Psalm 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name: the upright shall dwell in your presence. The "upright" man is the man of integrity. And the consciousness of integrity gives, and properly gives, confidence and security. A man may cherish a sense of right, of uprightness, of sincerity. He may be sure that this puts him into the sympathy and favor of God. The psalmist - who may well have been David - may properly plead before God and say, "Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me." When the psalmist made this plea, he was suffering from unjust suspicions and unworthy accusations, very much as was the writer of the psalm now before us. But these terms, "uprightness," "integrity," "righteousness," need very careful consideration. They can be applied to a man. It is certain that man can be said to have a righteousness. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." We have known men and women of integrity who were right-hearted and sincere, and gained our confidence because they were. Sometimes, in the Scriptures, the word "righteousness" means right-hearted-ness, sincerity; it shows a man who is, at heart, centered on God and virtue. We have a way of speaking of men as being "good at bottom." If we say that as any excuse for men's sins, we are altogether in the wrong. If we say it in recognition of human frailty, and with discernment of life as the conflict of the human will over the disabilities that surround us, then it is a true and worthy speech. I. A MAN MUST HAVE ESTABLISHED GOOD PRINCIPLES IF HE IS TO HAVE AN INWARD SENSE OF RIGHT. When there is drifting and uncertainty as to what is right, there can be no restful inward conviction that we are right. II. A MAN MUST HAVE GOOD CONTROL OF HIS LIFE IF HE IS TO HAVE AN INWARD SENSE OF RIGHT. There must be harmony between the conduct and relations of the life and the cherished feelings of the heart, or the sense of sincerity will be destroyed. III. A MAN MUST BE SURE OF DIVINE DEFENSE IF HE IS SURE OF HIS OWN SINCERITY, God is true; he must be on the side of the true. God is served by the sincere; he surely defends his servants. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence. |
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