WHOSE RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER
Psalm 112 describes a man whose "righteousness endures forever." In ten verses there are three references to how "his righteousness endures forever... he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever." (3, 6, 9)
What does it mean to have righteousness endure forever? And who is this speaking about?
It means that his good deeds, his righteousness, accomplish things that endure. He does things that don't need to be redone. What he does stays done.
This is a peculiar trait. What I do does not stay done. Most everything I do must be redone. My righteousness, it seems, does not endure. Why does his endure?
His righteousness endures for, at least, three unique things that must be true about him. First, he must have unique wisdom to see what must be done and where and how in such a way that, having done it, it endures. Second, he must have unique power to accomplish what his unique wisdom perceives. He knows what to do and is able to do it so that it stays done. Third, he must be uniquely aligned with God's will, because throughout Scripture it is only God's work that endures forever. Somehow it's as if his wisdom were God's own wisdom and his power were God's own power so that all he does is what God Himself is doing. That's why it endures forever.
"He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." (v. 9)
Who is this person?
The entire ten verses of Psalm 112 are all about this guy. And while I have to say I wish that the way he is described also describes me, I'm afraid that there are only a few of his attributes that are true of me, and those only imperfectly. Here is a person who is gracious, merciful, and righteous, generous and giving, who is perfectly aligned with the LORD's heart.
I don't think I'm alone in not seeing myself reflected in this psalm. Every person who hears this psalm would think, "That sounds great, but that's not me." No indeed.
The first words of Psalm 112 are, "Praise the LORD!" Why praise the LORD? The rest of the psalm is about this righteous man. Why not praise him? I think that those who first heard this psalm would have understood that this righteous man is the Lord's special, righteous, man. He is not just anyone; he is the promised one. He is the Promised One.
That's right, Psalm 112 describes The Righteous One whom God's people longed to see and whom we know and love and worship: Jesus Christ our LORD.
Perhaps you guessed this already. If so, good! But there's one thing more we need to see.
"He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." (v. 9)
Jesus is the one whose righteousness endures forever. That means that what He does endures. What He did does not need to be redone. What He accomplishes stays accomplished. He worked with the wisdom and power of God; He did the will of the Father. His steadfast love and His righteousness endure forever.
So what He has done in our lives, stays done. "He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." What He has blessed us with, in our poverty and weakness, is ours forever. How He has saved us means we're saved forever. What He accomplished and applied to us, stays accomplished forever.
His righteousness endures forever, so your salvation is secure forever. His righteousness endures forever, so your standing before the Father, your enjoyment of the Spirit, your inclusion among the saints, your hope of life everlasting, and all the many other blessings, advantages, and resources given to us by God in Christ, are all ours forever.
He's the righteous one, we're the poor ones. What we get from Him is ours forever not because we do a good job holding onto things--I mean, how do you think we ended up so poor? What we get from Him is ours because His righteousness endures forever.
"Praise the LORD!" indeed. As Paul says, after quoting Psalm 112:9 in 2Corinthians 9:9, "Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!"
I'm not The Righteous One; you're not The Righteous One. I'm still the fellow whose righteous deeds are not very strong nor very wise and are often only somewhat righteous to begin with. But thanks be to God that all the truth of the Gospel is all completely true for me, no thanks to me but all thanks to Jesus.
All the truth of the Gospel is all completely true for you today as well. And all thanks to Jesus. So let's give Him thanks today. Amen.
This is a powerful new song we'll be learning together.
Photo by Darya Tryfanava on Unsplash
