The Righteous Nature of God’s Word (Ps 119:139-144)

When God created mankind, he put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as perfect human beings and expected them to continue to be perfect – to live a life void of any and all sin. But, as we all know, they transgressed God’s Law. Satan came in the form of a serpent and instead of having rule and dominion over that snake, Adam and Eve listened to everything it had to say to them.

Thus, the world – forever – would be turned upside down and inside out. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and thus became more like the serpent than their Creator. That is the heart of sin – looking more like Satan than God. Adam and Eve shifted their worship in that moment to the Devil and not God. Just like the Devil, they lied, they didn’t trust God’s Word and Adam and Eve exalted themselves.

How can we avoid the same devilish choice? By trusting the One who gave us a righteous path – a path of godly choice-making.

In vs. 137-138, the psalmist says that what comes from God’s mouth is righteous because He is righteous. The word “righteous” appears 5x in this stanza. Psalm 11:7 says, “For the LORD is righteous, he loves righteousness; his countenance beholds the upright.” God loves “righteousness.” Why does God love “righteousness”? Because it is of His nature.

The word “righteous” means “straight.” When we say that God is “righteous”, we are saying that He always does what is exactly straight and holy; He does what should be done, and He does it consistently, without partiality or prejudice. Righteousness has to do with God’s actions. They are always right and fair. Theologically, it means God is above reproach. Thus, every word in the Bible is “righteous.” It is all straight; it is all right. It is all above reproach and without error. Thus, it is dependable and trustworthy.

And that would explain why the psalmist is passionate about keeping it even when his enemies don’t share the same concern (vs. 139). He is zealous for obeying God’s righteous Word. How and why do we know that? Because he looks at his “enemies” that “have forgotten Your words” and it seems to increase his “zeal” even more. The psalmist passionately responded to his enemies’ disregard for God’s Word. He cared deeply about the very thing his “enemies” cared less for.

J.C. Ryle explains in his book Practical Religion, “He sees only one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives or whether he dies, whether he has health or whether he has sickness, whether he is rich or whether he is poor, whether he pleases man or whether he gives offence, whether he is thought wise or whether he is thought foolish, whether he gets blame or whether he gets praise, whether he gets honour or whether he gets shame, for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all.”

He loves God’s Word because it is pure (vs. 140) when we are not (vs. 141). He loves God’s Word because it is eternal (vs. 142-144). The psalmist didn’t need more revelation; he knew the Bible was sufficient.

God’s word is “righteousness.” It is filled with right thinking, because it is filled with a perfect Word, a perfect will, a perfect standard, etc. Why turn anywhere else?

Practical Religion, pgs. 190-191.