In More Ways than One . . .

2 Samuel 21; Psalm 77; Ezekiel 28; Galatians 1

Justice is important to God but when Saul was king, he put to death the Gibeonites, a people the Israelites had sworn to protect. Later, when David was king, the land experienced three years of famine. David inquired of the Lord and was told of Saul’s injustice. He went to the Gibeonites and asked how to atone for this and they asked for seven of Saul’s sons. David spared one son that he had made an oath to protect but gave them what they asked. The seven were slain and then God responded to the plea for rain. Even more startling, after that the armies of David were able to overcome giants from the Philistines who came against them.

This form of justice is difficult for me to understand. I must focus on the fact that God hates evil and has every right to judge it. However, He impresses that when His people care about justice as He cares about justice, He sends prosperity in the land and strength for the evil that comes against His people. I need to pray more for justice in our world. Right now it seems woefully lacking.

The psalmist in today’s reading seems to have been thinking about this same issue. He cries out to God about a “day of trouble” and cannot sleep at night because it seems as if God’s love has ceased, His promises ended, and He has forgotten to be gracious. I felt the same reading today’s newspaper!

But the psalmist goes on, appealing to what God has done in the past. He says:

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah (Psalm 77:11–15)

As I pray today, I also need to recall God’s power to save, to think about the wonders of His might as He worked in the past, for instance in the Great Awakening of 1725-1760, and the next one in that began in 1801, or the revival of 1857 where millions turned to Christ. From 1980 to 2000, the Christians in China increased from 2 million to 75 million after the missionaries left in 1953.

This mighty God also acts on behalf of His people today. Even though He rebukes our sin and disciplines us, He also protects us from those bent on our destruction. In the OT, it was pagan tribes and cities. Here is one example:

Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in your midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her and manifest my holiness in her; for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord. “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God. (Ezekiel 28:22–24)

This is another way to pray — that God will deal with the enemies of His people. It may be with war or pestilence or in some other way, but He is able to put a stop to all who treat His people with contempt. We calls us the apple of His eye.

Part of our problem these days is like the cartoon character Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The NT message of Galatians is timely for it speaks of a congregation who had “begun in the Spirit” but had fallen into the idea that their perfection came through the flesh, that is, their own efforts. They were relying on their good works to justify themselves whereas the Bible is clear that “The righteous shall live by faith” and apart from Christ we can do nothing.

The entire book of Galatians is written to anyone who needs to live in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in the strengths (and weaknesses) of their old nature. All of us need to be certain of this:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

APPLY: And in that certainty, I am asking God to bring His people back to a strong faith. I need to always confess my sins (keep short accounts with God), and be filled with the Spirit, thinking, talking, living in His power, not my own. We need God to heal our land.