Psalm 98│Isaiah 51.17-23│2 Thessalonians 3│Matthew 18.1-20
Psaume 98 | Ésaïe 51.17-23 | 2 Thessaloniciens 3 | Matthieu 18.1-20
Righteous judgement
Would
you like to enlarge your vision of God this Advent? This psalm has a few
surprises for us. Verses 1-3 praise God’s salvation. In the context of the
Psalms, this salvation must have been either a major military victory for
Israel, or possibly their return from exile. It is important enough that “the
nations” (v 2) and “the ends of the earth” (v 3) have seen it.
Verses
4-6 seem, at first glance, somewhat exaggerated. “All the earth” is called to
sing to the Lord. No matter how important this salvation was to Israel, they
were neither a large nor a strategic nation, so why should their victory cause
other nations to rejoice? The implication is that Israel’s God had a claim on
every other nation and could command their praise. As he showed his
faithfulness and power to Israel, all peoples were called to marvel at his character.
This
claim of the Lord on all nations does not sit easily with the prevailing
culture (did it ever?). Do we feel comfortable with this idea? Do we dare to
call people to give the Lord his due? Are we excited enough by him to want to
let people know?
Verses
7-9 go even further. The creation itself, as well as “all who live in it”, are
called to rejoice before the Lord. This is another reminder that everything and
everyone belongs to God. But the sting is in the last verse: “let them sing…,
for he comes to judge the earth.” Have you ever sung for joy about judgment?
Perhaps in our countries where the rule of law more or less prevails, we have
lost sight of what it is to rejoice over a fair judgment. But don’t we long for
it? From the child who thinks their sibling is getting special treatment, to
the worker whose lazy colleague gets promoted, to the victim of crime whose
perpetrator walks free, to the voter who longs for politicians with integrity;
we all secretly want justice. Can we, then, learn to rejoice that the Lord will
judge in righteousness and equity?
Sarah
Richelle
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