Journaling through Psalms 58 | The true judge

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalm 58:1-2, 11

There are some psalms in which every verse is a comfort. And then there are others that show the pain and frustration of the psalm writer.

What’s incredible about studying the psalms is that it’s a reflection of the ups and downs in our lives, even for us today – and we can talk to God about any and all of it!

This psalm starts with a question: do the authorities of the earth judge correctly? In other words, do we look to what is on earth to be the final and most trustworthy execution of justice?

We already know the answer. It hasn’t changed from when this psalm was written.

No, we don’t.

But it’s not hopeless.

Because there is a Judge who is himself blameless, whose hearts devises no wrongs but only good, and who made the earth and said it was good.

And this Judge is not only willing to give us justice in its purest form, that is all he will allow.

So when things get hard in our lives, when we seem to be praying prayers like this psalmist, complaining to God when life is all mixed up and evil seems to reign… we can similarly end our prayer with confidence, like in Psalm 58.

“There is a God who judges on earth.”

God is true and just and right. His ways are higher than our ways. He is above all. And he has the final word.

No matter what happens on earth, God will right every wrong. Even if he has to take the punishment on himself to make us right before him.

This is from the Psalms (part I) journal, a study of different prayers to God. Enjoy studying all psalms with both parts of our Bible study journals!

Shop: https://www.evergreencypress.com/shop/p/psalm-i-journal