Wednesday, January 8
Read – Psalm 96:10-13, Psalm 19:1-3
SOAP – Psalm 96:10-13
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
The world is established, it cannot be moved.
He judges the nations fairly.”
Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy!
Let the sea and everything in it shout!
Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!
Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy
before the Lord, for he comes!
For he comes to judge the earth!
He judges the world fairly,
and the nations in accordance with his justice.
I’m not sure about you, but for me, the mention of judgment three times here scares me. Maybe it is because we are well too acquainted with our own sin. We know that we simply don’t measure up to Gods standard.
Yet here we see creation in expectant anticipation of His coming. Why is creation so jubilantly expectant? Should we be fearful or joyful in expectation of His coming? The resolution lies in this truth, “he endured punishment that made us well” (Isaiah 53:5). There is no fear left for those who are in Christ. All of God’s judgement and wrath was poured out on His dearly loved son. Jesus paid the price for all our sin. We can whole heartedly and enthusiastically enter into the anticipation that is depicted in this Psalm.
Jesus came once and offered a complete payment for sin. He is coming again to judge the world. We who are in Christ can greatly rejoice for there is no payment left for sin; only a glorious reunion with our creator, redeemer, and lover of our souls!
God, thank You that Your wrath was satisfied, fully and completely on the cross through the sacrifice of Your son, Jesus. We are joyfully, expectantly awaiting Your return and our reunion with You! Amen.