Psalm 7
I was struck today by the word “righteous(ness)”. The psalmist uses this word five times in today’s reading (vv. 8, 9, 11, 17). In his first use of this word he ascribes righteousness to himself; in the second he applies it to all those who turn away from wickedness, and in the last three uses he applies righteousness to God. I recall last year when we discussed righteousness in the epistles, especially Paul in Romans 1:17 citing Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith…” and in Romans 3:10 citing Psalm 14:3, “There is none righteous, not even one.” I think we would all agree that there is only One who is fully righteous, God Himself, so any use of “righteous” with application to any earthly being must necessarily reflect a work in progress, not something accomplished. I’m thankful that I live among and worship with people who are “in progress”!
Verse 6 is interesting: Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me… God never sleeps. However, even with this knowledge our psalmist is asking God to (1) Arise, (2) lift yourself up, and (3) awake! Should this repetition plea reflect the intensity of our own prayers? We would surely not be ordering God around, but would He be more responsive to a persistent request “in His will”? I wonder…