Psalm 74:1-23

God’s judgment does not always work in the way and at the time that we expect it to.  In our minds the wicked men who do not fear God and who blaspheme against God should be judged immediately.  We know that God is capable of doing that at any time so it is hard for us to understand why He would delay in taking this action.  In reality God will often use evil men and nations to discipline His own children in times of disobedience.  Israel often fell in battle to very perverse nations that had committed evils far greater than Israel’s disobedience.  However, God’s requirements for His children are greater than those of pagan nations.  God may choose to allow a wicked nation to take His children captive and destroy the house of the Lord as a means of disciplining His children and also as a means of judging the victorious nation when God decides to restore His children and rebuild the nation.  God is in control and does know what He is doing.

GOD’S JUDGMENT MAY BE DELAYED: God’s discipline of Israel usually involved one of its neighboring nations.  These were nations that had not fear of God and would reign down wrath on the children of Israel without pity.  They would enter the temple of the Lord and take sacred object and destroy the altars on which sacrifices were to be made to the Lord.  The houses in which the people lived would be left in ruins.  These pagan nations would set up idols of their own making and place them in the temple of the Lord.  Israel’s places of worship would be burned to the ground and these evil men would scoff at the name of the Lord.  Perhaps the most perplexing thing in this situation is that God seems completely silent in the face of all of this.  God’s children long to hear a word for God of a prophet that will let them know that all will be okay but nothing is forthcoming.  The cry of God’s children is simply “how long” they do not understand this delay in God’s judgment.  Our situation may be much different today, but in some ways it is very similar.  Evil men continue to have power in many nations and God appears to be doing nothing about this situation.  God’s judgment does not seem to be as swift as we think it ought to be.

GOD’S JUSTICE WILL BE DECISIVE: A delay in judgment does not mean that there will be no judgment.  He graciously provides a means of salvation for men but His power is without limit and He will one day break into the course of history and judge decisively.  He is the creator of the sea and sky.  All of the creatures of the earth both large and small are under His sovereign care.  The sun, moon, starts, seasons and the formation of the earth are all under the control of His great power.  Since God is so powerful as reveled in all of creation, there is no question about what He is able to accomplish in the course of history it is simply a matter of His timing.  We must not lose hope or become discouraged in the face of things that we do not understand.  We must simply trust the Lord and faithfully cry out to Him in prayer that He will remember His people and His promises and that He will lift His name up in the nations of the world.  When we feel like justice is not being seen in the world, our response should always be a response of prayer to the Lord and then praise for that fact that He is always able to do that which is right.