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By T. M. Moore|Published Date: March 15, 2010
He rules us unto uprightness.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of Your Kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.
Psalm 45:6
The writer of Hebrews tells us that, in order to run our daily race in obedience to the Lord, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, exalted at the Father’s right hand (Heb. 12:, 2). There we may discover the glory of God (2 Cor. 4.6) and find strength to persevere in our walk and calling before Him.
It’s interesting to note how many passages of Scripture tell us something about Jesus on His throne. One of the most important ones – cited by the writer of Hebrews (Heb. 1:9) – is Psalm 45:. In this passage we are invited to consider that the Lord holds in His hand a “scepter of uprightness.” Perhaps the best way to translate this Hebrew construct form is something like “a scepter that results in uprightness.” The Lord at the Father’s right hand holds a scepter, a symbol of the purpose of His rule, which is focused on realizing uprightness.
What is to be the outcome of Christ’s rule of uprightness in our lives? Jesus wields His scepter of uprightness in order to restore everything that comes under the sway and authority of His rule to its original condition of goodness, of being pleasing to God and according to His plan. This means your soul, in all its components – heart, mind, conscience – as well as all your practices – words and deeds – and everything in your personal mission field – relationships, roles, and responsibilities. Jesus is ruling in and through you with authority and power to restore everything about you to “uprightness” before the Lord.
How does He do this? He brings His Wordbear against our souls so that, as we reflect on and learn it, God restores our heart – here, a symbol for the whole soul – to uprightness (Ps. 119:). Our upright souls, in turn, engender uprightness throughout our lives. As we think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, and value what Jesus values, our inner lives tend more and more to uprightness; gradually, everything in our outer lives will begin to reflect that state of spiritual renewal. Like the woman bent over and unable to find relief for 18 years, we find in the Word of Christ the power to “stand upright” in every area of our lives (Lk. 13:10-13).
God is working, by the power of His Word and Spirit, to restore our lives to uprightness before Him. But that’s not the end of the story. The reason Christ is making all things new and upright in our lives is so that we will go forth and declare to the world that real uprightness, enduring goodness, true beauty, and unwavering truth, are to be found in God alone: “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him (Psalm 92:12-15).
Everything we are meant to be, all we are called to seek, and everything we could ever hope to realize are all to found in the Lord, seated at the Father’s right hand, holding the scepter by which He shapes and guides us unto Himself. Focused meditation on Him will strengthen us day by for the race before us, that we may realize the uprightness of the Lord – His everlasting goodness – in the land of the living (Ps. 27:13, 14), and that we may make Him known at every opportunity, by every means, to every person.
How goes the work of uprightness in your life?
For more information on this topic, read Face to Face with a Holy God, by Kay Arthur and Pete DeLacy, available in our online bookstore. Or read "The Fear of the Lord: The Story of Rusty Woomer in our online worldview library.
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