"He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless."
Psalms 10:11-14
The first line of this Psalm asks why God stands afar off, and hides himself in times of trouble, and the first line here represents the thoughts of the wicked, similarly... that God has forgotten and is hidden, and that he won't ever take note of what the wicked do. ... That the Lord won't "require it" or ever make them/us face justice. Later in the Psalm, we are reminded that the Lord will hear, and judge, "that the man of the earth may no more oppress" (verses 17-18).
The appeal of the future that God has promised--eternity and resurrection and eternal life--isn't just in prolonging the kind of lives that we have now, but in promising us a better world. A place where the wicked (including ourselves) don't get away with their wickedness, or go unpunished. A place where Mercy lives, of course, but where Justice also lives without having to hide, or be left unsatisfied. And the only way those two things can meet is through Jesus Christ, who pays the price of Justice in order to bestow Mercy.
Christ doesn't pay for our sins and then let us spit in Justice's face though... at least not at the final judgement. It can't work that way. Justice must prevail, and wrongs must be righted. Wounds must be healed. Repentance works, but it also requires work--we have to change our hearts and our minds and our selves so that we become the people who would not do what we are repenting for. Only then is the circle complete. Christ's atonement gives us the time and the space to get there, avoiding that instant justice that we often want to see happen to others ("Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil" in verse 15), but not to ourselves.
Today, let's realize that Christ doesn't offer us a free pass for bad behavior, but an opportunity, and the time, to change. That's the answer to the first line of the Psalm. God stands afar off and hides himself in times of trouble only when he wants to give us the chance to change and to become better. But we have to take that opportunity now, because this life is the *only* chance we are going to have for that delayed Justice. No one wants to live in that sort of a place forever. We want to live in a better place, where bad things don't happen... and that is the kind of place we are headed for. So much better than what we have, but without the unique opportunity we have now. Let's take the opportunity that we have to really think about who we want to be, and if it isn't who we are, to get that help that God offers to change ourselves. Justice, however delayed, will come, and the amazingly beautiful and perfect new world will also come. Let's be ready. :)
Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless."
Psalms 10:11-14
The first line of this Psalm asks why God stands afar off, and hides himself in times of trouble, and the first line here represents the thoughts of the wicked, similarly... that God has forgotten and is hidden, and that he won't ever take note of what the wicked do. ... That the Lord won't "require it" or ever make them/us face justice. Later in the Psalm, we are reminded that the Lord will hear, and judge, "that the man of the earth may no more oppress" (verses 17-18).
The appeal of the future that God has promised--eternity and resurrection and eternal life--isn't just in prolonging the kind of lives that we have now, but in promising us a better world. A place where the wicked (including ourselves) don't get away with their wickedness, or go unpunished. A place where Mercy lives, of course, but where Justice also lives without having to hide, or be left unsatisfied. And the only way those two things can meet is through Jesus Christ, who pays the price of Justice in order to bestow Mercy.
Christ doesn't pay for our sins and then let us spit in Justice's face though... at least not at the final judgement. It can't work that way. Justice must prevail, and wrongs must be righted. Wounds must be healed. Repentance works, but it also requires work--we have to change our hearts and our minds and our selves so that we become the people who would not do what we are repenting for. Only then is the circle complete. Christ's atonement gives us the time and the space to get there, avoiding that instant justice that we often want to see happen to others ("Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil" in verse 15), but not to ourselves.
Today, let's realize that Christ doesn't offer us a free pass for bad behavior, but an opportunity, and the time, to change. That's the answer to the first line of the Psalm. God stands afar off and hides himself in times of trouble only when he wants to give us the chance to change and to become better. But we have to take that opportunity now, because this life is the *only* chance we are going to have for that delayed Justice. No one wants to live in that sort of a place forever. We want to live in a better place, where bad things don't happen... and that is the kind of place we are headed for. So much better than what we have, but without the unique opportunity we have now. Let's take the opportunity that we have to really think about who we want to be, and if it isn't who we are, to get that help that God offers to change ourselves. Justice, however delayed, will come, and the amazingly beautiful and perfect new world will also come. Let's be ready. :)
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