What do you do when you see people doing evil, injustice, or doing the wrong thing? You remember Psalm 94. It’s an “Imprecatory Psalm” or one where the psalmist “curses” enemies, the wicked, and evil people. However, it reminds us that ultimately, vengeance and justice belong to God. There will be judgment. There will be punishment. Let’s dig in…
Psalm 94
1 O Lord, the God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
2 Arise, O Judge of the earth.
Give the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, O Lord?
How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
4 How long will they speak with arrogance?
How long will these evil people boast?
5 They crush your people, Lord,
hurting those you claim as your own.
6 They kill widows and foreigners
and murder orphans.
7 “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,
“and besides, the God of Israel (Jacob) doesn’t care.”8 Think again, you fools!
When will you finally catch on?
9 Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
10 He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
11 The Lord knows people’s thoughts;
he knows they are worthless!12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,
those you teach with your instructions.
13 You give them relief from troubled times
until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
14 The Lord will not reject his people;
he will not abandon his special possession.
15 Judgment will again be founded on justice,
and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.16 Who will protect me from the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had helped me,
I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
18 I cried out, “I am slipping!”
but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
19 When doubts filled my mind,
your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
Psalm 94 NLT
leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
21 They gang up against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
He will destroy them for their sins.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
Justice Belongs to the Lord
Have you ever been wronged? Sure, you have. I have. And it makes us angry. In fact, what’s going on right now in America:
- Out-of-control inflation.
- Abortion.
- Open borders with unknown numbers of illegals entering our country.
- Out-of-control deficit and debt.
- Out-of-control sexual immorality.
- Injustice.
- Deception.
- Corruption.
- Loss of common sense.
The list goes on.
However, this Psalm assures us that GOD SEES EVERYTHING!
God is:
- Omnipresent — He is EVERYWHERE!
- Omnipotent — He is ALL POWERFUL!
- Omniscient — He KNOWS EVERYTHING!
- Omnibenevolent — He has UNLIMITED GOODNESS!
- Everlasting & Eternal — He is the beginning and the end. (Revelation 1)
- Everloving — No matter how much you’ve sinned, how bad you’ve been, He LOVES YOU!
Make no mistake. Jesus WILL come back to judge the world. Understand, His justice is fair. Every person will get what they deserve. When? Pastor Sandy Adams explains…
The psalmist knows God will judge the wicked, but he wonders what is God waiting on? Hey, “Now that I’m saved why doesn’t He go ahead and fry all the other sinners!” I hope you recognize what’s wrong with that sentiment. Before we were regenerated [born again], the patience of God was our salvation – now afterwards the patience of God is a bothersome inconvenience.
We want to get on with redemption. What about those around us who need Jesus? God’s patience should be our opportunity to reach out.
Pastor Sandy Adams
Peter wrote…
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment (burned up).
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.
2 Peter 3: 3-15 NLT
Only One God
Verse 20 is interesting in that Israel’s main enemies, the Islamist terrorist regimes, think their god, “Allah” is on their side. Their “Allah” is Satan. I explain in this article: The Truth About Islam. Contrary to what many false teachers say, the god of the Muslims is NOT the same God of the Jews and Christians. I remember after 9/11, the United Church of Christ that I was attending presented a series that explained how we all worship the same god. We don’t.
Pastor Sandy Adams elaborates…
God is faithful!
When the great reformer, Count Zinzendorf, was hauled to trial before Fredrick the Great, the Prussian king asked him, “Give me one infallible proof for the inspiration of the Scriptures?”The Count replied, “The Jew.”
For 1950 years, the Jews lived dispersed across the planet – objects of hatred and persecution – even genocide. A people without a home, a land, a Temple, or a language – yet God ensured their survival. He didn’t “cast off His people.” In fact, one day a pit will be dug for Israel’s enemies.
Pastor Sandy Adams
Is God Showing Justice to America?
Many would say, YES! I say He’s punishing us. And we deserve it!
Right now, the way this current administration is acting towards Israel is concerning. Every time one of our government leaders says that they are withholding aid to Israel, or talks of a “2-state solution”, I think, “We’re so screwed!”
- Accuweather predicts that this upcoming Atlantic hurricane season will be one of the worst yet.
- A “Derecho” hit Iowa with 85 MPH winds.
- Tornadoes and extreme weather hit the Midwest.
It’ll probably get worse before Jesus comes to get His Bride!
How Not to Be Destroyed by God’s Justice
Recently, in a 60 Minutes Interview, Pope Francis said that we are all good. Obviously, he doesn’t read the Bible!
Paul wrote…
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26 NLT
You can never be “Good Enough” to get into Heaven! Besides that, there’s no such thing as purgatory!
Salvation is ONLY THROUGH JESUS!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
