Proverbs 21:21

righteousness The proverb asserts the general law of God's moral government, that they who seek good things shall find more than they sought for (1 Kings 3:11; Matthew 6:33); the pursuit of "righteousness and mercy" will end in the acquisition of "life, righteousness and honour." But the proverb seems also to insist upon aiming at a perfect character in the pursuit of moral excellence. Not only should the sterner virtues, represented by righteousness, be cultivated, but their gentler fellows, which are summed up in "mercy." They who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" should also be "the merciful" (Matthew 5:6-7). So shall the reward attained be that which was sought for, righteousness(used here perhaps in its widest sense of moral perfection, including mercy, the "righteous man" and the "good man" being one and the same person, Romans 5:7), and with it in rich companionship life and honour, which were not objects of direct pursuit.