Trust in the Lord, Not Ourselves or Possessions: A Legacy Perspective
For ultra-high-net-worth families, trust is never merely an abstract spiritual idea. It is the hidden architecture behind every allocation of capital, every governance decision, every estate plan, every succession conversation, and every risk-management framework. A family may say it trusts in the Lord, yet quietly organize its life around the belief that wealth, influence, reputation, liquidity, advisors, structures, or family control can ultimately secure the future.
Scripture gives a radically different framework. Wealth is not condemned, but misplaced trust is. Prosperity is not rejected, but pride in prosperity is dangerous. Planning is not discouraged, but self-reliance that excludes God is treated as spiritual blindness.
For family offices and UHNW families, the lesson is clear: possessions are tools, not saviors. Wealth can serve wisdom, charity, continuity, and mission, but it cannot carry the moral weight of ultimate trust. When a family trusts in the Lord, prosperity becomes stewardship. When a family trusts in itself or its possessions, prosperity becomes exposure.
The biblical pattern is remarkably consistent: those who fear the Lord, walk humbly, and trust Him are established, enriched in ways that outlast mere balance sheets, and preserved through uncertainty. Those who rely on riches, pride, self-confidence, or fortified possessions eventually discover that wealth without God becomes brittle.
I. The Blessings and Prosperity of Those Who Trust in the Lord
1. The Household That Fears the Lord Is Blessed With Enduring Substance
Psalm 112:1, 3 — KJV
“Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.”
“Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.”
This passage is especially important for families of wealth because it joins two ideas that modern culture often separates: prosperity and righteousness. The blessing described is not merely financial abundance. It is wealth placed inside a moral household.
The phrase “wealth and riches shall be in his house” speaks directly to family continuity. This is not only an individual blessing; it touches the household. In a family office context, the “house” includes the family enterprise, governance structure, investment philosophy, philanthropic mission, advisory circle, and intergenerational culture.
But the verse does not say merely that wealth endures. It says, “his righteousness endureth for ever.” This is the key. Wealth by itself does not guarantee continuity. Many wealthy families accumulate assets, only to lose unity, purpose, discipline, and moral clarity. What endures is not the money alone, but righteousness.
For UHNW families, this means the deepest family legacy is not measured only by assets under management, private equity holdings, real estate portfolios, foundations, trusts, or operating businesses. The real legacy is whether the family’s wealth was governed by reverence, obedience, humility, justice, and love of God.
A family office that takes Psalm 112 seriously must ask:
Does our wealth serve righteousness?
Does our governance teach reverence?
Do our children inherit only assets, or also wisdom?
Are our investment policies aligned with moral conviction?
Does our prosperity strengthen the household spiritually, or distract it from God?
Psalm 112 provides a model of prosperity that is not anxious, vain, or self-glorifying. The blessed household is not blessed merely because it is rich. It is blessed because it fears the Lord and delights in His commandments.
In modern UHNW language, this is a call to build a values-based family office where capital, governance, philanthropy, education, and succession are all subordinated to divine order.
2. Humility and the Fear of the Lord Produce Riches, Honour, and Life
Proverbs 22:4 — KJV
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”
This verse is a complete family office philosophy in one sentence.
It identifies two roots: humility and the fear of the Lord. Then it identifies three fruits: riches, honour, and life.
For UHNW families, the order matters. Scripture does not say that riches produce humility. It says humility and the fear of the Lord produce riches, honour, and life. This reverses the usual assumption of wealthy families and elite institutions. The world often believes that capital produces status, status produces influence, and influence produces security. Scripture says that humility before God produces the right kind of prosperity.
This is a profound governance principle.
A wealthy family without humility may become increasingly vulnerable as it becomes increasingly successful. Pride can distort decision-making. It can lead to concentrated risk, inflated lifestyle, poor advisor selection, family entitlement, public scandal, succession conflict, and the inability to hear warnings.
Humility, by contrast, protects capital because it protects judgment. It allows founders to listen. It allows heirs to learn. It allows advisors to speak honestly. It allows family councils to correct course. It allows the patriarch or matriarch to recognize that ownership is temporary and stewardship is accountable to God.
The verse also includes “honour.” This matters deeply. UHNW families often pursue reputation, influence, public recognition, awards, prestige, and social legitimacy. But Proverbs teaches that honour is not manufactured by public relations. It flows from humility and reverence.
A family can buy visibility, but not true honour. It can purchase naming rights, but not moral authority. It can build institutions, but not necessarily trust. Honour comes when wealth is governed with wisdom, restraint, fairness, generosity, and accountability.
The final fruit is “life.” In a family office setting, “life” points beyond mere biological survival. It includes vitality of family relationships, generational flourishing, emotional health, spiritual continuity, and the preservation of purpose. A family can be financially rich and relationally dead. It can have liquidity and no love, structures and no trust, advisors and no wisdom, heirs and no unity.
Proverbs 22:4 teaches that the truly prosperous family is not merely wealthy. It is humble, reverent, honourable, and alive.
3. Trust in the Lord Brings True Prosperity
Proverbs 28:25 — KJV
“He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.”
The phrase “shall be made fat” is an older English expression meaning abundance, fullness, and flourishing. It does not refer merely to money. It suggests being well-supplied, strengthened, and prospered.
The contrast is striking. A proud heart produces strife. Trust in the Lord produces flourishing.
This is highly relevant to UHNW families because many family conflicts are not caused by lack of money. They are caused by pride. Pride turns ownership into entitlement. Pride turns governance into control. Pride turns succession into rivalry. Pride turns advisors into weapons. Pride turns estate planning into emotional warfare.
The proud heart “stirreth up strife.” In a family office, this can appear as sibling rivalry, founder control issues, disputes over distributions, resentment over roles, lack of transparency, suspicion of advisors, or conflict between active and passive family members.
The verse teaches that misplaced self-importance is not neutral. It actively creates conflict.
By contrast, the person who trusts in the Lord “shall be made fat.” Trust in God creates inner security. Inner security reduces the need to dominate. It makes generosity possible. It makes patience possible. It makes forgiveness possible. It allows a family to make decisions from faith rather than fear.
For a family office, this means spiritual trust is not separate from governance health. A family that trusts the Lord is less likely to treat wealth as the family’s ultimate source of identity. That lowers the emotional temperature around money. It allows the family to see wealth as a shared stewardship rather than a battlefield.
In practical terms, Proverbs 28:25 teaches that the proud family office becomes political, brittle, and divided, while the God-trusting family office becomes abundant, peaceful, and better able to flourish across generations.
II. The Consequences of Trusting in Ourselves or Our Possessions
1. The One Who Trusts in Riches Will Fall
Proverbs 11:28 — KJV
“He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”
This verse is perhaps one of the clearest warnings to wealthy families in all of Scripture. It does not say, “He that has riches shall fall.” It says, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall.”
The issue is not possession. The issue is reliance.
A UHNW family may have family trusts, foundations, holding companies, operating businesses, investment portfolios, real estate, insurance structures, private banking relationships, political connections, professional advisors, and sophisticated tax planning. These may all be useful tools. But if the family begins to trust in them as ultimate protection, the spiritual danger begins.
Riches are unstable as an object of trust because they are exposed to forces no family fully controls: markets, inflation, political change, taxation, litigation, currency risk, war, technological disruption, regulatory change, family breakdown, reputational crisis, illness, death, and moral decay.
The verse says such a person “shall fall.” This fall may be financial, but it can also be moral, relational, reputational, or spiritual.
A family may fall through greed.
It may fall through litigation.
It may fall through internal conflict.
It may fall through scandal.
It may fall through poor succession.
It may fall through entitlement.
It may fall through the erosion of faith and virtue.
By contrast, “the righteous shall flourish as a branch.” A branch flourishes because it is connected to a living root. This is a powerful image for legacy families. The family that flourishes is not the one most impressed with its own wealth, but the one rooted in righteousness.
In family office terms, the branch represents visible prosperity: businesses, investments, heirs, philanthropy, influence, and institutions. But the root is spiritual: trust in God, obedience, humility, truth, charity, and justice.
When a family trusts in riches, it becomes detached from the root. When a family trusts in the Lord, the branch can flourish.
2. Trusting in Man Makes the Heart Depart From the Lord
Jeremiah 17:5-6 — KJV
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”
“For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.”
This is one of Scripture’s strongest warnings against self-reliance. It describes a person who trusts in man, makes flesh his strength, and whose heart departs from the Lord.
For UHNW families, “trusteth in man” can take many modern forms. It may mean trusting in the founder’s genius, the family name, the CIO’s strategy, the legal structure, the tax plan, the banker, the consultant, the political connection, the operating business, the investment committee, or the family’s own sense of superiority.
Again, Scripture is not saying that human advice, planning, or expertise are useless. A family office should use skilled professionals. It should plan carefully. It should take governance seriously. But Jeremiah warns against making “flesh” the family’s arm — that is, treating human power as ultimate strength.
The consequence is severe: “whose heart departeth from the LORD.” This means misplaced trust is not merely a planning mistake. It is a spiritual migration. The heart slowly relocates its confidence from God to human strength.
The image that follows is devastating. The person becomes “like the heath in the desert.” He lives in parched places. He “shall not see when good cometh.” This means self-reliance can make a person spiritually blind even when blessing is nearby.
For wealthy families, this is a chilling possibility. A family can be surrounded by opportunity and still miss God’s blessing because pride has damaged its perception. It can have access to the best advisors and still lack wisdom. It can own beautiful homes and still live inwardly in a desert. It can have liquidity and still feel spiritually barren.
Jeremiah 17 teaches that when a family trusts in man rather than God, it may become outwardly impressive but inwardly dry. It may have capital without communion, plans without peace, and strategy without spiritual life.
For the family office, this verse should become a standing warning: never allow the machinery of wealth to replace dependence on God.
3. Trusting in Works and Treasures Leads to Capture and Loss
Jeremiah 48:7 — KJV
“For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.”
This verse is spoken in judgment against Moab, but its principle is timeless: trusting in works and treasures leads to captivity.
For a UHNW family, “works” may represent achievements: businesses built, deals completed, properties acquired, institutions founded, awards received, capital compounded, reputations established, and influence accumulated.
“Treasures” represent stored wealth: portfolios, cash reserves, precious metals, real estate, collections, intellectual property, operating companies, private holdings, and dynastic structures.
The danger is subtle. A family may begin by thanking God for its works and treasures, but over time begin trusting in them. What was once received as blessing becomes treated as proof of superiority. What was once stewarded becomes idolized.
The judgment in Jeremiah 48:7 is that because Moab trusted in its works and treasures, it would be “taken.” That is the paradox of misplaced trust: what people trust to protect them often becomes the thing through which they are exposed.
A family may trust in its operating company, only to be trapped by concentration risk.
It may trust in its reputation, only to be destroyed by scandal.
It may trust in its legal structures, only to discover that documents cannot create love.
It may trust in its liquidity, only to find that money cannot buy unity.
It may trust in its advisors, only to suffer from conflicts of interest.
It may trust in its heirs, only to realize they were never formed for stewardship.
It may trust in treasures, only to become captive to maintaining them.
This verse also mentions priests and princes going into captivity. In modern terms, when a family’s misplaced trust collapses, the damage often extends to the whole ecosystem: family leaders, advisors, executives, beneficiaries, employees, trustees, philanthropic partners, and public reputation.
Jeremiah 48:7 therefore warns that wealth systems built on self-trust may look strong, but they are spiritually vulnerable.
4. Glorying in Valleys and Treasures Invites Fear and Collapse
Jeremiah 49:4-5 — KJV
“Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?”
“Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.”
This passage confronts arrogant security. The people trust in their treasures and say, “Who shall come unto me?” In modern language, this is the illusion of invulnerability.
For UHNW families, this can become a dangerous mindset. Great wealth can create the feeling that normal threats do not apply. A family may believe it is protected by jurisdictional planning, political influence, multiple residences, private security, elite counsel, or sheer financial scale. It may quietly say, “Who shall come unto me?”
But Scripture warns that this confidence is false when it rests on treasures.
The phrase “gloriest thou in the valleys” suggests boasting in fruitful, prosperous places. These valleys may symbolize the family’s areas of abundance: prime real estate, private companies, investment portfolios, social networks, reputation, philanthropy, family name, and accumulated privilege.
The warning is not against having fertile valleys. It is against glorying in them. Possessions become dangerous when they become the family’s identity.
The consequence in verse 5 is fear, scattering, and lack of gathering. This is deeply relevant to family legacy. When trust is placed in treasures, the eventual crisis may not only reduce wealth; it may scatter the family. The family loses cohesion. Members drift. Shared purpose dissolves. The next generation becomes fragmented. No one “gathers up” the wanderer.
This is a powerful image for failed succession. Wealth may remain, but the family is no longer gathered.
For family offices, Jeremiah 49:4-5 warns that a dynasty built on treasure without trust in God can become internally scattered even before it becomes financially weakened.
III. The Family Office Implication: Wealth Must Be Governed as Stewardship, Not Security
The combined message of these verses is not anti-wealth. It is anti-idolatry. Scripture does not condemn the presence of wealth in a household; Psalm 112 explicitly speaks of wealth and riches being in the house of the one who fears the Lord. But Scripture repeatedly condemns trust in wealth, trust in man, trust in works, trust in treasures, and pride in possessions.
This distinction is essential for UHNW families.
A family may possess wealth faithfully, but it must not be possessed by wealth.
A family may use advisors wisely, but it must not treat advisors as saviors.
A family may build structures prudently, but it must not confuse structures with spiritual security.
A family may plan succession carefully, but it must not assume documents can replace virtue.
A family may grow capital, but it must not allow capital to become the family’s god.
In a biblically grounded family office, the Lord is the ultimate source of trust. Wealth becomes a servant. Governance becomes a discipline. Succession becomes stewardship. Philanthropy becomes worship through generosity. Family education becomes formation in wisdom. Risk management becomes humility before uncertainty.
IV. The Difference Between Trusting God and Trusting Wealth
A family that trusts wealth asks, “How do we protect what we own?”
A family that trusts God asks, “How do we steward what God has entrusted to us?”
A family that trusts wealth asks, “How do we preserve control?”
A family that trusts God asks, “How do we preserve righteousness?”
A family that trusts wealth asks, “How do we ensure our name continues?”
A family that trusts God asks, “How do we ensure faithfulness continues?”
A family that trusts wealth asks, “How do we avoid loss?”
A family that trusts God asks, “How do we remain obedient in gain and loss?”
This shift changes everything.
The self-trusting family office may be obsessed with performance, privacy, tax efficiency, influence, and asset protection. These may all have legitimate roles, but without a higher purpose, they become a closed system.
The God-trusting family office still cares about performance, privacy, tax efficiency, influence, and asset protection, but it places them underneath faith, humility, charity, truth, and eternal accountability.
The difference is not always visible on a balance sheet, but it is eventually visible in the soul of the family.
V. Capital Allocation Under the Fear of the Lord
If a family truly trusts in the Lord, investment policy changes in spirit, not necessarily in sophistication.
The family still diversifies. It still evaluates risk. It still seeks competent advice. It still reviews liquidity, taxes, macroeconomic risk, currency exposure, private equity, real estate, operating businesses, and philanthropic commitments.
But its posture changes.
It no longer sees capital as the source of identity.
It no longer treats returns as the final measure of wisdom.
It no longer sacrifices family unity for marginal gain.
It no longer accepts profitable opportunities that corrupt conscience.
It no longer confuses deal flow with destiny.
It no longer mistakes possession for blessing.
A family guided by Psalm 112 and Proverbs 22:4 asks whether capital allocation reflects reverence, humility, patience, prudence, and righteousness.
This may mean avoiding investments that are morally destructive, even if profitable. It may mean building liquidity not from fear, but from responsibility. It may mean using wealth to strengthen households, employees, communities, churches, and future generations. It may mean prioritizing resilience over vanity and stewardship over spectacle.
The Lord-trusting family does not reject prosperity. It receives prosperity as accountable stewardship.
VI. Governance Under the Fear of the Lord
Family governance often fails when it becomes overly technical and insufficiently moral. Constitutions, councils, trusts, shareholder agreements, mission statements, and policies are useful, but they cannot carry the legacy alone.
The verses above show that the greatest threats to a wealthy family are spiritual before they are structural: pride, misplaced trust, self-reliance, boasting, fear, and departure from the Lord.
Therefore, family governance should include moral formation.
A biblical family office governance system should teach:
Humility before God.
Gratitude for wealth without worship of wealth.
Truthfulness in reporting and communication.
Justice in distributions and family employment.
Generosity toward those in need.
Restraint in lifestyle.
Respect for advisors without dependence on human strength.
Succession based on character as well as competence.
Responsibility to future generations.
Prayerful discernment before major decisions.
Proverbs 28:25 warns that pride stirs up strife. This means governance must actively reduce pride. Families should create processes where no one is above correction, where founders can be challenged respectfully, where heirs are formed before they are empowered, and where advisors are encouraged to tell the truth rather than flatter the wealth holder.
Good governance is not merely a system for decision-making. It is a system for disciplining pride.
VII. Succession: Passing Down Trust, Not Just Treasure
The greatest succession failure is not losing money. It is passing down treasure without trust in the Lord.
An heir can inherit assets but not wisdom. A beneficiary can receive distributions but not discipline. A child can sit on a board but not understand stewardship. A family member can control wealth but be controlled by fear, pride, appetite, or resentment.
Psalm 112:3 says, “Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.” The enduring element is righteousness. Therefore, succession planning must focus not only on who receives the wealth, but who is formed to carry righteousness.
This requires intentional preparation.
Heirs should be taught that wealth is entrusted, not deserved.
They should learn that family capital belongs under God’s authority.
They should understand the dangers of pride, entitlement, and self-trust.
They should see philanthropy as responsibility, not social decoration.
They should be trained in prayer, discernment, and wise counsel.
They should learn that stewardship requires both competence and character.
Trusts may preserve assets, but only trust in the Lord preserves the soul of the family.
VIII. The Danger of Possession-Based Identity
Jeremiah 49:4 asks, “Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley… that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?”
This question exposes possession-based identity. The family begins to glory in its valleys — its properties, businesses, status, influence, lifestyle, collections, and social position.
This is extremely dangerous because what a family glories in becomes what it fears losing.
If a family glories in reputation, it will be ruled by image.
If it glories in liquidity, it will be ruled by markets.
If it glories in control, it will be ruled by succession anxiety.
If it glories in lifestyle, it will be ruled by consumption.
If it glories in power, it will be ruled by pride.
If it glories in treasures, it will be ruled by fear.
But if the family glories in the Lord, its possessions can be enjoyed without becoming idols. Its wealth can be stewarded without becoming ultimate. Its influence can be exercised without becoming arrogance. Its legacy can be pursued without becoming vanity.
The family office must therefore help the family examine not only what it owns, but what it glories in.
IX. Practical Applications for Family Offices and UHNW Families
1. Create a “Trust Audit”
The family should regularly ask: What are we actually trusting?
Are we trusting the Lord, or our portfolio?
Are we trusting God, or our advisors?
Are we trusting divine wisdom, or our own intelligence?
Are we trusting righteousness, or reputation?
Are we trusting providence, or control?
This kind of audit is not financial; it is spiritual and cultural. It reveals the hidden dependencies of the family.
2. Build Humility Into Governance
Because Proverbs 22:4 connects humility with riches, honour, and life, humility should be institutionalized. This may include family retreats, outside counsel, advisory boards, next-generation education, family philanthropy, conflict-resolution processes, and regular review of the family mission.
The goal is to prevent wealth from making the family unteachable.
3. Treat Wealth as a Stewardship Mandate
Psalm 112 does not present wealth as self-indulgence. It places wealth inside a righteous household. Family office strategy should therefore connect capital to purpose: preservation, generosity, family formation, enterprise, philanthropy, and service.
4. Warn Heirs About the Fallacy of Riches
Proverbs 11:28 should be taught directly: “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall.”
Next-generation education should include not only investment literacy, but also spiritual literacy. Heirs must learn the limits of money early, before wealth becomes their identity.
5. Avoid the Illusion of Invulnerability
Jeremiah 49 warns against saying, “Who shall come unto me?” Families should assume vulnerability, not invincibility. This produces better risk management, better cybersecurity, better succession planning, better insurance planning, better governance, and deeper dependence on God.
6. Recognize That Dryness Can Exist Inside Abundance
Jeremiah 17 describes the person who trusts in man as living in parched places. A family can have financial abundance but spiritual dryness. Family offices should pay attention not only to financial performance, but to signs of relational, moral, and spiritual decline.
7. Place Prayer Before Major Decisions
Trust in the Lord should be operational, not decorative. Before major transactions, succession changes, litigation, philanthropic commitments, or family governance decisions, the family should seek God’s wisdom. Prayer reminds the family that it is not the ultimate owner or final authority.
X. The Strategic Risk of Misplaced Trust
From a family office perspective, misplaced trust is one of the greatest enterprise risks.
Trusting in riches creates complacency.
Trusting in oneself creates pride.
Trusting in advisors creates dependency.
Trusting in structures creates false security.
Trusting in reputation creates fear of truth.
Trusting in possessions creates anxiety.
Trusting in the Lord creates humility, courage, clarity, and peace.
The biblical warnings are not theoretical. They describe patterns visible in many wealthy families: the founder who cannot let go, the heirs who fight over control, the family office that becomes political, the estate plan that triggers litigation, the philanthropy that becomes vanity, the business that becomes an idol, the family name that becomes a burden, and the wealth that was meant to bless becoming the source of division.
Scripture diagnoses the root problem: the family trusted the wrong thing.
XI. Summary
For family offices and UHNW families, the biblical teaching on trusting in the Lord rather than possessions provides a comprehensive framework for wealth stewardship, governance, succession, and legacy. Psalm 112:1 and 112:3 teach that the household that fears the Lord may enjoy wealth and riches, but the enduring legacy is righteousness. Proverbs 22:4 shows that humility and reverence for God produce riches, honour, and life. Proverbs 28:25 warns that pride creates strife, while trust in the Lord produces abundance and flourishing.
The warnings are equally clear. Proverbs 11:28 teaches that those who trust in riches will fall, while the righteous flourish. Jeremiah 17:5-6 warns that trusting in man and human strength causes the heart to depart from the Lord and leads to spiritual dryness. Jeremiah 48:7 shows that trusting in works and treasures can lead to capture and loss. Jeremiah 49:4-5 warns against boasting in prosperity and assuming invulnerability because of stored wealth.
For UHNW families, this means wealth must be governed as stewardship, not security. Family offices should help families build humility, spiritual accountability, prudent risk management, next-generation formation, philanthropy, and values-based capital allocation. The central legacy question is not simply whether the family can preserve wealth, but whether the family can preserve trust in the Lord across generations.
XII. The Highest Form of Family Wealth Is Trust Properly Placed
A family office can preserve capital, but only God can preserve the soul of a family.
A trust can hold assets, but only faith can rightly order the heart.
A balance sheet can measure possessions, but not righteousness.
An estate plan can transfer wealth, but not automatically transmit wisdom.
An investment policy can manage risk, but not conquer pride.
The family that trusts in the Lord is not careless. It is deeply responsible. It plans, invests, governs, educates, protects, and gives. But it does all these things with the understanding that God is the true source of blessing, security, wisdom, and legacy.
The family that trusts in possessions may appear strong for a season, but Scripture warns that such trust leads to falling, dryness, captivity, fear, and scattering.
The family that trusts in the Lord may possess wealth without being possessed by it. Its riches become tools. Its governance becomes service. Its succession becomes stewardship. Its philanthropy becomes love. Its legacy becomes righteousness.
As Psalm 112 declares, the blessed household is not merely the house with wealth and riches. It is the house where the fear of the Lord remains, where His commandments are loved, and where righteousness endures forever.