For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness
The Lord is righteous in himself, and in all his ways and works;
and therefore righteousness, as it lies both in punishing the
wicked, and in maintaining the righteous cause of his people,
must be loved by him, it being agreeable to his nature: he loves
to exercise righteousness in the earth, to administer it to and
among men; this he delights in. He is well pleased with the
righteousness of his Son, it being satisfactory to his justice,
and that by which his law is magnified and made honourable; and
he is well pleased with his people, as they are clothed with it:
and he approves of their righteous actions, as they are done in
obedience to his righteous law, in faith, from a principle of
love, and with a view to his glory; these are acceptable to him
in Christ;
his countenance doth behold the upright;
whom wicked men privily shoot at, ( Psalms 11:2 ) ; God
looks with pleasure upon them, and takes delight in them, and
takes care of them, protects and defends them, and at last saves
them; and which, with all that goes before, was an encouragement
to David to trust in the Lord; see ( Psalms 7:10 ) ; and
moreover, the Lord lifts up the light of his countenance on such,
and indulges them with his gracious presence, than which nothing
is more comfortable and desirable. Some choose to render the
word, "their countenance" F25, meaning the trinity of
Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, who all have a gracious regard
to such: others render the clause thus, "the upright shall see
his face", the face of God; so the Chaldee paraphrase and the
Arabic version; see ( Psalms 17:15
) .