God says vengeance is mine

Psalms 94:1–11
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The author of Psalm 94 also lived in a day when government was engaged in the promotion of evil and persecution of the righteous. The unjust of the psalmist day not only prospered but they seemed to prevail. This psalm is prophetic in context as it looks ahead to the days of the Antichrist and to Israel’s future sufferings in the great tribulation. It opens with prayer as the psalmist turns his thoughts toward God.

1. Supplication - The psalmist speaks to God about sinners  (vv.1-7). What he wants is vengeance. This concept is not uncommon in the Old Testament. If someone committed an act of willful murder it was the duty of the next of kin to hunt down the murderer and slay him. There was six cities of refuge and if a man was guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he flees to one of these cities where he was safe if his case had been reviewed by the high priest.
   1. He  pleads with God to judge the wicked because it is His responsibility (vv. 1-3).
   2. He  says that vengeance is deserved because of the deeds of the wicked (vv. 4-7).
2. Sermon - The psalmist speaks to Sinners about God (vv. 8-11). He turns from pleading with God to pleading with his fellow countrymen.
   1. The God who gives men ears to hear is capable of hearing Himself (vv. 8-9).
   2. If God chastens the nations, He will surely chasten His own (vv. 10-11).

Application

I should never get pleasure out of hearing how another person is being punished or suffering because of his wrong doing. Vengeance is the Lord’s doing, and not something I should take pleasure in.