God Promises the Righteous Will Blossom

Psalms 92:12-13 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
 
ARE you planted well in the courts of our God? What joy for the righteous person to know God promises you will enjoy a sure, abundant spiritual life in God’s presence. This is aa song for the Sabbath, and the LORD wants us to stop and savor our life-sustaining relationship with him, V 15 proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” How good it is to confess the LORD is your life’s foundation.
   Do you believe this psalm is for you? Or does the word “righteous” cause you to stop and wonder if you qualify to be planted in the house of the LORD? To many Christians, “righteous” seems to be too big to describe their relationship with God. Isn’t the righteous person perfect in every way? After all, we don’t want to be as the Pharisees, whom Jesus condemned for their self-righteousness. Matthew 23:28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. We may believe that to presume one is righteous will label us “hypocrites”.
   Righteousness to the psalm writer was an obedient relationship with God. The righteous person was not perfect, but he pursued an obedient life. His heart was rooted in God’s commands. That was Jesus’ point to the Pharisees. They pretended on the outside to obey the commands, but their motives were self-serving. They wanted people to worship them.
   To be a Christian is to be righteous. The Bible teaches us we are made righteous in Christ. Romans 5:19b  through the obedience of the one man (Jesus Christ) the many will be made righteous. To be righteous in God’s sight is to receive Jesus’ salvation with a true heart. Faith in Jesus opens your heart to receive God’s purity. You cannot claim, “I’m righteous.” because you perfectly obey God’s laws. But you can truly claim, “I am righteous because I believe Jesus died for my sins. He has removed sin’s penalty from my life. I am alive in Jesus’ salvation. By faith I will flourish like a palm tree. I will grow in strength like a cedar of Lebanon.”
   Your righteousness is God’s gift to you through his gift of faith. Receive the gift and use it with humility. Joyfully sing the praises of the psalm in your heart. V 1 It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.
   This is a good song for the Sabbath. It’s a good song for each day as you remember God has made you righteous by faith in Jesus.