Who is Righteous?

Psalm 5:12

For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.

...............

On first reading, this sounds like salvation by works. The Psalms contain many verses that sound that way, especially when David is banking on his integrity in order to obtain God's protection in some dire circumstance. But, does this verse really mean that God gives his favor to those who have made themselves righteous? God helps those who help themselves?

Two reasons from this very chapter that go against that notion:

(1) The immediate context (verse 11) reads,

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.

This puts the primacy on the power of God, not man. The order of things is, first, we should take refuge in God and find our joy in Him. Then, we are considered righteous and receive his favor and protection. Here is, yet again, a reference to "heart-religion" in the fact that "those who love your name" is the description of those who seek refuge in God and are therefore considered righteous. Genuine love for God, and trust in his protection, will proceed any state of rightness with him.

(2) Verses 9 and 10, along with their reference in Romans 3.

For there is no truth in their mouth;
there inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.

Here again, we get the general vibe that David is justifying himself in the face of his enemies' threats, willing to confess his hatred of them, and then calling down the judgment of God upon them. Should we emulate such "hatred?" I believe the answer is NO.

This passage is used by Paul to under gird his argument in Romans that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The curse of sin is all-pervasive, touching every person who ever lived and binding them all together under the just wrath of God. We have all rebelled, not just David's enemies. None are righteous, "no not one." Yet another reason to say that Psalm 5 is no encouragement for us to trust in our own righteousness and walk around with an attitude of self-righteous indignation and bravado. Rather, we should fly to the refuge that God has provided - his own house (5:7). While we deserve to be cast out because of the "abundance of [our] transgressions" (5:10), we have received, in Christ, quite the opposite:

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.