“O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself,” Psalm 94:1.
I read this Psalm this morning as part of my daily Bible reading. It was scheduled for reading today in ‘Robert Murray M‘Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar’.
I could not but notice how appropriate the Psalm is, given the news from Israel over the last couple of days. I would like to take note of some lessons we should learn from recent events in the Holy Land in the light of God’s eternal Word.
This Psalm has not the author’s name attached to it but it is commonly believed to be David. If that is so, it is some 3000 years old and yet its words indicate an application to today’s circumstances which but emphasise the everlasting relevance of the Word of God.
I. THE TITLE GIVEN TO GOD IN THE OPENING WORDS IS ONE THAT EVERY MAN SHOULD NOTE!
He is the God to Whom ‘vengeance belongeth’. He is One Who will demand an account of all men for their actions.
1. This is something every individual should note. That well-known verse in Romans 6, underscores a truth men wish to ignore: “For the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23. Sin is followed by judgment, something sin has worked for and which will, in due time, be paid by the God of Justice. The verse goes on to say. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The ONLY alternative to man’s sin and the eternal judgment that it will bring upon the head of the perpetrator is “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That is what is offered FREELY in the gospel. Man has but to believe and receive the message set for in Holy Scripture to be delivered from that judgment which his sin will inevitably bring upon him at death. This we are taught by Paul the apostles “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27. (more…)
