(Psalm 82:8)
Sometimes the news stories we hear or read are unsettling and upsetting. Increased troubles, persistent injustices, and agitated agression abound across our land and our world. Relief is not found at the ballot box, at negotiating tables, or even in courtrooms. It seems that legal and political tyrants pursue their agendas with little regard for others, and with little consequences.
What can the child of God do to prevent from becoming an embittered pessimist? Speak out against them, to be sure. But there's more.
Take these wrongdoers to court -- the court of heaven. Praying is, of course, bringing our concerns, our fears, and our anxieties before the bench of the one who can do something about it.
Psalm 82 gives us insight in this matter. Amid judicial atrocities and societal crimes, God is seen standing, calling all magistrates and justices to give an account and to remember who is the real Chief Justice.
Leaders among men are pictured as unlearned, misunderstanding, and blind (verse 5). Their misjudgments are seen as affecting all the earth, much as natural disaster does (verse 5). They are called upon to turn from their injustice (verses 2-4). They are reminded that they have been put into power by God himself (verse 6). They are called upon to reflect on their frailty and mortality (verse 7).
And, as God is asked to bring about justice, we recognize the one to whom we are appealing, our Lord Christ, (1) the Prince of Peace, (2) he who owns all of the earth and its inhabitants:
"Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all nations." (Psalm 82:8)
Does not our Bible tell us that it is Christ who was promised, "I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" (Psalm 2:8)? He it is who came "to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth" (Psalm 96:13).
The one seated at the bar of eternal justice and righteousness, (3) the final court of appeals to which we can turn in our unease or terror, is none other than our Savior, the Lord Jesus, whom the Scriptures describe as "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15).
Our Sovereign challenges the ruler who would oppose God's expressed will, he who "darkens counsel by words without knowledge" (Job 38:2). He claims authority to such an extent as to be able to impose his will upon unwilling rulers. (4) He claims all authority for himself (5) and is the one who "rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever he will, and sets over it the lowest of men" (Daniel 4:17).
He hands down this warning in response to the petitions of his people:
"Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." (Psalm 2:10-12)
Yes, let us speak out against wrongs in our world, but let us do so on behalf of our King, not merely as indignant citizens. This land, this world belongs to Christ. He has said these things must cease, he has declared what he wants. His rights as King are to be heard and obeyed. And all would-be rulers and potentates who defy his will shall answer to him, perhaps sooner than they expected.
But let us also learn the lesson of this Psalm, "that men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). With the psalmist, let us pray as our Lord taught us to pray, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
After all, this is not a meaningless prayer, nor is it a "pie-in-the-sky" wish. The God who hears and answers the outcries against both senseless and deliberate political and judicial malice is the one who came to do something about it (see Isaiah 61:1-3).
Pessimism? How can we be skeptical when we know the real Chief Justice? How can we fear the future when the final chapter has already been written?
References:
1 Colossians 3:24
2 Isaiah 9:6
3 Psalm 97:2
4 Proverbs 21:1
5 Matthew 28:18
[Copyright Roger D. Adams 1996, 2003]
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