Psalms 125:4

Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

Do good, O Lord, unto (those that be) good. The confident trust expressed in Psalms 125:1 is the ground on which rests the prayer here. There is an inseparable connection between being "good" and receiving "good."

And to (them that are) upright in their hearts - not merely in outward conduct. The true "Israel" (), "such as are of a clean heart" (: cf. ). The law was not mere letter, but spirit, even in the Old Testament; it is under the New Testament that the spirit of the law is brought fully to light. Thus the law commanded, , "Thou, shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart," etc. And the tenth commandment concerned the inward man, "Thou shalt not covet," thereby detecting "lust" (). The Psalmist repudiates the notion that mere descent from Abraham, and circumcision, can make any one of the elect nation accepted before God (cf. John Baptist's teaching, ; and Romans 2:28).