Psalm 9:13-20

13 Lord, have mercy on me. See how my enemies torment me. Snatch me back from the jaws of death.
14 Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem’s gates, so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The Lord is known for his justice. The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
17 The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
18 But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed. 19 Arise, O Lord! Do not let mere mortals defy you! Judge the nations!
20 Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know they are merely human.

It's been called "poetic justice". Virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct.

As we we conclude the psalm that began yesterday we see the notion clearly. And it all begins with the notion that "the Lord is known for His justice". So...what else would we expect? David tells us "the nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set. The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. The wicked will go down to the grave." It is as it should be.

Justice is an important principle. Mostly in the fact that the wicked can then never say "the devil made me do it". They rise and fall on the strength of their own conduct.

Have you ever heard a non-believer complain that a "loving God" would never condemn people? Well...this is true. It's just that non-believers fail to understand the notion of "poetic justice", better known as "divine justice". People condemn themselves by their own actions. We are not to relish the thought...its just the way God has created the world. "What goes around comes around", "we reap what we sow."

The converse is true as well. God will not ignore the travails of the righteous. " the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed."

So how do people of faith find comfort in this? by recognizing the truth. We may be abused for a season, but God will never let evil go unpunished. The time and place is of God's choosing but David says "save me...so I can rejoice that you have rescued me!"

Our day of rejoicing will come!

Live boldly out there today...