Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.  For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.  Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.  May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them? This is the glory of all his saints.  Praise the LORD. (NIV)

As we study God’s Word some concepts are hard for us to understand.  As I study the attributes of God and focus on His goodness and kindness as well as His great mercies that He has impart not only on my behalf but on to all who call on his name, it sometimes becomes difficult for me to picture God as One who will inflict vengeance and carry out the punishment of the sentence that is written against the those that have not called upon his name.   Thankfully for me the message I must give to the world is not this message of the future judgment of God against the wicked of this world, but a new song a message of a way of salvation to all who will believe.  As I study these verses I must realize that there will be a time of judgment ahead, but until then there is hope for anyone that still wants to come to Him.  In Jude’s book (the second to the last bible of the Bible) in verses twenty-one through twenty-four we are told to keep ourselves in the love of God and have mercy on those who doubt.  So when I am confronted by others to explain how a loving God could be such a God of vengeance I will explain to them that I am only beginning to understand the workings of God and that some concept about God is still beyond my understanding.  I can compare my understanding of the complete nature of God to that of a 3rd grader’s understanding of calculus.  Some things are just beyond my understanding.  However, by reading Psalm ten I get a picture of how wicked the evil man truly can be.

This psalm ends with a plea for God to arise and take action against the wicked and evil man and call him into account for what he has done.  Then this happens to the evil it will become the glory of all his saints.  This day will come when the Lord returns.  Why the delay?  Peter answers this in II Peter chapter three “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.    How then should we live “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you”.

But why don’t the wicked see their coming judgment?  The answer can be found in Psalm fourteen, Psalm fifty-three, and Romans chapter three.