Psalms Book 4: Songs of Exile | Video DevotionalSample

Recap

Yesterday, we saw that God controls the seas. Today, we will learn that God promises to rescue and avenge the oppressed.

What’s Happening?

The psalmist is angry at the injustice around him and he wants God to settle the scores. Evil people prey upon the innocent, and the strong trample the weak. Frustrated, the psalmist calls on God to end the evil in the world and to rescue the oppressed (Psalm 94:1-2).

The psalmist asks how long God will stand by and watch wickedness prey on his fellow citizens. He wants God to end the arrogant laughter of people who boast about their campaigns that crush the vulnerable (Psalm 94:3-4). They slaughter widows, kill foreigners, and murder orphans. They crush God’s people with their violence (Psalm 94:5-6). They proudly claim that God neither hears nor sees them, so they can do whatever they please (Psalm 94:7). The psalmist cannot bear the injustice this does to his people and the mockery it makes of his God.

The psalmist warns the murderers who claim God is blind and deaf that judgment is coming. God is not blind, God is not deaf to their evil but fully aware of their crimes and thoughts (Psalm 94:8-10). God keeps a record of the crimes they’ve committed and the ones they have yet to execute. The whole world is under God’s jurisdiction, and he will deal with the injustice he sees and the oppression he hears (Psalm 94:11).

The psalmist then turns to the oppressed and encourages them to trust God, who sees their pain and hears their cries (Psalm 94:12-14). God is the protector and the avenger of the weak. His laws are for their safety and flourishing (Psalm 94:20). God will protect his people and punish the wicked (Psalm 94:16-17). He will cause the evil of oppressors to backfire on them (Psalm 94:13-14, 21). To those who follow his laws, he is like a fortress they can run to for safety from those who gather against them (Psalm 94:22). In love, he will calm their anxious hearts while they wait for justice to fall on their enemies (Psalm 94:18-19, 23).

Where is the Gospel?

Even when relief from evil seems slow, God promises to rescue and avenge the oppressed (Psalm 46:7-9). Those who prey upon the marginalized should take warning that an apparent lack of consequences is not because God approves of their crimes. God sees all evil, and his laws of justice don’t change with the times. He ultimately has dealt with injustice by sending Jesus.

Jesus is the protector and the avenger of the weak. He came to put an end to the violence in the world. Throughout his ministry, Jesus spent time with the marginalized, healing their wounds and telling them that his Kingdom would end injustice and suffering (Luke 4:40-44). Jesus was acquainted with weakness; he heard their cries and saw their oppression (Mark 1:32-34). He promised the oppressed safety in himself while he went to battle on their behalf against the injustice that oppressed them.

Jesus dealt with the evil of his people’s oppressors by making it backfire on them. Jesus let himself be condemned to death at a rigged trial (Matthew 26:59-60). The avenger of the weak permitted himself to be swallowed by injustice. To all who were watching, it looked as though God was blind to Jesus’ oppression and deaf to his cries (Matthew 27:46-50). But God raised the innocent Jesus from the grave. The plans of injustice and evil backfired. Jesus disarmed evil’s ultimate weapon, death, and has proved that God will save anyone who cries out to him for help. Because of Jesus, no barrier can block God from seeing and hearing the cries of his people (Romans 8:38-39). His resurrection also proves that Jesus will come again and judge evil fully and finally (Acts 17:31). One day, Jesus will come again to annihilate all evil and wickedness (Revelation 22:11-12). Jesus knows the pain of oppression, and he will end it (1 Peter 5:10). When Jesus returns, justice and righteousness will fill the earth, and no trace of evil will be left (Revelation 21:4-5). So let Jesus calm your anxieties, remember his resurrection, and cry out to him for help.

A Time of Prayer

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my eyes to see the God who avenges the oppressed. And may I see Jesus as the one coming in justice to punish the wicked and rescue their victims from their hands.