YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL SHINE LIKE DAWN

 

A schoolmaster in France was discouraged with one of his students. He wrote in his roll book concerning this student, "He is the smallest, the meekest, the most unpromising boy in my class." Half a century later, an election was held in France to select the greatest Frenchman. By popular vote, that meekest, smallest, most unpromising boy was chosen.

His name was Louis Pasteur, the founder of modern medicine. At age seventy-three, a national holiday was declared in his honor.  He was too old and weak to attend the ceremony in Paris, so he sent a message to be read by his son. The message read: "The future belongs not to the conquerors but to the saviors of the world."

David wrote Psalm 37 to those who are vexed by the prosperity of the wicked prosper. He wrote to those who may be tempted to give up doing the right thing because observation seems to suggest that it is not worth it. David said “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday” (Ps. 37:5-6).

In verse 5 he uses two different words for faith: commit and trust. This double emphasis should stir us to see the importance of placing our faith in God. Commit means to “roll” something over to someone else. Davis is saying “roll the course of your life over to God. The Lord says “I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I will advise you and watch over you (Ps. 32:8 NLT)

How can you know the God-led pathways? by carefully obeying the word of God and doing everything written in it (Joshua 1:7-8). In Proverbs16 we are told “the highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul… He who heed the word wisely will find good and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he…The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.

The psalmist prayer was “I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight…Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.

I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word…I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path…Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path…I have done what is righteous and just… Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me…make your face shine on your servant (Ps. 119)

The word here for trust can also mean to have confidence in. Trust in the Lord with all your heart…In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6). Place your confidence in him. He has plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). The Bible says that God cannot lie, he always keeps His promises.

Where we struggle, though, is that our expectations and timing don’t align with His. We also cannot see the long- range outcome the way he can. In psalm 1 we are told that blessed is the one who delights in the law of the lord, whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

But in real life the opposite appears to be true; the wicked are breaking all the rules and getting ahead in the game of life. Asaph was perplexed by what he saw. So he said “Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence” (Ps.73). Psalm 37 is a call to walk by faith and not by sight. We must trust what God says more than what we sees.

We need his word to interpret what we are seeing and what we are not seeing. When David says “He will bring it to pass”, that is not a promise that we will get everything we want, when we want it. It is a promise that God is in control, that He makes everything beautiful in its time even though we cannot  fathom what he has done from beginning to end (Ec. 3:11). 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday” (Ps. 37:5-6 NKJV). He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun (NLT). Righteousness and justice are two words that are related, but not synonymous. They usually appear together in the Bible (Job 37:23, Ps. 89:14, Isa. 5:16,Jer. 9:24).

The first word righteous means living or acting in the right way. But what is the “right” way? The Bible offers the ultimate standard of rightness. Even during the most mundane tasks, choose to have a work ethic that pleases God. Do the will of God with all your heart (Eph.6:6). Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God (Col.3:17).

Ultimately, you’re working for the Lord, not human masters (Col.3:23). Do all things without grumbling that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world (Phil.2:14-15). Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matt.5:16).

Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (Eph. 5:8-11).  Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12-13).

The second word justice means correcting what is wrong. What does biblical justice look like in Psalm 37? Verse 14 addresses violence against the vulnerable “the wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright”. Verse 21 addresses financial exploitation “the wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives”.

The righteous do more than avoid wrongdoing -borrowing without paying back, they go further in what is right -they are generous and give. The Bible often calls our attention to vulnerable groups or classes of people. The most common grouping of the vulnerable is  “the widow, the fatherless and the poor” ( Zech 7:10). God says to us “don’t oppress or take advantage of vulnerable and in addition seek justice for them”.

Job said “because I rescued the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy…I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth”(Job 29:12-17).

That is what God does (Ps.146:7-9). God is “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Ps 68:4-5).How can we have the heart of God for the vulnerable? There are many vulnerable people even some inside the church. We certainly have the widow, the fatherless and the poor. Some people realize their life’s dreams at the expense of this vulnerable group; others use dishonest practices to exploit them.

Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being “disturbers of the peace”. But they went on with the conviction that they were a “colony of heaven” and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.

Things are different now. The contemporary Church often supports the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are. Injustice says, “You give yourself for my benefit.” Christ  gave himself for our eternal benefit.

The one who had all authority and no vulnerability completely gave up the bliss of heaven in order to expose himself to every kind of vulnerability: poverty, hunger, thirst, shame, rejection, ridicule, nakedness, torture, death. But in so doing, he defeated them all. The hope of the gospel gives all injustice an expiration date. He purchased for us a place with him where none of these things or the possibility of these things even exist.

Paul’s prayers for the Philippians was “that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ”(Phil 1:9-11). When Gods ways become your ways he will cause His righteousness to break forth in your life and his justice to flood your life.

God will make your innocence radiate like the dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Dawn is a period of time in which night ceases to exist. It marks the end of darkness and the beginning of light. The ill acquired prosperity of the ungodly may be obscuring the beauty of your righteousness now but it will not always be so. You will see the light of dawn if you refuse to yield and give way to sin.

The justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. We move from dawn to the noonday sun. Noonday sun is always more intense and brighter than the dawn. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter and brighter until the full light of day (Prov. 4:18). We are working towards a perfect day when we shall be like Jesus when we finally enter his presence.