INTRO.- ILL.- A father of four boys came home to find them all engaged in something of a free-for-all. Addressing his remarks to the most aggressive of the four, he asked, “Butch, who started this?” “Well, it all started when Harold hit me back,” exclaimed Butch.
We humans like to take matters into our own hands when we get hurt by someone or are offended by another. I think it’s our human nature or more like our sinful nature to want to get back at people when they do us wrong.
If someone hits me, I’m going to hit them back. If they cuss me, I’ll cuss them back. (well, maybe not!) If they say something negative or nasty to me, I’ll say the same to them. (I hope not). If they give me a dirty look, I’m smile back at them. That will get them! If your dog poops in my yard... Shucks, I don’t have a dog! It does seem somewhat natural for us to avenge for any wrongs done to us.
ILL.- A man was told by his doctor, “Yes indeed, you do have rabies.” Upon hearing this, the patient immediately pulled out a pad and pencil and began to write.
Thinking the man was making out his will, the doctor said, “Listen, this doesn’t mean you’re going to die. There is a cure for rabies.” “Oh, I know that,” the man said. “I’m just makin’ a list of all the people I’m gonna bite.” Many folks live by the rule: "I don’t get mad. I get even.”
ILL.- Preacher Wayne Smith said one time in a sermon, “Lord, I know it’s wrong to hate anybody but if it ever becomes right I’ve got the guy picked out!”
Righting wrongs. Whose job is it?
We tend to take matters into our own hands when we see wrong or what we consider to be wrong or especially, when we feel we have been wronged by someone. But really, it’s the Lord job, not ours.
Romans 12:17-21 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Do not repay evil for evil. We are not to fight fire with fire, but rather with good. We leave all vengeance to God and we try to overcome evil by doing good to our enemy or opponent. This is not the way of the world, which is dog eat dog, but it is the way of Christ. It’s not easy to overcome good with evil but we must try. Otherwise, the Psalmist says that God is our avenger.
PROP.- The Psalmist describes the actions of our great God.
1- God avenges for evil
2- God sees the oppression
3- God blesses the humble
I. GOD AVENGES FOR EVIL
1 O Lord, the God who avenges,
O God who avenges, shine forth.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.
God is our judge, but not all human judges are fair, equal or even intelligent.
ILL.- Funny things happen when human judges make crazy mistakes in sentencing. Instead of two years and a $1,000 fine, the judge stated: “You are hereby sentenced to 1,000 years in the penitentiary and a $2 fine.” HOW CRAZY IS THAT? Perhaps it was a “typo” in words!
Another judge sentenced a defendant to nine months in jail, but after the defendant had left the courtroom, the judge discovered that the maximum sentence was six months. So the judge ordered that the defendant be returned to court that afternoon and said: “They tell me you were a model prisoner this morning, and I’m going to reward you for your exemplary behavior. Your sentence is hereby reduced to six months.”
Obviously, that judge was just trying to cover for his mistake. EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES.
And then there is the other side of the coin.
ILL.- A certain judge was constantly annoyed by the sneering remarks of a certain “wise cracking” and abusive attorney. Instead of cracking down on the lawyer and silencing him, the judge would only smile and chew his pencil until people wondered at his patience. At a dinner someone asked him, “Judge, why didn’t you slap down that wise guy lawyer?”
The judge laid down his knife and fork and resting his chin on his hands said, “Up in our town there lives a widow who has a dog which whenever the moon shines, goes out and barks all night at the moon.” Then the judge quietly resumed eating.
One of the company asked, “But judge, what about the dog and the moon?” And he replied, “Oh, well the moon just keeps right on shining!”
Smart judge. He wouldn’t allow that smart alec lawyer to get the best of him. And no one, no human being can get the best of God who is our ultimate judge.
1 O Lord, the God who avenges, O God who avenges, shine forth.
God avenges. God avenges for wrongdoing. If there is one person we don’t want on our case or against us it’s the Lord God! Remember the flood? Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Remember Lot’s wife? She didn’t take God’s word seriously.
Biblical history tells us that God will avenge for wrongdoing, for evil deeds, etc. If not in this life, He will in the next life, but most people prefer to see God’s vengeance on the evil in this life.
ILL.- 74 year old Bernie Madoff is in jail for 150 years for ripping off people’s money and life savings to the tune of almost $65 billion dollars. His own son couldn’t stand the disgrace and committed suicide. And now his wife won’t have anything to do with him.
- 69 year old Jerry Sandusky, retired football coach from Penn State, was sentenced to prison for 30 to 60 years for 52 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period.
- The infamous atheist, Madalyn Murray O’ Hair’s was murdered and her body was multilated. Do you wonder why?
- John "Teflon Don" Gotti, American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of five murders, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, and loansharking. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole and was transferred to United States Penitentiary, Marion. Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002, at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.
Could it be that these are just a small part of the wicked people who receives God’s vengeance on earth? And what about in the next life?
II. GOD SEES THE OPPRESSION
5 They crush your people, O Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the alien;
they murder the fatherless.
ILL.- When God put into the heart of George Muller beginning in 1836 to build many orphanages in England, he had only two shillings (50 cents) in his pocket. Without making his wants known to any man, but to God alone, over $7 million were sent to him for the building and maintaining of these orphan homes.
There were five immense buildings of solid granite, capable of accommodating 2,000 orphans. In all the years since the first orphans arrived, the Lord sent food in the due time, so that they had never missed a meal for want of food. The Lord sent them, day by day, their daily bread.
By faith, George Muller was enabled to feed and house literally 10,000 orphans, build orphanages, win precious souls to Christ, and preach around the world. He was also a pastor for 72 years. In addition, he circulated some three million books and tracks.
Muller had a heart for orphans!
There are still oppressed people in our world.
ILL.- Ted and Beverly Skiles from the small town of Eldon, MO, attended Ozark Bible College and then went to Taiwan and started and the “Home of God’s Love." Ted and Bev Skiles have been in Taiwan for 40 years. The ministry started in 1975 and have cared for more than 600 orphans during those years.
In talking about his experience of not being treated as one of Taiwan’s own before receiving permanent residency, Skiles said "I always considered myself `Taiwanese’ until I had to go out to run errands and found out that I wasn’t."
Ted and his wife indicated that they plan to be buried in Taiwan. Ted and Beverly have given their hearts and their lives to those orphans in that foreign land!
ILL.- The Salvation Army is a Christian denomination and international movement known for its charity shops and other charity work, operating in 126 countries. The organization was founded in 1865 in the United Kingdom by William and Catherine Booth as the North London Christian Mission, which has been retained to the present day.
The theology of the Salvation Army is mainstream Methodist although it is distinctive in government and practice. The Army’s doctrine follow mainstream Christian beliefs, and its articles of faith emphasis God’s "saving purposes". Its objects are "the advancement of the Christian religion… of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole."
5 They crush your people, O Lord; they oppress your inheritance. 6 They slay the widow and the alien; they murder the fatherless.
God sees the oppression of the widow, the alien, the orphan and He ministers to these people through us. What is our part in this ministry?
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Do you know of oppressed widows or orphans or any who are distressed or depressed? I know of some. What do you think we should do about them? How should we allow God to minister to them through us?
III. GOD BLESSES THE HUMBLE
12 Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord,
the man you teach from your law;
13 you grant him relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
Blessed is the man. Who is the blessed man or woman? God has pronounced His blessing on His people in many ways.
Job 5:17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
We must humble ourselves and allow God to correct our lives and then the blessing comes.
Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
If we delight in studying God’s Word and stay away from the wicked of this world we will be blessed!
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
If we make God our hiding place, our place of security, etc. we will be blessed by Him.
Psalm 40:4 “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.”
If we put our trust in the Lord and not ourselves or not anyone or anything else, we will be blessed by God.
Psalm 41:1 “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.”
Oh wow! If we remember the weak by helping them we will be blessed! Most people are selfish, but when we think of others and try to help others we will be blessed by God.
Psalm 89:15 “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.”
Blessed are those who praise God continually! The more the praise, the greater the blessing.
Psalm 112:1 “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.”
ILL.- Omar Sharif, is an 80 year old actor from Egypt, best known for his part as Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia and the title role in Doctor Zhivago. In 2004 he played the part of a Sheik in the movie Hidalgo about an American cowboy, Frank Hopkins, who went to Arabia with his mustang horse in 1890 to compete in a deadly cross desert horse race of 3,000 miles called the “Ocean of Fire.” Did you ever see it?
Every time Frank Hopkins met with the Sheik he made such a good impression on him, the Sheik would pronounce a blessing on him, saying, “Blessed be thee.”
I assume that was his way of giving a Muslim blessing. I thought it was quite interesting, but I doubted and still doubt it’s effect because there is only one true and living God who blesses people. And it’s the reason why we say, “God bless you!” And hopefully, we all desire God’s blessing on our lives and there is only one way. And I love to leave people, saying, “The Lord bless you!” BLESSED BE THEE.
The scripture simply indicates this: If we seek Him, seek His will, seek to do His will, read His Word, follow His word, humble ourselves always before Him, allow Him to direct us and discipline us, HE WILL BLESS US!
CONCLUSION----------------
God avenges for evil done by people. God looks out for the oppressed widows, the poor, the orphans. And God blesses those who seek Him, know Him and do His will.
I Peter 3:8-9 “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”
God desires to bless us but this will only happen if we humble ourselves and do things His way in life.
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
