Does God Care About Judging Evil?
Sermon Notes
Remember – the opposite of faith and humility is pride (2.4,5).
Though God will use evil to punish evil, He will not allow any evil to remain unpunished and unjudged.
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very memory of them has perished.
But the LORD abides forever;
He has established His throne for judgment,
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity (Psalm 9.5-8).
The 5 “Woes” of God’s Judgment
1. “Woe” to the greedy (6-8)
6 "Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him,
Even mockery and insinuations against him
And say, "Woe to him who increases what is not his --
For how long --
And makes himself rich with loans?'
7 "Will not your creditors rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
8 "Because you have looted many nations,
All the remainder of the peoples will loot you --
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
2. “Woe” to the dishonest exploitation of others (9-11)
9 "Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house
To put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of calamity!
10 "You have devised a shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are sinning against yourself.
11 "Surely the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the framework.
3. “Woe” to the violent and the unjust – the slave-driver (12-14)
12 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with violence!
13 "Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts
That peoples toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?
14 "For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
4. “Woe” to the immoral and sensual (15-17)
15 "Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
16 "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness.
The cup in the LORD'S right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 "For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
5. “Woe” to the idolatrous (18-20)
18 "What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,
Or an image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, "Awake!'
To a mute stone, "Arise!'
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
20 "But the LORD is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him."
Some Applications
1. Live your life well and deal with your sin.
Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad
(2 Corinthians 5.9-10).
2. Life by faith and in humility when you don’t understand the work of God.
3. God is not offended when we come to Him with our questions.
4. God’s plan will be fulfilled and His Word is true – trust Him.
5. Be alert as to how He works out His will through difficulties – He is.
6. Reach out to others who are going through challenges and difficulties.
7. If you have never trusted Christ’s life, His death, and His resurrection for you and your sin, will your place your faith and trust in Him today?
LOVE well – INVEST well – FOLLOW well – ENGAGE well!