Classic Sermon 6011: Covered by His Righteousness

Let us turn to Psalm 103, brothers and sisters, verse 6. You will remember that we have been analyzing and studying this Psalm 103, which I clearly feel the Lord has given us for our enrichment and edification. Today I hope to conclude the study of this Psalm 103 with verse 6. And we are going to begin with verse 1 and go through verse 6.

The Word of the Lord says: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits. He is the one who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with favor and mercy, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD is the one who executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence.”

Let us leave it there for a moment. In verse 6 it says, “The LORD is the one who executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence.” Let us pray.

Father, we come before You in the name that is above every name, which is the name of Jesus, believing, Lord, that You have a purpose for our lives; that You are going to speak to us, Lord, through this verse; You are going to minister to us, Lord. We believe that even now You are preparing our hearts and minds for You to work in us and deal with us.

Lord, if anyone has come needing the comfort that Your Word brings, we ask that this Word of Yours fall like a seed deep within our hearts. Do Your work, Father, in our lives, and confirm the purpose You have through Your Word. May it be so, Father. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Word of the Lord says that “the LORD is the one who executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence.” And I was thinking that the previous verse says that “the LORD is the one who satisfies our mouths with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” and with this series of declarations, the psalmist David is declaring all the attributes of all God’s positive works in our lives.

Last Sunday we addressed the subject of the believer’s renewal. The psalmist David was telling us that in a world where all things gradually decay, in a world where all things begin new and good and bright and gradually lose their strength and beauty, God makes the renewal of His children possible. God makes their rejuvenation and growth possible despite the natural decay of material things.

The child of God, the believer, is renewed day by day, even though his body wears out, even though his mind is not as agile and quick as it was in the days of youth; the Word of God says “that the believer’s spirit grows stronger and stronger each day.”

That is to say, our hope and joy rest upon that recognition, upon that promise of rejuvenation and renewal. As believers, we can be confident; we can be secure. Old age no longer holds the terrors it holds for someone who does not believe in the Lord and does not have the comfort of the Word of God.

For we know where we come from and where we are going; we have within us a spiritual conviction about what truly matters in life. We do not live amid the vanity of physical appearances and the vain things of the world. As we enter any stage of our lives, we can find joy; we can find meaning. In youth we rejoice in the beauty and agility of the body; in old age we rejoice in the renewal of the inner being.

As Paul said, though this outward man of ours is wasting away, the inner man is being renewed day by day. That means we must begin sowing early; we must begin working in our youth; we must begin working during the years of maturity—middle age—if perhaps we are at that age and have entered the ways of the Lord at that time.

But we must begin sowing and investing early so that those years of old age may be years of joy and happiness rather than years of decline, depression, sadness, and bitterness. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says: “Let us remember our Creator in the good days of our youth, before the evil days come and the years of which we say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”

The Christian begins to invest so that the promise of being renewed like the eagle may become a reality when the moment of need arrives. Now, here David enters another dimension and says: “The LORD is the one who executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence.” David emphatically declares here that He does not allow injustice to prevail in the universe He has created.

Here I place the emphasis on the word prevail, because there is undoubtedly injustice in the world, but what David says is that “in the end and in the final analysis, God’s justice makes itself felt and is definitively established over all the injustice in the world.”

God executes justice and righteousness for everyone, and this is a very comprehensive, very forceful statement: for all who suffer violence, for all who suffer oppression, for all who, by implication, suffer injustice, God executes justice at all times.

I say that this is a bold declaration; it is a radical declaration, and it is a declaration that surprises us, that suddenly makes us stop and think, because when one observes the world in which we live, the exact opposite would seem to be true. The world is apparently full of justice, and to the natural observer, to the man and woman who are looking at the world only through the analytical eyes of the rational mind, it would truly seem that the exact opposite is true: the world is overrun with injustice; the world is permeated by the evil and injustice of human beings against one another.

Look at how Solomon puts it in a moment of pessimism, we might say, in the analysis of this man who has seen so many things under the sun. He puts it starkly like this. In chapter 3, verse 16, he says: “Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there, and in the place of justice, iniquity was there.” In chapter 4 he says: “I returned and saw all the violence that is done under the sun; and behold, the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them, and power was in the hands of their oppressors, and they had no comforter.”

And look how far Solomon goes in that moment of heaviness and pessimism: “And I praised the dead—that is, the deceased, those who have already died—more than the living, those who are still alive; and I considered happier than either of them the one who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. I have likewise seen that every work and every excellence in labor arouses a man’s envy against his neighbor. This too is vanity and affliction of spirit.”

Indeed, when one looks at the world with unaided eyes that do not understand the mystery of God’s justice, that is what one sees: oppression, the oppressed who have no one to comfort them, power in the hands of the oppressors, and no consolation for the oppressed. And yet here David has the boldness to say no, that “the LORD executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence.”

And here the Word enters into a dialogue with itself. Which of the two are we to believe? I believe both are right in a material, political, historical, social sense, certainly from the perspective of flesh and blood. There is injustice in the world, and the world is a place of great injustice.

But on the other hand, when we look at history in light of God’s purposes and God’s movement in the world, we can have a very different perspective and see that at all times God’s justice is asserting itself and prevailing over this world of injustice.

Here the opposite is said: God always executes justice for all who suffer injustice, and truly, I would say, brothers and sisters, this is good news. This is the gospel; this is the good news for all of us who believe in a just God.

This declaration should fill all of us with joy and hope. Here David is saying, “The world is not chaotic; the world is not incoherent; the world is not a machine that God took, wound up, and then set adrift through space and forgot about, as theistic philosophy believes.

The world has design; it has coherence; it has purpose; and God’s justice makes itself felt in history because there is a wise and coherent God who rules over the world. And that, I say, brothers and sisters, is good news for us. That should fill us with joy and hope. This is rooted in God’s just character—the fact that God is radically just. Our God’s character admits no injustice.

Therefore, at all times, that justice of God will assert itself because God will not allow injustice to prevail in the world He has created, even though it is a fallen world.

In the context of the renewal of the child of God, I quoted Psalm 92 to you, and I am going to remind you of it again. It says: “The righteous—that is, the believer, the child of God—shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be vigorous and green, to proclaim…” What? Why will the righteous be renewed? Why will they have beauty even in the years of old age? Why is there hope for the elderly? Why is there strength for the child of God? Because the universe is governed by a just God, and the person who fears God, the person who seeks God, will be blessed in the end.

It says, “They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be vigorous and green, to proclaim.” That is, to proclaim that the LORD—my strength—is upright and that there is no injustice in Him. It is a declaration of God’s absolutely upright character. And that, brothers and sisters, is also the guarantee of a just universe.

Job, in chapter 36, verses 5 through 7, says: “Behold, God is great, but He despises no one. He is mighty in strength and wisdom.” It says: “He will not grant life to the wicked”—do you see? It is God’s character—“He will not grant life to the wicked, but He will give the afflicted their right. He will not take His eyes away from the righteous. Rather, He will seat them with kings upon the throne forever, and they shall be exalted.” It is God’s character; it is the promise that we have a God whose character admits no injustice.

33:5: “He loves”—speaking of God—“righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the mercy of the LORD.”

So then, brothers and sisters, that is the foundation for any confidence we have that this world is ultimately a just world, even though it is a fallen world, because the God who governs it and the God who asserts His lordship and rule over this universe is God, and He is a just God, a merciful God, a gracious God, a God who does not tolerate injustice.

And by implication, the righteous person is the child of God, who has been made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, because we have no righteousness in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus we are righteous. The child of God moves beneath a covering of justice that governs everything.

Brothers and sisters, I am laying out my argument here because this has very significant implications for our lives. So then, we have a just God, a radically just God; we have a God who makes certain that the universe in which we move is a just universe. Therefore, we, the children of God, have the right to believe that we move beneath a covering, a cloud of justice that covers and guides us at all times.

Psalm 32, verses 10 and 11: “Many sorrows shall come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the LORD is surrounded by mercy.”

Do you see? The ungodly person, the unjust person, is going to have many headaches, many stumbles, and much suffering. The wrath of the Lord will pursue that person. But the one who trusts in the LORD is surrounded by mercy; there is something like a light, a spotlight, so that wherever the righteous person walks, God’s justice and God’s mercy follow him.

That is why David concludes in verse 11: “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and sing joyfully, all you who are upright in heart, because you have been appointed to move beneath God’s mercy, provision, and blessing. Meanwhile, the unjust and the wicked have been appointed suffering, pain, and affliction throughout their lives.”

“Sooner or later,” says the Word of God, “the Lord’s justice asserts itself in the lives of those who fear the Lord.”

Brothers and sisters, that is a comfort to us, and that is the foundation of our hope and our joy, and it should have a very profound implication for each one of us.

That thought and that recognition should govern our lives twenty-four hours a day. Those truths—a just God, a God who does not tolerate injustice, a God who watches over those who fear Him and ensures that the final outcome of their lives and the net result of their existence will be positive, so that He may also be declared just in His dealings with them—have implications for our conduct, our thoughts, and our attitudes that I want to examine in detail today.

What are the consequences of that fact? Up to this point, we have been preaching theology, so to speak; we have been preaching theological theory.

Now, what implications does that have for our daily walk? How does it affect our lives? Let us see.

I believe there are certain consequences that I want to point out to you. Number one, if we believe those things—if, as David says, God executes righteousness and justice for all who suffer violence—then, for me, one of the first consequences is that we should live confidently and in peace, knowing that our heavenly Father watches over our interests. Christians should distinguish themselves by an attitude of confidence and joy in all their actions and in their walk here on earth, because they are certain that the fruits of His righteousness will follow them all the days of their lives.

The Lord’s goodwill, as Psalm 23 says: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”—and whoever believes and expects that cannot remain too long in a cynical, unbelieving, or skeptical attitude. On the contrary, knowing that his God rules, the believer should therefore conduct himself with a peaceful, joyful, optimistic attitude—not cynical or distrustful, not bitter or skeptical. That is the fruit of the Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5:22: goodness, kindness, patience, and love.

I believe these things come as a result of knowing that one is under the blessing of one’s God. It is like the child who grows up healthy within the bosom of the home because he is raised with affirmation, with the love of his parents, with positive statements, and with the encouragement of his father and mother. That boy or girl grows up in an atmosphere of confidence and will probably become a peaceful and pleasant person who lives life with confidence.

And that is how we should be. In the Christian life there is no place for a Christian whose outlook is bitter, barren, and negative. For when one is permeated by that awareness of the just God who governs our lives and ensures an entirely positive life, I believe that this should dispel bitterness and cynicism.

I believe a Christian cannot remain too long in a cynical frame of mind. Christians know that God’s covering is over them when they walk within the Lord’s will. I believe that is what John means when he says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” When we are conscious of God’s perfect love and our love toward God has been perfected, that casts out the fear and dryness in our lives.

That allows us to laugh freely; it allows us to go through life—with real problems, yes, and difficulties, certainly—but also knowing that God watches over us and that, ultimately, God is in control of our lives. That fact produces a life of confidence, a life of peace.

Secondly, there is also something interesting: I believe that knowing God is just and that His justice will prevail invites me not to envy the person who prospers through unjust conduct. It makes me think about the person whom I see out there prospering, growing, accomplishing great things, and making money through theft, the oppression of others, or dishonest gain.

It invites me not to imitate that person—neither to envy nor imitate him—because sooner or later, I know that publicly or secretly, now or afterward, that person will receive his just deserts.

The Bible says that the deeds of some men come to light while they are alive, while those of others do so afterward, when God’s judgment comes upon them. There are people whose—unfortunately unjust—deeds come to light after they die, and sometimes they are manifested in their children and relatives, because the structures they established during their lifetimes later deform and twist their children.

But in one way or another, human injustice comes to light, and that recognition should ensure that I never feel tempted to envy, much less imitate, someone who practices injustice.

Look at what Psalm 37 says. It is a psalm devoted precisely to this meditation on vexation and on what the conduct of a child of God should be. Psalm 37, verses 1 and 2: “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of those who commit iniquity.” There it is clearly: do not fret or be envious, because “like grass they shall soon be cut down, and like the green herb they shall wither.”

In verse 8, the second part says: “Do not be stirred up in any way to do evil, for evildoers shall be destroyed, but those who wait upon Jehovah shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more. You will look for his place, and he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in an abundance of peace.”

Do not fall into the error of believing that, because you see someone prospering in the short term, you should imitate him. How many people have I heard of who get involved in selling drugs or doing such things because they see the great mansions owned by drug dealers? Or how many people see rich individuals who have prospered by selling improper products or things that harm humanity and say, “Well, since that person did it, look how he prospers”?

And that politician—look how hypocritical he is, and this and that. I have heard people who steal and commit crimes argue, “Well, look, the police take bribe money anyway, and the judges do this and that.” And so they are incited to do evil. But they do not realize that behind those things, God’s judgment is weighing upon those people.

Many years ago—I remember an experience that impressed me deeply—a friend of mine and I were having lunch together one Sunday, and she said to me, “After this lunch, I am going to visit the daughter of a dictator—very well known in Central America—and do you know where I am going to visit her? I am going to visit her in a sanatorium.” For this young woman, who was in fact her friend, had been suffering for years and years from terrible depression and a sense of guilt over the injustices her father had committed—one of the bloodiest dictators Central America has ever known.

Hello, this is Pastor Roberto Miranda, and I want to thank you for being part of our program, “An Appointment with Christ,” and I want to bless you with the words and promise of Christ Jesus. He has said, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

Remember that, wherever you are. If you are a child of God, Christ goes with you; and if Christ is in your life, everything has a solution and there is always hope. God bless you, and until next time.

After that conversation, I thought: Someone who looks at this family with its millions and millions of dollars, its limousines, its palaces, its blood money, and all its luxuries could see only that image and think, “I would like to be like that.” But they do not know all the tragedy behind it, all the bitterness, all the suffering, all the guilty conscience, the sleepless nights, and all the things that lie behind it.

God’s judgment rests upon those who commit wickedness, and we should not be incited to imitate them or to admire them.

Thirdly, we should not become bitter when we contemplate the injustices of the world; we should not live with that anxiety… as I sometimes see people who live embittered by how unjust life is. And they say, “Look how so-and-so is suffering.” They become so obsessed with the injustices of the world that they themselves also grow bitter and adopt a negative attitude toward life.

And sometimes I see people who, even in the Lord’s church, have that negative outlook on life, whether because of the injustices they suffered as children or those they have seen in the world. It is as though they always have that negative perspective on things. They are always seeing the evil in others.

They are bitter inside because of that situation of oppression. Or sometimes that passion concerning the injustice they see leads them to violence and to attitudes that are improper for a child of God.

And once again, Psalm 37, verses 7 through 11, speaks about that: “Be still before Jehovah and wait for Him.”

Psalm 37:7: “Do not become upset or anxious. Do not become upset because of the one who prospers in his way, because of the man who commits wicked deeds. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Do not be stirred up in any way to do evil.”

Cease from anger, forsake wrath, be still before Jehovah, and wait for Him. There is also something here about that posture: when we see so much injustice in the world, instead of wanting to rush out and compulsively strike out against everything, becoming bitter and cynical about all those things, we should also wait upon God.

We should remain calm before the Lord. That does not mean we are going to be passive, but it does mean that the way we fight will be one that allows room for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

We should not become bitter when we contemplate the injustices of the world.

Fourthly, when injustice touches our own lives, when injustice affects us personally—and who among us has not at some point felt touched by someone’s unjust act? Who among us has not felt violated by someone’s betrayal? By a lie someone told about us? By something that was taken from us, something we loved and know was taken from us unjustly? Who has not felt violated by an act in which someone imposed his strength and snatched something away from us unjustly and improperly?

Brothers and sisters, what the word of the Lord calls us to do when injustice touches our lives—and I draw this from that passage stating that God is the one who executes righteousness and justice for all who suffer violence—

I believe that when injustice touches my life, when injustice affects us personally, once again we should neither become bitter nor rebel against God, but instead, I would say, adopt a long-term perspective. And that idea is very important: a perspective that trusts in the invisible and eternal principles governing the universe.

Instead of immediately reacting like a horse when the spur is driven into it, and becoming filled with bitterness, hatred, and cynicism, I should give God’s justice time to be fulfilled. For God’s whip often takes time, or God’s justice takes its time to be carried out, and I am not in control of all the mechanisms God uses.

I have to give time its time, and even if I do not see God’s justice fulfilled, I must trust that, in some mysterious way, that justice has become a reality in my life and also in the lives of those who have offended and attacked me.

Again, look at Psalm 140. I am using the Psalms as much as possible, because David develops his thinking in a very coherent way. Here, in verses 9 through 13, David says: “As for those who surround me, the evil of their own lips shall cover their heads. Burning coals shall fall upon them; they shall be cast into the fire, into deep pits from which they shall not arise.” It says, “The slanderer shall not be established in the earth. Evil shall hunt down the unjust man to overthrow him.”

Notice that the unjust person’s own actions will pursue him, overtake him, and establish God’s justice upon him. Verse 12: “I know that Jehovah will undertake the cause of the afflicted and uphold the rights of the needy. Surely the righteous shall praise Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.”

And that is the consolation David receives: Oh yes, they are pursuing me! Oh yes! They are biting me and eating my flesh, but I know that in the long run the Lord’s justice will be made manifest and that those attitudes and evil deeds will somehow fall back upon them. And in that I find comfort, and meanwhile I will affirm and proclaim the justice of God.

I know that Jehovah will undertake the cause of the afflicted and uphold the rights of the needy. In the long run, God will cause His justice to prevail in my life. I, then, can allow myself, when injustice touches me, to become bitter, filled up, and mentally deformed. And I believe, brothers and sisters, that this is a source of mental health, of hygiene, because ultimately that is what we are talking about.

Why do people become depressed? Why do they become bitter? Why do their characters become twisted? Because there have been injustices committed by life—whether by circumstances, by our parents in their ignorance, or by someone who betrayed us. Whatever it may be, we take it, put it in there, become obsessed with it, and think about it. Our outlook becomes a gloomy one in which that injustice turns into a plant that grows inside us and puts down roots, and those roots spread throughout our minds, our feelings, and even our bodies, and we never think about God’s positive perspective.

That perspective is that God is fulfilling His purpose and that the injustice committed against us finds its solvent in the greater justice of God. Therefore, what we must do, through an act of our will, is turn our gaze toward those principles of justice that govern the world and not allow ourselves to become obsessed with the injustice committed against us.

What I believe that does is enable a person to survive life’s crises and keep moving forward; and when a time of injustice, suffering, and pain comes, and when it seems that things have not gone for us as it seems they should have, we then leave the final word to the Lord and adopt a long-term attitude. We do not rebel, we do not become twisted, we do not start fighting against things; rather, we enter into the pain and let the pain enter into us, and we neutralize it, dissolve it.

That positive stance—and from there, I believe, come mental health and peace. Sometimes people are sweetened through life’s sufferings, unlike those who are embittered and twisted by those same sufferings. For the person who triumphs and prevails over evil is the one who does not fight against evil in a compulsive, neurotic way, but adopts the long-term perspective of the God who governs the universe.

We must think about God’s benevolent purposes in the long term. So we see this: when injustice touches our lives, we do not become bitter, we do not rebel; we adopt a long-term stance in which God is fulfilling his purposes.

Fifth, when we suffer injustice, we must do what we can, yes, to defend ourselves.

I am not speaking here about a pacifist and mystical stance in which you simply let people do and undo whatever they please to you, in which you take no action against evil, do not defend yourself, and do not make use of legitimate remedies to correct injustice. No, I am not saying that. I believe that we must fight against evil, and I am going to speak a little more about that.

But there is something more important that I believe we must do while taking legitimate measures to defend ourselves, and that is to commit our cause to the Lord.

And if we fight, let us fight knowing that, ultimately, the final outcome depends on the Lord and not on us. You see, you struggle, you fight, but you do it from a position in which you know that the Lord will have to establish his justice at the end of it all, that the Lord is fighting with you and within you, and that, in the long run, he is the one who must cause his ultimate principle to prevail.

I believe that is also very important. Look at what Job, chapter 5, verse 8, says. That is what one must do first when suffering injustice. Job 5:8: “Certainly I would seek God and commit my cause to him, who does great and unsearchable things and wonders without number, who sets the humble on high and lifts the mourners to safety.”

“Who frustrates the thoughts of the crafty so that their hands accomplish nothing, who catches the wise in their own craftiness and frustrates the schemes of the perverse. Thus he delivers the poor from the sword, from the mouth of the wicked, and from the violent hand, for he is hope to the needy, and iniquity will shut its mouth.”

You see, brother, when you struggle, struggle with the assurance that, ultimately, your cause must be committed to the Lord. And that is why I believe there are so many people who, when they struggle, do so in a destructive and self-destructive way, because they are not fighting in the Lord. They are not allowing the Lord’s oil to lubricate that machinery which is fighting, and that is why they sometimes wear themselves out, become twisted, burn out, and once again become people distorted by the struggle.

Psalm 37 again, verse five: “Commit your way to Jehovah and trust in him, and he will act; he will display your justice like the light and your right like the noonday.” Commit your cause to the Lord; commit your indignation to the Lord; commit your suffering to the Lord. Have you been raped? Have you been violated? Commit your cause to the Lord while you struggle, but commit that cause to the Lord, and let your struggle also be a gentle struggle.

Although that may seem paradoxical. Let it be passionate and strong, yet also resting in the Lord’s peace. And that is a paradoxical stance, but it is what God calls us to do.

First Peter, chapter 4, verse 19: “Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to the faithful Creator and do good.” While you suffer, while you struggle, commit your soul to the Lord and continue doing good. Do not let the struggle against injustice also neutralize you in the areas of doing good.

And as you fight in that way, the peace of God that rules will rule your thoughts. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will be with you at all times. That will keep you from fighting bitterly in a distorting and violent way. It will enable you to bear a good testimony and even put Satan to shame.

Sixth, the child of God who trusts in divine justice must not seek vengeance for himself, but must leave room for the Lord’s vengeance.

Brother, this is something very, very important. When we are subjected to violence and our rights are violated, we must not avenge ourselves. And in this world and in the churches, brothers, there are many people who have not understood that principle, and we take revenge in many ways, both subtle and not subtle, and we always find some way to exact retribution for what has been done to us.

And in family life, married life, working life, and other areas, we always look for ways to avenge ourselves, subtly or not so subtly. But the word of the Lord tells us, “Do not avenge yourself.”

Romans 12, verse 17: “Repay no one evil for evil. Pursue what is good in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Do not avenge yourselves, my beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, because it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” We cannot avenge ourselves.

We cannot seek vengeance; we cannot seek to pay people back. Vengeance is forbidden to the Christian, because justice belongs to God and not to us. And brothers, if you believe that this is a principle found only in the New Testament, because people speak about the law of retaliation and all that, God had already established that rule right there.

It is an eternal rule; it is a rule for all who follow divine principles. Leviticus 19:17–18 says: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall reason with your neighbor so that you do not share in his sin. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Jehovah.”

In the New Testament: “Vengeance is not the proper attitude for any child of God; rather, the opposite is.” And this is the most difficult thing I could say today: not only must we refrain from taking revenge, but the word of the Lord calls me to love my enemies, pray for those who persecute me, and bless those who curse me. For the Word puts it this way: “You will be heaping coals of fire upon that person’s head.”

“So if your enemy is hungry—Romans 12:20—give him food. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head.” Do you want to take revenge on your enemy? Do good to him; that is what the Word says. Do you truly want to strike at the very center of his life? Do good to him, bless him, pray for him, forgive him; take revenge by forgiving, loving, and giving.

Why? Because it says that, in some mysterious way, you heap burning coals upon his head.

Then it is the Lord’s justice that is established. I would rather have God’s justice administer justice than man’s justice. Because when God administers justice, he does so in an exquisite way, brothers, so to speak—and it is not that you are wishing evil upon anyone. But God is a God who is perfectly balanced in his acts of justice. So I damage things when I take revenge, when I take into my own hands a mechanism that only God should take up.

When you suffer injustice, when you have been violated, do not take revenge yourself, but leave room for God’s vengeance. And your part is to manifest the fruit of the Spirit. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Neutralize the diabolical aspect of human relationships with the positive aspect of God’s gospel.

That is the attitude. Do not take revenge, and by extension there is another very important principle here. Because when I say, “Do not take revenge,” I am referring to actions; but what about the heart? There are people who do not take revenge, but their hearts become filled with what? With rancor and resentment.

When people suffer injustice, the heart harbors that burning sensation, that pent-up anger, that slow-burning anger. It is the anger that gradually cooks the soul and turns into resentment and rancor, poisoning one’s thoughts and feelings; and that brings me to the seventh aspect of God’s justice in the world: We must not make room for rancor and resentment in our hearts.

You have already seen what Leviticus 19 says: “Do not hate, brother.” Jesus Christ said, “Whoever calls his brother a fool or a duck or stupid or a blockhead already deserves the fire of hell.”

Brothers, that is one of the most important and essential things in human life and, I believe, also in man’s emotional and spiritual health: the fact that rancor must not be harbored in our hearts.

What does the Lord’s Prayer say? “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” There is no question there of whether we forgive them or… No, it is assumed that we are forgiving our debtors: those who owe us.

Matthew 6:14, the word of Jesus Christ. The Lord says, “The one who does not forgive cannot be forgiven.” For it says, “If you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.”

If you hold on to rancor, if you hold on to resentment, if you keep someone in prison—do you know that the image conveyed by the word ‘forgive’ in the original Greek is precisely that of releasing someone from prison?—it is like opening the door of a person’s cell.

Many of us put people away—we cannot put them in prison through our actions, so do you know what we do? We put them in the prison of our imagination. We take a very gloomy, very dark cell, with rats and water covering the floor, and we put the person who offended us in there.

We close the door and make sure to throw the key into the depths of the sea, and we leave that person there year after year after year; and from time to time we come to visit and look through the bars, and we delight in seeing that person confined there in that cell we have mentally created for them.

The Word says that when we forgive, we are to open that cell and let them go, and that is the idea.

The one who holds on to anger and rancor is the prisoner, I would say, of the person he resents. Do you know that? You believe that you have made that person your prisoner, but you are that person’s prisoner. You spend the years living in terms of the act that person committed. That person governs your actions and thoughts. Do you want to take revenge on that person once again? Do not hold on to resentment; let it go; be generous. Forgive that person; do not hold on to rancor.

Doctors will tell you that many ailments, many pains, and many psychosomatic illnesses come from the fact that we have not forgiven, that we harbor resentment within us.

Rancor does not allow us to retain or enjoy the blessings of the Christian life. That is why there are so many Christians in the church with downcast faces and all kinds of ailments, asking themselves, “Where are the blessings that the Bible promises me?” They hear the word of God, the good news of salvation, but it does not penetrate them.

Why? Because there is a parasite that devours the blessing when it reaches their lives, and it is called rancor and resentment. And so that person does not harbor the grace of God. That person is incapable of doing so, because rancor is an animal that devours God’s blessing before it reaches the person’s heart, neutralizing and burning it up.

Rancor is the most destructive thing in the world, and we cannot harbor it, for our own good. Even if only out of selfishness, do not harbor rancor in your life. I would say something else: rancor makes us captives of the devil. Do you know that? Rancor is a perpetually open wound through which diabolical microbes enter, through which the penetration of evil sometimes takes place.

Many studies have sometimes been conducted on people who are affected by satanic powers. For example, people who have suffered sexual abuse or physical abuse often end up demonized, suffering demonic afflictions. Do you know why? Because when they suffer those forms of oppression, they become filled with oppressive feelings toward their oppressors. Then demonic infestation enters through that opening.

Rancor is one of the weakest areas when it comes to demonic penetration. We cannot harbor rancor in our hearts. It is impossible for us to receive God’s blessings while harboring rancor in our lives.

And finally, brothers, that justice of God must make us agents of justice wherever we go.

Listen to that. If the God you serve and the God you imitate is a just God, you too must be a just person and must be an agent of justice, even in your daily life. Injustice must never be done through you deliberately. You must never commit an injustice against another person. You must emulate and imitate the character of God and be an agent of justice.

Again, the Book of Romans, chapter 6, verses 12 and 13: ‘Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey it in its lusts, nor present your members to sin as instruments of iniquity.’

Do you see? Do not present your body or present your person; do not offer your gifts and abilities in order to be an instrument of sin. But rather… what? It says: ‘But present yourselves to God as alive from among the dead, and your members—that is, your hands, your feet, your eyes, your mouth, your ears—to God as instruments of righteousness.’ Brothers and sisters, you and I must be agents of God’s justice in this world.

Wherever you go, make sure that God’s justice is manifested at all times. Not injustice. Let your actions be distinguished as acts of justice. When people comment on your conduct, let them say: “That person is someone who acts justly. That is a person who can be trusted not to betray anyone. That person will not intentionally harm anyone. That person is the most benevolent person.”

Because that is where the word benevolent comes from; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit: benevolence, goodness. For the child of God is favorably disposed toward others and is an agent of justice wherever he goes.

Brothers and sisters, being an agent of justice must be a passion wherever we go. Our conduct must be radically just at all times.

And that is why I believe that although the Gospel did not attack slavery, although slavery is not openly attacked in the Bible, the principles of the Gospel had already been undermining the foundations of slavery for centuries. Because the whole Word of God speaks of justice. It said to masters: ‘Treat your servants as children of God, as equals before God.’

You cannot treat a slave as your equal; it is impossible. So there was already an implicit undermining of the injustice of slavery. The Word of God calls every child of God to be an agent of justice continually, and by extension that means that at all times, brother or sister, you must be a person of mercy and help the person who is in need: the needy, the poor, the one who suffers injustice. We must be a shield insofar as we can.

Again, not in a compulsive and neurotic way, but the Christian must indeed hunger and thirst for justice. The Christian must be distinguished as a person who covers those who are suffering injustice. The child of God must always help those in need. Not only must we be agents of justice, but we must also cover those who are in need, and we must help, and we must be distinguished by that.

Psalm 82, verses 3 and 4. I want to leave you with this thought because it is important that, ethically—in our conduct and in our walk—we should always be distinguished. Children must be taught. Sometimes children are the most unjust people.

When a little child is suffering in the classroom and everyone gangs up on him, we must teach our children: ‘Look, you be just. Never cooperate when you see a little child being mocked or abused. You be a defender there, and do not cooperate with acts of injustice.’ From the time they are very young, we must teach them to be agents of God’s mercy, because that is what God does.

Psalm 82, verses 3 and 4, says: ‘Defend the weak and the orphan. Do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Deliver the afflicted and the destitute; deliver him from the hand of the wicked.’

So, as you can see, that powerful declaration by David—‘He is the one who executes justice and righteousness for all who suffer violence’—is full of implications for us. We must be people who walk under that divine justice, who have positive attitudes because God will bless us. We too must be agents of God’s justice.

May the Lord bless us.

Father, thank you because your Word calls us to a radically just attitude. We set aside, Father, all rancor, all resentment, all bitterness of heart, all cynicism, all skepticism, everything that glorifies the devil and his negative waves, and we establish you, Lord, as that agent of justice who governs the entire universe.

Help us, Father, to adopt that positive attitude and at all times to establish you as the one who governs in justice, and to be faithful imitators of our God, who is just. Thank you, Father, for this dedication. May our hearts, Lord, be penetrated and overwhelmed by the counsel of your Word on this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.