/Judge me Yahweh, for I myself, in my integrity, have walked; and in
Yahweh I have trusted, not shaken.Test me, Yahweh, and try me; test me
by fire according to my gut and my heart. For Your loving-kindness is in
front of my eyes; and I walk in Your truth. I don't sit with worthless
people; or with young men who desire woe. I won't put up with an
assembly of evil ones; and with the guilty I will not sit. I wash, in
innocence, my hands; and I go around Your altar, Yahweh. To listen in a
sound of a thanksgiving song. Yahweh, I love the habitation of Your
house; and the place of the dwelling of Your glory. Do not gather with
sinners, my soul; nor with men of blood, my life. Which in whose
hands–evil plans; and their right hands filled with bribes. Yet I myself
in integrity I walk; ransom me and be gracious to me. My foot stands on
a level place; in the congregation I will bless Yahweh. /
How many of us, as April 15th approaches, would send an email to the IRS
saying: "Audit me!"? How many of us, when applying for a new job would
demand of your potential employer: "Investigate me!"? How many of us,
when borrowing money from a friend would insist: "Credit-check me!".
None of us in our right minds would make such a request, since nothing
good would come of it, and the potential for bad news would be great.
But that's just what King David does, telling God "Judge me!"
What is so bizarre about David's request is that he had much that God
could judge against him. He was a coveter, a liar, an adulterer, and a
murderer. And that was just one situation! David would appear to be a
fool to call God's judgment upon him...but he does it anyway! Perhaps
because David had learned a thing or two about God's judgment. David had
already received it, and he lived! His soul survived, although as a soul
survivor, he didn't win $1 million from CBS television.
With utmost confidence, David calls upon God to judge him, because he
has been a recipient of what God does. David had failed to outlast,
outwit, and outplay his competition. But David's failures didn't matter,
and he knew that. He appeals to God's judgment not on the basis of
David's merit, but on the basis of God's grace, on His loving-kindness,
in confidence that God would ransom his soul and save his life. He is
perfectly willing to be tested & tried because David relies only on
God's true promises.
This is precisely why Jesus came into the world the first time. For
judgment. "But Pastor, isn't His 2nd coming the one that has to do with
judgment?" Yes that is when we will be judged, but because of this first
day of judgment Christ brought to earth, the next judgment day for us is
a slam dunk! For Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world, when
the ruler of this world will be cast out!" Jesus came to judge the devil
and set you free from his evil grip of temptation, once and for all!
But that's not all Jesus came to do for you. He came to be "lifted up"
in death on a +. In this manner, Jesus passionate suffering & death
would draw all to Himself. By doing so, Jesus took the judgment of
condemnation you deserved, and in turn, gives to you the innocent
judgment He alone earned. You go around the Lord's altar today for the
payment for your verdict of innocence. You dine today on His body given
unto death, and His blood willingly shed for you at the + of Calvary as
that price.
So it surely sounds like God's judgment is not an altogether bad thing
at all! Well, it is, and it isn't. For God's judgment is like a double
edged sword, separating out the good from the bad. While it separates
out Jesus as worthy of condemnation & death as David's substitute sinner
and yours, it also separates us out with David as those declared
righteous, innocent & blessed by the gifted-status of Jesus Himself. For
such a judgment, we cry out with King David, "Judge me!"
Or at least we should. But all too often we don't. Maybe you think it's
all too good to be true, and expect you may miss out on the good
judgment, and get the bad one instead. Or perhaps you too quickly forget
about God's mercy, striving & struggling to earn God's favorable
judgment by what you do, only to fail in the end. You may even assume
that there is guilt by association, that you are somehow tainted by
unbelievers & worldly people you deal with each & every week.
But don't be so dismayed, for the loving-kindness of God is right before
your eyes here as you inhabit God's house. You have been washed in
innocence at the baptismal font, cleansed from all your unrighteousness
by Jesus Himself! You walk in His word of gospel truth which frees you
from sin so that you may go about in the liberty of grace! For Jesus has
ransomed you at the + with His very life-blood which God's Law demanded.
This is His judgment which judges you worthy of life eternal.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
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