11b No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
The first part of this verse, which we meditated upon yesterday, taught us that “... the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory.” Since the LORD, like the sun, gives us grace and glory, we have absolutely no reason to fear that He might hold back certain good things from us. According to our text, if we walk uprightly, no good thing will He withhold.
Being gracious, the LORD provides everything good for His faithful children. His grace will not deprive them of anything good and glorious in His sight. Every good thing is included in the grace and glory He promises to give them. There has never been a benefactor like the LORD, and there shall be none like Him. What a wondrous promise of His liberality His people are given! So, let us cease from all anxieties and murmurings.
Rather, let us be concerned whether we are walking uprightly, because the promise of His bestowal of good things is made to those who walk uprightly. God would not want His blessings to fall in the hands of those who would abuse or misuse it in their unrighteous pursuits. Those who do not walk uprightly are bad stewards of His good gifts. God will not have any pleasure in bestowing good things upon those who squander them for unholy purposes.
Notice that God’s grace is given to bring us to an upright walk. Grace is not given to continue in sin. In Romans 6:1-2, we read, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” God’s bestowal of grace and glory is to establish us in a holy walk. His grace and glory cheer us in the way of uprightness. It is a despicable thing to presume that God’s grace will strengthen us to engage in ungodliness, or that His glory shall crown those who unabashedly continue in wicked ways.
God fills us with good things that we may advance in His righteous ways. The more steadfastly we stay the course of His righteousness, the greater His blessings for us to appropriate. Psalm 64:10 says, “The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.” Likewise, Proverbs 11:20 reminds us, “They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.”