Friday, October 27, 2006
Psalm 71:2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me.
DELIVER ME IN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
For many years Martin Luther had a problem with the word "righteousness". It left a bitter taste in his mouth. It was a word he grew to hate. He had been taught that when the Scriptures spoke of the "righteousness of God" it spoke either of an attribute of God -- that God was perfect and sinless -- or it was that which God demanded of him. He set to work trying to attain a "righteousness" that God would accept. He became a monk. He said endless prayers and did endless penance. He even beat his body into submission, hoping that by pain his sinful desires would subside. They did not. The righteousness of God he found was an unattainable dream. Worse than a dream, it was a nightmare, for he confessed that he could not love a God who demanded of him that which he could never attain. Later, in 1523, Martin Luther would write this in one of his most famous hymns, "Dear Christians One and All Rejoice!":
My own good works availed me naught, No merit they attaining;
Free will against God's judgment fought, Dead to all good remaining.
My fears increased till sheer despair left naught but death to be my share;
The pangs of hell I suffered.
By the grace of God, Martin Luther discovered this and other inspired hymns of the Psalmist David. He found in the Psalms a kinship, for he heard David's pleas. They were like his own. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me". Then he found in the words of David the confidence of faith. For he read, "In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be put to shame: Deliver me in Thy righteousness." When sorely persecuted, by faith King David waited on the LORD. He waited for the LORD to rescue him by His righteousness.
As Reformation 2006 approaches, we are the same. We wait on the Lord Jesus who has rescued us, delivered us in His righteousness.
