Upon His Holiness

“And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.” (Ps 143:2-3 AV)

Verse two seems like it is ethically out of sorts with verse three.  What we know of David’s humility and righteousness seems to go contrary to two-fold request.  It may seem as though David is asking the LORD to judge his enemies, but not judge him.  This is contrary to what we know of his humility.  This isn’t it at all, though.  What David is asking is the LORD to judge his enemies, but not by the standard of what righteousness he may have.  He has none.  He is not asking the LORD to consider his righteousness and their guilt as the basis of His judgment.  What he is asking is actually the opposite.  He is asking the LORD to judge his enemies on the basis of God’s standard of righteousness and holiness, not David’s.  He is seeking God’s intervention, not because he feels he has earned it.  Quite the opposite.  He is asking for the LORD to exercise divine righteousness in spite of the fact that David has not earned it.  This is profound.

As is my habit, I look up program content before I select it for viewing.  I don’t want to be surprised by something I should not be viewing.  There are several apps that are great in letting the viewer know what he or she might be exposed to long before it happens.  Even by episode.  One such review mentioned an immoral act portrayed in one of its scenes.  This was supposedly in a PG-13 rated TV series.  Upon reading it, I was repulsed.  Part of me wanted the LORD to judge all this.  But then, we read of the verses above and wonder of the motive.  Do I want judgment because I do not participate in such wickedness and it repulses me?  Do I want judgment because I think such behavior is disgusting and comparing it to what I would not do, find it worthy of judgment?  Or, do I wish for the judgment of God on sin, not because of what little righteousness I possess through Christ, but more to the point, because God’s glory depends upon it?

If the truth be known, we all deserve the severe wrath of God on our souls.  Every one of us.  There are no exceptions.  We all deserve the judgment of God.  We are all disgusting.  We are all vile.  None of us would stand.  What we are seeing in these two verses is the desire for God’s judgment, not because of some elevated sense of self-righteousness, but because God is holy and we are not.  The motive here is the point.  We should desire the return of the Lord Jesus Christ because He is God and deserving of holiness and worship.  We should desire the righteousness of God so that He can be vindicated.  We are nothing.  We do not deserve and of God’s grace.  Let judgment come because God is just.  Not because we might think we are just.