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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | chewing the cud on old hashed stuff? | Ps 26:1 | srbaegon | 63009 | ||
Hello Hank King David, as a believer, had no qualms of seeking justice. I see a difference between the situation in Psalm 26 and the one you have described. David was speaking of an incident in which he was being wrongly associated. It was justice in relation to another person. On the other hand you are speaking of justice in relation to God. I raise the question partly because of the Lord's use of a parable on prayer. We are told to come early and often (kind of like voting in an election :-D ). But at the end He says: Luke 18:7-8a (ESV) And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? [8] I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily." Just thinking out loud. Steve |
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2 | chewing the cud on old hashed stuff? | Ps 26:1 | Hank | 63014 | ||
Good "out-loud" thinking, Steve! After considering your posts and mine, I believe we are actually speaking of two separate and different things, as you indicate, Steve. My mind set was oriented more toward God's soteriological justice which is buffered by His grace made manifest through our faith in His Son. But in the examples you cite, justice has another dimension as well, an earthly dimension if you will. The Bible teaches with ample illustrations, especially in the Old Testament, that God can and does intervene in the affairs of His people, providing protection for them by delivering punitive justice to their enemies and providing correction for His people by deivering punitive justice to them for their disobedience..... Steve, I fully believe that God's justice is functional still on this earth as it was in the days of old, and that there is a sense in which human beings, as Dante pointed out, are punished by their sins as well as for their sins. The history of the ancient Israelites points toward this reality I believe. Charles Ryrie in his study Bible gives an interesting cyclical illustration of the way it was with the Israelites during the period of the judges. It goes like this: Israel serves the Lord, then ... Israel falls into sin and idolatry, then ... Israel is enslaved, then ... Israel cries out to the Lord, then ... God raises up a judge, then ... Israel is delivered, then ... Israel serves the Lord, then ... Israel falls into sin and idolatry ... and so it goes, round and round, in a cycle that repeats and repeats and repeats. In our time, the sins of sexual promiscuity and drug abuse, to name only two, are quite capable of inflicting a horrible "justice" upon those who engage in them. The Psalms and the Proverbs -- God's Wisdom Literature as they have been aptly called -- teach of the blessings of righteous living and the folly of sin ..... But I err should I suggest that on this earth the righteous never suffer and that sinners always receive their just punishment. But I do suggest and believe that the Bible teaches that the righteous life in Christ is, both here and now and for all eternity, an infinitely better life and one to be cherished far more than the wicked life of the unregenerate sinner. Final justice will come, the books will be balanced, "in the sweet by and by" as my dear mother was so fond of saying. --Hank | ||||||