Today on Pastor’s Chat, I want to highlight a wonderful
ministry that I’ve been privileged to be a part of for now over 20 years. My
son, Jonathan Grooms and myself co-founded Global Partners in Peace and
Development as a humanitarian non-profit organization to give God’s care to the
orphan, the widows, the refugee, and the helpless and hopeless dear people of
the world that the Lord leads us to help.
Today, I will be playing in our annual golf tournament at
Ashley Plantation in Daleville, VA that has raised thousands of dollars over
the years for all the above projects. All event proceeds and donations to the
Chip in Fore Children Tournament today will support the Rév family in Haiti!
Rév means "dream" in Haitian Creole. The Rév family helps 21 children
and youth to not just survive but thrive as they gain skills to transition into
teen years and adulthood. If you would like to make a donation, please go this
link, https://www.gpartners.org/golf and
click on the “Give Now” button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks so much
for your prayers and support!
In Psalm 94, the unknown writer deals with the seeming
triumph of the wicked and the unjust treatment of the helpless. But it is not
foreign conquerors who were guilty, but the leaders of the nation cooperating
with the local judges. Even the king was abusing the people by issuing unjust
edicts (v. 20). Perhaps the psalm came out of the sufferings of the godly
during the reign of wicked King Manasseh (2 Kings 21), whom the Lord blamed for
the destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:1-4). But why is this psalm included
in the section that magnifies the kingship of the Lord (Psalms 93-100)? Because
few problems cause God's people to question His rule more than, "Why do
the helpless and the godly suffer and the wicked get away with their
crimes?" When it comes to dealing with the injustices in society, Psalm 94
teaches us that the righteous have four responsibilities.
First in verses 1-7, we are to pray and cry out to the Lord
for Justice. God's requirement for His people is that they "do
justly... love mercy, and... walk humbly with [their] God" (Mic. 6:8),
for the Lord loves justice (Psalms 33:5; 37:28) and He hears the prayers of
those who have been treated unjustly (Ex. 22:26-27; Deut. 24:14-15; James
5:1-4). The word "vengeance" is often misinterpreted to mean
"revenge" or "being vindictive," as though God were having
a temper tantrum, but "to avenge" means to uphold the law and give
justice to those who have been wronged. Since the Lord is omniscient, He is
able to judge motives as well as actions and deal with situations and people
justly (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 32:35, 41; Rom. 12:17-21; Heb. 10:30-31). He is the
Judge of all the earth (58:11; 82:8) and always does what is right (Gen.
18:25). "Shine forth," means "show yourself, reveal your power
and glory" (50:2; 80:1; Deut. 33:2; Hab. 3:1-5).
We want the Lord to act immediately (v. 3), but He is
gracious and longsuffering (Ex. 34:6-7) and we must walk by faith (Luke
18:1-8). The proud and arrogant "belch out" evil words and commit
evil deeds, and the godly can do nothing to stop them. We need to remember that
orphans, widows, and aliens in the land were under the special care of the Lord
(Psalms 68:5-6; 146:9; Ex. 22:20-24; Deut. 10:18-19; 14:28-29; 24:17-18;
26:12-13; 27:19; Isa. 1:17; 7:6; 22:3). The helpless are God's covenant people
and He is Jehovah—the LORD—a name used nine times in this psalm (vv. 1, 3,
5,11, 14,17, 18, 22, 23). The wicked convince themselves that God does not see
their evil deeds (v. 7), but He does!
Are you praying for God’s justice for the orphans, the
widows, the sexually exploited children, the refugees, the persecuted
believers, and the hopeless precious people in our world today? Are you doing
anything to assist them?
God bless!
