God And The Wicked

“The path of the righteous is level;

you make level the way of the righteous.

In the path of your judgments,

O LORD, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul.

My soul yearns for you in the night;

my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

For when your judgments are in the earth,

the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

If favor is shown to the wicked,

he does not learn righteousness;

in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly

and does not see the majesty of the LORD.

O LORD, your hand is lifted up,

but they do not see it.

Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.

Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.” [1]

God’s judgements compel the inhabitants of the world to learn righteousness! That is a piece of information that will undoubtedly be a shock for many people, though even a moment of contemplation will reveal the validity of the statement. By the same token, God’s goodness exposes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. What you are is revealed by your response to God’s goodness. And make no mistake, though others may witness how you respond, God is the Judge. All mankind shall give an account before the Judge of all.

What is not always recognised is that God is not a distant Judge just waiting for a convenient day to hold all people to account. Even now, the LORD is guiding the righteous; and though He does not keep them from experiencing adversity, He is watching over His beloved child. In due time, the children of God will be justified before the wondering eyes of all people. Everyone shall see that the actions of the redeemed were correct and that they acted according to the will of the LORD Who redeemed them.

Waiting until God accomplishes justice for His beloved children is difficult—at times, waiting feels impossible! What we need is a strong dose of confidence, and that is what we are given in the words of our text. The court prophet Isaiah is presenting the words of a song that the righteous shall sing when the LORD has delivered them. The song that Isaiah presents is meant to encourage God’s holy people to trust in the LORD, to dare believe in the face of injustice that God cares for His own and that He will hold the wicked to account. The song Isaiah presents not only is meant to encourage the righteous, but it is designed to educate God’s people concerning what the LORD is doing.

Throughout the Word of God, I notice a recurring theme of commending righteousness and condemning wickedness. For instance, we see this theme presented in the first Psalm.

“Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.”

[PSALM 1:1-6]

The theme is evident when Jesus, delivering the Sermon on the Mount, teaches, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” [MATTHEW 7:13-14].

The theme is prominent when the Master speaks of the separation of sheep from goats following the Great Tribulation. You will recall how the Lord has stated, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left” [MATTHEW 25:31-33].

The distinction between the two groups will have been revealed through their actions during the trials that are coming upon the earth in those awful days. The goats, people that are more concerned with self-preservation than they are with doing what is right and just, will reveal their hearts through their actions, thus earning for themselves eternal condemnation. Likewise, those identified as sheep will have also revealed who they are and Who they serve through their actions demonstrating that they are more concerned with righteousness and with compassion than merely preserving themselves. The sheep will hear the Lord say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” [MATTHEW 25:34]. The goats will receive a dark sentence when the Master says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” [MATTHEW 25:41].