The Confidence of the Righteous

One of the beauties of reading the Psalms is that it gives you an idea of the character of the author. Many of the Psalms that I have read so far if not all have been written by King David and as such, I have had the privilege to know more about him through his prayers. One thing that I find incredible is his ability to trust in the LORD at all times. David might have been many things but one thing he never did was put his confidence in anything less or none other than the LORD. The same David who as a young boy declared to Goliath “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled” (1 Samuel 17:45) is the same David who knew to turn to the LORD even when he had sinned and was confronted by the consequences of his sin (1 Samuel 12:15-23). David understood that the LORD is holy and only those that have clean hands and a pure heart can stand in His presence (Psalm 24:3-4). Indeed at all times, David teaches us to put our confidence in the LORD alone. This is the point of my post. I would like to encourage you, just like David to put your confidence in the LORD because that is the posture of the righteous.

The Bible is filled with references of the righteous and how the LORD is near them, how He cares for and protects them (Psalms 5:12; 9:10); how He ensures their descendance is set for life (Proverbs 11:21). This is the promise of the LORD concerning the righteous because they are His. This is not the same with the wicked. Indeed, the contrast between the righteous and the wicked is quite stark in the Bible. Just as God loves the righteous, He is against the wicked and hate those who act this way (Psalm 1:6b). This means, to be on God’s “good side”, one has to be in the clan of the righteous. However, how does one get into the clan of the righteous? Is it even possible to be righteous before a holy God? Thanks be to God, He has made a way for sinners to become righteous. 

When we talk about being righteous, we talk about a state of a person, a status if you will. This righteousness is not something that a person does to become but it is an acquired status that must be received by faith. You see, God in His infinite wisdom sought to repair the broken relationship between Him and humanity because of the sin that humans commit and to do that He sent His son into the world to substitute for the human race and incur the punishment that the sins of the world deserve. As a just God, any injustice must be punished and as a merciful God, He forgave the sins of the world because His one and only son Jesus, the one without sin, surrendered his life to his Father and accepted to die in our place, to die instead of us. When Jesus did that, he not only acquired forgiveness for us, reconciled us to the Father but he also transferred us his righteousness as he put on our filth. This has been made available to anyone who will acknowledge that it was their sins that crucified Jesus, repent of them and believe by faith that they have received the righteousness of God. This is the definition of the righteous in the Bible. Those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ know that we are not righteous because of something that we have done but we are righteous because we have believed in the sacrifice of Jesus and therefore God has clothe us with the righteousness of Jesus. It is on that account alone, that we can stand in the presence of God, it is on that account alone that we can be called children of God. This is how one becomes righteous before God. On this Holy Saturday, this silent day when Jesus’ being in the tomb appeared as defeat, it is fitting to recall all that God’s beloved son endured for our sake so that we could be called the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Therefore, we who have received this righteousness by faith know that it was extremely costly and as such we strive to live according to the rules and customs of our new family, the kingdom of God since our allegiance now lies with our new Master, King Jesus. That is why we seek to obey the precepts and commandments that our King has placed in His words and on our hearts. We know that obedience is better than sacrifice and so all that we do, we seek to surrender. As we remain in Him, as we persevere in these new rules and customs of life, we contend against anything that does not represent the ways of the King in our lives, seeking to enforce His kingdom in our day to day. In order to do that, we must put our confidence in the LORD and believe in His promises.

As the Bible tells us, the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and is saved (Proverbs 18:10). The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous –that is those who fear Him and He is seeking to do them good (Psalm 34:15-22). These are a few of the promises we stand on as we put our confidence in the LORD. Beyond seeking deliverance and safety from our enemies, another reason we put our confidence in the LORD is because He leads us into green pasture, He restores our soul, He makes our cup overflow (Psalm 23). The LORD of hosts, who is a jealous God, jealous of His beloved children, takes pride in all He does and in His Name. For His name’s sake, He ensures our path is straight, for His name’s sake, He ensures our protection, for His name’s sake, He ensures His word is fulfilled. He is a faithful God; One whose ways are not anything like ours (Isaiah 55:8). He is a mighty warrior. He is the One who has no rival; indeed, He is the ruler of the universe. The One to whom everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth must bow.

Like David, let us put our confidence in the LORD alone. Let us forfeit our idols, be it fame, riches, influence, family, marriage, kids, promotion, business, ancestors, traditions, the fear of man, etc. none of these things should take the place of God in our hearts for we have been redeemed for the LORD. The new creation that we are has room for God alone, for God alone is the One who satisfies our soul. Like David, let us humble ourselves and abide in the LORD even when we have done what is evil in His sight, trusting fully in His mercy and putting our hope in Him. For it is better to be chastised by God than being left to our own demise. God is for the righteous, and He made the righteous for Himself. We are His and He is ours. What a relationship! Therefore, let us not have any fear, the LORD, our Emmanuel is with us. May you be reminded of the sufferings of Christ this Easter and may those give you the strength and confidence to depend on Him fully. Amen.