“God of vengeance”
[Psalms 94]
Last Saturday, after proclaiming the words of Ezra chapter 9, I meditated on the same words again under the title ‘God, aren’t you astonied?’ As I meditated on those words again, I thought of Ezra, who sat in astonied and prayed without lifting up his face to God. And I as a Christian and a pastor, should be embarrassed. I couldn’t help but admit that there was no difference between the Israelites and myself who forgot God's grace and again betrayed God's commandments. And just as the Israelites, especially their leaders, became the foremost in betraying the Word of God, as a leader of the church, I also looked back at my sins that took precedence in disobeying the Word of God. In the thought of having to live a proper life of faith and to walk the right path, I want to meditate on Psalms 94.
This is what the psalmist said in Psalms 94:1 – “O LORD, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth!” Here, the word “vengeance” can be interpreted in two ways: ‘punishment’ for the wicked or ‘discipline’ for the righteous. Based on Psalms 94, under the title of “God of vengeance”, I would like to receive few lessons that God gives while thinking about how God punishes the wicked and disciplines the people of God who are the righteous.
First, God of vengeance punishes the wicked.
Look at Psalms 94:2 – “Rise up, O Judge of the earth, Render recompense to the proud.” Our God of vengeance is a just God. That God is not a God who stays still until the end so that the wicked will exult (v. 3). He is clearly the just God who judges the wicked. The God of vengeance is the God who gives considerable punishment to the wicked. Why does vengeance and righteous God impose considerable punishment on the wicked?
(1) The first reason is because the wicked are proud (v. 2).
Because of pride, the wicked pour forth words and speak arrogantly. And they who do wickedness vaunt themselves (v. 4). In other words, because the proud wicked person vomits overwhelmingly wickedness, don’t restraint in words that harm others, and even speaks of insult to God (Park), the just God imposes considerable punishment on such proud wicked people.
(2) The second reason is because the wicked persecute God’s people and murder the poor (Park).
Look at Psalms 94:5-6: “They crush Your people, O LORD, And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger And murder the orphans.” The wicked persecute God's people. The wicked “band themselves together against the life of the righteous And condemn the innocent to death” (v. 21). They also show the cruelty of killing by slaying the widow and the stranger and by murdering the orphans (v. 6). Therefore, just God imposes considerable punishment on them. How do the wicked speak while doing so wickedly? Look at verse 7: “They have said, ‘The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.’” In short, the wicked people ignore and despise God (Park). They think that God doesn't see them commit evil sins, and He doesn't care. God knows that the thoughts of these wicked are mere breath (v. 11). So God is saying this: “Pay heed, you senseless among the people; And when will you understand, stupid ones? He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?” The senseless, the stupid and the wicked must know the fact that God who formed the eye does see, and He who planted the ear does hear. Eventually, our God of vengeance has brought back their wickedness upon the wicked and will destroy them in their evil (v. 23).
Second, God of vengeance disciplines His people.
Look at Psalms 94:12 – “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law.” In other words, our God of vengeance is the God who makes things turn right according to His justice. How should God's people who are persecuted by the wicked view the persecution of the wicked? The persecution of the wicked had the significance of discipline and instruction (Park). Therefore, the psalmist says that the believers who are persecuted are happy because they can receive instruction from God through the persecution of the wicked. What an interesting perspective. I think it is a very valuable lesson to be happy for those who take the persecution of the wicked as an opportunity to receive divine discipline and instruction. In verse 10, the psalmist says that the righteous God of vengeance, who is upright and disciplines us, teaches us through knowledge. Blessed are those who think of the persecution of the wicked as God's discipline and receive instruction from the discipline (v. 12). What are the blessings? I thought of it as three blessings:
(1) There are blessing of learning the Lord’s laws (v. 12).
We are blessed to learn the Lord's laws through the suffering due to the persecution of the wicked. In other words, it is a blessing for us because when we suffer due to the persecution of the wicked, we can turn back from our wrongdoings through that suffering and obey the commandments of the Lord and walk the right path. So the psalmist confessed in Psalms 119:67, 71 – “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. … It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.”
(2) There are blessing of enjoying the peace that God gives even in the midst of trouble.
Look at Psalms 94:13 – “That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, Until a pit is dug for the wicked.” The meaning of this verse is that those who are subjected to the trouble of discipline will have heart of peace until the trouble leaves (until the persecutors are destroyed). In other words, it means that there is peace in the heart while he faces that trouble (Park). How can we enjoy God's peace during trouble? This is possible because we learn the Lord's precepts during trouble. When we let the Lord's laws govern and rule our hearts, we can enjoy the peace that God gives us. The Holy Spirit rules and controls the word of God in our hearts so that we can enjoy peace that the world cannot understand and give.
(3) There are blessing of the Lord's lovingkindness.
Look at Psalms 94:18 – “If I should say, "My foot has slipped," Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up.” When we are almost slipping because of trouble, in that dramatic moment our God sustains us with His lovingkindness. For example, in Psalms 73 we have already learned from Asaph's experience - the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked. Asaph was jealous of the wicked's prosperity and almost slipped, but God had taken hold of him with His right hand because He loved him (73:23). Therefore, Asaph experienced God's love and confessed: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. … But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works” (vv. 25, 28). Our God is the God whose consolation delights our souls when my anxious thoughts multiply (94:19). How many thoughts of this or that are there when we are in trouble. At that time, the Lord comforted us not only to bring peace to our souls, but also to delight our souls. The psalmist, who enjoyed peace and joy in his soul, confessed: “But the LORD has been my stronghold, And my God the rock of my refuge” (v. 22). God is our stronghold and the rock of our refuge. When we are persecuted by the wicked, we accept it as God's discipline. So we must humbly receive the instruction and blessings from God in His discipline. In the meantime, we should be able to confess, like the psalmist, ’God is my stronghold and the rock of my refuge’.
This week, I have a conversation with two pastors. What these two pastors have in common is that they are struggling in their ministry. The difficulty is the difficulty that they face due to their church members who are being tempted. One pastor shared this with me: One of the church members who are being tempted called two families and told them not to go to church while talking badly about their pastor. But what's interesting is that a sister in Christ who received a call from that church member warned that member, ‘If you hate your God's servant so much, you will be punished by God.’ It is heard that the woman who gave the warning saw not only that her father as a pastor and her father suffered such hardships and difficulties, but also God disciplined them when they opposed the servant of the Lord. After hearing this story through that pastor, I personally thought that God is working interesting way. This was an opportunity for me to believe more and more that the Lord loves His servant and His church and protects them. So, as I shared this story with the pastor and told him that God will protect him and his church because God loves the pastor and loves the church he serves. I just hope that the God of vengeance will bring the members who have been tempted to return to the Lord and walk the right path even through God’s discipline. And I pray that the pastors who are suffering from those who have been tempted will also enjoy the blessings that God gives in such suffering. Our God is a God of vengeance. He is a God who inflicts considerable punishment on the wicked who persecute the people of God who are righteous. However, the righteous who are persecuted by the wicked have blessings that are given through persecution or discipline. However, the righteous who are persecuted by the wicked have the blessings that are given through the persecution or discipline. It is the blessing of learning the Lord's laws, the blessing of enjoying the peace that the Lord gives us in the midst of trouble, and also the blessing of experiencing the eternal lovingkindness of the Lord. I hope and pray that we enjoy these blessings in the Lord.
Desiring to enjoy His blessings through God’s discipline,
James Kim
(As I remember God’s loving discipline)