Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

Psalm 97-98 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Lord reigns, may the earth rejoice;
May the many islands be joyful.
² Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
³ Fire goes before Him
And burns up His enemies all around.
⁴ His lightning lit up the world;
The earth saw it and trembled.
⁵ The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
⁶ The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.

⁷ May all those be ashamed who serve carved images,
Who boast in idols;
^[Worship Him, all you gods.
⁸ Zion heard this and was joyful,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, Lord.
⁹ For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who watches over the souls of His godly ones;
He saves them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light is sown like seed for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
¹² Be joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And praise the mention of His holy name.

A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.

98 Sing a new song to the Lord,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
² The Lord has made His salvation known;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered His graciousness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Be cheerful and sing for joy and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

⁷ May the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
⁸ May the rivers clap their hands,
May the mountains sing together for joy
⁹ Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with fairness.

Revelation 1:8 says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”   The psalmist says:  The Lord reigns, may the earth rejoice; May the many islands be joyful. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him And burns up His enemies all around. His lightning lit up the world; The earth saw it and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.  The psalmist declares what is, what was and what is to come. God is a holy and righteous God. He calls people to also be holy. In Leviticus 19:2 God says:  You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.  This holiness we are called to is not according to the standard of the world. It does not change according to the whims, the desires or the lust of the culture. It is unchanging, remaining the same from the beginning to the end. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  That God is a God of justice, requires that He does what He says and that there would be consequences for unrighteousness. Romans 6:23 says:  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Isaiah 53:6 says: All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him.  Since none of us were able to live up to God’s standard of righteousness, He made another way for us to escape the consequences of His justice; His judgement against sin. Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself so that we could take His righteousness upon ourselves. Ephesians 4:23-24 says: You are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.   In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says: “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus didn’t sacrifice Himself to change the way God views sin. He fulfilled the need for judgement against sin for those who walk in His righteousness. The time will come when the Lord returns as righteous judge and as the psalmist declares: Fire goes before Him And burns up His enemies all around. His lightning lit up the world; The earth saw it and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.

The psalmist says:  Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who watches over the souls of His godly ones; He saves them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown like seed for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. Be joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones, And praise the mention of His holy name… Sing a new song to the Lord, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made His salvation known; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His graciousness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Be cheerful and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. May the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. May the rivers clap their hands, May the mountains sing together for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with fairness.  Revelation 22:12-21 says:  “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you of these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost… He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.