The Lord Delivers the Righteous Psalm 37:23-40

The Lord Delivers the Righteous – Psalm 37:23-40

The Bible contains many amazing promises that Almighty God makes to encourage His people to relate obediently and faithfully to Him.  The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy details a litany of wonderful blessings that God intends to bestow upon those persons who make Him their “Ultimate Reality.”  Periodically, one wonders whether these promises still apply to committed believers.  One begins to feel that one is doing all of the right things in the right ways and at the right time yet everything seems to result in failure.  Additionally, one bathes one’s pursuits in persistent, fervent and passionate prayer.  Hopefully, one is not cloaking one’s self-centered ambitions and self-seeking fears.  Rather, one desires earnestly to further the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and build His kingdom.  As one industriously preoccupies one’s self with such noble aims and activities, one undoubtedly observes others who appear to prosper greatly although they do not share one’s goals, priorities and principles for use of time, talent and financial resources.  Inevitably, a very perplexing question arises in the recesses of one’s mind and closets of one’s heart.  How do a loving God who pledges to bless bountifully those persons who faithfully follow Him withhold His tangible favor from them and liberally expend His grace upon those persons who seem to ignore Him?  Simply stated, does it pay to serve the Lord?  Will the righteous actually inherit the promises that a scripture says that they will?

Many of us know very godly people who shoulder an unfair burden of challenges and adversity.  They or people whom they love dearly face health concerns.  In some instances, people’s lives are in jeopardy.  Financially, they live on very tight budgets.  As it relates to the fulfillment of their dreams and goals, they encounter one defeat after another.  Despite, however, these sequential disappointments, they find the resilience and resolve to persevere.  Immediately, they try the next approach.  Nevertheless, they fight on hoping for that fortunate break which makes all of the difference in determining their success or failure.  On the job, this type of person works faithfully and diligently even though they have not received a much needed raise or well-deserved promotion.  At home, these types of persons are the “go to” people in their families.  They multitask their as much as they do so on the job.  Because of their myriad responsibilities in both places, the lines blur between the office and home.  Nonetheless, these righteous people continue to praise and thank God genuinely for fullness of their lives.  How can this be?

The fundamental promise of this immortal Psalm which we often hear recited is the faithful deliverance of the righteous by Almighty God.  There is not a fear or foe that the righteous encounter out which the Lord will not deliver them.  After exhorting his listener’s to refuse the temptation to fret because the wicked appear to be more greatly blessed than the righteous, David testifies and declares, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”  On the authority of his personal experience of God’s unfailing love, unquestionable faithfulness and unending grace, David reassures the righteous that Almighty God will protect them in each and every trial of life.  I imagine that David mentally recalls the countless times that God proved Himself faithful in David’s life.  Perhaps, God’s persistent mercy during the times of David’s moral and personal failures solidifies the truth of this promise in David’s thinking.  Notwithstanding his adultery with Bathsheba, conspiracy to murder bureaucratically Uriah, loss of the son conceived in this regrettable mistake, rebellion of Absalom in response to David’s silence about the rape of Tamar, and the many attacks of Saul and other enemies, David flourishes.  Moreover, his wealth grows commensurately; his children are the direct beneficiaries of these innumerable blessings.  Reliably, David confirms the steadfast love, daily mercy, and great faithfulness of Almighty God toward the righteous.

What does it mean to be righteous?  People banter this term about in church circles.  Mostly, one believes that the righteous are persons who adhere strictly to a code or morality and ethics.  In addition, they cultivate a personal piety of church attendance, giving, service, ministry and Bible study.  In the most favorable sense, they possess a sanctimonious demeanor that others would like to emulate.  However, righteousness has very little to do with human behavior.  Plainly stated in theological terms, righteousness means to live in right relationship with God.  It stands to reason that establishing a relationship with the Holy and Heavenly Father means that we do not possess inherently any righteousness of our own.  Because we relate to Him with due humility and obedience, we share in His perfect nature.  His holy love and character spills over into our lives.  The gift of the Holy Spirit organically replaces our ingrained selfishness with a genuine desire to love God with our whole being and love others as we loves ourselves.  Developing righteousness emerges naturally out of the practice of spiritual disciplines: self-evaluation, prayer, affirmation of the Word of God, meditation, Bible study, imaging the fulfillment of the will of God, and daily devotion and worship of God.  These practices greatly enhance our desire and ability to understand and grow in the righteous example of our Lord.  Daily deepening a vibrant relationship with Him results in an authentic designation of righteous instead of the redundancy of ritual and religion.