Psalm 94
Sunday, 21 November 2021
“… O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!” -Psalm 94:1[NLT]
As we read through today’s Psalm we come to the understanding that the days the psalmist lived did not look any different to our present time. The proud and wicked are still around working their evil deeds with this notion that “God does not see.”
Seeing this all around him, the Psalmist cries out to God to show “Himself in brightness” to “Shine Forth” thereby demolishing the wicked deeds of man as the Righteous Judge of the earth. [V. 2]
In this Psalm we see two categories of people into whose lives, God “shines forth.”
To the fools, God Shines Forth His Wisdom (Vs. 8-11)
The God who created the organ for man to hear and has given us vision to see, does he not know the ways of man? Unlike the senseless idols, the Creator God can see and hear. Yet how often man questions God and fails to understand His incredible knowledge! In verse 11 the Psalmist says: “The Lord knows the thoughts of man that they are futile.” But over the centuries we see man still raising his fist against God to question him. Can man comprehend God’s Wisdom? In Job 38:36 we read God asking Job, “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?” -The answer of course is: “GOD!” So we can never outsmart God since the very wisdom we have is what we have received from Him. So may we have an attitude of humility like Job who after his discourse with God said: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful to me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3) May we be men and women who are submitted to God to be taught by Him and thereby be blessed (Psalm 94:12)
To the weak, God Shines Forth as their Defense
– Oh how we hurt and long for rest in this weary world! I’m sure this cry resonates with many who are reading this devotion this morning. The psalmist also faced this in his time and as his cry rang out to the God of justice, we see him declare how God responded to him. In an ever-changing world with new challenges daily where do we find hope? In Jesus, who never changes (Hebrews 13:8)! Just as He came to the rescue the Psalmist, He will come forth for us too! The LORD shines forth in three ways in our lives :
Vs 17- God our help – He stretched out His hand of Help to rescue us from eternal death by sending His Son to save us, so the devil could never silence us.
Vs 18 -God of mercy – When we are faced with situations that stand as immovable mountains before us causing us to slip in our faith, His Mercy will hold, leading us forward till we see His promises fulfilled in our lives.
Vs 19- God of comfort – When faced with misunderstanding, relationship challenges, strife and loneliness, He calms and cheers your wounded soul.
This gives us enough reason to rest and trust in Him always, never being a party with the fools. As verse 14 says “For the LORD will not cast off His people, Nor will he forsake His inheritance”.
Is this only for us? God now expects us to be His hands of justice and mercy to those in need around us, that through us His light would SHINE FORTH!
Quote for the Day:
“For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.”
(Psalm 18:27)
Listen: ‘God of Justice, Love& Mercy’