❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
צ (tsadeh) Righteousness
Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (18/22) Psalm 119:137–144
Andy Nagahrara
Now we continue with Psalm 119, which I have been talking about in a series for a while. Today we will focus on verses 137-144, where the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “צ (tsadeh),” is placed at the beginning of each line of the 18th paragraph.
Although the origin of the letter is not clear, the name of the letter is also tsadek (צדיק/tsadík), which means the righteous one, or righteous, and in fact many words translated as “righteous” appear in today’s texts. I would like to think about this “righteousness” today.
1. God’s righteousness (137,138,141,142)
137 Righteous are you, O LORD,
and your laws are right.
138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
they are fully trustworthy.
Here are some explanations of some of the Japanese terms being used…
The Japanese adjective “正しい=right” is a word that has both the English meaning of “correct” and “righteous.” In other words, two meanings: that what is said and done is appropriate and not wrong, and that it is morally correct. The word “正しい=righteous “ used in the Japanese Bible is translated as “righteous” in English.
This is the same with the noun “正しさ= righteousness “.
Also, in the Japanese Bible, “正しさ=righteousness” in a relationship with God is often expressed as “義=righteousness,” which was mentioned at the beginning of verse 138. While the original word tsadeq (צדיק) is translated as righteous in English version, the Japanese Bible uses “正しく=righteous” in verse 137 and “義=righteousness” in verse 138 with two different kanji, Chinese characters.
Here the psalmist confesses, “God is righteous, and His law is perfect, which reflects His justice and truthfulness.” As you might know, my wife and I are happy that our son is visiting Japan after a long absence, but our granddaughters, his daughters, were very sad about their father’s business trip. On the same day I heard about it, I saw a video of a young Ukrainian girl crying and grieving over her father’s conscription. Children are saddened by the absence of their parents, even if they are away on business trip for a few days. But the Ukrainian girl sends her father to a fierce battlefield where he may die in battle, with no idea when he will come back,. For the country, it may be a “righteous fight” to repel the invading Russia, but for the wife and children, a war that might take their father’s life is not right. It is the same for the families of Russian soldiers on the front lines. Human righteousness is something that is relative. Moreover, those with power decide what is righteousness and make people obey. This country we live in started the ” righteous” fight about 80 years ago and took away many people’s precious families.
The psalmist also suffered from someone’s self-righteousness. Many people in Jesus’ day also suffered from the self-righteousness of their religious leaders. Why should humans suffer for the righteousness of others? Why do human beings think that what is evil in the eyes of God is right in their own will and carry it out? The Bible calls this human nature sin. It is a disposition that turns our backs on God and tries to satisfy our own needs rather than listen to and follow God’s will. Even worse is to pretend that it is God’s will.
Unfortunately, all religions have been used for evil such as war, discrimination and persecution. This doesn’t just happen between nations. It also happens between people. It happens even between husband and wife and siblings. The first human murder recorded in Genesis chapter 4 was between Adam and Eve’s two sons. A human’s “I am right” is unreliable. Because everyone has a sinful nature. Only God, who created all people, is truly right. The psalmist knew that. Let’s skip ahead and read verses 141 and 142.
141 Though I am lowly and despised,
I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is everlasting
and your law is true.
Only God is righteous, and unless we obey that righteous God, we cannot walk righteously. If people with political and religious power do not obey God, people will only suffer and grieve. The apostle Paul knew this too. Before he met Jesus, he himself, as one of the young leaders of a fervent Jewish faith, believed that persecuting those who believed in “Jesus,” who was the founder of a new religion that challenged traditional Judaism, was the right thing God wanted him to do. How did his thinking change when he met Jesus? He says that in Chapter 3 of his letter to the Romans: First, in verse 11, he affirms, quoting Psalms 14 and 53, “There is no one righteous, not even one;” And in verses 20-24, he explains: Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Paul realized that he could not live worthy of a human being created in the image of God on his own. However, by meeting Jesus, he learned that despite all that, Jesus took up the cross, forgave the sins of turning his back on God, and acknowledged him as a righteous one. Righteousness for us means walking with Jesus, who embodies God’s righteousness.
2. Love the word of God (139,140)
139 My zeal wears me out,
for my enemies ignore your words.
140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
and your servant loves them.
If we cannot rightly keep the law through our deeds, what can we, who have been forgiven and recognized as righteous, do? Jesus told us to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness ( or rightness). But how, you might wonder?
It was the same with psalmist. He was so indignant with people who didn’t recognize God’s righteousness and tortured him that he felt like he was going to break down. It was also a frustration that he could not do anything with his own power even though he knew God’s righteousness. It was Jesus who gave us the solution to this dilemma. The Gospel of John begins by declaring that “Jesus is the Word of God.” It is said that Jesus himself is speaking to us. People in the Old Testament era wrote and recorded the law as a message from God. But it becomes like a set of rules of conduct. It was a time when people had lost sight of the true nature of the law because they were struggling to follow the written law correctly. That was the situation when Jesus came.
Those of us who know that Jesus came know that Jesus Himself represents the original “law” more than the written law. If you focus on listening to Jesus, you will care less about those who don’t listen to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want you to wear your heart out over your enemies. Instead, let’s focus our hearts on loving and following Jesus! I’ve been talking about it for 30 years, so I’m sure you all know what that means.
Yes, worship. Making worship a top priority in our lives. In other words, the first thing about yourchurch Covenant is our first and foremost commitment to live righteously.
3. The Power of God’s Word to Live (143,144)
143 Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands are my delight.
144 Your statutes are forever right;
give me understanding that I may live.
“In the midst of trouble and distress, the commandment of God is my delight,” says the psalmist. Hardships and anguish cannot separate us from God. Rather, I think that there are many people who sought God in their suffering, met God, and believed in God.
When we feel that we can’t put our trust in the things we’ve trusted until now, and when we don’t know who to rely on when we walk, that’s an opportunity to know God. From there, we gained new strength and continued to walk.
Do you remember the joy you felt when you met Jesus? And is that joy still burning in your heart?
Hardships come even after believing in Jesus. How can you keep your joy in the midst of such difficulties?
We have been reading the Psalms in the series, and several times in the Psalms there is an expression that God protects us from danger by hiding us under his wings.
God’s wings are real, not abstract metaphors. Do you know where it is? Here it is. The church is said to be the body of Christ, but it is also the wings of God. The church is God’s wings for those in distress. This is possible because we become the wings. Because we decide to love each other. In other words, the second thing in yourchurch covenant, “Love one another,” is, like the first, a resolution for us to live righteously.
In verse 114, the psalmist asks God to help him understand His commandments and statutes so that he will have the strength to live. We learned in the previous part that loving the law and loving God’s word, which for us means nothing but loving Jesus and following him. Walking with Jesus gives us strength and joy. This power and joy cannot be contained within us. Because the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God, which Jesus told us to seek, are not built in the hearts of individuals, but encompass the world.
So we can see that the third covenant of ours, “I love the world,” is also a determination for us to live righteously, just like the first and second covenants. That is, yourchurch covenant is also determined to cherish the three promises that are worthy of those recognized as righteous by God.
(Prayer) Dear God, even though we are far from your righteousness, you have made us to manifest your righteousness and bring peace to all people.
And yet, our self-righteousness can cause people to suffer and hurt.
Please draw us to you and let us know your thoughts.
Guide us and empower us to live up to your righteousness.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
The rightness of the law comes from the rightness of God who gave the law. We claim our rightness, but nothing guarantees our rightness. The truth of the Bible is that “no one is righteous” .Therefore, if we want to live a righteous life, we must follow the righteous God. Love God, love each other, love the world, yourchurch covenant is a response to God’s righteousness.
For Discussion
1. What is God’s righteousness?
2. What kind of righteousness does God require of us?