Psalm 94

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Hey, hey, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It is Tuesday morning, let's see, April 20th. Thanks so much for joining me this morning.
This is where every day we get into God's Word. We grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all of the wisdom literature. Well, this is our catch-up week, so we are going to be doing this in the morning at 9 a.m. and in the evening at 9 p.m. So make sure you check back in tonight. Why don't we go ahead and we'll have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into Psalm 94.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the rich blessing it is to get to come to your word, to sit at your feet, to hear your voice. Father, we pray that we would hear with believing ears and have tender hearts to believe what you would have for us now. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, here we go. Why don't we go ahead and turn over to Psalm 94. There you go, Psalm 94. Again, if these videos are helpful to you, hit that like button. Let other people know, let Facebook and YouTube and stuff know that this is valuable to you. Let's go ahead and look at Psalm 94 together now.
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth. Rise up, O judge of the earth. Render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech and speak insolent things. All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. They break in pieces your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, the murder and the fatherless. They murder the fatherless.
Yet they say, the Lord does not see me. Nor does the God of Jacob understand. Understand you senseless among the people, and you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who instructs the nations, shall he not correct? He who teaches man knowledge, the Lord knows the thoughts of man. they are futile. Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, and teach out of your law, that you may give him rest in the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance, but judgment will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence. If I say my foot slips, your mercy, O Lord, will lift me, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul.
Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with you? They gather together against the life of the righteous and condemn innocent blood. But the Lord has been my defense and my God, the rock of my ages. He has brought on them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.
The Lord our God shall cut them off. we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? What is this psalm about? This is, again, another wonderful picture of why I love the psalms, right? We want to come to the scriptures, and sometimes we just want to feel good.
But life is hard. Life is really hard. Sin is real. Persecution is real. Evil and wickedness are real. And here, how does the psalmist start out? Rise up, O judge of the earth. Render punishment to the proud. How long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? It's from that, from that sense of this isn't right. It's from that inner sense of something is wrong here. This shouldn't be the way that it is. God, when are you going to make this right?
But instead of wallowing in that, if you're like me, it's easy to wallow, to woe is me, woe this world is bad, woe, woe, woe, and we get down on ourselves because we're looking down on the world. But that's the opposite of what the psalmist does, isn't it? The psalmist here in Psalm 94 tells us, if we're constantly looking down here, we're gonna miss the point. Because we need to look at who God is. How does he start?
Oh Lord God to whom vengeance belongs, rise up oh judge of the earth. It's God who has made the eye and he sees what they're doing. It's the fool who thinks that God doesn't hear what he's doing but God gave them their ears to hear. It's God who knows when they're oppressing the widow. It's God who knows when they're taking advantage of the orphan. It's God who sees these things and knows these things. They might say that God doesn't know, nor the God of Jacob understand, but we know that the Lord does. So what does he say in verses 8 through 11? It's Him who made the nations, so He's going to instruct them. It's God who gives men knowledge, and He's going to teach them. Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, and teach out of your law.
It's when we come under the tutelage of the Lord. It's when we sit at His feet, when He's our schoolmaster, when He's our loving Father, and we sit there and we hear from Him, that then our souls will find rest. Because as the psalmist goes on here, that you may give Him rest from the days of adversity until the pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not cast off His people. nor will he forsake his inheritance. This is what the scriptures teach us. This is what Jesus tells us. None whom the Father has given me shall be snatched out of my hand. If you're one of God's people, if you're one of those he has chosen to be his own, he's not gonna forsake his inheritance.
No, but judgment will return to righteousness and the upright in heart will follow it. What is this teaching us? Again, not to wallow in this world and throw up our hands and say, oh, you know, whatever. Everything's wrong anyways. But it's saying, yeah, everything's wrong.
But God's going to make it right. Who will rise up against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help. The psalmist says the Lord's going to be his help. It's going to be the Lord. who is going to hold him up, verse 18. Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up, and the multitude of my anxieties within me. Your comforts delight my soul.
I'm gonna just go ahead and jump straight into see-calling. Like normal, please let me know down in the comments what you would highlight as the best verse. But I'm gonna talk to you about calling here. What are we called to do in response to this? Well, let me ask you.
Does the mercy of the Lord comfort you? Have you watched so much news? Have you been on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and TikTok and everything else so much that you think the world's gone to hell in a handbasket? And Lord, I just don't know what to do. Well, that's the reality that this person cries out from.
But have you gotten to the end of the psalm? In your heart, Have you cried out to Him, looking to His mercies? Have you cried out to Him as the judge of the nations? Have you cried out to Him as the one who rules with righteousness? Has His mercy comforted your heart?
I'm going to encourage you. Don't be complacent. Don't just think that the world is going wherever it's going and so just live with it. No. No, there's something better than that. But hope in the Lord. Trust in him. Read his word. Follow after him. And find peace for your soul. He's got it all under control. He's the king of the nations. He's going to come back someday. He's going to make all things right again.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you are the great King, the one who rules with righteousness and judges with perfect truth. Father, we pray that your mercies would comfort us, that we might know who you are and rest in your love. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you walk in the confidence that comes in having Jesus Christ as your King. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Or no, I'll see you tonight. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.