# The Psalmist says he is righteous?



## Puritanhead (Jun 20, 2006)

Some rhetorical questions for the AM

Why is it the Psalmist David sometimes made the exclamations of his righteousness given how many times he stumbled, and how sin so easily crept into his life? It's always been a curiosity to me. Is it just a reflection on human nature, and our fight of faith being a daily battle, which we can retreat from at anytime? Does it just manifest 1 Cor. 10:12, _"So that let him that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."_

More aptly, should the Psalmist's continual affirmations of righteousness simply turn us to the Christ, and realization that we possess an alien righteousness, imputed to our accounts, namely the righteousness of Christ?

When Luther said, "Sin boldy," it wasn't a libertine slogan, as Roman Catholics would like to smear it, but rather a sincere realization that we are sinners, and we must accept that fact, and embrace it. It is only then, that we can throw off any pretense of self-righteousness, and set our sights solely on the righteousness of Christ.

My problems are often in attitude, and it lies beneath the surface, and may only be corrected periodically with prayer and meditation, only to creep upon me again. Needless to say, I'm not always so good at rejoicing at trials and tribulations. I rebel and loathe of circumstances sometime.

The Apostle Paul conveyed his struggles too, and I often think they relate to his frustrations, anger and attitude problem in dealing with the discord in the early church, though the discord was the impetus for him enunciating much of the New Testament, and setting things straight on matters of doctrine. God used it for Paul's own good, and for the good of the church.

 Otherwise, good morning!!


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## BobVigneault (Jun 20, 2006)

That's a great question Ryan and it is answered very directly by David himself.

Blessed Are the Forgiven
A Maskil of David.

32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "œI will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.

10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!


David knew that his righteousness was indeed alien. He knew he couldn't cover his own sins but that God would. He clearly understood that God alone could provide a covering for his sins. By faith he repented and threw himself on the mercy of God. He knew he had a redeemer who could make his sins as white as snow. He was made righteous by the cross work of Christ and the imputation.

[Edited on 6-20-2006 by BobVigneault]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jun 20, 2006)

Bob! David looked to Christ (Ps. 110.1) and by faith apprehended his righteousness. David, like us, wears the robe of Christ's righteousness which is without spot or blemish, and without which even our best works are as filthy rags. Ps. 32.1-2 says it well. 

The whole of the psalms is an expression of utter reliance upon the mercy of God. The psalmist says to God "Help!" And God's answer is found in him who died on the cross for our sins (Ps. 22.1) and lives forever more (Ps. 16.10), and who explained to the disciples that the psalms testified of himself (Luke 24.44), ie., Christ, "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1.30).

As Martin Luther said, the Psalter might well be called a little Bible. We see in it every human emotion, our sin and our redemption and above all God's glory made manifest in these things. Ps. 51 is one of the greatest expressions of godly remorse for sin found anywhere. Truly, the righteous man knows how unrighteous he is, and looks to Christ alone for his righteousness.

[Edited on 6-20-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## BobVigneault (Jun 20, 2006)

Man that's some exciting stuff Andrew. Thanks for that beautiful and concise commentary. In the ubiquitous and enthusiastic words of my three year old, "YEEHAW COWBOY!"


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## py3ak (Jun 20, 2006)

Also to be considered is that there is the possibility of being socially righteous.


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## Scott (Jun 28, 2006)

In the context of the David's psalms, he is not righteous because he never sins, he is righteous because when he sins, he properly seeks forgiveness. That is another way of saying what others have said.


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## MW (Jun 28, 2006)

Another way of looking at it is,

He claims to be righteous as the Lord's anointed, and therefore as a type of Christ. Especially Ps. 18.


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## Contra_Mundum (Jun 28, 2006)

Still another angle:

God's people are "the righteous," not because they can perform the law, but because they _love_ the law. When David points to the laws he's kept, versus the wicked that have not, one cannot extrapolate and claim that there are moments that he sees himself as "righteous" on the basis of that law-keeping; any more than that the weeping woman whose "sins, which were many" was "forgiven, _because_ {Gk. hoti} she loved much," means that she was forgiven on the basis of her love (and not, as properly, the other way around, Lk. 7:47).

Only a changed heart can possess love for God's law, and that renewed connection to God brought about on the basis of forgiveness and pardon is the only way our imperfect obedience is accepted at all. They are "the righteous" because that is how God sees them, united to the sinless Messiah, not because of what law-keeping they've manged. David's love for God's righteous standards gives him impetus to identify himself in those standards, and seek after them, unlike the unregenerate. And what is the law except the will of Christ?

Love the law; by all means love it. Count yourself I pray, along with David, as a "righteous one," but please (!) not because of what you have done or are doing or hope to do. Assurance needs to come from Christ, the person of Christ, HIS LOVE FOR YOU shed abroad in your heart, and your consequent love for him; NOT from your measurable "accomplishments."


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