Mug Shot

Psalm 94:1-7

1O LORD, the God to whom vengeance belongs,

O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice be seen!

2Arise, O judge of the earth.

Sentence the proud to the penalties they deserve.

3How long, O LORD?

How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?

4Hear their arrogance!

How these evildoers boast!

5They oppress your people, LORD,

hurting those you love.

6They kill widows and foreigners

and murder orphans.

7“The LORD isn’t looking,” they say,

“and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”

He was a preacher of the gospel who had given his whole life to serve people in need. When others were abandoning the inner city, that’s where he went, caring for poor people and telling everyone about Jesus.

It wasn’t easy. He saw the rise of crime. He saw the pushers dealing death on the street corners. Evildoers were taking over the streets, but this preacher kept at it, doggedly doing his work for the Lord—even when he got mugged.

He was hit on the head from behind. He looked up from the pavement to see a few kids—thirteen, fifteen years old maybe—trying to get his wallet. “Stop it!” he said. “Stop terrorizing people! Stop doing this! We’re all just tired of this.”

They moved back, surprised, but he went on. “I’m a pastor. And if you want to beat up a pastor and take his money, then take your best shot.” He prepared for an attack, but the kids ran away. Down the block, the youngest of the group stopped and turned. “Pastor,” he said, “would you please ask God for a blessing for me?”

Psalm 94 calls on the “God of vengeance” to set things right, but God has powers we know little about. We might expect God to storm into the enemy’s strongholds with guns and tanks, but more often he uses faithful old preachers.

How can he use you to bring about his “glorious justice”?

We fight for truth; we fight for God;

Poor slaves of lies and sin!

He who would fight for thee on earth

Must first be true within.

THOMAS HUGHS

A Word on Words

In verse 5 oppress literally means “to break into pieces.” The Hebrew word is often used for “to crush underfoot” (see Isaiah 3:15).

Notable Quotable

“The ‘How long?’ [verse 3] sounds as if it were one of the saddest of all utterances in which misery bemoans itself. Many times this bitter complaint has been heard in the dungeons of the Inquisition, at the whipping posts of slavery, and in the prisons of oppression. In due time God will publish his reply, but the full end is not yet.”

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON