Ps. 32.4 (right and true words and works)

“For the word / of Yhwh / is right – and all his works / are indeed truth.” The prophets will regularly begin their utterances in “Thus says Yhwh” or “Hear the word of the Yhwh”. What does it mean, though, for a word to be ‘right’? How is a word ever ‘wrong’? I think an approach could be to recognize that the wicked are very often described by their manner of speech. And often their speech is ‘two-faced’: while their tongue speaks honey, it issues from a heart that is a grave; they speak nice words to their neighbor, and the practice oppression in the marketplace. The righteous, by contrast, always speak ‘true’ words, words that are unified and not hypocritical. It would seem then that this is another way of saying Yhwh doesn’t lie; that his ‘words’ correspond to his heart. They are not meant to be deceptive. Yhwh doesn’t express himself, and then withdraw into darkness. In essence, you can trust them. Are we also to hear here a continuation of the previous verse, where the ‘righteous’ were called upon to ‘sing to Yhwh a new song’? Are their vocal utterances here seen to be a type of mirroring of Yhwh’s ‘vocal utterance’ (or, word)? If so, does a corresponding light fall on Yhwh’s word: that his word is, like the human voice, an act of praise, an abundance, an ever-new expression? The word “for” shows that this ‘word’ of Yhwh is the reason for praise and exultation. This is a ‘hymn to the word’ in many ways. As we move forward we will come to see more but for now—this line is immediately followed with Yhwh’s works being “truth”. As we will see, these lines are, in fact, parallel. For Yhwh, to speak is to ‘create’ or ‘work’. Likewise, for his words to be ‘right’ is very similar to a work being ‘true’. They both faithfully en-act their source: Yhwh. It is because of this faithful correspondence between the word/work and Yhwh that the psalmist and the “righteous” and “upright” ones can adequately ‘exult’ Yhwh. They are the ‘recipient’ and ‘product’ of these word/works. For them to sing praises based upon them, means that they (the word/works) are ‘praise’ enducing effects of Yhwh. Were they deceptive, were they not “right” and “true”, they could not operate thus. They are not arbitrary expressions of Yhwh, nor are they mediated in any way by another—they are direct expressions.