Who is the Judge?

I am not into politics or likely to get into a political debate. This does not mean that I do not care, because I do. I am worried about our country and I am worried about who will be the next President. However, I am doing what I can do: praying for the outcome. Praying that God will give us all wisdom as we consider who to elect as our next President. Everyone has an opinion on who is best and most people have a lot to say about the candidates that are running. All you have to do is turn on the news or scroll through Facebook to see what people have to say. People are lashing out in anger and saying lots of things about the candidates. This reminded me about a passage in John 8 where a woman was caught in adultery. The law in that time was that the woman was to be stoned to death. As the people questioned Jesus He said to them, "Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." The people began to slowly go away, Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" to which the woman replied, "No one, sir." Jesus said to her, "Then neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

As we are tempted to judge the people and their actions around us, I want to remind us all, that we are not the judge and jury of others, only God is.

I was reading my devotions this morning and I came across a VERY timely message from the Psalms, which we can apply to the political situation we are currently facing. This next portion of this blog is taken from Warren Wiersbe's commentary entitled Be Exultant.

In Psalm 94 we can see that few problems cause God's people to question His rule more than "Why do the helpless and the godly suffer and the wicked get away with their crimes?" This Psalm (94) teaches us that the righteous have four responsibilities:

1) Praying to the Lord for Justice (vv.1-7) God's requirement for His people is that they "do justly...love mercy, and...walk humbly with their God" (Micah 6:8), for the lord loves justice and hears the prayers of those who have been treated unjustly. Since the Lord is omniscient, He is able to judge motives as well as actions that deal with situations and people justly (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 32:34, 41; Rom. 12:17-21; Heb. 10:30-31). We want the Lord to act immediately, but He is gracious and longsuffering (Ex.34:6-7), and we must walk by faith (Luke 18:1-8). The wicked convince themselves that God does not see their evil deeds (v.7), but He does!

2) Warning the Wicked of Their Danger (vv. 8-11) After praying to the Lord, we must confront the wicked with the truth, as the Lord gives us opportunity. If God is able to rule the nations by His providential decrees (Acts 17:24-28), is He unable to deal with a band of wicked officials who are breaking His law and exploiting His people? The subversive plans and plots of these evil leaders cannot be hidden from the Lord, nor will they go unpunished. Paul quoted this verse in 1 Corinthians 3:20 to warn church leaders in Corinth not to try to guide the church using the world's wisdom, but to rely only on the wisdom of God found in Scripture-the gold, silver, and precious stones (Proverbs 2:1-4; 3:13-15; 8:10-11, 18-19).

3) Accepting God's Discipline (vv. 12-15) The psalmist recognized the fact that the difficulties of life could help him mature in his faith. If God immediately rescued His people from their personal difficulties, they would become "spoiled brats" and never grow in faith or character. There is coming a time of judgment, but the Lord will spare His people from it. The psalmist believed in the justice of God, the future judgment of the wicked, and the promise of a righteous kingdom for the upright in heart.

4) Working with God for Justice (vv. 16-23) The psalmist  was experiencing the devious plots of the evil leaders and cried out to God for help. He knew the judges were twisting the law to exploit the poor (v.20), and he was slipping into a deep and dangerous situation.

In evil days, we give thanks that we have the Lord as our refuge and fortress. But we hid in Him, not that we may escape responsibility, but that we might be equipped to go forth and fight the enemy. 

In the end it is the Lord who knows the hearts of people and who will judge justly.-Warren Wiersbe

As I was typing this I also thought of a quote from Ann Voskamp, that states: 

"The hard things will be for good, the good things will be forever, the best things are forthcoming."

Remember who the Judge is, accept that He knows best and let him who is without sin cast the first stone to those you are wanting to judge. I make mistakes, I mess up and I would not want the whole world talking trash about me, think before you speak (or type).