GOD WANTS US TO FIND OUR REST IN HIM

READ PSALM 94

FOOLS FORGET THAT GOD IS WATCHING!

Psalm 94:8-11

Understand, O dullest of the people!

Fools, when will you be wise?

He who planted the ear, does he not hear?

He who formed the eye, does he not see?

He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?

He who teaches man knowledge—

the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,

that they are but a breath.

           

Certainly the psalmist is exposing the foolishness of the wicked, who think they are getting away with their sin.

What a description of the world we live in! Man apart from God is arrogant and wicked. He boasts in his evildoing, while he thinks he is in total control of his life and destiny. Meanwhile, God is totally aware of every evildoing.

Sometimes we feel that we are victims of people who are getting away with their sins, but Paul reminds us that it is not true.

Romans 2:1-11

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

           

Many times, as I have counseled people who have been hurt by others, these were the words I would point them to. Our desire for vengeance will not produce godliness. Although man seems to be able to live unpunished, God is aware and will make all things right. God’s wrath will be severe, just, timely, appropriate, and sure.

But for now, God is giving man time for repentance. As we reflect on this truth, does it not warm your heart that God did not repay us for our sin? Don’t we rejoice in the grace God has shown us? Immediate wrath would not have left us this merciful opportunity!

As the psalmist asks the question:

Psalm 94:20

Can wicked rulers be allied with you,

those who frame injustice by statute?

He knows that God is on his side and not on the side of the wicked, and that He uses even the wicked in our lives to mold us and change us.

There are no victims! Those who have received evil are being pushed into the arms of God. Those whom God is not immediately punishing are being given time to repent. And those who will be judged for their sin by the wrath of God will receive the righteous deserved punishment.

As we live our lives in a corrupt world, God wants us to find our rest in Him. The psalmist reminds us that God does not forsake His own. His justice will not abandon His children. Without God’s care, we would surely fall.

What beautiful words we find here:

Psalm 94:19

When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

If we are not finding consolation, it’s probably because we are looking for the wrong things, in the wrong places.

We know what the end result is: God will win! In the meanwhile, rejoice in the grace you have received and leave it in the hands of God to judge the evildoers. Rejoice in the fact that you know where to find peace and rest!

Psalm 94:22

But the LORD has become my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge.

God is holding you in the palm of His hand. Let His word warm your soul, let His truth lighten your troubled time; let His perfect timing give peace, in your difficulties.