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Psalm 35 is a rather violent Psalm.  In it, David describes awful things he wants God to do to his enemies, and he asks Him for it in the name of righteousness.  How could that be?

Last year, I spent some time praying about this exact subject.  That is, why would the contemporary morality of David’s time seem to judge piousness in terms of how much they war for God, while the contemporary morality of our time seems to judge piousness in terms of ones pacifism amidst war?  I thought I received a word from God last year that answered my question.  I did not receive the word verbally mind you, but seemed to come in an epiphany, and it just explained it for …

 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
       on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
 19 to deliver them from death
       and keep them alive in famine.
Another challenge presented to Christians is that of famine.  However, the issue of famine is one of perspective.  Western society is moving in the direction of finding conditions such as famine to be completely unacceptable.  We therefore have two schools of thought forming.  One is the school of thought that it is the responsibility of the haves to provide for the have nots.  Actually, that’s not quite accurate, as the haves cannot be trusted to provide for anyone but themselves; after all, the reasoning goes, the motivation of a …

 1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
       let me never be put to shame;
       deliver me in your righteousness.
Wow.  A psalm that actually begins with a mention of righteousness, instead of leading up to in the last verse.

Well, as a Psalm of David, the verse’s statement is certainly true.  David has taken refuge in God, and in fact wrote of that refuge in other Psalms.  Therefore, he requests, he wants to never be put to shame, and to be delivered in God’s righteousness.  It is unclear from the context whether David is saying that his own righteousness is of God, or that God is righteous, and His righteousness makes a good shelter.

The reason I think it …

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
       he leads me beside quiet waters,

 3 he restores my soul.
       He guides me in paths of righteousness
       for his name’s sake.

 4 Even though I walk
       through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
       I will fear no evil,
       for you are with me;
       your rod and your staff,
       they comfort me.

 5 You prepare a table before me
       in the presence of my enemies.
       You anoint my head with oil;
       my cup overflows.

 6 Surely goodness and love will follow …

Another pattern I see in the Psalms regarding righteousness… righteousness is often in the last verse of the Psalm.  I have yet to see it in the first verse, but then I’m reading only one a day, so I haven’t looked yet.  But still, this catches my attention.  Well, on to the Psalm…

Psalm 22 is perhaps my favorite one.  It foretells of Jesus on the cross.  I love the prophetic accuracy of its details, and the vivid description of the emotions.  I love how it turns around to praising God as Jesus was apt to do.

After describing in physical hyperbole the spiritual suffering within which he finds himself, and after describing the way he gets treated by mankind as he suffers, …

 20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
       according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
       I have not done evil by turning from my God.

 22 All his laws are before me;
       I have not turned away from his decrees.

 23 I have been blameless before him
       and have kept myself from sin.

 24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
       according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

 

These are the same kinds of verses we have been seeing about righteousness in the Psalms.  They describe God rescuing David from the clutch of …

I like this Psalm.  It is all about righteousness, though the word itself doesn’t appear until the last verse.  Follow with me:
 1 Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
       listen to my cry.
       Give ear to my prayer—
       it does not rise from deceitful lips.

 2 May my vindication come from you;
       may your eyes see what is right.  
Who needs vindication from God, but someone who believes and obeys Him (i.e., a righteous man), while others scoff or show pangs of doubt?
 3 Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
       though you test me, you will find nothing;
       I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.  
I just read about this kind of “night” …

I recently saw an ad on my blog for The Seven Deadly Deceptions of Modern Christianity.  I figured out what site’s URL was so that I wouldn’t violate my Google AdSense agreement of clicking on my own ads, and then spent a little time reviewing the site.  It concerns me that saved Christians may find this site and begin to doubt their salvation.  For those who do not, they may believe what they want of these “deceptions”, but for those who will doubt their own faith, I desire to reassure them:

Deception 1: The Carnal Christian will be Saved

Here, the author attempts to do something very important: establish scripture as an authority over us.  However, he (I’m assuming the author is …

When I wrote about Psalm 7, A Look at God’s Righteous Anger, I originally read it as a messianic Psalm, and I still think it is, given its truth about Christ’s return.  However, it also served another purpose… as a prayer of David before going into battle.  Or at least Psalm 9 makes it appear that way, having many of the same of features as 7, but in the past tense!

Psalm 7
 1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you;
       save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

 2 or they will tear me like a lion
       and rip me to pieces with no one …

Psalm 7 is interesting:
 1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you;
       save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
It starts out in a similar vein to verse 5.  Having righteousness on my mind, I see David taking refuge in God’s righteousness specifically, even though he doesn’t quite say that here.
 2 or they will tear me like a lion
       and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
In Psalm 5, David concerned himself with what God does to men who are not clothed in His righteousness, exploring it as something he himself otherwise deserves, were God not the merciful God He is.  But here, David concerns himself with those men who remain …