Lovingkindness, Faithfulness, Righteousness, Justice, Truth; there is None like Him.

Psalm 89 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.
² For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”
³ “I have made a covenant with My chosen;
I have sworn to David My servant,
⁴ I will establish your seed forever
And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.

⁵ The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
⁶ For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord,
⁷ A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
⁹ You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
¹⁰ You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain;
You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all it contains, You have founded them.
¹² The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
¹³ You have a strong arm;
Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
¹⁵ How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength,
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

The psalmist begins speaking of the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God. These two seem easily to go together. In verses 5-10, the psalmist begins to mention the strength of God, His mighty arm, scattering and crushing enemies. That’s where sometimes people who tend to judge things by earthly or human standards begin to question how a God of love could also be a strong and mighty God against enemies. They begin to create a God of their own image, built with the attributes that are most comfortable to them. They say that a loving God would not have a place of eternal punishment for those who do not believe.

Verse 14 holds a key to understanding what some people believe are contrasting attributes which cannot coexist.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You. Any true authority must have as God does a foundation of righteousness and justice. That is why there is no perfect human authority that does or ever has existed. While many human authorities say they stand for justice for all, even the best human justice is flawed. It includes prejudice, preference or at the very least a degree of human error toward either condemnation or grace. Even the most honorable human judge will view some things from the perspective of their own human experience or preference.

As for righteousness, Romans 3:10 says it well. as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE”.    Every person has within them the capacity to do wrong, to make wrong decisions or to do wrong things. There can be no righteous human authority because there is no righteous human.  There are many with good intentions and generally good character but there are none who are wholly righteous.    

Still even in flawed human justice it is understood that in order to have justice there must be consequences or punishment for the violation of the law or acceptable behavior. If there is no punishment of a murderer there is no justice. The law is subjective as to the degree of punishment that fits each violation, but without some punishment there is no justice and the law becomes irrelevant and meaningless. If there is no relevance to the law, then it creates lawlessness.

God is righteous and justice is one of the foundations of His authority. So too then with God there must be consequences for wrong behavior. The truth though is this; God condemns no one to Hell. God created man with a free will, an ability to choose between right and wrong. Because man is unable to rightly choose, because there is “NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE”, God because of His lovingkindness,  “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

God is love. God is faithful. God is righteous and true. God is also just and because He is just there must be a consequence for unrighteous behavior. God would not be just if there was no consequence for sin. But because of God’s faithful lovingkindness, when man, created with a free will to choose right or wrong, could not on his own choose rightly, God made found another way to be both loving and just.  God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God condemns no one to Hell. He is a loving and faithful God. In order to satisfy the need for justice, Christ died so no one else would have to. Each one has a choice. That seems fair and just to me.

Heavenly Father, faithful, righteous and true; Thank You for Your great Love, a love so great that You sent Your Son, Jesus to satisfy the need for justice. Thank You Jesus, Lord and Savior, that  You willingly came and paid the price for sin so that there could be perfect justice. There is no earthly or human way that we can comprehend the depth of Your love, Your mercy and Your grace. Thank You. Like the psalmist, I will sing(and speak) of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.   Amen.