I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. (Ps 7:17, NIV)
YouTube is a fascinating platform because it exposes you to so many weird and wonderful things around the world. For example, I now know how to divert a tiger shark if it is coming towards me; you simply push its nose in another direction, simple as. I have also been exposed to how to cook the perfect steak; simply dig a hole in the ground, put some coals in there and throw it in the hole for a good eight hours or so, simple! So many interesting things that I never would have discovered without random clips being thrown at me. But something really caught my attention the other day, and that is the particular footage of a court hearing where a judge heard the case of a man who was in his 90s. What was his crime? He broke the law by speeding in a school zone. Now what caught my attention was that the man was let off by the judge because he told him he was taking his son (who was 63) to go get blood work because he has cancer. A tragic story indeed, but what was so fascinating was that the judge declared this man who broke the law, a good man, and what America is all about… but wait!?! What about the crime that he committed? What about the speeding through a school zone? What about the children that were put in danger by someone who ignored the law? What about the son who was shown by his dad to ignore the road rules? And yes though the story is sad, people are praising this judge because he pushed the law completely to the side in order to not allow the consequences to bare. So this begs the question; is this a good judge? Well no not really as he didn’t uphold the law.
King David writes of a very different judge and His name is YHWH (the LORD), who as we read about through the Psalms is not only the judge of his people but the judge of the entire world (Ps 7:8). Now this judge is different because not only is he totally just, but incredibly can see into the very thoughts and intentions of the heart (Ps 7:9b). So what we have is a judge that doesn’t look only to the outward actions, but to the seat, the factory if you will, of where outward actions are created. Now what is fascinating about Psalm 7 is that David praises God that he judges all those who are “pregnant with evil, who conceive trouble and give birth to dissolutionment” (Ps 7:14 c.f. Jam 1:13-15), but isn’t that exactly what David went on to do with his life? Did he not lust for another man’s wife? Did he not have that woman’s husband murdered? Did he not lie to his people? Well, the answer is yes and so by David’s very own revelation of God, he himself stands totally and utterly condemned before the judge of all peoples (Ps 7:17). Now as we know David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14). So would it have been right for God to say, don’t worry about the crime, humans always make mistakes, you’re a good man and you’re what makes Israel great? Absolutely not! The law had been broken and a just judge upholds the law. So what’s the solution?
The solution came in the Son of the judge. You see for justice to really not be compromised, it can never ever be pushed to the side. When the law is broken, justice must be served otherwise damage is done against righteousness. But the problem is, as we have seen in David’s example, not even he could stand before the judge of all the Earth totally pure in all his actions (Ps 7:8) and so for God to remain just, the penalty for law breaking had to be paid and that’s exactly what happened in the person of Jesus Christ. You see, we are told in the gospel that Jesus was born of a woman under the law (Gal 4:4), meaning he was subject to the law, but incredibly he never once broke the law (Heb 4:15). Now remember God is the judge of the thoughts and intentions as well as the actions, so that means Jesus never broke the law in thought or deed; Incredible. But this is where things become even more inconceivable. We are taught by the apostles that Christ’s perfect standing before God is transferred to our account when we trust in him (Rom 10:13, 2 Cor 5:21). Now that’s inconceivable because it means that when we stand before the judge of the whole world, who will judge the living and the dead, who will judge the thoughts, intentions and actions of all people (Ps 96:13), because we have the transferred righteousness of the one who never broke the law, we do and will stand before the judge guiltless. That is how a just judge upholds the law. The penalty must be paid, but because of his compassion and love for his people, the judge sent his son into this world, and it is the son who is paid the price for you and I (Jn 3:16-18).