Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne

Psalm 89:14-37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
¹⁵ How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength,
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
^[d]And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones,
And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
²⁰ “I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
²¹ With whom My hand will be established;
My arm also will strengthen him.
²² “The enemy will not deceive him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
²³ “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
²⁴ “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
And in My name his horn will be exalted.
²⁵ “I shall also set his hand on the sea
And his right hand on the rivers.
²⁶ “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
²⁷ “I also shall make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸ “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.
²⁹ “So I will establish his descendants forever
And his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ “If his sons forsake My law
And do not walk in My judgments,
³¹ If they violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
³² Then I will punish their transgression with the rod
And their iniquity with stripes.
³³ “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
³⁴ “My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
³⁵ “Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
³⁶ “His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne as the sun before Me.
³⁷ “It shall be established forever like the moon,
And the witness in the sky is faithful.”

Much of the focus today regarding God centers around the fact that He is a loving God. Indeed often it is said that God is love. Along with love there is a focus on grace. The psalmist though says:  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. God is a sovereign God. His authority is complete; undeniable and unquestionable. Even though God is a loving and gracious God, His authority is not built on love and grace.It is built upon righteousness and justice. The lovingkindness of God flows from the foundation of righteousness and justice. Truth is also based in and dependant on righteousness and justice. Those then who disregard righteousness cannot stand on truth. Those who deny righteousness also deny truth. We see that clearly in our culture and society today. Truth has become relative and subjective because the culture has made righteousness relative or done away with it completely.

The psalmist says:  How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.  In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.  For You are the glory of their strength, And by Your favor our horn is exalted.   In John 8:12 Jesus says:  “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”   1 John 1:5-7 says:  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. We are blessed and exalted because of the light and the righteousness of Christ. By His blood we are cleansed from our sin. We are also exhorted to walk in His righteousness and light. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

The psalmist says: “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments,  If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.”   Many want to claim the covenant promises of the kingdom, given to David, yet they think that they are exempt from what God promises He will do to those who forsake His law and violate His statutes. They claim that the New Covenant in Christ eliminates the punishment of sin. Yet even Jesus says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words.” (John 14:15;21;23-24) In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:  “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”   Indeed through the New Covenant in Christ our sins have been cleansed by His blood. In Him there is no longer punishment for sin. Yet if we do not keep His commandments, we annul what He did to fulfill the law. We by choosing sin over righteousness annul the terms of the New Covenant.  The truth is, God’s lovingkindness lasts forever and it goes before Him. It is though established through and on His righteousness and justice. We choose the Covenant terms we will live under, either the law or through Christ. Christ though has not eliminated the necessity of righteousness. He has fulfilled it for us, if we love Him; keep His commandments and walk in His light.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.  How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.  In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.  For You are the glory of their strength. Amen.