God Who Judges (1)

 

 

 

 

[Psalm 58]

 

 

This afternoon, I briefly visited a nursing home and on my way to the church, I turned on the radio. I heard a news report on a Korean broadcast about a pastor from a large church in Los Angeles who had assaulted his wife. I heard the reporter say: “It has been pointed out that we need to reflect on the current state of church members, who blindly follow their pastors simply because of their position... There is a call for church members themselves to have judgment.” I was somewhat shocked when I heard this news. I also wondered if, through such incidents, God's glory would be overshadowed and if evangelism would be hindered. In the midst of this, I found myself agreeing with the statement from the news that “church members themselves need to have judgment.” The reason I agree is that I believe we, as Christians, are losing our ability to make sound judgments. What is the cause of this? I think the cause is that there is a famine of hearing God's word (Amos 8:11). Despite the countless preaching broadcasts and numerous Bibles available, our judgment becomes clouded because we still fail to hear God's word, even though we have ears. Many Christians seem to know God's word very well in their heads, but they don't know it in their hearts. As a result, instead of being led by God's word, we are being led by circumstances or emotions. In the end, our judgment is clouded because of the famine of God's word.

Pastor Hong, in his book "Leader, Have the Heart of a Lion," says: "... Do not interpret God's will based only on the visible circumstances. Instead, interpret the circumstances through God's will. Do not judge God, but allow God to judge you. Do not keep speaking in front of God, but quietly listen to the words He speaks to you” (Internet). We must interpret the situations we face at any given moment based on God's will. And to allow God to judge us, we must remain silent before Him and listen to His voice. In our prayer meeting last Wednesday, through Psalm 57, God spoke to us with the message: “Establish your heart!” When we meditate on verse 7, we learn that we, too, must establish our hearts, as David did when he said, “O God, my heart is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music” (Psalm 57:7). Even amidst the calamity David faced (verse 1), he established his heart and praised God. However, it would not have been easy for David to come to this point of praise. In other words, before his heart was established, David's heart was not at peace. How do we know this? We know because, as he fled from Saul, David expressed his grief, saying, “My soul is greatly troubled” (verse 6). If you and I were in an unjust situation like David, what would we do? As the text in Psalm 58:11 tells us, even in situations of injustice, we must look to God, the one who judges. In other words, we must rely on God's righteous judgment. Today, under the title “God Who Judges,” I want to meditate on just one aspect of who this God who judges is, and we will consider the other two aspects next week, hoping that this will be an opportunity for us to listen to the Lord's voice.

Firstly, "The God Who Judges" is a God who rebukes the wicked.

In Psalm 58:1-5, we see that the righteous and judging God rebukes the wicked, the enemies of David. As we reflect on His rebuke in four aspects, I hope this can be an opportunity for self-examination and self-reflection, asking whether God might be rebuking us as well.

(1) God rebukes, saying "Do not be silent!"

Let us look at verse 1 of our text, Psalm 58:1: "Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?" There is a saying, “Speech is silver, but silence is gold.” While this has some truth, there are times when silence can be cowardly or even evil. What is an evil silence? It refers to remaining silent when you should speak the truth, not saying what must be said (Park Yun-seon). To remain silent when witnessing injustice, or to stay quiet when one should speak up for righteousness, is an evil silence. In Isaiah 56:10, the prophet Isaiah refers to Israel’s watchmen, the shepherds, as “dumb dogs” who cannot bark. The dog's responsibility is to bark when predators (the “beasts” in verse 9) approach. But the shepherds of Israel did not do so; they did not carry out their duty as watchmen. As a result, the sheep of God were devoured by wolves and wandered in the fields and hills (Ezekiel 34). Where did the fault lie? The cause was greed. The shepherds of Israel, filled with greed, “did not seek after God” (Isaiah 56:11). While they fed themselves, they failed to feed the flock with God's Word. These shepherds, who did not fulfill their duties and were consumed by selfish desires, were called “dumb dogs.” This silence is a "wicked silence."

When I apply God's rebuke to myself, my heart is convicted by Isaiah 56:10, where the “dumb dog” is mentioned. I remember back when I was in seminary, an older, well-known pastor from an immigrant church came to speak and gave advice about preaching: "Preach sermons of comfort." I also remember receiving similar advice from several other older pastors, encouraging me to preach comforting sermons. Nowadays, it seems like "healing sermons" are very popular. I see many pastors focusing on healing, and that trend has only strengthened my thoughts on this. But I wonder whether, as God’s messengers, I or other preachers are faithfully delivering the words that God has given us. For example, when a passage of Scripture clearly speaks of the sins of God’s people, yet some preachers today avoid addressing this and instead preach about absolving sin, I think we all know that such sermons are rare to hear from the pulpit these days. If this is true, then what else could we be but the "dumb dogs" that Isaiah spoke of? When wolves or predators approach, the dog, whose duty it is to guard the sheep, should bark. But if the dog remains silent, eating and satisfying itself without fulfilling its responsibility, that dog is a useless and dumb dog. Moreover, it becomes one that destroys God's sheep. Therefore, we must not remain in evil silence. We must speak the truth and proclaim righteousness (Psalm 58:1).

 

(2) God rebukes us saying, “Do not do evil in your heart!”

Let us look at today's passage, Psalm 58:2: “Rather, you work wickedness in your heart; on earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.” Words can be smoother than butter and more slippery than oil (Psalm 55:21), but while claiming to govern with justice, the wicked leaders and administrators of Israel practiced injustice (Park Yun-seon). In short, they were hypocrites. Jesus said in Matthew 7:5: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Hypocrites must confront their false hearts, their hearts that do evil. Then, the hypocrite must remove the “log” from their own eye.

We need courage. We need the courage to face our own “log.” With the eyes of God’s word, we must examine the center of our hearts. The reason is that God desires the truth in the inner parts of our hearts (Psalm 51:6). We must never become believers whose words and hearts are in conflict. We have become so accustomed to religious rituals that we forget our true selves and mistakenly pretend to live the Christian life. We must let God’s righteous word judge our hearts and, as our sins are revealed, repent before God with a broken heart. Therefore, we must be people like David, who were after God's own heart. We must never become hypocrites. Before the God who sees the heart, we must live with correct faith, a right heart, and righteous deeds.

(3) God rebukes us saying, “Do not lie!”

Let us look at Psalm 58:3: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” The wicked accumulate evil from their youth and, as they never repent, their iniquities grow (Park Yun-seon). Among these evils, one of the wicked's sinful habits is speaking lies. Therefore, they have become accustomed to walking in crooked paths. We must not lie. And we must not go down crooked paths because of lies.

(4) God rebukes us saying, “Listen to the sound!”

Let us look at Psalm 58:5: “Like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so the wicked are those who will not listen to the voice of the charmer, no matter how skillful the charmer may be.” Just like the venom of a snake that can harm human life, the wicked are trying to harm our lives. These wicked people are described by David as “the deaf adder that stops its ear.” In Arabia or India, there are snake charmers who use instruments like flutes and drums to lure snakes, and when the snakes hear these sounds, they move. However, in today’s passage, David describes the wicked as “the deaf adder that stops its ear.” In short, the wicked are like “deaf serpents” (v. 4).

Those who have ears must listen to the voice of the Lord. We must give ear to His voice. We must never close our ears and go our own way without listening to the voice of the Lord.

 

As I meditate on God's words of rebuke toward the wicked, I ask myself: Am I a "mute dog"? Am I committing evil in my heart? Am I speaking lies? And am I truly listening to the voice of God? In the midst of this, I reflect on whether, like the "mute dog" or the "deaf adder," I am not hearing God's voice and, therefore, failing to boldly proclaim His word. As I seek truth in my heart, I pray that I may fulfill the role of a watchman who hears the word of truth and boldly declares it.

 

 

 

With a longing to attentively listen to God's rebuke,

 

 

Pastor James Kim
(With a heart that prays for God to open my heart, ears, and mouth)