Psalm 82

Have you seen the old movies?

A noble king dressed in red?

A towering throne made of gold?

Throngs of knights and noblemen fill a massive room? They line the edges of a marble floor. They form a gleaming pathway that leads straight to the foot of the king.

That's what I saw immediately when I read the first words of today's Psalm. And I thought, "1 heaven's court" is the place where God reigns! Saints and angels line the marble pathway, and I'm being ushered forward. I'm about to get knighted."

Yes, that's a little proud and presumptuous, but that's the scene I playing in my mind like glorious old movie flickering in technicolor.

But then I remember other old movies. Sometimes knights and noblemen watch as the newest knight is ushered forward. Other times the royal court watches as criminals are marched up the same marble pathway in dark and heavy chains. From the very same chair, the very same king pronounces some noble and just and other guilty and condemned.

Therefore, it didn't take long for my joyful thoughts of "1 heaven's courts" to dissolve into stormy clouds of "1 judgment." Soon other movies began to fill flicker through my mind. Have you seen the one where there's a nefarious plot against the good king ... an evil monarch seizes control and corruption reigns in every corner of every town?

Have you seen that movie? What is our obvious hope throughout the film? Justice! We want evil to be deposed and the rightful king to return to the throne. We yearn for "1 judgment on the judges 2 [who] shower special favors on the wicked," right?

Because "all [of us] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:22), we chafe at the word "1 judgment." A natural part of us ought to worry about whether we'll cross that marble floor in heavy chains or in towering hope. When we bow before the throne will we be gloriously knighted or eternally condemned? Therefore, "judgment" is always an uncomfortable word.

But think of the alternative to a God who is just. Do you want a King who is ... Corrupt? Fickle? Uncaring? Distant and detached?

The fact is that an evil king has grabbed the throne. Sin is a pretender king, and everyday it seeks to rule the world and govern our hearts. We ought to cheer constantly -- and pray continually (1 Thes 5:17) -- for the God who is just to ascend to the throne in every heart and be given more honor in our broken world. But we "5 are [still] in darkness [and] the whole world is [still] shaken to the core."

Now we know how the movie ends.

Evil nailed the Good King to the cross. Fortunately, the Good King has escaped the chains of imprisonment and death. In one sense, the Good King is already and absolutely on the throne. As long as the Good King is alive, there is no other king! But sin still pretends. And until the "clouds [are] rolled back like a scroll" and the end-of-the-movie credits roll, we're part of an ongoing movie where corruption still pretends to the throne. Will we side with the Good King and justice ... or with the sin and corruption?

We're still writing that script.

Gracious Lord,

help me turn away from sin

and turn toward you and life,

and help me be an instrument of your kingdom
by "3 uphold[ing] the rights of the oppressed and the destitute

rather than "2 shower[ing] special favors on the wicked?"

"8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth."