A Righteous Judge
By Shauna Leis
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
2 Timothy 4:7-8
In the past several years, we, as a nation, have seen the appointment of many new Justices to the United States Supreme Court. Many of these nominations have not come without some sort of controversy over whether the justice has the correct qualifications to do this particular job. And sadly, many have been surrounded in controversy over whether they were the right person to fill the position – centering on previous judgments, race, religion, gender – things that could bring controversy into a political office. Suffice it to say, that this would be a very difficult role to fulfill with the constant spotlight on one’s ability to perform that role.
Thinking about being a judge caused me to look up the oath that the Supreme Court Justices must take upon entering their office, just to better understand what kind of criteria they were agreeing to undertake. It says the following, “I, (Justice’s name) do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as Supreme Court Justice under the constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.” The one word that immediately came to me when looking at this oath was fair. These judges have sworn before God and all people that they will be fair in all of their judgments during their time in office.
To me, that seems to be a very righteous calling for humans who tend to have a very sinful nature. As a mom, there are times when I have to “judge” between my two children. The case is brought before me and, after hearing both sides of the story or witnessing the event for myself, I have to pass judgment and determine who within the situation is telling the truth and who might have stretched the truth past the legal limits. And in some instances I have administered punishment for the committed crime – lying, not keeping hands to oneself, disobeying, etc. Unfortunately there are times when I do make mistakes in this judgment because a previous incident leads me to believe that one sibling may be guilty over the other. Likely, our court judges and Supreme Court Justices have made a mistake a time or two in their judgments because they did not have visibility to the entire situation or had been shaped by an event in their past, causing their thinking to be skewed in one direction or another.
Thankfully, when it comes to the judgment of the universe, there is one Great Judge overseeing it all who is Faithful and True (Revelation 19). Paul knew this in his letter to Timothy above, that during this world there would be trials that may not always go our way because people are fallible. However, in the end, we can be assured there is a Righteous Judge at work, whose judgments will never be questioned because He even knows our thoughts behind our actions and can judge accordingly.
Human judges cannot read people’s minds (although this might be a really great quality if they could!) so they have to rely on what they hear in the court and see in evidence to be able to make a correct judgment. God knows everything that has happened, from all sides of the situation, and even knows what people were thinking when they acted in a particular way. Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” In the end, all people will receive their punishment and reward according to what their deeds deserve.
We are so privileged to have a Judge who observes a much higher calling than those here on earth. His character can never be questioned because it never changes – He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow – and is completely perfect in all that He says and does. Will you trust in Him today and lean on His perfect judgment, His righteous judgment? He is waiting patiently for you to come to Him.
Pray with me: Oh Righteous Judge! Thank You that Your judgments never fail and that Your character can never be called into question. You are Holy, Holy, Holy, and we fall before Your judgment seat searching for Your grace and Your mercy. Lord, we know that You search people’s hearts and minds to know the thoughts behind the actions, and You judge accordingly. Unlike our human judges, You are infallible, and Your judgments can be trusted above all things. We are honored to be called Yours. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.