God is good. He is all goodness, light, and truth. There is no evil, darkness, or deceit in Holy God. When we decide to accept His offer and follow Him. We really do need to pursue Him, His Love, and His Kingdom. Not because He runs from us or hides His blessings from us, but because the enemy works hard to stop us. Our flesh, if given the chance will try to satisfy our selfishness. The Spirit though allows us to glorify God, reflect Christ’s image by the consequences of His indwelling us. We manifest the fruit of The Spirit more and more as we endeavor to mature by following God, obeying Him, trusting Him, and seeking His will instead of our own, until His will is our own. He freely gives us His righteousness just for the asking. But righteousness isn’t righteousness until it is practiced.
The first step after salvation to pursuing God is communication with Him. David understood that the first step of any day was prayer and worship of The Lord. Verses 1-3 read,
“Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”
God was David’s priority. He didn’t just say he wanted to be righteous, he actively sought it. God is Righteousness. To strive for righteousness is to know God and ask for His heart and mind. How many people do you know who want something, perhaps a promotion, but they do nothing about it, they don’t get training, they don’t ask the boss. They just sit and dream about it as if it is an impossibility.
People do the same with righteousness. They want to be good, they want to be holy, but they don’t pray, they don’t seek God, they don’t exercise the gifts of the Spirit. They would rather think righteousness is an unattainable trait that only manifests in the resurrection body.
Don’t we as God’s children long to please Him? He isn’t pleased by our sin, or our excuses to keep on sinning. God abhors evil. He detests pride ad selfishness. Verse 4 reads,
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.”
But as much as he loathes evil, He loves us. He relishes our faith and our worship. He adores pouring out His love on us, covering us in His righteousness, and cradling us in His protective arms. Verses 7-8 describe it this way,
“But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.”
The world has chosen its end. God would not be a God of love and justice if He allowed the wicked to go unpunished and sin to go unpaid for. The evil in the world wants to drag us down with it. Evil people don’t want to be alone, then they would have to recognize their flaws. They will try to pull us into their schemes. The enemy will do whatever he can to destroy us. But we have nothing to fear from the world and less to fear from Satan. Our Father Almighty God loves us and covers us. Verses 11-12 read,
“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.”
Seek Righteousness, you will find Him. Pursue Love, He will fill you. Ask for more of God and He will transform you. Be intentional.