RIGHTEOUSXESS IN OT
RIGHTEOUSNESS IN OT
moral govenimont of the universe. They trust in J" (16' '26' 22"), and consciously identify them- selves with His cause in the world ; they stake their existence on the conviction that ' there is a God that judj,'eth in the earth ' (58"), and that ' in the end judgment must be given for righteousness' (94'° Wellhausen). The wicked, on the contrary, are practical atheists. They deny, not perhaps the existence of God, but His providential action (14' 53'), and acknowledge no higher authority than their own lawless wills (12' 59' 64^ 94'). Thus the Di\ ine decision in their favour for which the Psalmists pray wUl be the vindication of that view of the world to which they have committed them- selves— the proof that they are in t/ie right in the fundamental beliefs on which their life is based. (6) The sphere in which the contrast is wrought out is that of personal and social morality ; hence there is a constant reference, tacit or expressed, to the moral character of the suppliants. They are those who practise righteousness and justice (106'' 119'-') ; they appeal to their integrity (7* 25-'41'-) ; they claim to be upright, or upright of heart (.32" 33' 37" 64'° 97" 140'^), and innocent (94-') ; to have clean hands and a pure heart (18-"- -■* 24*) ; cf. 17"''" 26"''-. On the other hand, the wicked are cruel, unjust, deceitful, bloody-minded, adulterous, avari- cious, etc. ; men who, with no fear of God before their eyes, trample every social obligation under their feet.* (c) Another element in the Psalmists' sense of righteousness is the fact that they sutler wrong at the hands of their enemies (7' 10- 22"f- 31'» 69=« lig*" 125^ 143^ etc.). The outrages perpetrated by the heathen nations on Israel, and by the rich upon the poor within Israel, are a violation of the moral order of the world which cannot pass unpunished under the just govern- ment of J" ; the oppressed are, ipso facto, in the right against their oppressors, (rf) Lastly (as in Ueutero-Isaiah and elsewhere), righteousness bears tlie sense of Justijication thiow^h the judicial inter- position of J ", usually in the form of a restoration of temporal prosperity. So in 24' ' he shall receive blessing from J", and righteousness from the God of his salvation' (cf. 17" 35" 37" 1123- » etc.); in 23'' ' paths of righteousness ' means ' paths of pro- sperity ' (118'" 132»).t
NoAv, while all these elements may enter more or less into the Psalmists' consciousness of being in the right, — that consciousness on which they base their expectation (or explain their experience) of deliverance (4' 7" 17' IS'-*- =< etc.),— they are not of equal importance. The second (6) far outweighs the others. Kighteousness is in the main an ethical word, describing the condition of those whose lives are governed by regard for the moral law. To the question in what sense morality con- stitutes righteousness before God, the Psalms, of course, furnish no direct answer. The chief con- sideration, no doubt, is that obedience to the ■written Law was the condition of acceptance with J" under the Covenant. This thought is often expressed {\Vi"'- 78' 99' 103i« 105« WQ pass., etc.), and may be presumed to be always in the mind of the writers. At the same time it is to be observed that only the ethical (as opposed to the ceremonial) elements of the Law enter into the conception of righteousness, a fact which shows that the inlluence of the prophets still lives in the devotional poetry of Judaism. Nor is there anything in the Psalms
• Ris:hteousness in jud^ient ifl emphasized, e.g., in the portraits of the king, 46' 722 (o(. 68' Wl-'- 99* etc.). In 72= 8510. 11. IS the word possibly meana the ideal state of a well- ordered commonwealtb, brin^g peace and prosperity in its train (cf. Is 468).
t As was remarked above, p'^s (the adj.) does not appear to have this sense ; it refers to the inherent state or character of those who are in the right, whether it has been manifested by external proTidenlial act* or not. llSi»-*> are hardly txceptiona.
that can properly be called self-righteousness or legalism in a Pharisaic sense, i.e. the Psalmists do not think of their good works as giving them an absolute title to justification. They do not (like Job) maintain their right against God — ' in thy sight shall no man living be in the right,' 143'^ — thej' are ever conscious of defect and sin cleaving to all they do; and merely plead the steadfast direction of tlieir will towards the ethical ideal as evidence of their fidelity to J". Kighteousness, in fact, is a relative term, meaning in the right aa against some other, not absolute moral perfection ill the sight of God. In 106^', where a single good action is said to be ' counted ' for righteousness, the word has doubtless a sense approaching to merit (cf. Gn 15^) ; but here the Pauline maxim has to he borne in mind that the ' reckoning' of a reward is of grace, not of debt (Ro 4''). It is a manifestation of grace on the part of J" that He renders to a man according to his works (62''-').