#DailyDevotion Do You Call Upon God My Righteousness In Times Of Trouble?
Psalm 4 When I call, answer me, O God, Who declares me righteous. I’m hard-pressed – set me free. Be kind to me and hear my prayer. 2You mortals, how long are you going to turn My honor to shame? You love worthless things and seek falsehood. (Music)
There is a bit of interpreting going on in the translation above. The Hebrew has David calling upon the “God my righteousness.” David is not appealing to God to hear him because he is righteous but rather his appeal is for God to hear him because God is his righteousness. If the righteous God is David’s righteousness then God declares him righteous. So elsewhere in the scriptures it is said of Jesus, “The LORD our righteousness.” In Romans 3 Paul says, “21But now God has shown His righteousness apart from the Law. The Law and the Prophets tell about it. 22This righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ comes from God to all who believe.” In 2 Cor. 6 Paul writes, “21God made Him Who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we would have the righteousness of God.”
As much as Paul says God is our righteousness through our faith in Jesus Christ, God is David’s righteousness insofar as he has faith in the LORD (who is Jesus Christ). So his appeal to God to hear him because of righteousness is an appeal to his faith. Jesus tells us to turn to God our Father in prayer in his name. When he does this he is telling us what David is telling us; we appeal to God to hear us because he is our righteousness.
Now David is hard-pressed. His son Absalom is after his throne. He turned the nobility against David. David seeks to be set free from this problem. David asks God My Righteousness to be kind to him and to hear his prayer. Before acting in fear, do you turn first to God Your Righteousness for help, to be kind to you and set you free from your problem? Or do you act out of fear and then ask God to clean up your mess because you didn’t turn to him first. Turn to God first to solve your problems. Don’t act out of fear first and mess things up even further. What good can your actions driven by fear do? No, turn all your fears over to God first in the name of your LORD Jesus Christ. Then the LORD God Your Righteousness will provide a way to deal with your problem.
David now turns to those who cause him trouble and mocks them. They are merely mortals. He stands with the Eternal One. They are turning his honor (his trust in the LORD) to shame. They are not thinking about or acting in faith with God My Righteousness. No, as David says, “You love worthless things and seek falsehood.” They want David’s earthly things, i.e. power, possessions, worldly glory and honor. They do not recognize where David gets these things from. David’s heart is not set on these things. But because his enemies want to get them in a way that opposes the will of God they are worthless things and falsehoods. Without faith in God My Righteousness these are worse than worldly goods, they are false idols. We also should not place our hearts into accumulating worldly goods and set our hearts on them. If God gives them to us, well and good, and we will enjoy them. But have a very loose grip on them because they are less than nothing compared to the One who gives Himself to us, God Our Righteousness. He gives Himself to us through faith in Jesus, the LORD our Righteousness. Possessing him or rather, him possessing us is greater than any wealth, honor, power and glory the world may offer us.
Heavenly Father, give us faith in Jesus that you may be for us God Our Righteousness and hear our prayers for the sake of Jesus our Righteousness. Deliver us from every trial and tribulation so we may give you praise, glory and thanksgiving. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.