Righteous from the LORD

“⁷For the LORD is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.”

— Psalm 11:7 (ESV)

Yes, you see that right. Being righteous comes directly from the LORD. He is where we learn of being righteous as we follow His example. Jesus was righteous and as my example I have the proper way to be righteous myself.

When I am doing the will of God as He spells out for me to do, I will find myself righteous in those moments. I want to be careful with what I say here in that I do not want to declare myself righteous, as only God can declare someone righteous. What I can and will say is that my deeds will be righteous as I conduct them in the will of the LORD.

Recently I was fortunate to listen to the Dean of Dallas Theological Seminary-Houston, Dr. Pierre Cannings speak on the history of God and how His history shows us the future of God through His consistency throughout history which will be consistent through the now and throughout the future. Where the entire message was fantastic, one thing that stood out to me was that I do nothing and that God is the author and director of all that happens in my life. This hits me this morning as I study in that I get all from the LORD and including the example of righteous behaviors.

I certainly do not consider myself righteous. I struggle daily with sin and staying focused on Him. There are a lot of distractions in this world, including those that lead me to believe I had something to do with it. It is not me, it is God working in and through me. Yes, I pick up the hammer to hit the nail, but it is God who gave me the nail and hammer and the physical ability to use them.

Being positive, empowered, or good are attributes that are certainly important to have. But, being righteous trumps all of those. Being righteous is will lead to those attributes, they will not lead to being righteous. I have to continue studying God’s Word to find righteousness. I know where it lies and comes from and that is with the LORD. My job is to do the will of God and allow Him to see me always doing so. This will please Him and maybe, just maybe He will consider me righteous.

Where do you find yourself looking for righteousness? Are you looking/finding it in your own actions and through being positive, empowered, or good? What if you looked to the LORD as the source of righteousness and strive to be like His example and allow Him to declare your righteousness?