Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” is the forth Beatitude, Jesus mentions in Matthew 5:6.

What is righteousness, and what does it mean to hunger and thirst for it? Why does Jesus want us to long for it?

Let’s find out.

As we already saw in the previous post about what it means to be meek in nowadays, we understood that it’s power under the power of God’s will.

As Jesus could use His power to call upon legions of angels when crucified on the cross but refused to do so, is an example of how one should understand meekness from a biblical perspective.

The ones who drew closer to God in this manner continued their journey with a heart that thirsted and hungered for more of God in their lives and this world.

The fire that burns within to seek Him in all our ways will be as strong a sensation as acute hunger and thirst.

Thirst And Hunger

Many people today who have never been hungry or thirsty do not understand the acute need for food and drink that the people in Jesus’ day had to face, as William Barclay stated in his study Bible:

“O the bliss of the man who longs for total righteousness as a starving man longs for food, and a man perishing of thirst longs for water, for that man will be truly satisfied!”

God created the natural urge for food and water in man and nothing else will satisfy him, though humans in their devices have come up with alternatives but they’ll never satisfy man.

Similarly, God created a vacuum or space in man that only God can fill, but we humans, with our devices, foolishly seek other options.

Nonetheless, we will stay empty unless we seek God and are filled with Him.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to possess an active spiritual longing: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:2, 63:1, 143:6, Amos 8:11)

Appetite, desire, and longing for righteousness are all synonyms for hunger and thirst for righteousness.

This yearning isn’t passive; it’s a passionate search.

To those who “hunger and thirst”, belong the promise that they shall assuredly be filled.

Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him?” (New Living Translation).

Also, Psalm 107:9 says, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (New King James Version).

There are many wrong and foolish ways to satisfy the hunger and thirst for God that He created in us. We could fill it with ungodly passion and quest for power, money, liquor, sex or ambition, clubbing, partying, etc. but the truth is all of these will never satisfy our thirst.

If the hunger and thirst are pointed after God, He’ll satisfy us completely.

Accepting His invitation to eat and drink at His table with a desire for more and more is the the answer to the thirst and hunger we feel in our hearts (John 4:13-15; 6:27, 32-35; 7:37-39).

What does the New Testament say about Jesus Himself?

That zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him (John 2:17).

This dramatic phrase means that Jesus’ passion for the affairs of His heavenly Father ate Him up. His food was to do the will of His Father.

So, Jesus, Himself who was hungry for God in His human nature, was passionately pursuing righteousness, and He achieved what He was pursuing.

God made a promise to those in a dry and parched desert land, that He will surely fill them.

To those hungry and thirsty for Him, He says: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).

We feed upon the bread of life, the bread that has come down from heaven, that nourishes the soul and fills the human spirit.

Furthermore, Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are those whose goal is righteousness, for they shall attain their goal.”

Nor did He say, “Blessed are those who have a desire for righteousness, for they will get to their heart’s desire.”

Rather, He spoke in everyday terms regarding intense hunger.

We are not simply to seek righteousness or have righteousness as a goal; we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness on a daily basis.

For example, when we are really hungry or thirsty, we are so anxious to satisfy that need that it consumes all of our waking thoughts.

We can’t ignore such hunger and thirst, so we naturally feel the drive to satisfy the need to eat and drink as soon as possible.

This is a metaphor for how great our desire and need for God should be.

When we hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness, we feel the same urgency.

And God pronounced a blessing on the ones who are hungry for it, aka blessed are those whose thirst for righteousness is a consuming passion.

The one blessed by God experiences a satisfied heart and thus can say, “It is well with my soul.”

Blessed Are Those Who Thirst And Hunger For Righteousness

The Righteousness spoken in this Beatitude is referring to right relationship with God and with other people.

The Greek word for righteousness as used in Matthew 5:6 is diskaiosune.

δικαιοσυνην noun – accusative singular feminine.

Dikaiosune (dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay) means: equity (of character or act);
specially (Christian) justification – righteousness (KJV Lexicon).

According to Dictionary.com, righteousness is “the quality or state of being righteous” and righteous means “morally right … acting in an upright, moral way; virtuous.”

In a broad sense, it means to live in a state-approved of by God—a life of integrity, virtue, purity, rightness, correct thinking, feeling, and acting.

Therefore, it leads to God’s righteousness as the ultimate and highest priority for us.

Seeking God’s righteousness, like our lives depend on it, is the closest metaphor for being thirsty and hungry for it.

God clearly outlines His standard for righteousness in Scripture, particularly the Ten Commandments, the Jewish Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and in Matthew 22:39.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

We are to believe and acknowledge there is only one God, revealed in Jesus Christ. We are to love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus spoke to the complexities of righteousness when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

This is where the standard of God’s righteousness is stated clear of what really is, and the fact that it’s humanly impossible to achieve it. (yikes)

We may act physically within the confines of God’s law, but just because it is still possible to commit that sin purely in our hearts, we need help.

We can try and establish our own self-righteousness – but that won’t last forever.

Self-righteous is morality – man’s insufficient effort at living to please God or win His approval through keeping rules (Romans 10:3-4), where God’s righteousness is “Holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary).

To please God with our own efforts, ways, principles, etc. is never possible, because God says that all human’s righteousness is as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6b).

(wow, that hurt)

Then what do we do ? Coz the “Holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary) is impossible for us to achieve!

Then how are we suppose to live ?

Or how can we “first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right – the attitude and character of God]..” when it feels like we are never gonna make it?

As if we are never gonna be “perfect as God is perfect”– word that means flawless and complete (Matthew 5:48) ?

There is no way by human effort to be righteous before God ! This is a fact.

There is no way we could be found flawless and fully pure before a Just and Perfect God, no matter how many good things we believe we can accomplish or how many of the good can outnumber the evil in our life.

Yet, there is one way, though..

Think about it ! If God made the standard of what it means to be righteous, He made a way to pass the test by providing us the way to His righteousness.

If I believe in the way God provided for me to be righteous, that I achieved true righteousness, it’s simple as that.

Jesus answered, “I Am The Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:17)

Which leads us to The Way Provided by God is:
Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:29)

In other words, God imputed to man His righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul is an example for this, when he said he wanted to be found in Jesus’ Christ, not having his own righteousness, which was from the law, but that which was through faith in Christ Jesus, the righteousness which was from God by faith (Philippians 3:9).

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe…” (Romans 3:21-22 – NKJVersion)

And this is the answer for true righteousness before God:

8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach

9because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].”

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.”
(Romans 10:8-11,13 AMP)

And again:

This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. (Romans 3:22 AMP version)

Therefore, Salvation is His gift. We can’t earn it (Ephesians 2:8). We ought to receive it in our heart and cherish it for the rest of our lives.

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose] (1John1:9 AMP version)

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Believe in Jesus, be baptized, and ask those who have received the Holy Spirit to pray for you to receive Him, or simply ask the Lord to baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and you will become a new creation – new born in Christ Jesus.

Why Is This Important?

If you’re born again, you’re declared righteous, not by your own righteousness, but by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ – which is God’s righteousness.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 New King James Version).

That means God doesn’t see you standing on your own but through Jesus Christ.

What He sees now in you is Jesus Christ, which means covered you are covered with the blood of Jesus, made whiter than the snow, complete in Him before the Just God.

Seeing His beloved Son in you means YOU ARE NOW BELOVED TOO in Christ Jesus.

And God’s grace will guide you and the Holy Spirit with Whom you’re marked for eternity, will carry you till the last breath of yours.

So Let Us Ask Some Questions!

If born again people are righteous by virtue of faith in Jesus Christ, must they still seek God’s righteousness? Why are they to hunger and thirst for righteousness again?

To seek God’s righteousness means to seek God Himself. To know Him and continue in knowing Him. To continue to live the eternal life.

Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3).

The righteousness by which we are clothed now in Christ Jesus given by Him is given to us so that we might freely come to Him, in His presence to talk to Him, and know Him (His thoughts, His ways, His revelations, His knowledge, His Wisdom, His Heart etc).

Believe me, those who seek shall surely find! (Matthew 7:8)

And it starts with thinking about Him: Who are you God? I wanna know you!

In every possible and new situation He reveals to us in a new Light.

Seek and you shall surely find God again and again!

Knowing Him means you won’t be afraid to reveal everything that’s on your heart and mind, because you will know how much He cares for you!

Jesus beloved you for eternity!

How do we continue after our new birth ?

We continue in living the eternal life.

We continue to believe in Jesus, not just at the beginning, when we were saved, but every day, every moment, thirsting and hungering for Him, relying on Him, and asking for help from the Holy Spirit, without whom we can’t do anything right or good before God, no matter how positive and nice it may appear on the surface.

We need the help of His Holy Spirit, as well as God’s grace and mercy, which is, thankfully, renewed every day.

What do we do when it comes to doing good deeds to others?

When it comes to others, we often sin instead of doing good. Even with our good intentions we still might hurt and do more damage than we think to the other person, because maybe that person didn’t even allowed us to help her/him in the first place.

Helping others and doing them good is with the Holy Spirit. We weren’t saved in order to continue alone or without help in our life journey. In fact the Holy Spirit was given to us, so that we might never feel alone! Not in one second. Not in any situation.

And this is our comfort and encouragement!

So, when doing good, communicate in your heart with God the Holy Spirit, or just listen to Him and His wisdom.

May The spirit of wisdom and the spirit of revelation in the true knowledge of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:17) guide your heart to be wise in the relationships with others.

How do we change ourselves to do more righteousness before God?

One thing is to desire to be changed by asking God to do it in us, another thing is to think we can change ourselves.

Our job is to desire to be better, by renewing our minds by asking God for wisdom in every situation.

If we fail along the way, it’s okay, God is right there to catch us. He won’t let us go!

Furthermore, the change begins also when we believe that The One who started the good work in us will surely finish it till the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

This means that we can be confident, that God who transforms us from within, will surely show the change outwardly which will result in a righteous fruit coming from our heart.

For They Shall Be Filled

Those who thirst for righteousness receive the water Jesus offered to the woman at the well: “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:14, NLT)

The term filled or satisfied in the Beatitude means that the pangs of hunger and thirst will disappear. The verb is passive, indicating that God Himself will fulfill our intense desire for right relationship with Him.

God is not cold and distant. He will work with us to reach that goal if we respond to His call and seek to know Him and develop His righteousness (Isaiah 55:1-3).

If we seek Him for help, He will exceed our expectations (Luke 11:9-13).

He understands that humanity has a void that we cannot fill on our own. But if we go to Him, He will help us fill it (Psalm 107:9).

In summary, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled could be paraphrased as follows: “Deeply joyful and spiritually whole are those who actively seek right relationship with God and, in doing so, discover that He alone can completely save and satisfy their souls.”