JUSTICE: DO I WANT IT MY WAY OR GOD'S WAY?

January 16, 2017

JUSTICE: DO I WANT IT MY WAY OR GOD'S WAY?

Psalm 11

Angela Andrews

Central Truth

Justice and Enemies: Two words where anyone can miss the mark. I must consider God’s truth when I define them. And those definitions need to control my actions.

For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
(Psalm 11:7)

The LORD Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

1 In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
    they have fitted their arrow to the string
    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”^{1

11:3
Or for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done?}

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
    the LORD's throne is in heaven;
    his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The LORD tests the righteous,
    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

Footnotes

[1] 11:3 Or for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done?

Psalm 11, written by David, is an imprecatory psalm, a fancy word to describe a psalm seeking divine judgment on Israel’s enemies. In this psalm of only seven verses, there are different forms of parallelism. Most of the psalm uses synonymous parallelism, where the second line uses different words to say the same thing as the first. However, verse 5 uses antithetic parallelism, which is the exact opposite.

When I originally read this psalm, I was struck that David wants God to deliver justice to David's enemies. And honestly, I’d like the same thing for my enemies. Yet, I’m hit with two thoughts:

First, I do not have the mind of God, so I don’t clearly see justice. What I view as justice for me may, in reality, be injustice. And I’m thankful for His justice and not my own (Hebrews 10:30).

Also, I often think of those who oppose me as my enemies. But they are not. We all are flawed individuals, and God desires for all of us to come to know Him (2 Peter 3:9). I would like to see people with differing views from me not as enemies but as opportunities to learn. That often requires friendly initiation on my part.

So, once again, this passage reminds me of my consistent struggle with my attitude. I somehow think that I know what should and should not happen in order for life to be right. Yet, I certainly do not have the corner on the market there.

My ideas are flawed when they don’t come directly from Scripture. And, it is rather arrogant of me to think that I do a better job than God does of dispensing justice. May I continue to search His Word to understand more clearly the true meaning of God’s justice!

Ultimately, I am glad that He not only has the answers but is the answer! (John 5:24, Romans 10:9-10) May I, more and more, choose to submit to His perfect justice!

1. How do you define justice? Consider Hebrews 10:30.

2. Who is your enemy, and what do you do with him or her? Is he or she truly an enemy?

3. Have you considered that your answers to the first two questions may not line up with God’s views?

4. Where do you turn when your attitude does not display that of Christ? Do you have a verse that reminds you of truth? If so, commit it to memory so that it can be readily accessible when you get in trouble. If not, find one and do the same.