“Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.” (v7-13)
There were a couple of verses that jumped out at me because their wording was quite unique.
“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.” (v8) The author suggests God wants to bestow peace (among other blessings) on His people. Yes, that’s congruent with other scriptures. The curious part is the request “but let them not turn back to folly”. The author recognizes that people (myself included) are prone to sinning/erring, and further to that, only God’s guidance can keep us on the straight and narrow path. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Pro 3:5-6)
“Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” (v10) Interesting (poetic) concept – the author is acknowledging the relationships between these characteristics of God, and how closely they tie into one another. “Steadfast love” is translated a number of ways (eg. mercy, loving-kindness) but comes down to part of God’s core character – His deep unending and bottomless love for us. “Faithfulness” is how that love plays out – He is unwavering and will not leave or forsake us. “Righteousness” describes God’s absolute morality and authority on issues of morality. “Peace” in this context means “freedom from disturbance; tranquility; calmness of spirit”, which is a natural outflow of having flawless morality.
Side note: If we have these four characteristics of God, which are part of the Fruit of the Spirit (ie. love, peace, faithfulness) and the inherited righteousness through Jesus’ atonement for our sin, we are able to be God’s representatives (image bearers) here on earth.
“Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.” (v11) This is another poetic description of a relationship. How do we often picture the divide between God and people? That God is in heaven above and we are “down here” on earth. Only God is (naturally) righteous – we can receive righteousness through Jesus, but God in heaven is the source of righteousness (ie. righteousness… from the sky). We the people can respond to God via what? Faithfulness. Our desire to love, serve and obey God can be summarized by faithfulness – the ongoing allegiance and submission to God (ie. faithfulness… from the ground). This poetic line describes the relationship between us and God.
In summary if we accept Jesus’ atonement for our sin, we receive God’s righteousness, so we can grow in love and peace, which comes through faithfully submitting to God each and every day. Unfortunately, because of our sinful nature (our default nature), none of these characteristics or blessings from God come naturally to us, we need to accept and submit to God’s authority in order to inherit them.
Father God, oh righteous, steadfast loving God full of peace and mercy, we come before You today. We praise Your name for You are holy and worthy of praise. We thank You for Jesus’ atonement for our sin that enables us to have a restored relationship with You. We ask for Your help in keeping us faithful to You, lest we return to our natural ways of sin. Father please strengthen and uphold us with Your righteous right hand so we may dwell in Your presence forever and ever. May the fruit of Your Spirit grow abundant in us so we may glorify You in our conduct here on earth. All glory honor and praise be to You our Lord and our God. Amen.
~Conqueror in Training