Justice and Justs Desserts

1 O LORD, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
3 O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O LORD,
    and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, “The LORD does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

8 Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
11     the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the LORD has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the LORD our God will wipe them out. – Psalm 94:1-23 ESV

Justice. We all want it, or at least we think we do. Especially when it applies to someone else. When we hear of someone doing something wrong or unfair, we demand for justice to be served. We want to see them brought to justice – whether it is a corporate executive who has swindled money from his investors or a radical terrorist who has taken innocent lives in some cowardly fashion. We long to see justice served and the guilty punished.

But what is justice? Do we understand what it means? The dictionary defines it as "the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause; the administering of deserved punishment or reward" (dictionary.com).

It is both the quality of being just or righteous—doing the right thing—and the action of upholding what is right by punishing those who have done wrong.

There are those who believe that justice does not apply to them; they are above the law. They can somehow break the rules and escape justice; sometimes our society allows them to do so. They may even believe that they can escape the justice of God. In Psalms 94, we get a glimpse of their attitude.

“The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,
    “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.” – Psalm 94:7 NLT

They think that the God who created them cannot see what they are doing or hear what they are saying. He is somehow blind to their actions and attitudes, and even if He could see what they are doing, He is powerless to do anything about it. But the psalmist warned them to reconsider their faulty and deadly view of Yahweh.

Think again, you fools!
    When will you finally catch on?
Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
    Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
    He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
The LORD knows people’s thoughts;
    he knows they are worthless! – Psalm 94:8-11 NLT

God sees all, and because He is just, He deals with all in a righteous way. He may not respond in the time frame we want, but God eventually makes everything right. He brings about justice, and no one can escape it.

You see a picture of this in 1 Kings 2 as Solomon ascends to the throne of Israel. This chapter records Solomon's rise to power, replacing his father David as king. His reign begins with him establishing justice by giving some evil men their just desserts. He quickly deals with Joab for his murders, Shimei for his unfaithfulness, Adonijah for his deceitfulness and treachery, and Abiathar for his role in Adonijah's rebellion. Each of these men had acted unfaithfully in some way. They had committed an injustice and deserved to be punished. Adonijah had attempted to take David's throne away from Solomon. Joab had disobeyed David and killed two innocent men. Abiathar had aided Adonijah in his aborted coup attempt. Shimei had turned against David and cursed him when he had been forced to flee Jerusalem when his son, Absalom, took over the city. Each of these men was guilty and deserved punishment, and some of them had seen enough time elapse that they thought they had escaped justice. They were home free. But Solomon began his reign by making sure justice was served. The wrongs were made right. The guilty were punished.

In this story, we see a glimpse of the justice of God. He will deal with the evil that exists in our land. We may feel like He is blind to what is happening around us, or perhaps incapable of doing anything about it, but God has a good memory and is patient. He will deal with the injustices of this world in His time and according to His ways. But rest assured, justice will be done. With the psalmist, we can cry out, "O LORD, the God to whom vengeance belongs, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice be seen! Arise, O judge of the earth. Sentence the proud to the penalties they deserve." (Psalms 94:1-2 NLT).

He will do what needs to be done. He will right every wrong and punish every wrongdoer. What Solomon did in an imperfect way, God will do perfectly. We can know that justice will be served. One day, God will administer His justice wholly and righteously. So when we see evil around us, we can rest in the fact that God sees and will act. He will deal with it.

But the LORD is my fortress;
    my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
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. – Psalm 94:22-23 NLT

Father, we live in a world filled with injustice. People take advantage of others. People unfairly harm others. The innocent suffer and the wicked seem to get away with doing what is wrong. But You are not asleep. You are not powerless or disinterested. You are just and righteous. You see all that is going on and You will repay each person for the evil they have done. Thank You for that reminder. But also, thank You for the assurance that my sins are forgiven. Because of Your Son's death on the cross, I will not have to undergo punishment for the evil I have done. But never let me use that as an excuse to live the way I want to live. Help me serve You obediently and faithfully out of gratitude that I am seen as just in Your eyes. The punishment for my sins has been paid in full. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Seeing the God Who Sees All.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. – Esther 8:1-2 ESV

Over in the book of Deuteronomy, we read the following description of God:

I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! – Deuteronomy 32:3-4 NLT

The truly unique attribute about the story of Esther is that God is nowhere mentioned in the book, but His presence can be seen and felt as the narrative unfolds. He is portrayed as the faithful God who does no wrong. He works invisibly, but invincibly behind the scenes, orchestrating His plan and asserting His will on the lives of men, including those who do not believe He exists. God has been actively involved throughout the story of Esther and Mordecai. He is the one who put Esther on the throne of Persia. He was behind the seeming coincidence that allowed Mordecai to discover the plot against the king. He was the cause behind the king’s insomnia and his request to have the royal record read to him in hope that it might lull him to sleep. God had been witnessing the actions of Haman. He knew his heart and was well aware of his hatred for Mordecai and the people of Israel. While it may have appeared that God was out of sight and out of touch with all the events unfolding in Persia, He was actually in complete control. And He had a plan already in place to deal with not only Haman, but the king’s decree.

Later on in the the same chapter in the book of Deuteronomy, we read:

The Lord says, “Am I not storing up these things, sealing them away in my treasury? I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.” – Deuteronomy 32:34-35 NLT

God is always watching. Like a divine accountant, He is documenting every deposit and withdrawal. He knows the heart of every man. He sees their every action and knows the motivation behind all that they do or don’t do. And while it may appear that God is blind to our predicament and unaware of the injustices being heaped upon us, unlike King Ahasuerus, He is fully cognizant of all that goes on in His kingdom. And God has a just outcome in store for every individual who rises up against His rule or raises a hand against His people.

When we find ourselves going through difficulty, it is sometimes easy to assume that God is not there or that He does not care. We react like the psalmist.

O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own. They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.” – Psalm 94:1-7 NLT

But our perspective gets skewed. Our circumstances blind us to the ways of God. We get so busy looking at our difficulties, that we lose the ability to see God working in our midst. So the psalmist goes on to remind us of God’s ever-constant presence. And he warns the wicked that God knows all and sees all.

Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing? The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless! – Psalm 94:8-11 NLT

It is as if the psalmist knew about Haman long before he was even born.

Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—leaders whose decrees permit injustice? They gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide. 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. – Psalm 94:20-23 NLT

And God dealt with Haman, a leader whose decrees permit injustice, by turning his sins back on him. He was destroyed for his sins. And, at the same time, Esther and Mordecai were rewarded. Esther was given the property of Haman. Mordecai was given the king’s signet ring, the symbol of his power and authority, which had previously been given to Haman. And Esther put her uncle, Mordecai, in charge of all the Haman’s vast estate and wealth. The tables had turned. The wicked were defeated. The righteous were blessed.

But while the story of Esther has a happy ending, we must be careful not to assume that every situation and circumstance works out with a perfect fairy tale ending. Stephen, while preaching the gospel, was brutally stoned and murdered by an angry mob. Paul spent much of his adult life in prison as a result of his ministry on behalf of Christ. John was exiled to the island of Patmos by the Roman government because of his persistent preaching of the gospel. We would be wrong to assume that things always turn out right. The Christian faith has always had its martyrs. There are countless believers all across the world who are suffering for their faith at this very moment. Many of them will die as a result of their faith in Christ. But that does not change the fact that God is in control. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan and He will bring it about in His perfect timing and according to His perfect will. We may not understand it or even like it, but we can trust that whatever happens is within the just and righteous providence of God. For Esther and Mordecai, the story has a happy ending. But while some may experience pain, suffering, lose and even death, it does not mean that God is not working.

The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it. – Psalm 94:14-15 NLT

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