J. Douglas Dortch, Jr., Ph.D.
First Baptist Church, Tallahassee, FL
“Joy at His Judgment”
From the Series "How Great Our Joy"
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 16:23-33
December 2, 2007
I don’t know of another aspect of Christian faith that turns people off more than the aspect of divine judgment. The Bible is clear that one day every one of us will be called upon to stand before our Maker and to give an account of how we have managed our lives – our time, talents, resources, and the convictions that undergird them. But that message fails to connect with so many today. Mention the notion of divine judgment in your conversations with friends and associates, and they’ll look at you like you’re some kind of creep who just enjoys seeing other people in pain.
Lee Eclov is a pastor in Illinois. One of his favorite hangouts in his community is a local bagel shop because of how that venue affords him the opportunity to interact with non-Christians on their “turf.” As he tells the story, one day he was in the shop talking with some friends he’d been witnessing to for some time. “What’s the most important thing I can pray for you?” he asked the couple. The woman was taken aback. “I don’t know,” she stammered. “Health, I guess.” “Health?” the pastor answered. “No, that’s not the most important thing. Sooner or later your health is going to go no matter who prays for you. There must be something more important than that.” The woman was stumped, and so the pastor figured he would offer a helpful suggestion. “What about your relationship with God?” he told her. “I never thought about that,” the woman answered. And then her husband said, “You mean, God is going to haul us into court or something?” And they looked at the pastor as if he’d just lost his mind.
Most people today would have said and done the same. Why? One possibility is that we’ve looked at some of the judgments that have been passed down in recent years and we’ve lost our confidence in the ability of human beings to get it right. Think about it. In the last several years, we’ve seen acquittals in the face of what appears to be patently condemning evidence. We’ve seen promotions in spite of serious allegations. We’ve seen bogus sentences for people of celebrity status and awards made to those who were on the winning side of frivolous lawsuits. It’s all made most people feel as if the whole world is off kilter and is incapable of being put back in place. Better to take your chances with the imbalances of life than to trust yourself to the judgments of others, unless you have the resources to ensure for yourself a favorable verdict, which most people simply don’t have.
Amazingly, that was precisely the view that people had in Bible days. In Bible days, people weren’t any more keen on the notion of judgment than we are today, because of how unless you were a person of possessions or position, you couldn’t be sure as to how things might turn out. The world then, as now, was a wobbly and uncertain place, and yearning for a Presence that could put everything right.
This passage before us this morning speaks to that uncertainty and points us to that Presence whose judgments are always fair and full of mercy.
1 Chronicles is one of the books in the Bible that rarely get much reading time. We start out with the genealogies that last for a full nine chapters and it doesn’t take us long to start asking ourselves the question, “Why is this really important?” Actually, that never is a bad question when it comes to the Bible, and the answer to it as far as 1 Chronicles goes is because of how these genealogies connect God’s people with the land God had given them, a land from which they were to be taken away from into exile. Let someone come and slap an eviction order on your home or apartment, even though you’ve been faithful in paying your mortgage or rent, and you’d understand pretty quickly the relevance of this part of the Bible to the emotions that would be raging within you at that particular moment.
But the real purpose of 1 Chronicles was to point to David as the model ruler of God’s people, particularly for the way David kept God at the center of everything he was about.
This passage in the sixteenth chapter has David bringing the ark of God into the place David had prepared for it. Now, the ark of God was a sacred container in which resided the tablets of the Law of Moses. During the time of Israel’s wilderness wanderings as they made their way into the Promised Land of Canaan, the priest would go before the people carrying the Ark, which symbolized the Presence of God in their midst. It was a constant reminder that God was on their side and that He would be faithful to His promise to bring them to a place of rest and peace.
That time was fulfilled in the work of David. And now, David has brought the Ark into a special place and has appointed priests to fulfill various roles in the people’s worship. But the most important thing David does is to commission a psalm of thanksgiving, which calls upon God’s people to join the rest of creation in joyful praise. “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’ Let the sea resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. (1 Chronicles 16:31-33). David calls the people to join creation in celebrating God’s judgment. David calls them to lift up their hearts at the notion of a God who is present to make sure that everything that is out of balance and upside down will be made right. Imagine that. God, the Creator of the Universe, is not willing to let His creation wobble along on its path to destruction. Instead, God, in a time of His choosing, makes known His Presence to give strength to the weak and joy to the downtrodden.
Isn’t that what the Christmas message calls us to believe? For years, people had come to believe that God had forgotten them. They had longed for His Messiah, the Christ who would usher in God’s Presence by bringing down their oppressors and lifting up the humble. And that is why when the angel Gabriel delivered the message that she would conceive a son who would be the offspring of the Most High, and that message was confirmed by cousin Elizabeth whose own child rejoiced at the sound of her greeting, Mary, the young virgin began to praise God in the spirit of 1 Chronicles: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in the God of my salvation” (Luke 1:46-47).
You see, judgment is nothing to be feared by those who are innocent or incapable of delivering themselves from some great oppression. If a person knows that he hasn’t done anything wrong, or if he suffers unnecessarily because of some evil that has come against him, then for him the prospect of judgment means vindication and salvation. It means that all will see that he is blameless and without fault. It means that whatever is wrong in his world has come to be set right. It’s only those who are guilty of evil and oppression who should be shuddering at the thought of being held accountable for their actions and responsible for their beliefs. For everyone else who are deemed innocent or incapacitated, a judgment in their favor can create inexpressible joy.
Just this past week, the Reality TV series, “Dancing with the Stars,” finished its fifth season with Helio and Julianne taking the honors. If you’ve never watched the show, a little background is necessary. Two times a year the show pairs a celebrity with a professional dancer and they participate in a series of dances over a ten-week period in front of three ballroom judges, who can be brutal or benign, as the situation calls for.
I’m amazed at how the show has taken off. The only explanation I can give is that the people who watch it somehow identify with the “celebrities” who are doing their best, with the help of their professional partners, not to get dismissed from their program and to keep going as long as they can.
And yet at the end of each show, someone always does get booted off, though not without a last dance. Still, if you watch the show, there’s just not the same passion at the end as there was earlier in the competition, because a decision has been made and their efforts have been rejected.
It’s only at the end of the series, when the winners are finally announced, that joy takes center stage. The contestants are overcome with emotion. The audience is beside themselves. Even the judges are unable to hide their elation. It’s as if the whole world has been turned right side up, and the dance that the couple who has been judged winners performs as their finale is as effusive and ebullient as any dance could possibly be.
I wonder if that is how David danced on that day that the ark was brought into the city of Jerusalem. I wonder if that’s how Mary and Elizabeth might have jumped up and down when their hearts confirmed the angel’s message. I wonder if that’s how the Wise Men may have followed the dance of the star that led them to the place where Jesus was to be found.
When you realize that God is with you in Jesus and that His Presence removes your guilt and covers your every misstep, I don’t know if you can sit still; because the joy will not allow it. God has judged you to be worthy of receiving His favor, not because of who you are, but because of who He is – our Savior, our Redeemer, our Bright and Morning Star.
Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad. Let the field be jubilant and everything in them! Let even the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Feet, don’t fail us now. “For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise.”