Read: Psalm 7
God is a righteous judge. Psalm 7:11a
It is our hope and our prayer that God will reward the righteous and condemn the wicked. When we pray that prayer or speak that hope, we do so assuming we are in the right. When we feel someone has wronged us, or we have been injured unjustly, or we have suffered as a result of malicious intent, we want the gavel of God to pound out a conviction that will satisfy us.
But it is tenuous business claiming righteousness and making assumptions about judgment. Are we not the ones often in the wrong? Can we unflinchingly claim inherent goodness? And if we are momentarily in the right, does it take long for us to fall short of God’s expectations of us? I suspect what we really need is for God to condemn and cast away our own wickedness while encouraging our better nature. Thank God, that is exactly what the Lord does.
Do you judge others more rigorously than you judge yourself?
Lord, I fume when I feel I am in the right and yet have been wronged. I shudder to think what it would be like if You were as furious with me in regard to my sins and failures! Thankfully, You love unconditionally and forgive unflinchingly. Teach me to be more like You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN.