Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalm 58:11
Part of the Hebrew worship liturgy was a poem from the pen of king David. It is what we know as Psalm 58. The Psalm indicts injustice perpetrated by humans who are devoted to gods and causes that oppress because they are anchored in self-preeminence, “…in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence” (v2). But God – the Self-Existent Creator – is called upon to exact justice on the earth.
There will come a time when all humanity will witness the justice of God. That time is known as “The Day of the Lord” – a time when God manifests His sovereign authority in retribution and restoration. In witness to this, the conclusion drawn by all of humanity (“mankind will say”) is twofold: 1) there is a reward for the righteous, 2) there is a God who judges on earth. These two realities will escape no one. No one will be able to deny them because God will judge on the earth – not in theory or myth, but in reality – seen by all people.
Now verse 10 says, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance….” Justice is a longing in every human heart. The problem is, we demand justice for ourselves but too easily deny it for others. For this reason, the prospect of a God who judges on earth should be frightful. Is there any one of us who does not harbor injustice in his heart? Who then are the righteous? Not one of us can achieve the status to be called “righteous.”
Enter the grace of God. Such righteousness can only be received based on the redemptive, reconciling work of God in His Son. The righteous are those who trust and follow Him – the righteous judge of the earth (see Acts 17:30-31). In Christ we are sheltered from the judgment of God, so we seek His righteousness to be lived out practically as an outflow of the righteousness we have received from Him. We do justly and love mercy as we walk humbly with God and invite others to do the same.
May we walk in such a way that mankind will say – “surely there is a reward for the righteous.”
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