatever I knew I could to somehow survive this thing. In a sense I have been stable – it’s just that I’m not stable – it’s Him that allows my poor panicked heart to hold together.

It is interesting too in these three verses to note which words are active and which are passive. On the passive side, he “will not be shaken,” his heart “will be established,” he “will be confident in the Lord,” his heart “will be supported.” On the active side, “he will not fear bad news,” he “will not fear,” and he “will look [in triumph] on his enemies.” Notice that the passives – what is done to or for him – is all from the Lord; then because of what the Lord does, he is able to do what he does – not to fear bad news, not to fear (at all!), and ultimately to conquer his enemies. Once again, it is all the Lord.

Even as I type, it’s still all a terror to me. Hmmmm. I don’t want to “fear bad news.” I want to be “confident in the Lord.” It’s just that I have what feels like a LOT to do, a lot that is expected of me, but not the energy or the time or in some ways the know-how to make it all happen. I want to do it all. I want to do as much good as I can in this world in the short time I have left. I want to believe each opportunity is from the Lord Himself, it’s really Him that’s doing the good, and I’m just being His hands and feet. In that case, I know I can only do what I can do and He’ll make the impossible happen.

I guess it just comes down to learning how to trust Him (be confident in Him) while I face what looks to me like an impossible work load. With Him, nothing shall be impossible. In Psalm 111:6, I was reminded that is what He specializes in – the impossible.

Somehow I have to learn to stay stable (stay loving to others) while facing the impossible, somehow contenting myself to be doing what I honestly can, and being confident somehow the Lord will take my few fishes and loaves and bless them and break them and multiply them. “Go in this thy strength,” He told a terrified Gideon. “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Heart, be stable because God is.

I still have a lot to learn.

Psalm 112:6-8 – “Shaken”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Because to ages he will not be shaken,

     a memory of ages a righteous one will be.

⁷He will not fear bad news,

    His heart being established, being confident in the LORD.

⁸His heart being supported, he will not fear,

    Until which he will look on his enemies.

Well, this has been interesting. A week or so ago, I wrote out these verses in Hebrew, then dissected them, making sure I understood what they are (and are not) saying. As I read through them, about how a good man will not fear bad news, how He is confident in the Lord and will not be shaken, I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense.” As I learned in Psalm 111, this world, this life, is all the Lord’s and He runs it quite well. I’m only a tiny part of what He is doing and in fact He will succeed in His great and wise plans for this world. I really have no cause to worry or fear anything, since my Savior King is running it all and has promised to do me good. That makes perfect sense.

I headed for work that morning very thankful for what He has taught me recently and for this wonderful security I can live in. I got to work and immediately got clobbered with two complete disasters. We’re doing one huge fifteen million dollar project where we are using a computer model to design a storm sewer system. As I was checking some work, I realized there was a serious error in the program and possibly everything we have designed (nearly all of it) could be trash. Then I got hit with another project that was supposed to be done about three months ago and yet another “issue” came up which could put it even further behind schedule. My heart went immediately into a holy terror!

I knew right away this was the Lord. Obviously, I had barely lain down my Bible, reading how a good man “will not be shaken,” how his heart is “established,” and how he doesn’t fear because he is “confident in the Lord.” I knew that is how I should be. I knew that I don’t need to fear, that the Lord will work all this out for good, and yet my heart was still in a complete terror.

Why? I believe I have faith and then I don’t. I believe I’m confident in the Lord, then I get hit in the face and my heart goes into a tailspin. I knew this is exactly where He wanted me to be. Staring straight into my heart. Basically, I’m a person who is “brave when the battle is distant.” I have faith until I have something to fear.

Shaken? Yeah, that’s pretty much me.

But He knows that. And so I go to Him and beg His help not only to somehow get me through this but also to somehow help me to grow in this business of having faith, of being confident in Him, of rising above fear – right in the middle of the battle, not when it’s a tale to be told or something hypothetical. This is it, I realized. This is precisely where I either have faith or I do not. I guess the plain fact is I don’t have much.

On the other hand I do. I do believe the Lord is over all of this – even these terrors. I believe He will turn it into something good. He always has. I am confident in Him. I just somehow need to learn how to let those beliefs conquer what I’m seeing with my eyes. I can totally see how a righteous man’s “heart is established” and “he will not fear.” I’m just not there yet. I am definitely “shaken.” Rattled. Traumatized.

As I said, all of this started about a week ago. Already, the Lord has made a lot of things work out so things are not as bad as I feared. But we’re not done yet. And I’m not done yet. The Lord isn’t done yet.

I sincerely hope that through all of this, He will in fact help me grow in living above fear. I know He will. I know He arranged all of this, in part, to accomplish exactly this. It’s too “coincidental” that He had me read these very verses, think I understood them, and then walk headlong into these terrors. It’s all Him and He’s all up to good. I want the good He’s up to – to teach me how to live above fear. And I want to see the good He’s up to – doing good in the lives of people I touch – the people of these communities who need someone to care and to give them good infrastructure to live their lives around, and the people I work with as I struggle through it all. I know it’s all good He’s up to. Lord, help me be a part of what You’re doing. And somehow give me faith to live it well.

Psalm 112:5 – “The Golden Mean”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁵A good man, being gracious and lending.

    He will sustain his affairs with discretion.

Here in this one little verse I believe we find two truths which invariably stand side by side in a genuinely godly person. On the one hand he is generous and giving to others, while on the other hand he manages his own affairs well. I would suggest that, for most of us, we do one or the other well, but it takes grace to help us put the two together. It’s easy on the one hand to be generous to a fault while on the other hand all too many people can build a huge portfolio and never give a dime to anyone. I come from a very giving family, so the generosity part has always come easily. I am very thankful for that, but like most of those before me, I have without a doubt been “generous to a fault.”

All down through the years I have been aware of verses encouraging me to be giving, like Prov 11:25, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” That is the very spirit of Christianity, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father … For I was hungry and you fed Me, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.” You can read enough verses like this and begin to feel it is always right to give and even to “give to a fault.”

On the other hand, the Bible is full of verses that admonish us to be wise, like Prov 27:23, “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds,” or  Prov 24:27, “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” To these we could add Jesus’ words in Luke 16:10,11, “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much, so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” To that we can add, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to finish it?” (Luke 14:28).

I have always known both are there but I have found it a considerable struggle to keep them in balance – how to be generous while at the same time being wise. Many of the old writers acknowledged the problem too. One said, “The golden mean (keeping them in balance) is much needed in those matters which concern justice on the one hand and generosity on the other. How to do good with money, time, influence, etc., without inflicting an injustice on self and injury on others is often perplexing.”

I would suggest that traditional Christianity has, if anything, faulted on the side of generosity. Often, the only financial principle ever taught from the pulpit is the importance of giving. Little or nothing is ever mentioned how the Bible addresses not only how we give our money but also how we earn it, spend it, save it, invest it, etc. I would suggest this has created a Christian culture that does in fact “give to a fault.” Charles Spurgeon observed, “Those who neglect their worldly business must not plead religion as an excuse, for when a man is truly upright he exercises great care in managing his accounts, in order that he may remain so … he is prudent, thrifty, economical, sensible, judicious, discreet … Alas, some professedly good men act as if they had taken leave of their senses; this is not religion but stupidity … Attention to the things of Heaven does not necessitate the neglect of the affairs of earth; on the contrary, he who has learned how to transact business with God ought to be best able to do business with men.”

Again, the challenge is to how to be both generous and wise.

I think this is the first time I ever saw both thoughts together in the same verse: “A good man will be generous and lend freely; he conducts his affairs with discretion.” I don’t see immediately how it helps me not to be “generous to a fault,” but seeing both thoughts side by side in the Bible certainly confirms in my mind that both need to be considered. As I said earlier, I think it is a grace thing. What I think that would mean is, instead of worrying about “which rule to follow,” we should take things to the Lord, realize He wants us to be both wise and generous, then just let our love for Him and others settle the matter and proceed accordingly.

Two quick observations from the text and then I’ll quit. Interesting that the good man gives and lends. Even the words themselves mean that sometimes he just flat out gives to someone, expeting nothing in return. On the other hand, what another person may need is just temporary help, in which case it is actually the better part of wisdom to grant them the dignity of repaying the loan. Once again, wisdom (grace) is needed to discern the difference. The other thing to note is that some versions translate the opening words “a good man …” while others translate “good will come to the man …” Frankly, I don’t know which is better. All the Hebrew says is “good man.” You would think that would settle the matter except that in Hebrew, like French or Spanish, the adjective usually follows the substantive. It’s not a “blue house” but literally a “house blue.” So when the Hebrew reads “good man,” you have to pause and ask, “Why is the writer putting the adjective first?” And then, being Hebrew, it is very possible that they paint the picture “good” then that of “a man” and they’re thinking of good coming to the man. That is certainly possible. I chose to stay with the more literal translation, but really only because it’s more literal. Either way, we’ve already established he’s a good man in the previous verses and we’re talking about the blessings that come to him. So either way it works.

So I head out into my day, asking the Lord to help me be both generous and wise.

Psalm 112:4 – “Grace-Changes”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁴In the darkness light will rise to the upright ones,

    Gracious and compassionate and righteous.

In my last post, I lauded the wonder of God’s light and how much I enjoy it. This time I want to notice to whom this light is given. It is to the “upright ones, gracious and compassionate and righteous.”

What is particularly notable to me is to stop and consider that these four adjectives occur together. First of all, what does our culture teach us to expect of the “upright and righteous?” They are, of course, self-righteous, judgmental, mean-spirited, cold-hearted people who hate everyone and everything. Right? Uhhhh, excuse me? How about “gracious and compassionate?” Here I go, headed for my soap box. This twisted perception of the godly is no doubt first of all the work of the Adversary but it is endlessly fueled by our misguided Christian propensity to exalt Pharisees. Yes, Pharisees. Those are the people who say all the right things at the right times, who show up at church looking sharp (for every service), carrying their Bibles, volunteering for every ministry, who are prepared to fight to the death for all the right doctrines, and who arduously protect our precious traditions. Never mind there isn’t the slightest hint of the love of Jesus in their hearts … and certainly not in their mouths.

Folks, they’re called Pharisees and they were Jesus’ most bitter enemies. They are not our friends and they certainly should not be our leaders. People like Jesus should be the Christians we admire. People like Jesus should be our leaders. People like Jesus are upright and righteous and gracious and compassionate.

I am of course crowing at the streetlight. We humans are incorrigibly legalistic and will never recognize legalists until we repent of the legalism in our own hearts. We need to truly embrace grace before we can be truly gracious, and only when our own hearts are gracious will we be quick to detect the lack of it in others. Only then will we stop exalting Pharisees to leadership, which is what perpetuates the perception that godliness = meanness. Yes, Pharisees look good on the outside. But their hearts are rotten and they ought never be allowed in leadership.

Off soapbox. Real godliness does not equal meanness. Real godliness = Jesus.

In contrast to all of that, we can return to the underlying thesis of this entire Psalm, that, in fact, “the people who know their God” will become more and more like Him. This verse is case-in-point. In Psalm 111:4, the psalmist praised the Lord because He is gracious and compassionate. Now in 112:4 we find the same said of the godly man. This is more of the wonder of grace righteousness. Practically any religion aims to make people “righteous” and “upright,” but, as we all know, “religion” also typically makes people insufferable bigots. Only grace makes people upright and righteous and gracious and compassionate. Grace never says, “Here are the rules. Now follow them.” That endeavor is precisely what produces the arrogance. Grace is the heart of Jesus calling to people “Come unto Me all who are weary …” Grace captures the hearts of the Marys of this world and draws them to sit at Jesus’ feet and fall completely in love with Him. Grace draws us into a love relationship with our God where we see for ourselves what real love is, what forgiveness is, what it means to be loved unconditionally. Grace makes us want to be like Him and changes us forever.

And so it is true that a godly person will be upright, gracious, compassionate, and righteous – not because they’re doing “a good job,” but because “their eyes have seen the King.”

I love this whole thing of knowing God, and this thought before us is one of the huge reasons why – because, as I seek to know Him better, to understand the Bible and what He says and thinks and how He sees the world, He makes me better. He makes my world make sense. He helps me be the person my heart knows I ought to be – and not because I try hard or do “a good job” but purely and only because Grace changes me. Grace makes me better. “Religion” only makes people mean. Grace-changes are fueled by grace and accomplished by grace, and no matter what “better” may mean, it is always attended by graciousness.

Psalm 112:4 – “Let It Shine”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁴In the darkness light will rise to the upright ones,

    Gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Yes, yes, yes. “Rejoice not against me, mine enemy, when I fall, for I shall arise, and when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me!” “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I know we’re all wired differently and different things bother different people different ways, but, for me, one of the things that drives me almost psychotic is confusion. I hate to be confused. I hate it when I don’t understand, when things don’t make sense, when they don’t add up. I think that is one of the reasons I have so enjoyed engineering. I remember sitting in classes where we were studying so many things, like why a bullet rises and falls, and why music must be in octaves, and why the sunset is red and dirt is brown. So many things that make perfect sense. But the best words of all were Jesus’: “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

And so He has.

I also love II Cor 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was.”

I think those simple words are the story of my life.

Those simple words are basically the reason I’m sitting here typing. One day the Lord stepped into the darkness of my life and said, “Let there be light,” and there was! I remember being a young man and so enjoying how the Lord opened my eyes and made my world make sense. I savored every glimmer of light He shined in my heart and so, it wasn’t enough for me to attend church, I wanted to study the Bible myself. Someone showed me how to use a Concordance and a Vine’s and I was “off to the races!” I think at one time I had four file drawers filled with the notes I’d accumulated from studying the Bible. But of course, it wasn’t the notes on paper that I have so cherished, it is the wonderful truths He’s showed me, how He’s made life make sense, how He has freed me from me and given me hope and all His good gifts.

Of course it is still true that my life is full of darkness. There are still so many things I don’t understand. But as I go on studying the Bible it seems like He doesn’t go two weeks and He drops another atom bomb on my heart. He shows me something that absolutely rocks my world. “Now I see!” Bit by bit by bit He steps into my darkness and once again says, “Let there be light,” and there is! I love how He said, “Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!”

Just from my recent studies, my head is still reeling thinking about how this world is His world, my life is His life, my job is His job, how it’s not a matter that I have all these challenges and I need Him to step in and help me … but, rather, they’re the challenges He has created because He’s doing a great work in this world, and the big question is not whether He’ll help me but whether I’ll get on board and be a part of what He’s doing! That sudden realization propelled me light years ahead in putting away my endless grinding worry and also has begun to actually let me experience real Holy Spirit joy in my life. It’s all been there in Psalm 111 all these years, but I didn’t see it until I slowed down to study it and He turned on the lights.

And this thing of grace righteousness – that is so profoundly encouraging to me. I’m so glad to know that what matters is not legal righteousness (“Here’s the rules and I do a good job keeping them”) but grace righteousness, the righteousness that is present in my life because grace has changed me. What I need is not better rule-keeping. What I need is to sit more at Jesus’ feet, fall more and more in love with Him, hear His gracious words and understand His big loving heart, so that I suddenly find myself different because “I’ve been with Jesus.” That just so totally blows my mind!

And I could go on and on.

Now, once again and just for the record, I have to say there is still so much I “don’t understand” about life and who I am and what I’m supposed to be and why things are the way they are, but this simple little verse absolutely ignites my heart and fuels me with hope: “Even in darkness, light shines for the upright.”

Shine on, Great One!

Psalm 112:3 – “Righteousness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³Wealth and riches [are] in his house,

    And his righteousness stands forever.

As I noted in my last post, both lines of this verse call for some serious pondering.

Isn’t it interesting that, in one line, the man has wealth and riches in his house, and in the next line, we’re talking about his righteousness? It is a shame that the two so seldom run together. It seems to me that, in this world, the “wealthy” are usually frankly wicked. And yet a righteous man can amass wealth because of his righteousness and then not lose it along the way. It is a shame that the two so seldom run together. It seems like a person with wealth could do so much good. But, as the old saying goes, “It takes a steady hand to carry a full cup.” Apparently, when it comes to material wealth, very few of us have that steady hand.

As I stated in my last post, I suspect the godly man’s “wealth and riches” aren’t material anyway. Rather they are the things money can’t buy. Then it really makes sense how he gained them through righteousness and, rather than undermining faith like material wealth seems to do, real wealth tends to secure it. What I mean is that, as I go about living my life and the Lord helps me to do a few things right and I enjoy the blessings He gives, the very blessings I’ve received only make me love Him more. When I see everywhere His kindnesses, it only makes me want to draw closer to Him. I guess that is one of the wonders of grace and why grace is so far, far better than law.

Speaking of grace, that leads me to the other thought I want to ponder particularly in light of the second line, “His righteousness stands forever.” Hmmmmm. If the statement were about the Lord (which it was in 111:3), we would all heartily agree. If it’s even about another person I know, I might heartily agree, “Yes. He’s just a good man.” But where my heart winces is if I think of it applying to me. It’s interesting to me how my heart doesn’t even like considering these words with me in the mirror.

I immediately run to the Cross and want to say, “It’s not my righteousness anyway. ‘My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.’” If the “righteousness” in view is actually Christ’s righteousness imputed to my account, then all I can say is “Hallelujah for the Cross! My (imputed) righteousness will stand forever!” That is all true and certainly worthy of praises to the Lord. Praise God that our imputed righteousness is eternal!

But I am inclined to think that the thought here at least includes one’s practical righteousness. I think the verse is considering the reality of the man’s life. Once again, I have no problem applying it to someone else. I have had the pleasure of knowing many people whose practical righteousness was exceptional. They really were just plain “good people.” But then there’s me.

Yikes.

The Lord has actually helped me do a few things right in my life and for those I am very thankful, but even as He was helping me I was failing Him. Whatever “righteousness” I may possess is entirely not me and certainly not mine. Even now, I’m keenly aware that I will only do “right,” I will only love well, I will only say the right things, if His Spirit works through me. Even as I type, I find in that truth a great hope, this power I have found in letting Him have my life, my mind, my mouth, and seeing the wonderful love and joy and peace He brings as it happens. But even as I say that, again, I am very aware, it is not my righteousness. It is not me. Leave me to myself and, God have mercy, I self-destruct every blessing He ever tried to give me.

Maybe therein lies the truth of this verse – that, for the godly man, his righteousness stands forever because even his practical righteousness is not his own?

Oh, wow. I feel another atom bomb bursting in my heart. (By the way, this is so much fun! This is so often true that I study a passage and pray over it and ponder it and then it’s only as I sit down and start typing that the Lord turns on the lights. Yes, yes, yes – in His light we see light!)

The godly man’s righteousness endures forever because, in fact, it isn’t his. We’re talking about grace godliness not legal righteousness. We’re not talking about the righteousness of “Here’s the law, here’s the rules, and I do a good job of following them.” We’re talking about the righteousness that comes through grace, the righteousness that comes from falling in love with the Lord, from sitting at His feet adoring Him and learning His heart, and getting up changed because “mine eyes have seen the Lord.” We’re talking about Mary’s righteousness, not Martha’s, the “doing right” because He has changed my heart.

Yes. That “righteousness” I don’t mind talking about. It is true. He has changed me. I myself am still completely rotten but it is true that grace has changed me. He taught me that love is what matters and I “see” it. He showed me His faithfulness and made me want to be faithful too. He showed me people’s brokenness and made me want to be kind. He showed me my rottenness and made me want to let His Spirit rule instead of mine. He showed me Jesus’ strength of character and made me want to be strong too. There is definitely a sense in which all of this is my righteousness. It is me. But it isn’t me. It’s Him … in me. And it does stand forever because He’s done it in me. When He changes me I am changed forever. I can never be the same.

Oh, my. What a wonderful Lord He is. As rotten as I am, even I can talk about my righteousness that stands forever – not for anything I’ve done but because His grace has conquered me. What a wonderful Savior Jesus is – to not only save us with His imputed righteousness but then to go on and fix us with a practical righteousness that’s still His!

Wow.