The Treatment Of The Righteous

The Treatment of the Righteous

Psalm 94:12-23

Good morning,

Jesus, speaking to the religious leaders of His time said…

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

John 5:40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. NKJV

Henry Blackaby said, “Bible study will not give you eternal life.

You could memorize the entire Bible and be able to discuss minute issues of biblical scholarship and yet fail to experience the truths found in its pages.

It is a subtle temptation to prefer the book to the Author. A book will not confront you about your sin, the Author will.

Books can be ignored; it is much harder to avoid the Author when He is seeking a relationship with you.

Can you imagine yourself knowing all that God has promised to do in your life but then turning to something else instead?

You may be tempted to turn to substitutes. These substitutes aren’t necessarily bad things. They might include serving in the church, doing good deeds, or reading Christian books.

No amount of Christian activity will ever replace your relationship with Jesus.

“Never become satisfied with religious activity rather than a personal, vibrant, and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Please open your Bibles to Psalm 94 as we continue that survey.

The psalmist begins Psalm 94 by speaking about the evil-doers and their oppression of the righteous but soon the writer teaches how the Lord is sovereign and in control of everything.

It seems that all of the attention was on the evil and the proud as the writer asked the LORD for vengeance, but soon the psalmist’s attention is turned to the treatment of God’s people.

The psalmist proclaims the LORD’s divine sovereignty and that leads him to appeal to the LORD as the great Judge of the earth.

The writer also proclaims confidence in the LORD and tells his readers about the present and future triumph of God.

In the midst of this confidence of victory, the writer describes the happy follower of the LORD, is the person who realizes that LORD corrects His children, because of His great love for us.

I. The LORD trains His people.

Read Psalm 94:12

We have learned before, that blessed means, “oh how happy”.

Allow me to read vs. 12 in the New American Standard Version.

Psalm 94:12 Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD, and whom You teach out of Your law; NASU

This word chasten translated from the Hebrew language (yasar), can mean to instruct but it also means to discipline, correct, teach, or reprove.

There is a huge difference between discipline and punishment.

The root word for punishment is punitive which means to inflict harm as a way of revenge. The root word for discipline means to disciple or to teach.

God does not “punish” His children for wrong choices and sin, because our punishment for sin was laid upon Jesus on the Cross

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him (Messiah) the iniquity of us all. NKJV

When we give our lives to Christ, who is our Substitute for sin, our sin is forgiven and as the Book of Hebrews says, God remembers our sin no more.

Contrast the idea of chastening or discipline with what the psalmist said earlier in this chapter.

Psalm 94:1 LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs — O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

Psalm 94:2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. NKJV

The LORD will punish (punitive) His enemies, but He will chasten (disciple) those whom He loves.

All true believers love to serve the LORD when everything seems to be going our way but a lot of us don’t like it when the LORD corrects us.

Solomon said in Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction.

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights. NKJV

Hard times can test our faith and character, and ultimately it reveals whether we trust God and what we believe about Him.

Like the old saying, suffering can make us bitter or better.

Suffering can also cause us to come to some false conclusions about why God allows them to happen within our lives.

Wiersbe said, “Chastening is the evidence of the Father’s love. Satan wants us to believe that the difficulties of life are proof that God does not love us, but just the opposite is true.”

Sometimes the Lord shows His love by allowing some physical suffering, but whatever our situation, we can be sure His chastening comes from His loving heart.