Psalm 50
Today's Passage: Psalm 50
One of the most overlooked or misinterpreted attributes of God is His justice. Perhaps because of broken systems, abuse of authority, or a seeming lack of justice, we might tend to have a skewed view of God’s justice.
We want to equate justice with fairness, but this isn’t the right way to look at it. Doing what is just isn’t always fair, but doing what is just is always right. David rejoices at the justice of God and His role as the judge of all the heavens.
What can we take away from God’s justice that helps us have a better framework for His nature?
God has the right to judge all things because He created all things.
“The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.†(v. 1) “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.†(v. 5) “Hear, O my people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.†(v. 7) “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.†(v. 10-11)
Each of these statements from God tells us about God. Since He is our origin and our sustainer, all things belong to Him and answer to Him. The reason why God has right to judge is because it all belongs to Him in the first place. The awareness of God’s solitariness (He stands alone) is vital to understanding His justice.
We rightfully deserve to be under the judgment of God.
Verses 8, 9, 12, 16, 19-22 all serve as reminders of our inherent sinfulness and corresponding right to be disciplined in justice. We are absolutely bonkers to think we don’t deserve the judgment of God when we consider our heart postures and our transgressions before him.
God’s justice is beautiful and a grace to us.
If God was going to do what was fair, then we should be eternally damned for our sin. Jesus shouldn’t have died in our place. But because justice = doing what is right, Jesus climbed on to the cross to pay for our sin. That was the RIGHT thing to do even though it was nowhere close to being a FAIR thing to do. When we see God’s righteous justice as beautiful, kind, and loving, we will begin to see it as a grace that He does the right thing over the fair thing.
Have you stopped to thank God for His justice? For the way He stands up for the least of these but also how He brings down the wicked? Have you stopped to give Him praise for doing what is right, even if it doesn’t seem fair to you? Take a minute right now and do just that. Glorify this just judge for His salvation given freely to you in Christ as an act of justice toward our sin.
Written By: Drew Dukes
One of the most overlooked or misinterpreted attributes of God is His justice. Perhaps because of broken systems, abuse of authority, or a seeming lack of justice, we might tend to have a skewed view of God’s justice.
We want to equate justice with fairness, but this isn’t the right way to look at it. Doing what is just isn’t always fair, but doing what is just is always right. David rejoices at the justice of God and His role as the judge of all the heavens.
What can we take away from God’s justice that helps us have a better framework for His nature?
God has the right to judge all things because He created all things.
“The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.†(v. 1) “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.†(v. 5) “Hear, O my people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.†(v. 7) “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.†(v. 10-11)
Each of these statements from God tells us about God. Since He is our origin and our sustainer, all things belong to Him and answer to Him. The reason why God has right to judge is because it all belongs to Him in the first place. The awareness of God’s solitariness (He stands alone) is vital to understanding His justice.
We rightfully deserve to be under the judgment of God.
Verses 8, 9, 12, 16, 19-22 all serve as reminders of our inherent sinfulness and corresponding right to be disciplined in justice. We are absolutely bonkers to think we don’t deserve the judgment of God when we consider our heart postures and our transgressions before him.
God’s justice is beautiful and a grace to us.
If God was going to do what was fair, then we should be eternally damned for our sin. Jesus shouldn’t have died in our place. But because justice = doing what is right, Jesus climbed on to the cross to pay for our sin. That was the RIGHT thing to do even though it was nowhere close to being a FAIR thing to do. When we see God’s righteous justice as beautiful, kind, and loving, we will begin to see it as a grace that He does the right thing over the fair thing.
Have you stopped to thank God for His justice? For the way He stands up for the least of these but also how He brings down the wicked? Have you stopped to give Him praise for doing what is right, even if it doesn’t seem fair to you? Take a minute right now and do just that. Glorify this just judge for His salvation given freely to you in Christ as an act of justice toward our sin.
Written By: Drew Dukes
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