Many do hold this opinion, but we have no warrant to suppose that the Psalms contain a mixture of truth and error (unlike the speeches of Job’s three comforters, whose words God explicitly tells us are not entirely trustworthy, Job 42:7). 2 This is unsatisfactory, first, because it supposes that some of the words of the psalmists are flawed expressions of merely human convictions. There is a simple, superficially attractive, and yet deeply problematic “solution.” This is to conclude that claims to righteousness in the Psalms are actually professions of self-righteousness that anticipate the later self-righteousness of the Pharisees so roundly condemned by the Lord Jesus (e.g., Luke 18:9–14). How can both be true at the same time? How can I possess righteousness if I have no righteousness? Second, we have to grapple with the apparent contradiction that the psalmists who claim to possess righteousness also admit that it is not possible to be righteous before God (e.g., Psalm 143:2). “Who are the righteous? We shall never make friends with the Psalms until we know.” If I were to pray that, what if the Lord did judge me according to my righteousness and found it severely wanting, as he surely must - must he not? Dare I pray this? For example, the prayer “judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me” (Psalm 7:8) rather alarms us. First, we struggle to know what to make of it when psalmists claim to be righteous, sometimes in quite strong terms. Two large and closely related problems raise their heads. It matters deeply to know who they are, not least so that you and I can make sure we belong among them, inherit their promises, and sing their psalms. These people - and it is important to remember that, in the Old Testament, these were real flesh-and-blood people - are showered with blessing. Not only does the covenant Lord know (watch over) their way and guide their steps (Psalm 1:6), but he blesses and protects them (Psalm 5:12), he is with them and terrifies their enemies (Psalm 14:5), he surrounds them with steadfast love (Psalm 32:10–11), he watches them with his eyes and listens for their cry with his ears (Psalm 34:15, 17), he upholds them (Psalm 37:17), and he gives them the new creation, which is the fulfillment of the Promised Land (Psalm 37:29), so that they will flourish in his presence for ever (Psalm 92:12–13). So many promises are attached to these people. They appear again and again, especially in book 1 (Psalms 1–41), often in contrast to “the wicked.” But who are the righteous? We shall never make friends with the Psalms, let alone begin to enjoy and appropriate them in our devotions, until we know. We meet “the congregation of the righteous” and are promised that “the Lord knows the way of the righteous” right at the start of the Psalter (Psalm 1:5–6). They also anticipate the coming of the Righteous One, in whose mouth the psalmists’ words find their ultimate fulfillment.įor our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors, leaders, and teachers, we asked Christopher Ash, writer-in-residence at Tyndale House, to describe who “the righteous” are in the Psalms. A portrait of the righteous in the Psalms tells the true story: they find their refuge in God and, as a result, receive a righteousness from him that increasingly characterizes their lives. Some interpreters have even suggested that the psalmists claim a form of self-righteousness similar to what the later Pharisees would display. ABSTRACT: The language of righteousness in the Psalms often surprises Christians, especially in light of the doctrine of justification by faith.
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