“Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts! But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!” Psalm 125:4-5 ESV
Reflection: who does God favor?
The topic of fairness under the law, or that “all are equal under the law”, has been actively discussed in recent years. It seems like some people get an advantage, somehow, a lighter treatment for breaking the law, than others. That there are certain privileged groups, might be economic status, gender, race, political affiliation, or whatever, where the law doesn’t seem to apply in the same way as for the rest. Actions, even crimes, are excused, given an explanation, rather than properly dealt with and punished. And, sadly we know that communities, counties, cannot stand where that takes place, as we can see throughout history. What will happen is that any group being suppressed will ultimately rise up, leading to some internal conflict. Leading to change. Rules have to apply equally for a community to function. Now, if this is true in the world,
Do rules apply equally also in the kingdom of heaven?
Within the Christian community, we sometimes hear that some have a privilege with God. That God favors some people. But is that assumption correct? Today’s psalm helps us answer that question. Let’s read it from the beginning. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.” Psalm 125:1-3 ESV. Already from the very beginning of this psalm, we see a condition set, of who receives benefit from the Lord. Do you see it? It says here,
“Those who trust in the Lord”
receive His favor. Those are the ones who “are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” Notice that there is no reference here to the typical groups we often hear within the world, of economic status, of race, gender, etc, but only of those who trust in the Lord. As we read on, we see the following statement in v2, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.” So, let’s again consider, who are “His people”? We saw in v1 that it is only those who trusts in the Lord, right? But, this is even further qualified as we read on, the focus verses today.
“Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts! But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!” Psalm 125:4-5 ESV. Again, we see a very different separation here, between those who are “upright in their hearts”, versus those who “turn aside to their crooked ways”. Even back then, the psalmist wrote for the Lord to deal with evildoers among the nation. So that they could have a functioning society, based on the laws of the Lord. They faced the same challenges we face today. We need to rid society of wickedness, of evil.
And we see the same message from Jesus, where He called people to repent of their wrongdoing and wickedness, and turn to God. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”” Mark 1:14-15 ESV. The message wasn’t to a privileged few, but to all. “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16 ESV. The message is to all God’s creation.
The only separation God will make is based on what is in a man’s heart.