DCLM Daily Manna Friday 17 February 2023
TOPIC: Judgment and Justice
Text: 2 Chronicles 6:22-31 (KJV)
22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
KEY VERSE: “Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.” (2 Chronicles 6:23)
DCLM Daily Manna Friday 17 February 2023 MESSAGE
William Shakespeare once wrote a poem about the divine justice of God in contrast with men’s justice. “May one be pardoned, and retain the offence? In the corrupted currents of this world, offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice. And oft ‘tis seen the wicked prize itself buys out the law. But ‘tis not so above. There is no shuffling, there the action lies in his true nature”. How poignant!
Here, we read of the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem by King Solomon. He called on God to hear the prayers of the people and to forgive and restore the repentant so that the people might fear Him and walk in His ways. He specifically requested that God requite the wicked and justify the righteous.
Judgment is consistent with love. A God of love must be a God of justice. His justice balances His love and makes His acts meaningful. The world is corrupt and polluted with sin. For a long time, God had regretted that He had made man on the earth. Every imagination of man’s heart had been evil continually. Will man continue in his wilful disobedience and rebellion against God? No, for “…He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness…” (Acts 17:31).
In justice and righteousness will Christ judge all ungodly deeds of men: secret sins, every idle words such as gossip, backbiting and slander; all foolish and non-edifying corrupt practices. God’s judgment will be without partiality or respect of persons. He will judge the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the highly respected and the most despised.
The God of justice will receive no bribe to pervert judgment on the great day. Fortunately, true believers whose names are written in the Book of Life will not face the judgment since their judgment has already taken place at the point of salvation and their sins cleansed by Christ.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God justifies the just and judges the unjust.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 2-4
