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The Right Hand of God's Righteousness


Last week, I was at home in N.Ireland to help my parents clear out the attic where our belongings had accumulated for several decades. It was a trip down memory lane as I came across school jotters, A-Level files, my beloved Paddington bear, my childhood dolls.... I had kept probably every personal letter I'd ever received, but due to instructions to be ruthless, I allocated them to the 'dispose-of pile' with the exception of one. It happened to be in my own handwriting addressed to my sister when I was a student and the reason I kept it was due to the fact that it contained an excerpt of Spurgeon's commentary on the following verse: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10.

 Spurgeon writes: Fear of falling is wholesome. To be venturesome is no sign of wisdom. Times come to us when we feel that we must go down unless we have a very special support. Here we have it. God's right hand is a grand thing to lean upon. Mind it is not only His hand, though it keeps heaven and earth in their places, but His right hand: His power united with skill, His power where it is most dexterous. No, this is not all; it is written, "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." That hand which He uses to maintain His holiness and to execute His royal sentences - this shall be stretched out to hold up His trusting ones. Fearful is our danger, but joyful is our security. The man whom God upholds, devils cannot throw down.

 Weak may be our feet, but almighty is God's right hand. Rough may be the road, but Omnipotence is our upholding. We may boldly go forward. We shall not fall. Let us lean continually where all things lean. God will not withdraw His strength, for His righteousness is there as well. He will be faithful to his promise, and faithful to His Son, and, therefore faithful to us. How happy we ought to be! Are we not so?

 These are beautiful words of encouragement for every descendant of Abraham (which Christians have become through faith, see Romans 4:16) as we witness the darkness and evil of the present days. Many of our precious brothers and sisters have been cruelly attacked and martyred in the Middle East. Why have they not recanted and denounced Christianity to have their lives spared? Because they were upheld by the right hand of God's righteousness. What a 'rich welcome' they will have 'into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ' (2 Peter 1:11)!

 As Spurgeon  urges us: Let us lean continually where all things lean. That is the safest place to be while on earth in light of eternity! There is His presence and light. There we will see His glory, which surpasses everything else. Let us rejoice today in these wonderful words of promise: I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness!

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