Daily Devotional by Derek Prince.
The Beauty of Righteousness
Psalm 45:7–8
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. NIV
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. NIV
Those words are addressed prophetically by the psalmist to the Lord Jesus. They are a picture of Jesus – His character, His attitude and the reason why the Lord exalted Jesus.
It’s important for us to understand that Jesus was not treated as a favored Son. He was not given promotion that He had not earned, but He earned His promotion and the reason given here is His attitude in moral matters. The psalmist says, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” It was the attitude of Jesus in the matters of righteousness and wickedness that caused God to promote Him.
Notice that there’s no neutrality in these matters. If we love righteousness, we will hate wickedness. We cannot compromise with it. And notice also the beauty that goes with righteousness: the fragrance of myrrh and aloes and cassia and the melody of strings from a place of ivory palaces. What a beautiful picture that is of righteousness and how righteousness causes God to exalt those who practice it.
Isn't it interesting how God has set our Lord Jesus above His companions? By anointing Him with the oil of joy.
I believe that as we imitate Him in loving righteousness and (naturally) hating wickedness, we will be anointed with the oil of joy too.
More often than not, those who practise righteousness are wrongly labelled as practising legalism; the latter brings no joy.
Choosing not to download music online, not to purchase pirated goods, not to tell lies including the ever popular whitish ones, etc bring me joy that no amount of savings can compare; being right with God is of infinite worth.
The initial stages are the most challenging, but as we continually repent, He helps us to walk in His ways, and it's by His grace that we can be more like Him.
And when we are more like Jesus, how can we not love righteousness?
And hate wickedness?
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