The Encouraging Promise of Judgment
Psalms 58
January 5, 2019
Tonight we come back to our study of the Psalms and
We also return to that small mini-section that we identified last time.
Psalms 57, 58, 59, & 75 share a common distinction.
The subheading says they are “set to Al-tashheth”
And if you will remember from our study of Psalms 57 a few weeks ago,
This phrase means “DESTROY NOT”
And we also said that we find that interesting,
Especially when we read some of the things included in these Psalms.
For example:
(6) “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.”
When you read that a Psalm has a subtitle that means “Destroy Not”
It is a little shocking to find a verse in it like this one.
Or like in Psalms 59
Psalms 59:5 “You, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.”
Perhaps you will remember from last time the explanation.
David doesn’t title these Psalms “Destroy Not” as a request to God.
David titles these Psalms “Destroy Not” as a command to us.
As we said, it is best summed up in that New Testament command:
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”
In short, the point of the Psalm is that believers should never take their own revenge, but rather they should trust that
God will one day avenge them and justly judge the wicked.
This concept was important to David because,
As we saw last time, he had to do this repeatedly with Saul.
David had multiple opportunities to kill Saul,
But he believed that vengeance was God’s prerogative, not his.
Instead David sang these “Destroy Not” songs to remind himself and those with him that God would avenge him when the time was right.
Even after sparing Saul’s life in the cave, David cried out to Saul and said:
1 Samuel 24:12-15 “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘ Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? “The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
Later when David had another chance to take Saul’s life and Abishai even told David to take the opportunity.
1 Samuel 26:9-10 “But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’S anointed and be without guilt?” David also said, “As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish.”
So you understand then why David wrote these songs.
• Their ultimate purpose is to remind the church that God will one day vindicate them.
• Their ultimate purpose is to remind the church that they are not forgotten.
• Their ultimate purpose is to remind the church to choose to walk righteous before God and allow Him to avenge.
You see that again in this Psalm.
While Psalms 58 does not include a context in the heading.
The fact that both Psalms 57 and 59 deal with Saul’s unjust treatment of David
I think it is fair to assume this one was written during the same conflicts.
But since we don’t know that for certain, we can’t bank on it.
Instead, we look within the Psalm for context.
And for us the context, or the setting of the Psalm is found in verse 11.
(11) “And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”
The entire flow of the Psalm is to reinforce that truth.
• It is a song to encourage the church that God will reward them for their
righteousness.
• It is a song to encourage the church that God will judge the wicked.
And what an important reminder for the church even today.
Peter told us about mockers who would come.
2 Peter 3:3-4 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.””
We remember how Asaph looked at the prosperity of the wicked and wondered if he had chosen the right path.
Psalms 73:12-14 “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”
We even read of the martyred souls who dwell below the altar who cry out in anticipation wondering how long it will be before God avenges them.
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ” How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
The point is that we are a people who
Hang our hats on the coming judgment of God.
If God does not reward righteousness then why are we righteous?
If God does not judge wickedness then why do we abstain?
In a world where men mock us for our righteousness
It would be easy to join them where it not for our steadfast belief
That there is a day of judgment coming.
Beyond that, think of the ramifications for even the gospel message.
We are well aware through our study of the Scriptures that
FOLLOWING JESUS IS COSTLY.
We see His value in parables like the treasure in the field or in the pearl of great value.
But we also see in those parables that anyone who would acquire those treasures would lose everything to do so.
• We read about losing father and mother, wife and children.
• We read about losing earthly inheritance.
• We read about losing reputation and freedom.
• We read even about people losing their life.
IT IS COSTLY TO FOLLOW JESUS.
So why do we follow?
Because we believe that only in Jesus
Can we obtain the righteousness which God requires.
One of the chief motivations for our faith in Christ
Is the fact that God rewards the righteous and judges the wicked.
If He does not, then why forsake this world?
If He does not, then why live holy?
If He does not, then why follow Jesus?
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CHURCH TO HAVE
A STEADFAST BELIEF IN THE COMING JUDGMENT OF GOD.
The reality of God’s judgment strengthens our resolve.
AND THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS SONG.
To remind you, that no matter how bad men around you get,
We stand strong and we “Destroy Not” because we believe God will judge
It is a fairly straightforward Psalm to study. We can break it down into 3 points.
#1 AN OBSERVATION REGARDING MAN
Psalms 58:1-5
Surely the purpose of these 5 verses is
To demonstrate that the wickedness of man is no joke.
We are NOT fighting an imaginary war.
We are NOT oppressed by an imaginary enemy.
We live in a wicked world among wicked people.
And in these 5 verses we get a concise description of the nature of man.
And let me just tell you that I find these 5 verses
To be so very important regarding even our Gospel Theology.
As you know, I believe, as do many of you,
In the doctrines regarding God’s Sovereign Election.
I absolutely believe in things like foreknowledge and predestination
And the sovereign salvation of God.
Those of you who share that belief however also know that
There is a vast number in the evangelical world who do not.
And we are prone to get into debates from time to time regarding these very doctrines.
At the top of the list for many is an intense desire to defend the autonomy of man.
It is the doctrines of Arminianism that wants to uphold the belief that
Man is both RESPONSIBLE and at the same time CAPABLE
Of choosing salvation.
• And we get various arguments like “God doesn’t make robots”
• And we get various arguments like “Man has total free will to choose”
• And we get various arguments like “A God who chooses is not a loving God”
I don’t have time to go over all the sort of “snipit” arguments we get.
But every time I find myself in one of those conversations,
It can ALWAYS be traced back to one major theological problem.
Those who take issue with God’s sovereign election
And who want to sort of defend this autonomous view of man,
They all have the same error in their theology.
THEIR VIEW OF GOD IS TOO LOW,
AND THEIR VIEW OF MAN IS TOO HIGH.
If you can ever get them to be honest,
What they really believe is that man and not God is actually the one who is sovereign over salvation because after all salvation is up to man.
Tonight I will remind you again why that is such a bad theology.
Because man, of his own free will, never chooses God.
Man is not good, he doesn’t choose good, he doesn’t want good,
And if salvation is up to man’s free will then he will never be saved
ON THE OTHER HAND
God is good, He does choose good, and it’s a good thing salvation is up to God because He actually chooses sinners to be saved
In spite of their sinful desire.
We could read Ephesians 2:1-3 again:
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
Such a clear theological statement on “all” men.
DEAD IN SPIRIT – “and you were dead in your trespasses and sins”
• That means you had no ability whatsoever to “choose” life.
• We couldn’t choose.
DESIRING SIN – “we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind”
• That means if you could choose, you wouldn’t have chosen what was right. Your very nature did not want God, it wanted sin.
DOOMED TO SUFFER – “where by nature children of wrath even as the rest”
• All humanity was headed to hell.
And that is what made that next verse by Paul so great.
Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
We didn’t do it, God did it.
Those of the Arminian view of man’s autonomy and freedom of choice
Think way too highly of sinful man and give him way too much credit.
THEY NEED TO HAVE THEIR DOCTRINE OF MAN CORRECTED.
Well, Psalms 58:1-5 would be a great place to start.
It begins with 2 questions:
“Do you indeed speak righteousness, o gods?”
You’ll likely have a translation note in your Bible
That indicates that “gods” there can also be translated “mighty ones” or “judges”
It seems evident that David is not talking about celestial beings here.
Rather David is wanting to know
If the judges of earth ever choose what is right?
Stated more clearly next:
“Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?”
That’s a good question.
David looks at humanity and basically asks them
If they ever make righteous judgements?
… if they ever choose righteousness?
And then David answers the question:
(2) “No”
And again, we know why. THEY ARE DEAD!
They have neither the faculty nor the desire to choose righteousness.
Man doesn’t choose righteousness.
Man doesn’t choose God.
Man doesn’t make righteous judgments.
And to sort of support his assertion David gives 5 descriptors about man.
1) HIS UNRIGHTEOUS HEART (2a)
David says, “No, in heart you work unrighteousness;”
We have said it over and over, and it is such an important understanding.
Sin originates in the heart.
• You don’t sin because of your circumstances.
• You don’t sin because of your influences.
• You don’t sin because of your deprivation.
• You don’t sin because of you ignorance.
You sin because your heart is sinful.
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
When we talk about man, WE AREN’T just talking about people
Who found themselves with no other option than to sin.
We are talking about people whose first desire was to sin.
It was in their heart. It’s who they are.
You have to understand that about man.
Man sins because he is sinful.
A man doesn’t become a murderer after he kills someone.
• He kills someone because he is a murderer in heart.
A man doesn’t become an adulterer after he has an affair.
• He has an affair because he has an adulterous heart.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
2) HIS VIOLENT HANDS (2b)
“On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.”
Because the evil is in his heart
It doesn’t take long before it is expressed with his hands.
And the picture is that of violence.
• Cain had murder in his heart and it wasn’t long before he murdered his brother.
God spoke of humanity in Noah’s day by saying:
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Man is just looking for opportunities to express wickedness.
It was first in his heart and then in his hands.
That is why James said IN ORDER TO BE SAVED:
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
THIS IS MAN.
When you give them a choice,
And one without restraints they will always choose sin.
3) HIS EVIL NATURE (3)
“The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak likes go astray from birth.”
People seem to really want to battle on this front.
• Men are born good (they say)
• Babies are born good (they say)
Is that what David said?
Or what about David’s famous Psalm of repentance?
Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
What about Paul’s dilemma that he announced to the Romans:
Romans 5:12-14 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
If men only become sinners after they sin,
Then how do you explain the time period between Adam and Moses?
• After Adam sinned man was removed from the garden and there were no commands on the earth.
• God’s commands didn’t show up until Moses.
• For 1500 years man lived without a command to break.
• And Paul said, “sin is not imputed when there is no Law”
Well if there was no law, then there was no sin to condemn men by.
SO WHY DID THEY KEEP DYING?
Because they weren’t sinful externally, they were sinful internally.
• They were sinful from birth.
• They came out of the womb defiant.
• They came out of the womb screaming and demanding their way.
Man isn’t just evil in motive or evil in action.
Man is evil in nature.
It’s who he is.
4) HIS DEADLY VENOM (4a)
“They have venom like the venom of a serpent.”
Romans 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
That is deadly force. That is deadly deception.
It speaks of the level of their evil.
• Man isn’t just out to harm his brother…
• Man isn’t just out to aggravate his brother…
• Man isn’t just out to irritate his brother…
• MAN IS OUT TO KILL HIS BROTHER.
His level of evil knows no boundaries.
He is capable of the most heinous evil imaginable.
He can cut up unborn babies inside the womb
And he can cut off children’s heads for not following his religion.
He is a snake. (Of the same species as the one in the garden)
It’s no wonder John the Baptist had this to say:
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
Man is wicked.
5) HIS CLOSED EARS (5b-6)
“Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear, so that it does not hear the voice of charmers, or a skillful caster of spells.”
In short, he doesn’t even want to know the truth.
Paul said:
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
You can show him God and show him truth and call him to morality,
But he will cover his hands over his ears and resist it at every turn.
Like the day when Stephen preached:
Acts 7:51-57 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse.”
This is sinful humanity.
This is what man is.
Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
• They are evil to the very core.
• Dead in their sin.
• “None who does good, not even one”
• “None who seeks for God”
And this only further emphasizes their need
For God to do for them what they will never do on their own.
It only emphasizes that if man is to be saved
It will not be because he chose God, but rather because God chose him.
But that isn’t really the point of this Psalm.
Here David just wants you to understand
That he is well aware of the wickedness of man.
• He is well aware of what you and I are up against in this world.
• He knows how hard it is to turn the other cheek.
• He knows how hard it is to go the extra mile.
• He knows how hard it is not to take our own revenge.
And that leads us to the second point
That David wants to remind the church of.
An Observation Regarding Man
#2 AN INTERCESSION REGARDING JUSTICE
Psalms 58:6-8
This section of Scripture makes it abundantly clear that
David has been PUSHED TO THE LIMIT by the wicked around him.
He realizes that taking his own revenge is not the plan of God,
So David begins to pray that God will rise up on his behalf.
David here gives 5 analogies to God as he prays for the wicked to meet their day.
1) MAKE THEM POWERLESS LIKE A BROKEN LION (6)
“O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.”
• David here pleads that God would neutralize the threat that is the wicked.
• It is no secret that the destructive power of the lion is in his teeth.
• And David’s prayer is that God would knock his teeth out of his mouth.
• When he strikes me, I must turn the other cheek, but You can make vengeance for me.
2) MAKE THEM LEAVE LIKE A FLOWING RIVER (7a)
“Let them flow away like water that runs off;”
David understood that rivers by their nature leave.
If you set something in a river it will float away and never be seen again.
This is his prayer regarding the wicked.
• That God would simply cause them to leave.
• That God would cause them to go away.
That I might wake up in the morning and they be gone.
3) MAKE THEM UNSUCCESSFUL LIKE A HEADLESS ARROW (7b)
“When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.”
If you’ve ever tried to shoot an arrow with no tip,
You know it is not accurate in the least.
And even if it did hit you, it would not do any harm.
Without the head, it has no guidance and it has no weight, and it has no point.
The call here is to make them an empty threat.
• They can rage, and they can war,
• But let them be totally unsuccessful in all they plan.
Thwart the plans of the wicked David prays.
4) MAKE THEM FADE LIKE A DISSOLVING SNAIL (8a)
“Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along.”
(I remember slug tracks from my childhood)
Obviously a snail or a slug aren’t actually fading away,
But they do give that allusion.
And here David prays that they would do just that.
• Let them become insignificant.
• Let them lose their influence.
• Let them gradually and slowly fade into oblivion.
It’s simply a cry for them to be no more.
5) MAKE THEM UNSEEN LIKE A MISCARRIED CHILD (8b)
“Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.”
It is an analogy that means let them be unseen.
• Let them never show up at their appointed time.
• Let them simply not be here.
This is the cry of David against the wicked in the world.
• These men who are so evil and so bent on evil.
• These men who are murderous and deceptive and never satisfied with sin.
• These men who make bad judgments and oppress the righteous.
David is not able to take his own revenge on them.
David is not able to draw the sword and put an end to Saul.
We certainly do not call down fire on our enemies.
But David here does pray that
God might arise in justice and stop the wicked.
That God might make His holy zeal known
And thwart the plans of the wicked.
And this is the prayer of the righteous.
• Certainly we do not take our own revenge, but we do most certainly hate the evil of the world in which we live.
• We certainly pray for the salvation of sinners while we also pray against the success of their sin.
Take abortion for an example.
• We don’t blow up abortion clinics.
• We don’t assault abortion doctors.
But we would pray that God would put abortion to an end.
• We do pray that God would destroy every abortion clinic on the planet.
• We do pray that God would cause them to leave and never return.
• We do pray that God would make them unsuccessful in their Satanic schemes to kill the unborn.
• We do pray that God would let them fade away like a dissolving snail.
• We do pray that God would make them scarce, and unseen like a miscarried child.
We are not those who get militant against the wicked,
But we most certainly do pray that God would stop it.
How could we not?
I don’t know where this concept was formed in the church
That God loved sinners so much that He didn’t even oppose their sin.
BUT IT’S NOT TRUE.
The church is the pillar and support of the truth,
And while we do not attack the culture,
We do most certainly confront it and pray against it.
2 Corinthians 10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
We follow David’s intercession here
For we have no other recourse in this life against a world so given to evil.
And we do not lose hope.
We trust and we believe that God will judge and God will avenge,
And God will vindicate.
And that is the high note on which this song ends.
#3 AN EXPECTATION REGARDING VENGEANCE
Psalms 58:9-11
Verse 9 is nothing less than a warning to the wicked (which we also give)
“Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.”
David reminds the wicked that
• They can gather a pot,
• And they can throw the righteous into it.
• They can gather branches and they can build a fire under it.
But ultimately it will not succeed.
God has “a whirlwind” coming which will at once sweep them all away.
It is one of the great hopes of the believer,
That God will judge and vindicate His children.
We certainly leave room for the wrath of the Lord.
We do not lose heart in our tribulations for we know our God will save.
And that is the final praise of the song.
(10-11) “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”
It may sound harsh, but it is certainly true.
On the day when God returns to judge the mighty Babylon for all that she did to afflict God’s people. We read:
Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”
On the day when Christ returns, and slays the wicked, and blood runs through the streets as high as the horses bridles for a distance of 100 miles. We hear the song:
Revelation 19:1-4 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
The prophet Isaiah ended his prophecy with a picture of the day when the Lord finally judges His enemies.
Isaiah 66:18-24 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. “I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. “Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. “I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD. “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure. “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
There is coming a day when God’s justice will not only be rendered,
But will also be celebrated.
It causes David’s theme of “Destroy Not” to seem all the more worth it.
It causes Paul’s admonition:
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”
It causes that admonition to be sweeter to recall.
And we are reminded once again that
• No matter how wicked or evil man may be, and no matter how successful they may seem.
• It is not for us to destroy them, but rather to pray and humbly wait for the vindication of the Lord.
• For God will judge the world and He will indeed reward His children.
Based on this reality, the apostle Peter asked a fitting question
That I’ll leave you with tonight.
2 Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Since God will judge, what sort of people ought you to be?
• That’s a good question, and one that highlights our need for the justification of Jesus, for apart from Him we would also be wicked.
• It also reminds us that our hope is not in this fallen planet, but we are looking for a new one where righteousness dwells.
SO THERE’S THE SONG CHURCH.
The world is certainly evil and for this we must pray.
But rest assured God will not tolerate it forever,
There is coming a day in which your righteousness will all be worth it.
