27 Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28 For the LORD loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33 The LORD will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
As Christians, we tend to think of salvation and righteousness in the narrow lens of Christ’s death as the substitutionary atonement for our sins. He has saved us from the eternal penalty for our sins and we are righteous before God because Christ took our sins on Himself and gave us His righteousness. This is right but that only describes our positional righteousness before God. There is so much more. God doesn’t just want you to be positionally right through Christ but relationally and behaviourally righteous in Christ-likeness. This psalm is talking about living righteous lives. God will reward and bless you when you live your life with His law in your heart, when you wait for Him and keep His way, when you are blameless and upright. The salvation and deliverance of the righteousness this psalm talks about is salvation from the troubles and trials of this life. If you want God to be “your stronghold in times of trouble” then you need to walk in His way.