Sunday 1st December 2024
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD,
for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 96:13 (NIV)
Rejoicing in judgment
This wonderful psalm ends by encouraging us to rejoice in God’s coming judgment. That seems a strange thing to ask. When is the last time you thought to yourself, “Judgment day, great! I can hardly wait!” How can we rejoice in judgment?
It helps us to see that it is “all creation” that is being asked to rejoice in the Lord’s coming, and verses 11-12 explicitly invite “the heavens” and “the sea,” “the fields” and “all the trees” to join in the rejoicing.
This points us to Romans 8:19, where we read that “the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed,” which will happen when Jesus comes. In anticipation, “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (verse 22).
When the Lord comes, “he will judge the world with righteousness”: the whole earth and everything in it will be put right. What a day that will be, when everything will at last be put in its right place and properly ordered, never to be disordered again. No more famine, no more war, no more corruption, no more injustice, no more violence. We can hardly wait!
But what of those who will find themselves on the wrong side of the judgment? That is why we find it awkward to rejoice in that day. What of those who have added to the pain in the world, which we know includes all of us at some level?
This is where we need the opening verses of the psalm, where we are invited to “Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples” (verses 2-3).
In the Old Testament, the most marvellous deed of the LORD was to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The New Testament tells us that even more marvellous is our delivery from sin, death, hell and the devil through the death and resurrection of Jesus, through which we are delivered from the death we deserve. That is something and someone worth singing about!
Prayer
Lord, tune my heart to sing of your salvation and your marvellous deeds, day after day, and also to rejoice in your coming to judge the world in righteousness. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)