The verse "You are righteous, O Lord, and Your judgments are upright" echoes throughout Jewish thought. The wisdom of King Solomon, in Proverbs 8:8-9, tells us, "In righteousness, all the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. All of them are clear to the perceptive." The midrash asks, what does it mean that everything the Lord speaks is righteous? Simply put, it means exactly that! God’s words are righteousness and uprightness. It’s a reflection of His very being. Like Deuteronomy 4:7 says, "For what great nation is there that has God so close to them?" And the Assembly of Israel proclaimed in Nehemiah 9:13, "And You descended upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances."
But what about us? How do we attain righteousness? Well, the Midrash says that God acted righteously with Israel by giving them the Torah. It’s a gift, a path. Deuteronomy 6:24 says, "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God." And what comes after that? "And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all these commandments before the Lord our God." Keeping the mitzvot, the commandments, isn't just following rules; it's aligning ourselves with the divine order.
And what is faith, really? The Midrash equates great faith with the Torah itself! It’s the blueprint of creation, the very word God swore by, as we see in Psalm 89:50, "Where are your former mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your faithfulness?" That's why the Torah is called "very faithful."
Then comes the lament of Psalm 119:139, "My zeal has consumed me." David isn't jealous of the material wealth of the wicked, but of the fact that they've forgotten God’s Torah, of the spiritual riches they’re missing out on. It’s a powerful image, isn’t it? To be consumed by zeal for God’s word. Lamentations 3:17 echoes this sentiment: "You have removed peace from my life... for they have forgotten your word, my enemy."
And finally, we arrive at the idea of the purity of God's word. Psalm 119:140 states, "Your word is very pure." What does that even mean? The Midrash uses a beautiful parable to explain. Imagine a king with a bowl of silver, giving it to a refiner to purify. The refiner melts it down, refines it, and returns it. But the king isn't satisfied. He asks for it to be refined again, and again, and again.
In the same way, the Holy One, blessed be He, refined the Torah, not just once or twice, but 49 times! That’s why Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God is pure," and Psalm 12:7 adds, "The words of the Lord are pure words." The Torah, according to some interpretations, can be understood in 49 different ways. It's a testament to its depth, its complexity, and its enduring power.
So, the next time you encounter a passage of Torah that seems difficult or obscure, remember the refiner's fire. Remember that within each word lies layers of meaning, waiting to be discovered. Remember the righteousness, the faithfulness, and the purity of God's word. It’s a journey of constant refinement, a lifelong pursuit of understanding. And in that pursuit, perhaps, we find a little bit of righteousness ourselves.