Psalm 125:4 Smiled Upon

“Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.” (v.4)

It is a truth illustrated throughout Scripture that God delights in pouring out His goodness on those that “do good,” obeying Him from the heart. The psalmist’s plea here is entirely appropriate in light of the truths of God’s faithful presence and protection found in the previous verses.

This verse reminds me of Psalm 84:11, which says,

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing with He withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

But walking uprightly, or “doing good” as Psalm 125 puts it, is necessary if we want God to smile upon on our lives. As 1 Samuel 15:22 says,

“Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Micah likewise asks,

“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (6:6-8)

Obedience is far more important to God than ceremony or material offerings. (Though God does calls us to obey in part by offering to Him of our material substance.) It is obedience from the heart that matters, though.

The passages above were written to God’s people who had put such an emphasis on the outward performance of the rituals found in God’s law, they largely ignored the moral imperatives behind the ritual.

Isaiah 58 gives us another look into what God desires from His people:

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from Thine own flesh?

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day” (vv.1-10)

The passage goes on to list more blessings that will result from God’s people obeying from the heart, but notice that it is not merely the ritual, nor is it only the outward in which God is interested. He desires obedience from the heart. It is the heart that matters, but always remember that we cannot have the heart without the actions.

And God does bless the righteous, those with righteous hearts and actions. Psalm 1 reminds us,

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (v.1-3)

Proverbs 16:7 says,

“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Truly, God does good to those who do good, who desire to please Him. Romans 12:1-2 gives us a good picture of what this looks like:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

As we present ourselves to God, a living sacrifice, He delights to bless us. After all,

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:3)