And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
(I Kings 18:21).
Who do you serve? People like to believe that they answer only to their own conscience, but the truth is that built into humanity is the desire to worship. If God isn’t your authority, then some lesser thing will take His place in your life and heart. The Lord is King, Creator and Sustainer, and Judge of all things. Is He your King? The lesson today is from a Psalm written regarding the overthrow of the wicked. The weapons that were used? Prayer, praise, and faith in the one true King, who has the power and authority to make all things right. Let’s dig in!
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.
The Psalmist is actually questioning why God allows the wicked to speak openly contemptuous things about and to Him. They have seen God’s mercy and they mistake it for a God who doesn’t take action, a very common occurrence today. The author is angry that the sinful are mocking God’s authority and believing that He won't require justice. He’s saying, “God, I wish you would act! These people are making you look bad, and it’s making me angry.”
It is a natural desire for us to want God to punish the wicked. God’s timing and God’s offers of grace are not inaction, but they are the evidence of His kindness toward us and His desire to save all who will turn away from sin and come to Him. It is also our greatest area of spiritual blindness that we don’t consider our own guilt in the same light that we view the guilt of others. We sing Amazing Grace and think of our own souls, but sometimes, we aren’t as generous about God’s patience with others.
As believers, we should humble ourselves before God and bring all our petitions before Him. Stop worrying about How God is working in the life of someone else and strengthen our dedication to serve our righteous King and the sovereign judge. We, also, need to respect and honor His timing and the fact that whatever He does is right, because He is righteous. The hard part comes when we feel like God is allowing others to “get away with it.” Satan tempts us to play the part of the judge by stepping into God’s place so that we can “fix things.”
When we speak and operate outside of the authority given to us, we make matters much worse. It’s true that sometimes, those who do wrong, do so arrogantly and without any fear of the judgement of God. And it’s hard for us to extend grace and mercy when we have already decided that someone should get what they have coming, but the scripture says, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It’s God’s job to take care of those things! Let’s not be fooled into believing that God won’t judge sin or be tricked into forgetting that it is by the grace of God alone that we are not also destroyed. Rest assured, God sees all, knows all, always does what is right, and can be completely trusted.
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.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them to say, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” He could have shown them how to pray that God would punish their persecutors and pay them back, but He didn’t. God sees what we do, He helps those whom others take advantage of and deals with those who commit sin, they’ll have to pay for it, whether they receive consequences here or in eternity to come. Miraculously, if they ask Him to forgive them, He will, and He’ll turn those consequences into a testimony and a ministry to reach others.
If we know and accept that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, we can step back and allow His will to be done without anxiety. We can expect goodness from God, especially when we care about the things He cares about, like helping those who are in need and forgiving others. Those things we can do, that reflect His heart, we should do, eagerly. If we want to live in the will of God, we have to follow the example of Jesus. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17.
Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (Psalm 10: 12-18).
God knew that the people of Israel would ask for a king, because they would tire of trusting God who they couldn’t see physically, and they would desire a leader, like themselves, whom they could understand. As they left their wandering in the wilderness outside of Egypt and entered into the promised land, Moses spoke the words of God and said: When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. (Deuteronomy 17: 14-15).
God further instructed that this king would selfishly take from the people the best of their lands, children, horses etc. The nation selected its first king approximately 400 years after the passing of Joshua and after the time of the Judges. Israel wanted to be like other nations and have leadership they could see.
When we desire immediate justice from a human source, we’d better be careful what we wish for. Even the best kings rule with a desire to please themselves first. God our King, sacrificed His only begotten Son, to enrich our lives and to make a way for us to live with Him. He is the King of Kings because He was willing to do everything required to serve and save the people that He loved. If you only consider what you understand about things that happen in this life, then you’ll become very frustrated. Here, life is not fair, evil seems to dominate, and the most selfish seem to get ahead, but this life is not all that there is. Pray that God will lift your eyes and give you a more Heavenward way of thinking. Our King in Heaven is alive and well ,and our first loyalty should be to Him.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (I Samuel 8: 4-7).
Don’t reject God’s authority because of your limited point of view. He’s a far greater king than those we choose down here. He’s a far better judge of the actions and motivations of men than we could ever be. God is always good, He’s always just, and His mercy endureth forever. Trust the outcome to God who never fails, and trust His will by doing the work we’re called to do as believers and allowing God to do His. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us recognize God’s authority and to give us the strength to trust God to work things out for our good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!