And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness
‘And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness. — Veb. 145.
AXCE again, after the petition, comes the promise.” Grace does not selfishly long merely for personal enjoyment or safety, but lays itself out for honor to God the Giver, and for blessing to others who have need of it. The renewed experience of fellowship with God, as the God of his salvation, will of itself bear the glorious fruit, that his tongue shall praise this God. ‘Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.’
The words of this promise are very significant and instructive. Observe, first of all, the main theme of this joyful celebration: it is the righteousness of God. It is as if this psalm of grace and redemption could not end without this word, the most glorious in which the work of God in connection with our redemption is presented. It is the word that the Holy Spirit by preference uses to indicate to us as well the origin as the way and the fruit of our redemption: the righteousness of God. It embraces in one word the attribute of God, which is glorified in our redemption, the gift with which we are endued, and the operation and revelation of this redemption in our life. For the soul that is yearning to be saved, or for those that have been recently converted, the word grace has a most charming sound, and appears to be the most attractive and encouraging. The growing knowledge of grace will always bring the ransomed soul to the righteousness of God, as that in which the love of God has its foundation, and in which the believer thus also seeks his stability. And therefore to the first promise to teach transgressors God’s ways, these words are added, namely, the resolve especially to proclaim also His righteousness. Let us endeavor to understand this word.
It indicates, first of all, the attribute of God that moves and guides Him in the bestowal of grace. Grace in the forgiveness of our unrighteousness is not exhibited at the expense of the righteousness of God. No: grace reigns through righteousness; it is from the righteousness of God that grace derives its power. So John writes: 6 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins 5; as Paul also says: ‘That God might be righteous when He justifies the ungodly ’ (Rom. iii. 26, iv. 5). Hence it is that in the psalms and prophecies so frequent mention is made of this righteousness of God as that which His people specially celebrate and rejoice in.
Some have not been able to understand this, and imagine that in these passages the word righteousness must be understood as synonymous with goodness. But this is not the case. The righteousness of God, the disposition in Him by which He always does what is right, is the foundation of His throne, also of His throne of grace. Believers have from the beginning been led by the Spirit to understand that the only way by which the unrighteous can be redeemed and become righteous must be that God, the only righteous One, shall communicate His righteousness to them.
The phrase, ‘Thy righteousness,5 comes then to mean, further, the righteousness that is bestowed upon the sinner in God’s gracious sentence of acquittal. David had prayed: ‘Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.5 That ‘whiter than snows can be maintained only in the possession of the righteousness of God. The ‘New Testament makes it plain how this can be. In the Mediator, the man Christ Jesus, the righteousness of God is brought near to us. By His obedience and suffering He has brought in an everlasting righteousness; and just as by the sin of the first Adam death reigned over all that belong to him, so also by this one righteousness of the second Adam grace comes upon all that adhere to Him, unto justification of life. And as from Abraham onwards faith is reckoned for righteousness, so through all succeeding periods it is the grace of God which justifies the ungodly that has been the hope and the joy of His people. 6 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory ’ (Isa. xlv. 25).
Then, further, this word also signifies the effect of the grace of God. The sentence of acquittal by which God justifies the sinner, and the righteousness of Christ in which he obtains part, become in him a power of God for sanctification, are in him the seed of a new life of righteousness. £ He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous’ (1 John iii. 7). Grace reigns through righteousness unto life. Grace renews the soul after the likeness, and the spirit of the Righteous One and the righteousness of God in Christ, first imputed by faith, becomes the new nature in which God’s children walk. 4 If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of Him.’
This is, according to the New Testament, the full signification of this word, ’ the righteousness of God.’ And it was just of this that David said, ‘My tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.’ He was to glory in it. He saw such glory in it; the revelation of it was for his soul so delightful and worthy of admiration, that he was not only to speak of it, but was also to celebrate its value and praise: he was to glory in it as something that had now become his portion. He was to praise it joyfully. It would be observed of him that this was not a burden laid upon him, a thing of the mere fulfillment of duty, but something
HAVE MERCY EPOX ME.
that was his delight: he was to speak of it with joy and gladness.
Redeemed soul, let it be thus with you. On every occasion draw near to God for a new. divine, effectual experience of the righteous grace of the Lord in the complete deliverance from your guilt. Your mouth will then become open to celebrate joyfully the righteousness of the Lord. Every repetition of the prayer: ‘Deliver me, O God, Thou God of my salvation, will give you strength and joy for the promise: 1 And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.’