Psalm 18:20-27 God, My Righteous Judge

Praise God for our blessed salvation! We know that we are unworthy, that we are sinful, that we have broken his law over and over. But He has saved us! Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are made clean. Now that we have trusted in Jesus Christ as our redeemer, God sees us with all the righteousness of Christ.

One day, God will judge all people based on their deeds. He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, and, in righteousness, He will judge the world. Those who have escaped judgment in our day will be punished on that great day. God will pour out His wrath on all the unrighteous, because He is God, My Righteous Judge.

This is expressed in Psalm 18:20-27. Please read those verses now.

David begins by praising God, who “dealt with me according to my righteousness.” Of course, we are grateful that God does not deal with us according to our righteousness, but according to the righteousness of Christ.

We are eternally grateful for the great exchange that took place at the cross, when God imputed all of our sin, guilt, and evil, on His Son. When we turn from our sin and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God then takes all of Jesus’ holiness, perfection, and goodness, and credits it to our account.

God now sees me with all the righteousness of His Son! In that sense, I can agree with David and praise God that He now sees me as perfectly righteous (v.20). He now sees me with clean hands (v.20). He sees me as having kept the ways of the Lord and never sinning (v.21). He sees me as one who is focused on keeping His law (v.22); one who is blameless, guiltless, and worthy of a reward (v.23-24). God sees me with all the righteousness of Christ.

He has not rewarded me according to my righteousness, but according to the righteousness that I now have through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Because Jesus was merciful, God shows me mercy; because Jesus was blameless, God puts no blame on me; because Jesus was pure, God shows me His purity (v.25-26a).

But then, the harsh reminder is given: God does not act this way with everyone! He will torture those who are crooked (v.26b). God will save the humble person who is willing to confess his own unrighteousness and cling to the cross of Christ, but the proud person who tries to stand on his own will fall (v.27).

There is an eternal damnation that was made for all of God’s enemies. Satan and his fallen angels will suffer this fate for their rebellion against the King of kings. It seems like they are having their way with the world right now, but God will one day reveal Himself as the Righteous Judge, and sentence them, and all who follow in their unrighteousness, to their fate.

God does not want any person to have to share the fate of Satan and his minions. So He sent His Son to die in our place. Jesus bore the penalty that we owe, so that we can be credited with His righteousness. Then, when the Righteous Judge comes and judges the world, all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ will be deemed righteous, and may enter into His eternal heaven, but all those who haughtily try to stand on their own righteousness will be deemed unrighteous, and will suffer the eternal penalty for their sin.

God is my Righteous Judge.