By what right?

“Your judgments are like a great deep” Psalm 36:6

Judgment – The Bible is absolutely consistent on the matter:  God is just.  This is not a statement about what He does.  It is a statement about who He is.  Justice is one of the principle characteristics of God.  It is simply impossible for God to act unjustly.  And since God is also truthful in all that He does, He never does anything that is out of character (unlike you and me).

But it doesn’t always seem as though God acts justly.  One of the greatest mysteries of this world is that injustice often seems to have the upper hand.  In fact, the single greatest difficulty facing the thinking believer is simply this:  there is evil in this world even though it was created and is controlled by a just God.

What is the basis for the Biblical view that God is always just?  It’s a matter of right.  From the Biblical perspective, God’s judgments are the exercise of His right as Creator.  Therefore, His judgments are not simply the execution of His law.  They are the fully deserved claims over what He has made.  They are His demands on His own handiwork.  When David says that God’s judgment is like an abyss, he is not remarking that God’s decisions are inscrutable.  He is saying that God’s rule penetrates to the very depths of the creation.  It is overwhelming in scope.  God rules because He deserves to.  Who is able to raise claim against Him?

It’s important to note that the Hebrew word here is singular, not plural.  It should read, “Your judgment is an abyss”.  The word comes from the same root word for “judge”, a word that incorporates the meaning “government”.  David looks that the full spectrum of God’s rule and it amazes him.  It is far too much for him to comprehend.  This is not a statement about some unresolved issue with an evil event.  David is not looking at the particulars.  He is enjoying the magnificent, overpowering, awe filled presence of the God who rules.  He is exuberant in the fact that the God who loves him is the God who judges all the earth with a character of justice.  For David, this has only one result:  safety.

Is that how you feel about God’s judgment?  Or are you frightened or confused about the judgments (plural) we attempt to explain and understand?  It’s a matter of trust, isn’t it?