| “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! (Psalm 67:4-5 ESV) God will “judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.” Do the nations want His guidance? Do the people want to be judged? The nations and the people do not really want divine guidance; they who openly seek to free themselves from it are all fallen, sinful people. None of us want the Lord’s guidance. We deserve His just judgment against sin, but we do not want to admit that either. Yet God is the Creator and Lord of all nations and He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV). The truth that God wants us to know is truth for all nations. It is the truth of salvation through faith in Jesus. God loves the world and the people He made. He sent His Son to be the Savior of all people, but when Jesus was born and lived among us, many people did not want God’s guidance. Kings and rulers set themselves against the Messiah. The nations raged and the people plotted “against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us'” (Psalm 2:2b-3 ESV). Seeking to free themselves from the cords of God’s loving guidance and the bonds of His just judgment, they plotted against the Son of God and delivered Him up to be crucified. Yet this was all part of God’s design for our salvation, His plan established before the foundation of the world. Jesus suffered and died on the cross. The wrath of God, His just judgment against the sins of all nations, fell on His Son. By His death, Jesus atoned “for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2b ESV). “Let all the peoples praise You, O God!” Our psalm is a call to repentance and praise, telling us to place our trust and hope in the God who judges with equity, the God whose judgment fell, for the sake of our salvation, on His own Son. Our crucified and risen Savior is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus reigns now over all nations and guides all things according to His will. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18b ESV). With that authority He commands us to proclaim the Good News of salvation to all nations, for the day is coming when the King of kings will return in glory to judge the nations. On that great day, all people will bow before Him and all who trust in Him will be glad and sing for joy! We Pray: Jesus, You are King of kings and Lord of lords. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen. This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on Ma7 15, 2022 Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved Reflection Questions: 1. Which is easier—judgment or forgiveness? Why? 2. Why would we want to praise God for His fair judgment of the world? 3. How does knowing God’s just judgment fell on Jesus—and not us—give you reason to thank and praise Him? |
