The Supreme Judge Is Worthy Of Worship

“O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (NIV).

Unlike in America, here in Asia the verdict in court is decided by the judge, not by the jury. But our judges have limited power to execute their judgment. God as the Supreme Judge does not only give the verdict, but He also execute or implement His decision – “will you not execute judgment upon them?” (NRSV.)

We read Psalm 7:11-17:

“God is a righteous judge,

a God who expresses his wrath every day.

If he does not relent,

he will sharpen his sword;

he will bend and string his bow.

He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he makes ready his flaming arrows.

He who is pregnant with evil

and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.

He who digs a hole and scoops it out

falls into the pit he has made.

The trouble he causes recoils on himself;

his violence comes down on his own head.

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness

and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. “

The psalmist declared that God is a righteous Judge and He is able and ready to enforce His verdict – His wrath accumulated daily – for the unrepentant: “He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.”

And He will surely carry out His verdict in the days ahead. “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thess. 1:6-10).

Peter also wrote, “… the Lord knows … how to … hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. ...They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done” (2 Peter 2:9-10, 13).

Even in the past, as the Righteous Judge, God implemented His judgment. According to 2 Peter 2, “…God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;… he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,… he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (verses 4-6).

And because He is the only Judge who can execute His judgment, what “a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (Heb. 10:27)! We also read in verse 31, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

While a human judge could be bribed and the guilty could avoid the punishment, the Righteous Judge rules or decides and implements with equity (Psalm 96:10) – He accepts no bribe. “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes” (Deut 10:17).

While a human judge relies on the mountain of evidence and the number and credibility of witnesses, the Supreme Judge does “not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (Isa. 11:3-4).

Consider the verdict of the Great Judge against those who will try to present their “evidence.” Read Matt 7:22-23, “Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Concrete evidence will not save anyone from His condemnation. He based is verdict on “the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Cor. 4:3-5).

“All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD” (Prov. 16:2). King David told his son, Solomon: “…for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts” (1 Chron. 28:9).

Indeed, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). And the Judge knows “that every inclination of the thoughts of his (man’s) heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5).