Oct-06-0527-It is good to be on God’s side
527_It is good to be on God’s side Psalm 94: 1-15 O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! 3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? 4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. 5 They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; 7 and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” 8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? 9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— 11 the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. 12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, 13 to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; 15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. There is a story told about President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. One evening, as he was leaving the White House chapel after a prayer service, a concerned woman stopped him and said, “Mr. President, I truly hope the Lord is on our side in this conflict.” Lincoln gently replied, “Madam, my greatest concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is whether we are on God’s side—for God is always right.” That timeless statement captures the heart of Psalm 94. When the world around us seems to crumble, when injustice flourishes, when the wicked seem untouchable in their arrogance, the question is not whether God will step in, but whether we are living on His side. It is good to be on God’s side, because His justice never fails, His discipline is never wasted, and His love never forsakes His people. Psalm 94 begins with a cry for justice. The psalmist addresses God as the “God of vengeance” and the “Judge of the earth,” crying, “Rise up, O Judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!” (v.2). These words remind us of Abraham’s appeal before God concerning Sodom: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25). The psalmist knows that the God he prays to is not a tribal deity, confined to one people or place, but the universal Judge who rules over all nations, all times, and all people. He is the one to whom all must one day give an account. The psalmist then brings before God the arrogance of the wicked. They are not foreign enemies; they are “the dullest of the people” among God’s own nation. They oppress the feeble, the widow,