GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 12~ ~ Ps 4:5 ~ ~ “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord.”

Excerpts from John Piper’s book, “the pleasures of God”

(speaking of the two main things that mark the upright heart of a man before God, one of which we spoke of yesterday.)

The other thing that marks the upright heart is TRUST in the willingness and power of God to give the mercy we need. Psalm 4:5 says:

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord.”

We could easily make the mistake of thinking that when the Old Testament speaks of “upright” or “righteous” it cannot mean us because we are still sinners. But the righteous and the upright are not perfect.

They are persons who confess their sin, hate it, and trust God for forgiveness and help. One of the best places to see this is Psalm 32. It begins,

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

So the Psalm isn’t about forgiven sinners, not about perfect people. Then at the end of the psalm, the wicked are distinguished from the righteous and upright.

What’s the difference? Verses 10 and 11 describe it like this:

“10. Many are the pangs of the WICKED;

but steadfast love surrounds him who TRUSTS IN THE LORD.

11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O RIGHTEOUS,

and shout for joy, all you UPRIGHT IN HEART!”

Verse 10 contrasts the WICKED with those who TRUST IN THE LORD.

Then verse 11 calls them RIGHTEOUS AND UPRIGHT IN HEART.

In this psalm, then, the upright are not sinless people. They are the blessed “whose transgression is forgiven, whose sins are covered.” so if you are trusting Christ and coming to him for forgiveness, broken for your sin and hating it, you should think of yourself as “the upright.”

And the word for “upright” in Psalm 32 is the same word used in Proverbs 15:8, “The prayer of the UPRIGHT is God’s delight.”

So there are at least these two essential marks of the upright heart:

FIRST— IT TREMBLES at the word of God. It feels precarious and helpless and in tremendous need of mercy.

SECOND—IT TRUSTS the mercy of God to forgive, help and save.

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