The Judge of the Earth (Psalm 94)

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Well, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You can go ahead and open up your Bibles to Psalm 94. If you use one of the black pew Bibles around you, maybe underneath that is page 482. As you turn there, when I was a student in school, when I was then a teacher in the school, and when I was doing youth ministry, whether as a volunteer or on staff at a church, there were a handful of times where I’d gotten to the angry to the point of losing my cool, and like angry to where my body responds, and I don’t know what to do, so like you feel that like I’m turning red, I think I, my heart rate is going 150 beats a minute. I’m standing here, I am sweating, my teeth are clenched, and I feel my fists going like this. So, just a handful of times that that happened. Now, what could make me reach this point was not disobedience towards me, was not disrespect, was not cheating, it was bullying, seeing bullies, people taking advantage of those who oftentimes were more vulnerable, whether they were speaking ill of them, picking on them, ridiculing them, mocking them, but they looked at this person and saw I could take advantage of this person, and it was the thing that got me angry, and I still see faces, I still see moments in my mind where these things happen, and I just remember my response in those moments. And this weekend, something happened where Jackie and a couple of our boys were at a playground, and there was an accident that happened, and a guy actually verbally attacked Jackie and her parenting and my son for an accident, and it was a bully, and so you’re sitting there, and now that I’m really wound up, Jackie Jackie’s probably wound up. Let me wind all of you up as well. What, what is it for you? Because I think even me, just saying those few things, faces popped into your mind, situations popped into your mind. And what kind of response do we normally have when these things happen, it’s the thing that goes through my mind oftentimes first. It’s revenge. I want them to be paid back for what they did to me. I want them to get what they deserve. And this is something that happens at all ages, because I love watching movies with my kids that I’ve seen, and I know the outcome. And one of my sons, in particular, loves to verbalize when he wants the bad guy to get it, and he will clap and be physically excited when the bad guy gets what he deserves, and I sit there and, like, yep, that’s me too, and in some ways you’re like, yeah, they should get what they deserve, and at the same time you’re sitting there thinking, like, I don’t want him to, like, you know, be super excited about these things happening, so this kind of this line, like, where do I get excited, where do I not? And then, how do I teach vengeance isn’t ours, vengeance isn’t mine. And so then you amplify these personal examples to some of the worst bullying in the history of the world, much larger scale, the oppression of people groups, kidnapping of children, trafficking, slavery, genocide, and on and on. We can go. When you hear a story of real injustice, you should have a response to it. We want to have that clear line in the sand of this is good and this is evil. The question for us? Is not whether something is evil or good. It’s how do we respond to the evil? What comes into our hearts? What comes into our minds? What comes out of our mouth? And what actions do we take in the face of wickedness and evil? The psalmist wants us to know what we should do, but better than that is where we should go, and so we’re going to start first in verses one and two. You can see there in your notes we are looking at the character of God. So here is Psalm 94 verses one and two. The Lord is a God who avenges. Oh God, who avenges, shine forth, rise up, judge of the earth, pay back to the proud what they deserve. So, no shock that we start with the character of God again. Everything must start here. Our prayers, our laments, our praises, and our requests must start with God. And last week, as we started this series in Psalm 93 we were in the throne room of God. We saw God robed in majesty, looking at the world that He established, and we saw that God is reigning, even in the moments where it doesn’t quite feel that way. And now in Psalm 94 we. Actually, enter into the chaos of the world, and we don’t see it from afar. Now we experience it. It’s our reality of living in a fallen world, and it’s the chaos that leads us to look back in Psalm 93 or two verses one and two of Psalm 94 and we ask the question, Who is God? And we see here in these first two verses that He is the judge of the earth, the whole, the judge who avenges and pays back the proud with what they deserve. In Romans 1219 which is reminding us of what it says in Deuteronomy 32 says this: Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord. Vengeance is God’s. So the psalmist is ruining everything in God’s character, which is helping the psalmist and us get in the right mind and heart, because he could just go right into the account of who these evil people are, and this wickedness that they’re experiencing, but instead of doing that, because that’s just going to get all that injustice is going to well up inside of us, he’s reminding himself and us that I need to bring this to the only right judge, and so he pleads with God, he says, “Shine forth, says, “Rise up, and what he’s saying is, “God, show up, show up, be who I know you are, and do what you said you will do, because the psalmist knows that God’s vengeance, when he repays, it is fair, it is just, as a parent, if you’ve ever had kids disobey, amen. Okay, perfect children. If you’ve ever been in that moment where you have to discipline, how many times have you given that punishment, that discipline that didn’t quite fit the crime? It was a little bit too severe for what they actually did, or it wasn’t severe enough for what they did, because we know our kids are going to kind of say, well, that wasn’t fair, right? That wasn’t fair, because this didn’t happen to them, and so we’re going to hear this question all the time, and then when we stand back, we’re like, yeah, I’m not consistent, so Who am I in my little bubble if I can’t be consistent, who am I to think I can sit in the judgment seat for that person and that person and that person if I can’t even do this in my own home and be consistent and fair in my discipline, but God’s discipline is truly just. It is never more than it should be, and it is never less than it should be. It is never an emotional response where God disciplines based on how good of a day he had, which I think is true for some of us. So, it’s not he had a bad day, so the punishment is a little bit more severe, and he had a good day today, so the punishment is a little bit less. No, it is always just. It is always fair. And if we could see what God sees, if we could know what God knows, we would judge exactly the same way, because He is the only one that truly knows what is right and wrong all the time. And Aw Tozer says this, he says it perfectly in comparing our judgments and our actions with God’s when evil comes into our life. He says, how completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. To say, I don’t really know if I know the whole story, but God does. He doesn’t have any limitations when He judges, because God sees actions, and we oftentimes see actions, but only God sees the heart, and he will judge accordingly. So, now that we have our minds and our hearts in the right place, centered on the character of God, we can now move to the plea that the psalmist makes, and it’s a plea about the proud and getting what they deserve. So, we’re going to look at the second section there, the arrogance of the wicked, starting in verse three. How long, Lord, will the wicked? How long will the wicked be jubilant? They pour out arrogant words. All the evil doers are full of boasting. They crush your people, Lord. They oppress your inheritance. They slay the widow and the foreigner. They murder the fatherless. They say the Lord does not see. The God of Jacob takes no notice. Take notice, you senseless ones among the people, you fools. When will you become wise? Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge? The Lord knows all humans, human plans. He knows that they are futile. So, the question, How long, Lord, is a question we ask quite a bit in our Lament series that we did last year, and it is a hope-filled question. It is not a hopeless question. It, but as the psalmist comes here, he’s like, it looks like the wicked are jubilant, like they’re living the good life, things are going well, they have success, they have wealth, and not a care in the world, and usually that’s at the expense of other people. So, how long, Lord? And when you ask that question, how long, Lord, with the understanding of God’s character, it’s not hopeless in that the wicked are going to get away with anything, but instead it’s asking, I know you won’t let this go on forever, but could you step in a little sooner? Right, I know you’re not going to let it go on forever, but how long? When is the payback coming? Are you going to avenge soon? It’s a question asked through scripture many times. It’s a question that we continue to ask, and the question you’re also probably asking at this point is, why does wickedness persist? Then, why doesn’t God step in right now, right now, knowing what’s going to happen? Why has He not stopped this and this and that? And we’re going to come back to one of the answers that we see in the text this morning. We’re going to just hold on to that for a few minutes, and we’ll get there. But what the psalmist does here is he catalogs the list of these wicked things that these people are doing. These are not small things that you could just quickly glance over. He’s using words like pour out, full crush, which we looked at, even last week, in Psalm 93 overwhelming oppression, slay, murder, like these are wicked, wicked things. It’s a clear line. There’s no way around it. These are evil things that are happening, but what’s more concerning is not just what they’re doing, but who they are doing it to. Who are they doing it to, and we see here in the text, one, it’s his inheritance, God’s inheritance, his people, his covenant people, and there’s a good reason to think that this wickedness that’s happening with the people this time is coming from the inside, but of course it could also be things that are coming from outside nations, regardless of that, though the church has always experienced people attacking from within and people attacking from outside, whatever it is, the prayer is going to be the same, and so the psalmist says, because he’s confident in the Lord, we’re your people, so you are going to do something, because when you attack God’s people, you attack God when He has put His love and His promises on His people. When others go against them, God knows that God sees that, and God will respond. And so, Psalm is saying, How long until you do it? And then we also see who else is this happening to within this group of people: it’s the widow, the foreigner, and the fatherless, and these are groups of people that have special mention in scripture in multiple places, and the Lord makes provision for these groups of people in His law. So, here’s just one example from Deuteronomy 10. It’s not going to be on the screen, I’m just going to read it to you. We see all three of these groups of people in this verse, he defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing, and you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. So this is God saying this about these people, and these are the people that are being attacked by the wicked, and they’re doing these horrible things to them. And the key verse in this section is the attitude of the wicked, and it’s extremely unsettling. Look at verse seven, they say the Lord does not see, the God of Jacob takes no notice. How hopeless would life be if that was true? The Lord does not see the kind of Jacob doesn’t take notice, he doesn’t care. How hopeless would life be if there wasn’t a king, if there wasn’t a judge? Because one thing we know on this earth, the our earthly judges, our earthly justice system is going to let people get off, they’re going to be free, they are going to miss things, and people are going to get away with things they have, and they will, but not forever, but not forever, because there is a king, there is a judge. It’s unsettling, not because we find that this is their attitude. It’s unsettling because we know that this is our attitude. Many times, every time we sin, what are we doing? Maybe God doesn’t look at me today. Maybe He’s not watching. Maybe He doesn’t care. Maybe it’s going unnoticed now, and this happens because we, we give in at some point to temptation, and then we do it again a little bit later, and we feel like the guilt and the shame just isn’t quite the same as it was before. So just say, maybe God isn’t, maybe he isn’t watching, he’s not doing anything about it, at least. So maybe I can get away with a little bit more, and a little bit more, and quickly your heart becomes hard, then you start to realize. Is I’m taking advantage of the vulnerable, I am being wicked to other people in my mind, in my heart, in my speech, in my actions, and so we need to pray that the Spirit would reveal these areas of our life that maybe right now we’re holding on to very tightly, because we’ve gone to that point of saying, well, God hasn’t done anything about it yet, so why do I need to give it up? He sees, and he knows it’s interesting when somebody’s brought in for questioning for a crime that they think they get away with, pretty confident, even as they get questioned, they’re going to get away with everything changes, their whole countenance changes when somebody comes and says we have a video to show you, and it’s like, oh yeah, there’s cameras everywhere, there’s people with cameras, phones everywhere, and we’re going to show you this, and now all of a sudden everything changes, but there’s always been eyes on us, God has always seen us every day, every hour, every minute, so when you think about that, you’re like, oh, so he saw yesterday, he saw this morning, going to church, he sees my heart right now. In verse seven is a succinct way to define what it’s like to live without the fear of the Lord. So, if you want to say, like, what does it mean when somebody doesn’t fear the Lord, it’s this: the Lord does not see, the Lord doesn’t take notice, and that we see here is called foolishness. In contrast to verse eight, look at verse eight: Take notice, you senseless ones among the people, you fools. When will you become wise, and how do the wise live? Well, Proverbs tells us the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It’s the fear of the Lord. It’s exactly the opposite of what these people are doing. And then the psalmist just kind of takes us to school. We’re in theology 101 right now, in verses nine through 11, we’re looking at the main question, Who is God? And in these four questions that the psalmist asks, we find out that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient creator. That’s what we see here.
So, look at the first two questions: Does He who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he, who formed the eye, not see well? Does he? God tells Moses this in Exodus 37 I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. They’re asking, How long, Lord? And he’s like, I see you, I hear you, and I’m going to do something. The next question, does he who disciplines nations not punish? Well, before Moses and the people of Israel are even in Egypt, God is talking to Abraham in Genesis 15, giving him his covenant, and he tells Abraham, your people will be in a foreign land, will be enslaved in a foreign land for a very long time, and before that even happens, this is what he tells Abraham, but I will punish the nation, which we know is Egypt, I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. Does the Lord discipline? Yes, He disciplined Egypt, and everybody in that area heard about it. And then last question, does He who teaches mankind lack knowledge? Isaiah 4610 says, I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say my purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. He knows it all. He’s everywhere. He’s all powerful. He’s the creator. This is who our God is. And so the wicked should fear the Lord, because he does see, he does take notice, and he won’t let evil prevail in the end. And then we get this kind of summary in verse 11, reminds us there’s nothing outside of God, there are no human plans that God does not see. He knows what’s going to come. He knows nothing can thwart His plans, nothing evil or wicked. And we now move from the arrogance of the wicked to the hope of the righteous. So, look, starting in verse 12 through 19, the hope of the righteous, blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law. You grant them relief from days of trouble till a pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not reject his people, he will never forsake his inheritance. Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Who will rise up for me against the wicked, who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, “My foot is slipping, your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. And so we have here. At the beginning, these words “discipline” and “teaching” are the same words that were just used in the questions that the psalmist asks, same words in verse 10, but the audience has changed. The audience is not the wicked, the audience is the righteous, those who follow the Lord. And right here we get one of the main differences between being wicked and being righteous, because God will discipline and punish both, and he also teaches who he is. He makes it known who he is. In creation, we see it in his word. And so the question is, How are you going to respond to this? How are you going to respond to the answers to this question of who is God? And the wicked respond by saying, The Lord does not see, the Lord does not take notice, and the righteous, those who submit to God, are willing and ready to hear His word. They’re ready to be disciplined, they’re ready to be instructed, so that we can see right here in verse 12. Blessed, it’s like the beatitudes, blessed, happy are those who are ready to receive the instruction of the Lord to receive the discipline of the Lord, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and they are ready to receive the relief that is talked about in verse 13. They’re ready to receive that relief, because not only does God discipline us, He teaches us through the hardships that we experience, through our troubles, through enduring what the wicked and the evil will do to us, so I love what Augustine says. Says, “Bear patiently when evil doers get all the luck, and they bear patiently, tolerantly the hardships that fall to good people until this world comes to an end, until iniquity shall pass away. They are blessed already, for God has instructed them in His law and made them gentle through days of misery until a pit is dug for the sinner. The Lord is there to instruct us to walk with us, even as the evil, even as the wickedness is going on around us. And Augustine is really just quoting from this psalm here, relief is possible, because look at verse 13, as the wickedness and evil happens, a pit is being dug. The more wickedness, the deeper the pit goes. In a way, the evil and wicked are digging their own grave. And I said, we come back to this question: Why does God let evil persist? Why does He not just stop it right now. Well, there’s a great answer to this in Genesis 15. Again, as God is talking to Abraham, giving him his covenant, he’s telling him what’s going to happen to his people, as we just read that they’re going to be enslaved by another nation, but they will return to the promised land. But when are they going to return to the promised land? He says when the sin of the people there, the Amorites, has reached its full measure. Because God is patient, God is patient. God gives time for repentance, or you could repent, or you can continue to dig, and that’s what the Amorites are doing, they dig a pit deeper and deeper. When they hear about things that the Lord is doing, they don’t repent and follow Him. They just keep digging, doing wicked thing after wicked thing. And so, when God brings this judgment on the Amorites in this moment, there isn’t a mistake, like they can’t stand before God and say, “Oh, wait, we didn’t know, or bring these excuses and all these different things to him. It’s like you’ve been digging this pit for a very long time. So God allows things to reach their full measure, in part to demonstrate to us what is truly unjust. It’s not that God needs to prove himself, it’s just for us to be there and not stand before God and say, like, I didn’t know, I had no idea. I didn’t know my heart was getting harder. I don’t think I deserve this, and making every excuse in the book to say, like, I don’t deserve this. When he shows us what our sin is and what it does, all of us would stand there and say that’s a fair punishment, that’s fair judgment, and that’s what’s happening in this, they continue to dig to show one day that I’m without excuse, as all of us are, we’re without excuse, and then here’s the relief for us, that the wicked will not ultimately get away with anything, they won’t, another relief is the teaching of verse 12 mentions God’s law, so we find relief in the difficult moments, in the troubles, in the hardships, in our circumstances, with the promises of God, with the promises of God, the teaching from God’s law. This is what we see in verses 14 and 15. Things are going to be hard, we’re going to experience wickedness working against us and working against the Lord, but the Lord will not reject His people. He’ll never forsake His inheritance. I will never leave you nor forsake you. And that is a promise that we cling to in the wickedness and the evil. Is He’s got me, He’s got me. And then we also find relief that the wickedness, the wicked do not have the final word. It says in verse 15, judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and this is looking forward to the future, so the new heavens and the new earth, where Jesus is making all things new. So when we ask the question, How long, Lord, this is the answer, the new heavens and the new earth, when everything is made right. Another question that we ask ourselves is where do we go when we experience trouble, when it seems like the wicked are winning, and that’s where the psalmist goes next in his questions. In verse 16, asks, Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evil doers? And I love this. He describes these experiences and emotions that he’s feeling that lead to these questions. Verse 17, he says, ‘I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. So, in the face of wickedness, we could despair. That’s what’s happening here. I could despair. Our minds can go to thinking that God can’t or won’t do something that maybe He’s not able. Do you hear me, God? Do you hear me? In verse 18, He says, ‘My foot is slipping in the face of wickedness. We can doubt, we could be tempted to respond to evil with more evil. We could be tempted to think, like, well, they got away with it, so maybe I can get away with it. And our foot slips off of our firm foundation. We’re being moved, we’re being shaken by our circumstances, and it’s hard. I get it. When wickedness is winning, it is so easy to say, like, I just want to do the same thing, I just want to get vengeance, I just want to make sure they know they’re wrong and that I am right. Does he take notice? And then verse 19, when anxiety was great within me, so in the face of wickedness, our thoughts can be overwhelming, causing anxious feelings, anxious thoughts, causing us to fear, and unable to rest. So, my question for you now is, Where is that temptation? Is it despair? Is it doubt? Is it anxiety? Is it all of them? Thankfully, the psalmist gives us the answer to these questions, no matter where you are. Verse 17, when we’re talking about despair, it says the Lord gives help. Verse 18, when you’re talking about doubt, God’s unfailing love supports you, and when you’re talking about anxiety, verse 19, God’s comfort brings you joy, we go to the one who provides all of this, where all the promises of God are yes and amen. That’s in the personal work of Jesus Christ. That is where we go. The psalmist here had all sorts of small s saviors, small s saviors, prophets, priests, kings, judges, that for a time, might bring some comfort, for a time might bring some help, might bring some support, but just as likely they would end up on the wicked side of things. Just go through First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles, and you start to see how quickly these kings can go astray, right? So, there’s some small ass saviors that could bring some of this for a little while, but none of them could bring a completely satisfying and ultimate help, support, comfort, and joy, other than the capital S Savior, Jesus. That’s what He came to do, because He did that through His death, because He defeated evil, He defeated wickedness and sin, triumphing over them by the cross, and not only does he do that, but he sustains us now, and so what do we have to do? We have to turn our eyes back to him. We have to turn our eyes back to Jesus. Some of our women were at the Gospel Coalition women’s conference last week, and the theme was “Turn Your Eyes: Seen the Savior in the Book of Psalms, and that’s what we’re doing this morning, and our eyes have to go to Jesus and say, “This is what you have done for me. This is why I can be completely confident, and this is one of my favorite songs. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. We’ve been singing it as a family this week after Jackie got back from the conference, and listen to these words: “Oh, soul, are you weary and troubled? Are you experiencing wickedness and evil? Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth, evil, wickedness, troubles, hardships will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace, what could do that? Only Jesus can do that, can bring us that comfort and that joy, which leads us to the last section here, the work of God, starting in verse 20 and. Can a corrupt throne be allied with you? A throne that brings on misery by its decrees. The wicked abandon together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has become my fortress and my God, the rock in whom I take refuge. He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness. So here we are, the work of God. The psalmist comes back one more time to the wicked. The wicked cannot be aligned with God. The wicked are working against the Lord and working against the righteous. So now, at this moment, as we’re living our lives right now, two things are happening. The wicked continue to do wicked things and evil things, and they are continuing to dig that pit for themselves, and then the righteous, those who are in Christ Jesus, are taking comfort in God, their rock, their fortress, and their refuge. As the psalmist sees the Lord’s people being oppressed here and condemned to death, we look back to the cross 2008 years ago, when the wicked banded together against an innocent one. That’s what they did. The wicked banded together to say this man needs to die, the only one who is truly righteous, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they persecuted him, and they crushed him, condemning him to death. There’s something we have to come to terms with, all of us, this morning, and that is the wickedness is not just out there. The wickedness is in here. The wickedness is in here too. Every one of us knows what we deserve. If you recorded the last week of your life, your heart, your mind, your speech, your actions, would you want it played here for everybody to hear? I wouldn’t. I didn’t want that the other day when that guy was going after my family. We all deserve God’s judgment. We’ve rebelled against the Creator, who has given us our eyes and our ears, and we’ve asked Him, “Do you see? Do you take notice? We all deserve that. And yet, through Jesus Christ, listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 103 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities when we are found in Christ Jesus. Because of this, the Lord is not a god we run from, but a god we run, we run to as our refuge and our fortress for the help and the support and the comfort and the joy that we’re looking for. He is the rock, he does not move, he does not change, he remains the same regardless of the wickedness going on around us. Verse 23 goes back to what I said before, it’s a nice bookend from where we started. Lord, avenge, pay back. Well, what’s he going to do? He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness, the Lord our God will destroy them. The same words used in verses one and two. He is going to do this. No one is going to get away with anything, but at this time, on this side of the cross, those sins, that wickedness, that evil is either paid for on the cross by Jesus Christ, or it will be paid for at the final judgment, because for those who are in Christ Jesus, we ask, How long, Lord, how long? But if you have not asked that question, do not presume upon God’s grace, because you may be hardening your heart, and you may be digging a pit deeper and deeper, because Jesus will come again. He came, capital S Savior. When he comes again, we see this in Acts 1731 It says, “For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead. Well, there’s only been one man raised from the dead like this, and He is appointed at one time to bring justice to the earth, so He will come again. Will you be digging a pit, or will you be running to Him for His as a refuge? So Christ will come and judge you for your sins, past, present, and future paying you back what you deserve, or He will welcome you into His kingdom, because He paid for your sins, past, present, and future, and gave you what you don’t deserve, His grace, His forgiveness, and reconciliation. So, the big idea this morning from Psalm 94 is this: the judge will make all things right, so take refuge in Him and be comforted. The judge will make all things right, so take refuge in Him and be comforted. What does this look like for a few different groups in here? Just want to say a couple things. One, if you were here this morning. In your questioning Christianity, seeking who is Jesus, have some questions trying to navigate the difficult life that we find ourselves living. We’re so happy that you’re here this morning. We have a lot of the same questions that you do, and so this morning my plea for you is simply to fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. He sees all, he knows all, but he has made a way for you to be forgiven through his son, so that you can experience true freedom, true rest, true comfort, and joy, and help and support when the wickedness and evil is going on around us, and he gives us the strength by his spirit to pursue that right life, right living on the right line that has been drawn in the sand, so we know what is good and what is evil, and he helps us to walk with him. So my plea is to fear the Lord today, for my brothers and sisters in Christ, take refuge in the Lord, and let Him avenge, let Him pay back. You’re like, well, what is that? What does that look like? I told Jackie this when I wasn’t with them, when this happened at the playground, and I told her, in God’s providence, in His grace, what sermon was I working on when all of this happened, because I told her all the same things happened to my body, but my mind and heart did not go to the place it would have gone a week ago, simply because I was in this, and it’s going through my mind is like, how could I respond the way I want to respond, and I didn’t know that in the moment, but stepping back now, I’m like, how in the world did I hold it together? It’s simply by God’s grace to say, Lord, you avenge. It’s not for me to do it’s not for me to take vengeance. And when we look at scripture, I’ve got one example from scripture and one from more recent history, but I think we need to hear these to truly understand what does this look like, to not avenge, but to let the Lord do it. Many of you are doing the two-year Bible reading with us, that, and we just finished up First Samuel, and so you’re studying the life of David, and King Saul is pursuing David unjustly. He is jealous, he doesn’t want David to have the throne, and so he is pursuing him. How many times David have a chance to take Saul’s life twice, and how many people were encouraging him to do that, to take Saul’s life. Why seek vengeance, get revenge, take the throne? And what did David do both times? He left a warning for Saul. He said, I just took some stuff from you, just cut off the corner of your robe, but I just want you to know I’m here, but I’m not going to take your life, that’s the Lord’s to do. The Lord will avenge, the Lord will take your kingdom from you, the Lord will give the kingdom to me. He trusted the Lord to do what God said He would do. Vengeance is the Lords, and then Corrie 10 Boom, one of my favorites, imprisoned in a concentration camp for hiding Jews in her home with her family from the Nazis in World War Two, and she constantly spoke of forgiveness every time she would see a guard, there was this moment of what I described, that anger inside, why is this happening to us, but at the same time she was able to pray the prayer, Lord, forgive them, which is exactly what Jesus did on the cross, forgive them, because they don’t know what they’re doing. How many of these guards knew what they were doing in this moment, and she wanted them to experience the grace of Jesus Christ. So, Lord, if they go to their grave unrepentant, judge them, and he will justly, but Lord, I want them to experience the grace that I’ve experienced, because I deserve exactly what they deserve: eternal separation from you. But instead of seeking out that vengeance, she gave it to the Lord. But this is important for us. We need to pray prayers, not just of judgment and justice, we need to pray prayers of forgiveness and pleading for the lives of those who have done evil and wickedness in our life or to others. And finally, church, we need to be comforted and comfort each other. We help others, not seek revenge. We help others support others when somebody sins against them, when they experience evil and wickedness, and we pray prayers like Psalm 94 So I want to read this from Second Corinthians one three through four. Ground ourselves in the character of God, so that we can help each other. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. So we remind each other that the Lord sees all our sins and the wickedness and evil of others. It will not go on forever, and we pray for the wicked that they would come to believe in Jesus Christ, have their sins for. Given like ours have, because it has been paid if they repent and stop digging those pits, and they too can walk in comfort and joy that we are walking in, because the judge of all the earth will do what is right. So take refuge in Him and be comforted.
Let’s pray, God of all comfort, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your love for us, the forgiveness that we have received through your Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross and in the empty tomb. We thank you, Lord, that as we enter into this next week, if there’s any evil or wickedness that we experience, Lord, I pray that you would remind us to come to you first, that we would come and pray, we would come and plead with you, and that you would be the help and the support and the comfort and joy that we need in that moment as we rest in the finished work of Christ, and rest that you will pay back the evil you will give it what it deserves, and let us trust you with that. We thank you, Lord. We love you, and we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.