Psalm 94:1–6 1O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. 2Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: Render a reward to the proud. 3Lord, How long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph? 4How long shall they utter and speak hard things? And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 5They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, And afflict thine heritage. 6They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless.
The previous Psalm was about the kingship of God, it focused on his strength and sovereign rule. Psalm 94 seems to be a companion showing the Lord as righteous judge.
What a blessed thought to the victimized and oppressed is the concept of an impartial and fair judge.
There are places in the world far worse than ours, where there is no chance of a fair shake in trial. We certainly have corruption within our courts, but there are many men and women wearing robes and holding gavels that do their best to remain impartial and follow the rule of law. The problem of course is the good judges are limited and overwhelmed by their caseload. Wronged with no hope of recourse is the predicament of plenty around the globe who long for good laws and a righteous judge. Rest assured, we have them both in our Lord!
What a terror to the criminal and corrupt is the concept of a judge that executes fair and righteous judgment.
The boldness of those that are robbing, looting, abusing, molesting and murdering without fear of justice is quite staggering. If there were only more no-nonsense judges and more righteous laws then these evil folks would have some fear!
The question of the Psalmist is “how long?”
Psalm 94:3–4 3Lord, How long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph? 4How long shall they utter and speak hard things? And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
Criminal behavior seems to increasingly receive a wink in this world but certainly not forever.
Perhaps that is true, someone asks, but why does God wait?
I don’t know. Finite minds like mine can’t comprehend all the answers to the questions of this world, but I can guess.
God gives chances to change and aren’t you glad? Aren’t you thrilled to know that he didn’t take you out the first time you crossed one of his lines?
But why doesn’t he deal with the big crimes more quickly and give grace to the little ones?
That is a problem isn’t it? Who will oversee the creation of the list of unpunished transgressions? Can we trust them to be fair and righteous? Who’s impartial enough to say which sins only have major implications? I have always thought that my sins are better than yours but that might not be the truth. No, only God can be the judge of that, and all sins are vile in his sight.
Here is the truth of the matter, as victims we long for a righteous judge but as sinners we need something else, a substitute. Thankfully, God has judged our sins in the person of his Son and we can escape the penalty we deserve on that basis.