“Blessed
is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of
yoru law, to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug
for the wicked. For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will
not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.” -Psalm 94:12-15(ESV)
[Read Psalm 94]
Psalm
94 is a community lament, with author not given. The subject is the
injustice meted out against the faithful, not by an enemy power but
by those who are within the nation who do not practice justice and
upright living. Some scholars believe the psalm has reference to the
reign of wicked King Manasseh (recorded in 2 Kings 21). He was king
of the kingdom of Judah from 696-642 B. C., and had one of the
longest reigns of any of the Judean kings. A son of King Hezekiah,
he did not follow his father in faithfulness to God, but was wicked
and did not acknowledge God as Lord. In 2 Kings 21:10-16, we see how
his unfaithfulness led to Judah’s destruction.
Even
though this psalm voices a prayer for God to bring justice to those
who cause calamity to come upon those who disobey Him, there follows
a prayer for God to bring comfort and help to the faithful. The
psalmist has a firm belief that God will never forsake those who
trust Him.
We
can easily apply the lessons of this psalm to our own day and to our
own nation. A rhetorical question is asked in verse 20: “Can
wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by
statute?” Of course the answer is that such rulers who go against
known statutes of God Almighty cannot be allied with Him. What
statutes could we name in our own day that bring answers to this
question? Are not pro-choice, same-sex marriage, and entitlement
assistance not within the parameters of manmade laws that ignore
God’s teachings? Other statutes passed and in operation also fall
within questionable bounds. Man has made laws to convenience his own
self-centered and sinful pursuits instead of giving attention to the
commandments of God. There will be “pay day some day” as noted
in verse 23: God will “bring back on them their iniquity and wipe
them out for their wickedness.; the Lord our God will wipe them out.”
The
psalmist declares that in the end, God knows who is evil and who is
good, and His judgments will be just and sure. Moses warned in
Deuteronomy 4: 25 that the people were not to provoke God to anger
with their evil doings. That warning is still intact and still comes
from God. We have a clarion call to heed God or suffer the
consequences. Will we? - Ethelene
Dyer Jones 04.03.2016
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