Who Is the Judge?
“ Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.”
Psalm 109 is rough! David is writing about the wicked, specifically about those who had lied about and mistreated him, as well as those who refused to show mercy to the poor and needy. Read through the entire chapter, and you’ll get an idea of just how angry David is. He is sick of the wicked getting their way. He’s tired of them rising against the good people or those who are helpless. And, in short, he wants God to make their lives—and the lives of all their family and generations to come—miserable. Here are just a few things He asks God for:
• Let him be condemned (v. 7)
• Let his days be few (v. 8)
• Let his children be vagabonds (v. 10)
• Let neither him nor his children find mercy from others (v. 12)
• Let their name be blotted out (v. 13)
• Let their sins not be forgiven (v. 14)
• Let them not even be remembered (v. 15)
• Let him be cursed (v. 16)
Yikes, David! I get that he’s been done wrong and that he’s angry to see the innocent mistreated by others, but what I see here is a man in the flesh seeking vengeance for his enemies. If he were asking God to be the judge and to treat the wicked according to His judgment, that would be one thing. But, what I see is a man who has lifted himself as god and judge and said, “This is what needs to be done to them. I have spoken!”
Where’s the love? Doesn’t Jesus command us to love our enemies? In what way are David’s words seasoned with grace? I’m reminded of posts I often see on social media by those who, I assume, are trying to lead souls to Christ. But their posts are mean and ugly, nothing more than a shout of “Get right or go to hell. It’s your choice.” While technically the message is true, good grief, people! How are we going to win the world by pointing accusing fingers in their faces and acting like we’re mad at everyone? Why would anyone want to become a Christian if that’s what being a Christian looks like?
When it comes to sin, we need to be firm and unmoving. However, when speaking with sinners, we also need to be loving and compassionate, showing them the spirit of God within us. That’s what Jesus did. We don’t love the sin, but we should indeed love the sinner. And instead of praying for their cursing and unfortunate demise like David did in Psalm 109, we ought to be praying for God to touch their hearts and to show them the error of their ways. Our prayers ought to be for the salvation of the lost not for their condemnation. That’s why Jesus came to die! (John 3:17)
I want to point out a couple more verses in Psalm 109 and show you why we need to be careful how we treat the lost. After going through his rant of how God should punish the wicked, David goes on to say this:
“But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. (v. 21)Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy: (v. 26)”
Whoa, David! Did you see what he did there? It’s like he said, “God, deal with the wicked the way I see fit but deal with me according to your mercy!” Nice!
Here’s the question I have for David: what if someone had prayed the same prayer about the wicked with David in mind? After all, David didn’t always do the right thing, did he? What if the prophet Nathan, who confronted David about his affair with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, had been so upset that he prayed to God for David to be cursed and cut off and not remembered and so on? How would David have liked it if God had honored such a request and told David, “No, sorry, I can’t forgive and forget your sin even though you’ve confessed it and tried to get it right because I’m acting on behalf of Nathan’s cry for justice”?
My friends, something is wrong in our spiritual walk when we want punishment for everyone else but mercy for us. Yes, I know, it’s easy to get angry with those who treat us poorly and to want God to “get them back” for what they’ve done. But easy isn’t always right! In fact, it’s seldom right. We are not the judge and jury. We are not God. While He longs for us to pour out our burdens to Him, He does not need us to dictate how He should carry out sentencing. That’s not our place. Our job is to make sure in our anger, we don’t sin ourselves by becoming bitter and vindictive. To end on a more positive note, God knows who the Judge is, and He will act accordingly. He even made this known through David’s writing in this very same chapter.
“For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.”
No doubt, David thought he was talking about himself and others like him as the victim when he wrote this final verse, but I believe God had a different message. He has come to save anyone whose soul has been condemned. Rich or poor. Young or old. Intelligent or not. God came to save all who would receive Him, despite how others have already sentenced them.
I don’t think David even realized he was doing the same thing he was accusing the wicked of doing—condemning their souls. Let’s be careful not to do the same. Speak the truth, yes. But do so with love and compassion. And pray for others the way you hope they’re praying for you. Heaven forbid we be treated with the same mercy we extend to others. Where would we be?