Tuesday January 26

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? Psalm 94:1-3 NKJV

In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19 NKJV

Vengeance Belongs to the Lord

In contrast to the Israelite in a day yet to come, the Christian is to beware of seeking revenge (Rom. 12:17). He does not suffer any less from the evil and injustice which reign in this world where pride (Ps. 94:2), wickedness (v. 3), arrogance and boasting (v. 4), oppression and violence (vv. 5-6) are given free rein. The believer cannot go through the world and remain unaffected by what he sees in it every day. The more aware he is of the holiness of God, the more awful the evil is to him (Ps. 97:10). That is why Christ, the perfect Man, suffered more from evil than anybody else. Look at Him in Mark 3:5, “grieved by the hardness of their hearts.” He Himself was made the object of the ultimate injustice (v. 21).

Being aware of the evil which surrounds us often arouses a great many distressing thoughts within us: Does God not see these things? Why does He not intervene? In reply, the Lord generally comforts us rather than answering (v. 19). By opening our eyes to the evil in the world He helps us to separate ourselves from it. But this is to bring us closer to Himself so that our hope in Him can be strengthened. May the comforts from above always be the delight of our souls!

J. Koechlin

Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne;

Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

J. R. Lowell