Psalm 9. 3-10
The concept of God’s judgment is often viewed in terms of the end of time. God will judge everyone at the end of days, we say. Yet, when we consider the statements of Scripture, a different picture emerges. God has judged, is judging, and will judge all within the limits of time. What do I mean?
David declared that God had sat judging: past tense. God had rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked, blotted out their name, brought their end to pass, uprooted their cities, and cause their names to disappear from memory. David spoke of what God had already done.
Not only had the Lord judged the nations and persons, he had judged in favor of the righteous. David’s "just cause" had been maintained by God. Literally, the statement in verse 4 is that God had "done justice" for David. The Lord had ruled according to the facts and had upheld David as the innocent party.
The Lord "has established His throne for judgment." The throne is the point from which God’s sovereign rule and righteous judgment emanate. He firmly founded his throne for those purposes. Thus, David concluded, God "will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity." Before God’s throne, any and all can expect a decision that is righteous and just.
For David, the righteous rule of God meant that at God’s throne, the guiltless would find "a stronghold in times of trouble." David knew not a God who was cold and dispassionate: he knew the God of mercy and comfort. Did David see himself as a perfect man? Far from it! David knew his own sinfulness and all his ethical imperfections. What he also understood was that when he was falsely accused, he would find justice in God’s courtroom.
When David’s enemies charged him with scurrilous crimes, they thought the final determination of justice would be found in the court of public opinion. Yet, the truth David knew and his enemies ignored was that any charge against God’s elect would be adjudicated in the heavenly courtroom. In the final accounting, God would rule against those who made false charges. The innocent man would find mercy and justice before God.
What David found in God, and what any believer can discover, is that in times of oppression and trouble, God is a stronghold, a place of safety. Anytime a person is falsely accused and is attacked by any enemy, he has a sense of being crushed. Oppression means to be crushed; trouble means to be in distress. We cannot understand why anyone would wish to charge us with things we and they know are untrue. How do we defend ourselves in such times?
We retreat to God; we go to the one whose judgments are merciful as well as just. God does not listen to the baseless charges of the enemy; he knows the truth about us. So, when we are under assault, we must rely upon the God who knows the truth. In the end, he will "maintain our just cause," he will do justice for us.
David made an incredible claim in verse 10: "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." What do those who trust God know? They know the Lord’s name, his true character. Those who rely upon the Lord know he is trustworthy; they know he is merciful; they know he is the righteous judge who always judges righteously.
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