But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”
Comment: The human heart rebels as being labelled ‘wicked’. He/she is a self over-rating fool who commends him/herself as faultless. We are much happier with terms like ‘One who tries their best’ or ‘as good as the next guy’ or ‘I’m only human and I, usually, do my best’. And when we hear of God’s special group, God’s people, the response is often something which boiled down means something like ‘they’ are not so different from me! And that of course is true – we are all in God’s sight ‘wicked’! And this is the point where we have to look at God’s terms for forgiveness and acceptance. Whether we like it or not God has put Jesus at the centre of His willingness to forgive and accept. After all as both Creator and Judge He has the right to write the rules – and He has done just that- whether we like it or not!
Prayer: When I’m honest with myself, O Lord, I confess that I am not only wicked but compared to Your Holiness ‘rotten to the core’. Thank You for Your generous terms available with acceptance of Your terms.
As I read it! 