Who Will Rise Up?

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Psalm 94:16

The people of God are not their own defenders, nor do they take vengeance into their own hands.  Having said that, where will they find justice?  As is true in all other things, our hope is in Christ.  The wickedness of the wicked may seem to go on unchecked for the moment.  They may exalt themselves to take first position, and provide for themselves the best of everything.  They may oppress the people of God in disrespecting, deriding, and doing whatever they can to get rid of them.  For the part of the people of God, we have Christ as our pattern to enable us by His Spirit to respond in such a way as to imitate Him.  For Christ’s part, He takes note of the evil behavior of the oppressors of His Body.  The psalmist asks, ‘Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?  Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?’  The answer is, Christ.  We must embrace a whole God and a whole Christ.  This is that Christ to Whom the angel refers in Revelation when he says, ‘Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and was, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.’  Thus, Christ does ‘rise up…against the evildoers.’  Because He does, we His people, need not become our own avengers.  We may return good for evil, and prayer for cursing.  This is not a natural response, but one that by the Holy Spirit we can give.  Today, we look not to ourselves, but to Christ, Who will rise up against the evil doers, in due time.

O Christ, our Great Defender,
we rejoice that You do what is right,
on behalf of Your people.
We praise You, that we may rest,
knowing that You will right all the wrongs.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning