Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.
PSALM 98:7–9
Does injustice ever make your heart ache? Do you ever weep for victims of violence, of war, of persecution or prejudice? Do these things ever make you angry?
God’s justice is the answer to evil, to oppression, to those who shed innocent blood and do not fear Him. Yet Psalm 98:7–9 may sound strange to us. We don’t usually talk about judgment and singing for joy in the same breath.
Even when we see the devastating effects of sin in this world, we are reluctant to ask God to bring judgment. He has been merciful to us, so we appeal to His mercy on behalf of others. We know that He is patient, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). We remember Paul, who went from persecuting Christians to becoming a leader in the early church. Surely if he could be redeemed, there’s hope for anyone, right?
There is another side to God’s character. Though He is patient and merciful, He is also righteous and just. God’s wrath is not only an Old Testament phenomenon. Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 18: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (v. 6).
As the Holy Spirit transforms us to be more like Christ, it’s natural that we grow heartsick at the corruption and spiritual death all around us. Looking forward to God’s judgment does not mean we take joy in destruction. Rather, we long for restoration, for everything to be made right.