Hope in God’s Righteousness

Psalms 71:14-24

14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.

16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
17 O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.

19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?

20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.

22 Also with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.

24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.

Such a song of hope in God’s righteousness!  Hope should be unending and resulting in constant praise for God’s righteousness in our deliverance, His salvation.  Like the psalmist, we should not stop telling this good news of our great God to others because of the unlimited salvation in the righteousness of God.  This is what justification is in Christ the Messiah, to be delivered and sustained with His imputed righteousness to make us acceptable in the Beloved.  This is the strength which moves us forward to live for God, and makes our boasting in Him alone and not our own.  All He teaches us of His wondrous working we declare to others, especially of how He delivers us and makes us right in His sight, which we now know is the gospel.  The prayer of the writer of this psalm should be ours as well, to tell others of God’s strength and power to our generation until the day we die, knowing that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  We also can praise and extol God’s righteousness displayed through His Son to us, demonstrating His great work and setting Him apart as the wise and only God, omnipotent and merciful in grace.  He allows our trials and even suffering, yet delivers and revives us out of them, the greatest which is death itself.  He will bring us up out of the depths of the earth (Hosea 6:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 26).  God brings us comfort and meaning in life, and therefore we sing praises for such faithfulness to the Holy One!  Our songs should echo the gladness of our thankful hearts for our redemption in His righteousness.  We know that all set against us and this message of hope in God’s righteousness in Christ will be confounded and shamed when the truth comes to light, so we rejoice in what is right and daily bear witness in hope, desiring their deliverance or saddened by their rejection of God’s righteousness (Romans 10:3) as they attempt to justify themselves.  Our praise is in the hope of Christ and His mercy in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).  Praise Him, our blessed Redeemer!