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As I wrote yesterday, I have yet to see a definition of God’s righteousness.  Our righteousness is defined quite clearly.  Believe in God and it will be accounted to us as righteousness; obey God and it is our righteousness.  So, believing God is like earning a deposit of righteousness from Him to place in our bank account… obeying God is like spending it.  Yet, because all righteousness comes from God, it still begs the question of what it means for God Himself to be righteousness, and what the true meaning of righteousness is, such that belief and obedience are the ways for us to manifest it. 

Yesterday I suggested (and not for the first time) that if God’s quality is righteous, then His associated actions bring justice.  In other words, where God is righteous, God is just.  It suggests that righteousness and justice are intertwined somehow, if not actually the same thing.  However, today I came upon Psalm 71, which I believe holds more clues as to what God’s righteousness actually is.

Psalm 71 is a Psalm of praise and dedication to our Lord.  However, it has that odd feature that atheists often note about the Old Testament that Christians quite often ignore, and that is where God is a God who punishes one group out of love for another… the Psalmist is in the group that God loves; the Psalmist’s enemies are in the group that God does not.  These are rather cold terms, but I state it this way so that Christians who understand this scripture already can also understand the question that I am trying to answer with my studies: why do men of God appear to love some and hate others, and all within God’s will, when Jesus told us all just to love?  Part of the answer of course is that Jesus was talking about our personal lives, but this Psalmist is writing of his personal life.  The juxtaposition of Christians who understand scripture not having an answer for atheists who see only its plain language led me to ask God, why do things seem as they do?  Why does God genuinely act against people in the Old Testament, yet only acts for people in the New?  What changed?  Or rather, what didn’t change, such that this apparent shift makes sense, not only spiritually and religiously, but logically?  Let us look at what insights Psalm 71 may have in this department.

 ² Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
       turn your ear to me and save me.

Because God is righteous, He listens to those who believe and obey Him.

Because God is righteous, He saves those who believe and obey Him.

 ⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
       declaring your splendor all day long.

 ⁹ Do not cast me away when I am old;
       do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

 ¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me;
       those who wait to kill me conspire together.

 ¹¹ They say, “God has forsaken him;
       pursue him and seize him,
       for no one will rescue him.”

 ¹² Be not far from me, O God;
       come quickly, O my God, to help me.

 ¹³ May my accusers perish in shame;
       may those who want to harm me
       be covered with scorn and disgrace.

 ¹⁴ But as for me, I will always have hope;
       I will praise you more and more.  

Notice the difference here between those who love God and those who do not.  Those who do not love God do not believe in His power.  They see the weak believer and attack.  They act shamefully, and will be put to shame.  If righteous yields justice, then this is justice.  This is not a prayer against ones enemies for purposes of simply using God as a weapon, but a prayer for justice.  There is no hatred here, but a request for relief.  And in the mere anticipation of receiving relief from his enemies, the psalmist goes on…

 ¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
       of your salvation all day long,
       though I know not its measure.

Because God is righteous, the justice with which He saves cannot be measured.

Because God is righteous,  those who believe and obey Him cannot help but offer prayer and thanksgiving to Him.

 ¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
       I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

Because all righteousness flows from God, His righteousness is unique to Him.  It is a characteristic no one else has; no one else deserves such praise.

 ¹⁹ Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
       you who have done great things.
       Who, O God, is like you?

Bringing justice to those who prey on the weak is a great thing to do.  Bringing justice to those who prey on the weaknesses of the strong, just because those who do so want to be stronger, is a great thing to do.  When the righteous are weak, God will bring His justice against those exploit it, because bringing justice to those who prey on the weaknesses of the righteous is a great thing to do.

Who, besides God is righteous?

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