Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! (Psalm 4:1a)

I have read many silly things written by Christians over the years (and I have written some of those silly, untrue things myself). One such writing I remember dealt with David’s term “my righteousness” as we see here in Psalm 4. The author’s point was that David was very young when he wrote the psalms which proclaimed his own righteousness.  How could David have been righteous himself when he did such things as commit adultery and murder the husband of the woman he committed adultery with? But by dismissing David’s account of his own righteousness, in thus condemning David’s word’s, that writer missed the point of all Scripture.

When David speaks of his righteousness he does so with the understanding that his righteousness derives from God. He is righteous because God is righteous and because he wants to do God’s will. He understands that he is not intrinsically righteous, but that his standing before God depends totally upon what God has done for him. And yet David says, “But know that the Lord has set apart^[a] for Himself him who is godly.” (Psalm 4:3) Can anyone really know whether or not God has set him apart for himself? Can anyone really know whether or not he is “godly” according to David’s word here?

According to Strong’s the Hebrew word translated “godly” here is “chaciyd,” which means “kind” or “merciful.” Jesus said,  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,” and  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6-7) I believe people know whether they are merciful or not; I believe they know whether they hunger and thirst for righteousness or not. God commends David as a man after God’s own heart. David hungered and thirsted for righteousness. God therefore set David apart for himself.

Then David instructs us in making God’s righteousness our own righteousness. He says,

Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
⁵ Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord. (Psalm 4:4-5)

Jesus demands perfection in order to come into his presence and no matter how hard we try in this flesh we cannot be perfect. Neither could David. But, he wanted to be perfect and that is why God called him a man after his own heart. He trusted in God that God’s righteousness would one day be his own. He made sacrifices of righteousness by walking in God’s ways to the best of his ability. Do we do the same? Do we separate ourselves from the sins of the world? Do we learn his ways and walk in them? Do we hunger and thirst for the perfection and righteousness of Jesus himself?

Paul says, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,” (1 Corinthians 1:30) and again “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Many err today believing that simply because they believe in Jesus they will be declared righteous on the day of judgment. Some of these sin with impunity and do not walk in Christ’s ways. They could never say, “Because of my righteousness I did thus and so” because they have no righteousness of their own. They will be found naked in the Day of the LORD.

How long, O you sons of men,
Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood? Selah (Psalm 4:2)

“My righteousness” thus originates and becomes perfect and complete in God’s righteousness. David was not “self righteous” when he made such bold claims. His righteousness was based upon faith, just as ours is today. Yes, God is the God of our righteousness. Take care, then, that you learn what God’s righteousness is and that you are not found naked when he comes to claim his Bride.

⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and ^(X)give the glory to Him, for ^(Y)the marriage of the Lamb has come and His ^[b](Z)bride has made herself ready.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in ^(AA)fine linen, brightand clean; for the fine linen is the ^(AB)righteous acts of the ^[c]saints. (Revelation 19:7-8, NASV)