#DailyDevotion Whose Side Will You Be On In The Day Of Judgment?
Psalm 21 7Yes, the king is trusting the LORD, and the kindness of God above doesn’t let him fail. 8Your hand finds out all your enemies, your right hand all who hate you.
Now in David’s life, he was a man who trusted the LORD in most everything he did. He was not perfect. His obedience to the prophets’ commands as to who, when, where, and how to fight the enemies of Israel and what to do with them he seemed to be without fault. He was the LORD’s chosen instrument to bring peace to Israel and that peace was enjoyed by his son Solomon, whose name means peace. The kindness of God didn’t let David fail. The LORD gave him victory after victory. Whatever enemies Israel had, the LORD’s hand found them out and David routed them out of Israel.
Now Jesus of Nazareth, the seed of David, also trusted in the Father in all he did. He preached the good news, gathered the lost sheep of Israel through a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, healed the sick and raised the dead. It may have looked like he failed when he was crucified. But that was part of the plan to redeem you and ransom you from sin and death. During his earthly life his enemies were shown to be who they were. If they did not repent after Pentecost, they most likely felt the hand of God in the siege of Jerusalem. Yet his greatest desire was for them to repent and live.
9O LORD, when You appear, You will burn them as in a blazing furnace. In His anger the LORD will devour them, like a fire consuming them. 10By destroying their children you will rid the earth of them, and the world of their descendants.
Jesus is coming back as King one day. We have a whole season of the Church where we prepare for his second coming called Advent. It is part of the Church’s mission to proclaim Jesus’ second return as King and to that end we, like him, proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We call upon the people of the world to turn from their sins, put their faith in Christ Jesus’ saving work and be baptized into his life, death and resurrection. When he returns, he returns in judgment. Now, today is the day for being repentant and trusting in Jesus.
On the day of his return, when he appears, he will be as a blazing furnace. His anger at the inhabitants of the earth who rejected his pleas and offers of repentance through the Church will pour out upon them. All who rejected his offer of forgiveness and redemption will be wiped out and they will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer for all eternity.
11When they plan evil against you, scheming and plotting, they can’t succeed. 12You make them turn their backs by shooting your arrows at their faces. 13O LORD, rise in Your might! Then we’ll sing songs and praise Your power.
The world and Satan’s schemes against Christ and his church cannot succeed. When they do have successes, the LORD uses that against them to spread his Church all the more. The Psalmist is seeing the Last Day here. It is not pretty. It is violent. We who put out trust in Jesus in this life though will rejoice on that day. We will sing songs and praise his power by which he subdues all his enemies who refuse his friendship. We will enjoy his loving presence forever.
Heavenly Father, may we receive your grace in Christ Jesus so we may no longer be your enemy but rather your friend and your child on the now and on the day of judgment. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.