Psa. 119:137 Righteous are You, O LORD,
And upright are Your judgments.
Psa. 119:138 Your testimonies, which You have commanded,
Are righteous and very faithful.
How righteous is God? First, we must establish what righteousness is. The Word means to be “right” or “just,” both morally and forensically. Forensics is the scientific tests or techniques used to detect crime to the molecular level. If you have to investigate God, you will find no unrighteousness in Him.
Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God – Leviticus 19:36; Deuteronomy 25:1; Psalm 1:6; Proverbs 8:20). It is His character and His essence. It guarantees us that His dealings with us will always be right and fair. God cannot make a mistake. He is not partial or unfair. His Word is truthful and powerful and brings things to the light. Because He is righteous and always right, He is also faithful.
God will never go against His Word. God will never violate His promises. His faithfulness endures to all generations – Psalm 119:90.
Psa. 119:139 My zeal has consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
Psa. 119:140 Your Word is very pure;
Therefore Your servant loves it.
Again David brings our attention to the Word of God. In Psalm 119, David mentions the Word of God 42 times. This is interesting because when Israel left Egypt, delivered from slavery, they had 42 stops from Egypt and into Canaan or the promised land.
The Word of God is pure. The only way to get purity is to burn it with fire. Countless times God tells Moses to overlay the furniture of the Tabernacle with PURE gold. The refiner’s fire burns away any impurities to be able to present pure gold. We all know the baptism of water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit but remarkably, what John the Baptist tells everyone is that He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
Matt. 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus also says that everyone will be seasoned with fire – Mark 9:49. He came to send fire on the earth – Mark 12:49. He takes vengeance on his enemies with fire, those that do not obey the Gospel of God – 2 Thess 1:8. He makes his Angels and his ministers a flame of fire – Heb 1:7. God is a consuming fire – Heb 12:29. Your faith is tested by fire – 1 Pet 1:7. He has eyes like flames of fire – Rev 2:18 and He invites us to buy gold from Him that is refined in fire – Rev 3:18.
His Word is pure. There is no impurity in what God speaks. David pities his enemies because they have forgotten the Word of God.
Psa. 119:141 I am small and despised,
Yet, I do not forget Your precepts.
Psa. 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your Law is Truth.
David has already shown us that the Word of God is righteous and pure. Now he adds another understanding for us about God’s Word. Your Law is Truth. We have already seen from previous verses that Truth is not just something we believe. Truth is a person, and His name is Jesus. He is also the Word of God, made flesh – John 1:14.
The Truth is that which is seen from God’s perspective. Jesus is the express image of God, and he is the express character of God. He came to make Truth known to us and all who would believe. He is the only way to the Father. Therefore, Truth does not need to be defended, and Truth is not subjective. Your opinion is not the Truth; His Word is the Truth. Truth is always parallel with God’s righteousness. They walk hand in hand.
Psa. 119:143 Trouble and anguish have overtaken me,
Yet Your commandments are my delights.
Psa. 119:144 The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting;
Give me understanding, and I shall live.
David adds one more thing for us to this paragraph of Psalm 119. His Word is everlasting. God is from everlasting to everlasting – 1 Chron 16:36. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting Psalm 103:17. His Kingdom is everlasting – Psalm 145:13. His righteousness is eternal. From before time and long after time stops to exists, God will be, His Word will be, His Truth will be, His righteousness and mercy will be.
Is. 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
