O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are but a breath.
Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
and whom you teach out of your law,
to give him rest from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will wipe them out.
Gracious God and Heavenly Father,
Injustice is rampant in the world. Gang rule in Haiti, political opposition murdered in Russia, kidnappings of Christians in Nigeria, a decline in civility and kindness even in our own small towns. Those who don’t believe in you and who carry out all sorts of wicked deeds are to be pitied, for they are not safe. A day of judgement will come and all their evil deeds will be exposed and they will have to account for them. But we are safe, LORD, in your hands.
God’s people are blessed with the robes of righteousness of Jesus to cover their sins and with the presence of the Holy Spirit to sustain them in times of trouble, anxiety and persecution. By the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we know that death and sin have been conquered and that ultimately your perfect justice will be done and all will be made right again. Let us remember that any suffering we face is a part of God’s perfect plan and that it can be a blessing by bringing us into a closer communion with our Lord. Let us therefore put all our trust in our loving and just triune God to the glory of his holy name.
AMEN