If you'll turn there to Psalms
31 and hold it just for a few minutes, I want to read the text again
in Romans 4 that I read to you this morning. David describeth the blessedness
of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. David describes the blessedness
of imputed righteousness. You'll find in the Old Testament
the language of the New Testament. Paul calls the gospel, the gospel
of the grace of Christ. He says, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. to every one that believeth,
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed." He calls it
the gospel of Christ that reveals to us righteousness, the way
of righteousness. When David speaks of this same
gospel, he calls it the word of righteousness. Paul says it's
the gospel of righteousness. David calls it the word of righteousness.
He said, My eyes fell for thy salvation, For the word of thy
righteousness, behold, I have longed after thy precepts, quicken
me according to thy righteousness." Paul said it saves us. The gospel
saves us. David said it quickens us. The
same gospel that Paul believed, David believed. When David was
caught up in that awful sin with Bathsheba, there in Psalm 51,
this is what he prayed. Lord, deliver me from my blood
guiltiness, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Thy righteousness. What righteousness
was he talking about? We said this morning the essential
righteousness of God will not deliver a sinner from sin. It
will make us afraid. It will drive us to despair. But it won't deliver us from
our guilt. David said, there is a righteousness that will
deliver us from blood guilt in us. And he said, if you'll deliver
me, I'll sing of that righteousness. And that's the righteousness
that Paul said, David often spake of. And he spake of it often.
And I want to stay this evening in the book of Psalms and just
see some things that David himself said of this righteousness. In Psalms chapter 31, Here in verse 1, look what he
says. When you see the righteousness
of God and thy righteousness, don't let that scare you. Because
that's not speaking here of God's essential righteousness. That
would scare us to death. There's no deliverance in that.
I said this morning we worship God because He's righteous. He's holy. But when you see this
phrase here that David speaks about, thy righteousness, it's
the righteousness that we looked at this morning. It's the obedience
of the Son of God. And look what he says about it
here in verse 1 of Psalms chapter 31. In thee, O Lord, do I put
my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver
me. In thy righteousness, the word
deliver means to save. Deliver me, save me in thy righteousness. Save me from what? What does
David desire deliverance from? He tells us in verse 15. My times
are in thy hands, deliver me, save me from the hands of my
enemies and from them that persecute me." David said, there is a righteousness
that saves me from my enemies. And he pleaded that righteousness.
That's what he pleaded before the Lord. Save me from my enemies. What was David's enemies? David's
enemies was the same enemies you and I have. Sin. I tell you, the chief enemy,
folks, that we have is our sin. What's separated between us and
our God? The Scripture says our sin. Our
sin. That's what's done it. Sin, when
it's finished, bringeth forth death. The wages of sin is death. Christ came to save His people
from their sins. And how does he do it? Through
his righteousness. So, David, please, Lord, deliver
me in thy righteousness from my sins. That's exactly what
David said in Romans 4, wasn't it? Blessed is the man whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Thy righteousness. Deliver me, Lord, from the curse
of your law. That's my enemy. The curse of
the law is my enemy. Christ was made a curse for us
to redeem us from the curse of the law. The law watches over
our every move. It searches your heart. If the
proper motives aren't there, it judges that. And it condemns
us and it curses us. If we're under the law, that
means we're under the curse of the law. And David said, I recognize
that. There's a law that I don't want
to be found under because it'll curse me, it'll condemn me. Well,
David, how in the world do you expect to be delivered from it?
In thy righteousness. Lord, deliver me in thy righteousness. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not. Lord, deliver me in thy righteousness. You know what I think this religious
world is most ignorant of in our day is the covenant of grace
and the covenant of works. You ask the average pastor that
you meet and you see, when you ask him, is there such a thing
as a covenant of grace and a covenant of works? Do you know anything
about it? And see if he does. David said
there is a covenant, and if I am found under it, I am cursed.
I am condemned. Lord, deliver me. How? In your
righteousness. Your righteousness. I will tell
you another enemy. of fallen humanity, and that's
the wrath of God. That's the wrath of God. He that
believeth not, the wrath of God abideth on him. If I whip my
glittering sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I'll
render vengeance to my enemies. I tell you, if God's a man's
enemy, He's your chief enemy. If He's a man's friend, He's
your closest friend. He's your best friend. But if
He's our enemy, He's our worst enemy. But David said, Lord,
deliver me in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
about death? Is death not our enemy? The Scripture
says that it is. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. It separates our soul from the
body. It sends the soul out into eternity
and sends the body back to the dust from which it came. Death
is our enemy. David said, Lord, deliver me
from death. How? In Thy righteousness. See why he spoke so often of
this. Thy righteousness. He understood the righteousness
of Christ. There is another place when he
prayed this, Lord, deliver me lest I be likened to them that
go down to the pit. The Lord spoke to Job and said,
deliver him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. I
found a righteousness to save him from going down to the pit. Save me, Lord. Save me. Save me from Satan. Your enemy
is like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour.
I tell you, he lays temptations in your way. He deceives you.
Puts you into snares. brings us into darkness, Lord
save me from my enemies. How? By the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in another place, just
over to your right, look in Psalms chapter 35. Psalms chapter 35. And David prays, deliver me.
Deliver me from my sin, the wrath of God, the curse of the law,
death, Satan. Deliver me from all my enemies.
And now look what he says. When you do that, then judge
me. Judge me. O Lord my God, according to Thy
righteousness. and let them not rejoice over
me." I tell you, when we see this righteousness that David's
talking about here, that it is indeed the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no wonder David said, Lord, judge
me according to that. That's the perfect righteousness
of another man. And if he judges me according
to that, I tell you, he won't condemn me for any sin. He won't
condemn me for what I've done. Don't judge me, David said, according
to my own person. Don't judge me for what I've
done, because even I can see sin mixed with everything I do.
Diane was talking about this morning, about Adam saying, I'm
naked. He wasn't naked. He had those
garments on. He had those fig leaves on. But
he was naked in God's eyes, wasn't he? See, God can see sin in us
when we can't see it in ourselves. And David knew that. And David
said, Lord, if you enter into judgment with me and judge me
in my own person, I can't stand. Judge me according to this righteousness.
This is a perfect righteousness. If you judge me according to
this righteousness, you won't find fault in me. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Are you a sinner? Do you see sin in your prayers?
Do you see sin in your songs that you sing? Do you see sin
in all your worship, your giving? Is there not sin mixed with everything?
Do you want the Lord to examine you and expose that sin? How
do you want Him to judge you? I don't know very much about
the judgment to come. I know there's a judgment to
come. I don't know very much about it. But this is the way
I want to be judged for what Christ has already done. His righteousness. Judge me,
Lord, according to this righteousness. I wonder if this doesn't have
something to do with that man that stood there in the wedding
feast. Do you remember the man the Lord
Jesus was telling us about? This king that prepared a wedding
for his son and invited people to come to the wedding? And there
was a fellow there among all the guests, and he's the only
one there that didn't have a wedding garment on. And the Lord came
in to see the guest and He spotted him immediately. He said, you're
not dressed like everybody else. Why don't you have a wedding
garment on? And you remember what the fellow said? He didn't
say anything. He stood speechless. He was guilty. He was guilty. And it seems like
to me when the Lord came in and saw everybody with a wedding
garment on, He rejoiced over everybody. Everybody was dressed
just alike. And He had nothing harsh to say
against them. There was no judgment against them at all. But when
He saw that one man who didn't have a wedding garment on, He
said, Man, you're naked. You're guilty. What have you
done? I don't fear the judgment. And
no child of God should fear the judgment. if you have the righteousness
of Christ in your account. Judgment has done fallen upon
the Son of God. And however the judgment goes,
it won't do harm to God's little children. Look in another place. Look in
Psalm 71. Lord, deliver me. Lord, judge
me in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. is obedience. Look here what David says in
Psalm 71. This is an amazing thing he says
about the righteousness of Christ. You might hold this. I want to
turn back to this just a minute. But he's talking here. He says
several things here concerning this righteousness. But verse
19, look what he says. He just makes little phrases
like this. And you have to think about what he's talking about
and who he's talking about. He says, Thy righteousness also,
O God, is very high. Who hath done great things, O
God, who is like unto Thee? Thy righteousness is very high."
How high is it? Well, I'll tell you what the
Scripture says about it. It's exalted to heaven in the person
of Jesus Christ. That's who David was talking
about. Thy righteousness. It's a person. The righteousness
of God is in a person. And he's exalted into heaven.
God hath highly exalted him. And David was looking at him
when he said, how high is your righteousness? Where is it? Well, it's at the right hand
of God, isn't it? It's exalted there. The Lord our righteousness. Glenn, how high is it? Paul said he's exalted far above. All principalities and powers
and might in every name that's named. Not only in this world,
but in the world to come. He's very, very high. Peter says he's entered into
heaven and sat down on the right hand of God. He's high. He's high. Look at another place
in Psalms 36. Look at Psalms 36. Here's what David says about
it. Look in verse 6. David traveled up and down through
Israel. Psalms 36, verse 6. And he saw the great mountains.
We saw some high mountains, rocks that had been standing there
for centuries. Nothing could move them. couldn't blow them
away, the rains couldn't wash them away, the floods couldn't
take them away. Mountains that had stood and are still standing
to this very day. And when David looked around
at these mountains, it reminded him of something. And he says
here in verse 6, thy righteousness is like the great mountain. Thy judgments are at great depth,
O Lord, thou preserveth man and beast." David said, Lord Jesus,
you know what your righteousness reminds me of? These mountains. Your righteousness is as established,
it's as unmovable, it's as fixed as these mountains. That's why
he said in another place this, thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness. When the Lord Jesus brought it
in and worked it out and sealed it up, you can't change it. You
can't move it. You can't alter it. It's fixed. Now, ain't that a righteousness
we want? It's like the Lord. It's Arthur.
He never changes. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. He clothed me with it. He worked
it out for us. 2,000 years ago. Clothed me with
it 35 years ago. And you know something? It hasn't
worn at all. There's no holes in it. Fits
me just as well today as it did when He first put it on me. Everlasting
righteousness. Firm, solid, as fixed as the
hills. One more place. Look at this
in Psalms 89. This is showing you some things David said. David
describes The blessedness of this righteousness. Psalms 89.
Look here in verse 15 and verse 16. I thought this was amazing when
I read this. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. The gospel. They've heard the
gospel. Blessed people. They shall walk,
O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice
all the day. And look at this, and in Thy
righteousness shall they be exalted to heaven. In Thy righteousness
shall they be exalted. Where is their righteousness
at? Paul said, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ.
Where is Christ? He's in heaven. What hope did Paul have of being
exalted to be with Christ? This righteousness. He said,
this righteousness will exalt you to heaven with Christ. It's Arthur. Listen to what Hannah
said. He raises up the poor out of
the dust, He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, and sets him
among the princesses of his people, and makes them to inherit the
throne of his glory." Now, brothers and sisters, who could ask for
more than this? Here is a righteousness that will reach down and get
a poor sinner, and deliver him from going down to the pit, bring
him up out of the dust of ruin and depravity, carry him through
this world, won't pronounce any judgment against him, refuses
to declare any guilt upon him, and finally exalts him to heaven
where the Lord his righteousness is. What more could you and I
ask? And it's all in this righteousness. No wonder David said, it's a
blessedness. Blessedness. It's a blessing. It's a beautification. Oh, righteousness. Righteousness. Look here one
more place in Psalms chapter 5. This is another statement
David made concerning this righteousness. And look in verse 8. Chapter
5 and verse 8. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness. Because
of my enemies, make thy way straight before my face." Is there such
a righteousness that will justify a sinner, cleanse him, clothe
him, take him from the dust of this earth to the presence of
God in heaven? Is there such a righteousness?
David said, Lord, lead me in it. It sounds like to me that
men don't naturally know anything about this righteousness. Here's
the King of Israel, and you know what his prayer is? Lord, I'm
ignorant of it. Lead me in it. Lead me in the
doctrine of it. I don't naturally know it. Lead
me in the truth of it. Lead me in the faith of it. Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Lead
me in the reality of it. I want the doctrine of it, but
I want the reality of it. Lead me, Lord, in the hope of
it, to see this is my hope of being exalted to heaven. Don't
leave me in my own righteousness. Don't let me seek to be accepted
by my own works. Don't let me deceive myself.
And don't let me abuse this righteousness, the doctrine of it, by living
a sinful life and bringing shame upon your name. Oh, let the truth
of this gospel lead me. Let the truth of this righteousness
guide me. That's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? Guide me. I was reading when the Lord first
converted me, and I didn't understand this statement when I first read
it from John Bunyan, because I had no idea the sin that still
remained in me. When the Lord first saved me,
I thought, boy, I'll never have another lick of trouble. Everything
is going to be easy from here on out. In John Bunyan, I was reading
a book, Law and Grace Unfolded, Northern Grace Abounded to the
Chief of Sinners. And he said this, he said, there
is in me, there is in me a leaning towards the works of the law. to be accepted with God. It's
one of the abominations, one of the seven abominations he
said he found in his heart. A leaning towards it. And I thought
to myself, how could that be? When you've had Christ revealed
to your heart and this righteousness revealed to your heart, why would
you seek something else? And then I started seeing it
myself. Leaning. I'd go to prayer and
I'd think, well, did I pray this morning? If I forget to pray
this morning, if I forgot to pray this morning, I can't have
much confidence that I want to pray now. If I sinned, I'm going
to delay prayer until I get to feeling better in my conscience.
Do you know what that is? That's the works of the law.
Trying to soothe our conscience. Abomination of the heart. So
David realized this and he said, Lord, lead me. Lead me in this
righteousness. Don't let me be like the Galatians,
leaning towards the works of the law. Lead me every day. Let me see Christ as my righteousness.
Don't let me lean on anything but Him. Lead me. Lead me. The last scripture, Psalm 71. In the light of all we've said
today, and you can study it out for yourself, but in the light
of all we've been talking about the righteousness of Christ,
look what David says about it in Psalm 71 again, in verse 15. My mouth shall show forth thy
righteousness and thy salvation. All the day. Brothers and sisters,
don't keep quiet about it. Don't keep quiet about it. Tell
people about it. Tell people about the righteousness
of another man. Jesus Christ. Look what He says
in verse 16. I will go in the strength of
the Lord, I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of
Thine only. Apart from thine, thy righteousness,
thine only. Scriptures alone, Christ alone,
faith alone, His righteousness alone, only. And he said in verse
24, My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the
day long, when they are confounded. They are brought into shame that
seek my hurt. It seems to me like this great
king, this great psalmist of Israel, this man after God's
own heart, seemed to relish the righteousness of another man,
Jesus Christ. Let's pray.