Psalm 24 5 Meaning

Psalm 24 5 Meaning: The kind of person under discussion in Psalm 24 is rewarded by the Lord according to verse 5.

5 [He shall receive the blessing from/Such godly people are rewarded by] the LORD,
and [righteousness from/vindicated by] the God [of his salvation/who delivers them].

He shall receive	the blessing	from the Lord
and	righteousness	from the God of his salvation

“He will lift a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Psalm 24 5 Meaning Obed-Edom?

Perhaps here David is thinking of Obed-Edom. Remember him? He’s the man who had the Ark of the Covenant in his home after the Philistines returned it to Israel. David before this psalm tried to bring the Ark to his place in Jerusalem but you remember that the Lord – it says – broke out against Uzzah because he touched the cart. So, for that whole time God’s presence was blessing the house of Obed-Edom. It’s that kind of blessing that is probably in David’s mind as he writes these words.

Psalm 24 5 Meaning Righteousness?

But in what sense is David saying God gives righteousness to people who enjoy his presence? He’s not saying that a person is counted righteous by God by having clean hands and a pure heart and honest speech. That happens by faith alone and always has.

Blameless Behavior

Instead, the word righteousness is best understood as blameless behavior or honesty. That’s a way that word tsedeqah is translated in the Old Testament. And I think that’s really interesting. A person who enjoys God’s presence will be characterized by purity in deed, thought, and speech. And do you know who grants this person these qualities of a blameless character? Well, it’s the one in whose presence this person dwells – the God of his salvation is the one who bestows the blessing of a blameless character upon the one who enjoys God’s presence.

Righteousness by Christ

And you can think of Paul’s statements in 2 Corinthians 3:18 regarding the fact that Christians are changed into Christ’s image by beholding him. We are having developed in us blameless character – the character of Christ – by enjoying his presence – by looking into his glory. And that’s very similar to what David is saying here in Psalm 24.