JUDGES IN THE DOCK!

The court is packed, the judges are present, but they are in the dock! God is on His own judgment seat; He has summoned before Him the rulers of Israel, and is about to deal with their evil ways. A similar scene is found in Isaiah 3. 13-15, “The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people”. Again, the rulers of the people are in the dock because of their wicked ways; the charge is made against them in verse 2. They abused their privilege; they would fail to observe the injunctions of Jehoshaphat to the judges that he established in his kingdom, 2 Chron. 19. 5-7. “There is no respect of persons with God”, Rom. 2. 11. Paul also identifies other principles according to which God exercises judgment; it is “according to truth”, v. 2, “according to deeds”, v. 6; it is, writes Paul, the judgment of the secrets of men’s hearts “according to my gospel”, v. 16. Now it is possible to have respect of persons in church life, James 2. 1-9, but we are told not to have “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons”. If we do become partial in ourselves, we are judges with unsound ideas.

The exhortation of the psalmist which appears in verse 3 is a continuation of the charge against them. This command is an inverted way of telling them what they ought to have done, but have not. They have held the office and title, but have not done the work; indeed, they have done the opposite to what they were appointed to do. Are there not sadly those occasions in church life when office and title are sought without respect to the spiritual qualifications required and to the nature of the task entered upon? These judges were ignoring the poor and needy. God had desired to develop a merciful spirit in His people. The Israelites were commanded to care for the poor and strangers within their gates, Deut. 15. 7-11; 24. 19. The same thought of care is continued in the N.T., James 1. 27; 2. 5. In the feast of weeks, Deut. 16. 10, when the freewill offering was brought to God, provision was also made for the poor, Lev. 23. 20, 22; 19. 9, 10; Deut. 24. 19. A similar combination of giving of thanks to God and of providing for the needy is found in Hebrews 13. 15, 16. “Go, and do thou likewise”, Luke 10. 37.