Psalm 94:1-11 - Warning the Wicked of God's Judgment

Today Edith and I will be in Lynchburg Virginia and attending the 35th Anniversary celebration service of Thomas Terrace Baptist Church with my brother Pastor Mark Grooms and his wife Renee. A good number of my family members will be joining with us to be a part of this special day. I’m so proud of my brother and his wife and their faithfulness to the Lord over these past 35 years as they ministered to the dear people of this wonderful church and fellowship in the Lynchburg and Concord Virginia area.   Also, I want to give an update on the Global Partners Golf Tournament that I so much enjoyed playing in yesterday at Ashley Plantation Gold Course in Daleville Virgina. My team came in third with a score of 48. The tournament raised over $15,000 for the Rev’ Home in Haiti to assist Amber Hasson in meeting the needs of 21 very special children. Please pray for Amber as she literally risk her life every day serving in a very hostile environment.   Psalm 94 is a great psalm to pray and read especially for times like these in Haiti and other countries such as Ukraine. The unknown writer the writer deals with the seeming triumph of the wicked and the unjust treatment of the helpless. As we said yesterday, when it comes to dealing with the injustices in society, this psalm teaches us that we as believers have four responsibilities.   First in verses 1-7, we are to pray and cry out to the Lord for Justice. Secondly, after praying to the Lord, we must confront the wicked with the truth, as the Lord gives us opportunity. In verses 8-11, the psalmist speaks to the offenders and calls them "senseless people." Some translations use the word "brutish people". These godless people show up in other passages of Scripture like, Psalms 49:10; 92:6, 2 Peter 2:12 and Jude 10. These people were behaving like animals and not like humans made in the image of God. They had such a low view of God (v. 7) that they were unable to think logically. This sounds like many political leaders in America today!   The psalmist reasons that if God made the eye and ear, is He unable to see and hear? Is the creature greater than the Creator? If God is able to rule the nations by His providential decrees (Acts 17:24-28), is He unable to deal with a band of wicked officials who are breaking His law and exploiting His people? The Lord gave Israel His law and taught them what it meant, so is He not intelligent enough to apply that law?   The word translated "thoughts" in verse 11 is speaking of the "inventions, schemes, plans" of the wicked. The subversive plans and plots of these evil leaders cannot be hidden from the Lord, nor will they go unpunished. Paul quoted this verse in 1 Corinthians 3:19-20, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."  Paul was warning church leaders in Corinth not to try to guide the church using the world's wisdom, but to rely only on the wisdom of God found in Scripture.   We need to remember what Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:27-30, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption”.   We desperately need believers who know their position in Jesus Christ and who will courageously stand up against the injustices of our culture and society today as they display His wisdom in dealing with the corruption of the world! May the Lord help us as we pray and speak the truth to those around us!   God bless!