The claim of the upright.
"Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts." The upright man has a right to plead on the ground of his uprightness. But observe that the right to plead is quite different from the right to demand; and that the claim of the upright is based on the Divine mercy, consideration, and promise. The man is what God would have him be. The man may claim God's promises of blessing to those who are what he would have them be.
I. THE CLAIM OF THE UPRIGHT IS BASED ON HIS RECEPTIVITY. The man wants God's blessing, is ready for it, and is open to receive it. But this is something new for self-satisfied, self-serving man. It indicates another spirit. This man will be prepared to make the best of God's blessings when they come. The hindrances of self-will, divided interests, and insincerity are taken out of the way. It is as if the photographic plate were now made sensitive to the Divine blessing. The real reason for the holding off of Divine blessing is usually our unfitness to receive. Therefore is the culture of our inward moods of such first and supreme importance. God is to us as we are.
II. THE CLAIM OF THE UPRIGHT IS BASED ON THE NATURE OF THINGS. Like ever comes to like. Like is kin with like. Just as friends and true lovers come together by a kind of natural affinity, so do things. Clean things come to clean. Intelligent things come to intelligent persons. Sincere things come to sincere persons. Truth comes to men of truth. God's goodness comes to men of goodness. This is embodied in familiar sayings, such as this, "Virtue is its own reward." True, here are disturbances which break into the natural order; but we do well to keep in mind that the working of the natural order continues, nevertheless. "Righteousness tendeth unto life."
III. THE CLAIM OF THE UPRIGHT IS BASED ON THE DIVINE PROMISES. Here we may think of the special, but conditional, promises given to the restored Israelite nation. But the special thought, running in the line of the previous suggestions, is