God’s Justice Will Prevail (Judges 9:56–57)

Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
—Judges 9:56–57

What a story of evil we see in the context of Judges 9:56–57, in both Abimelek and the men of Shechem. But the reason I read these two verses—and why I want to lead us to pray according to them—is because both, in the end, receive justice from God for their evil actions. In this battle of evil, justice is ultimately served. In this, we see the perfect justice of God in ways that we don’t always see in the moment.

This is true all over Scripture. There are times when it seems like injustice is prevailing. There are times when it seems like evil is prevailing, advancing, and even prospering. Yet God, in his word, reminds us over and over and over again: he is just, and his justice will be served. Evil will not have the last word.

This is both humbling and encouraging. It’s humbling because, in our own sinful hearts, we are evil; we have sinned against God. If justice were the only part of our story before God, then we would all be in hell right now. We don’t want our evil to have the last word, and we praise God for his design in our salvation—a design that in no way compromises, limits, or negates his justice. God is just, as Romans 3 says in one of the greatest paragraphs in all the Bible, verses 21 through 26. He is just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Let’s just go ahead and start praying.

God, we praise you. Yes, oh yes, God has chosen in his mercy and his love to pour out the justice we deserve for our sin upon his Son on a cross, so that we might be saved from our sin—saved from the just judgment we deserve—to experience God’s mercy forever. Yes, this is humbling and encouraging. We know that when we face evil in our lives, and when we see evil around us in the world, it will not ultimately have the last word. God will have the last word, and he is completely just.

So we pray: God, we exalt you today for your justice. Judges 9:56–57 is just one picture of so many in your word. We praise you for your perfect justice. All your ways, as Deuteronomy says, are justice. Not just just—they are justice. You are right and righteous and good and just in all that you do, O God; it is your very nature to be just. We worship you for your justice from cover to cover in the Bible.

God, we praise you for, in your grace and your mercy, designing a way for us to be saved from the just judgment we deserve, so that we can experience your mercy, your love, and your eternal life through Jesus. All glory be to your name, Jesus, for taking our just payment for our sins upon yourself on a cross so that we might have life, and so that we might have communion with you right now.

So, God, we look at the world around us, and we praise you for the confidence and the hope we have that evil will not have the last word—that your justice will reign. We pray, God, that you would help us to make this good news of your justice and your mercy known all over the world.

A Prayer for the Persian People

God, we pray today for the thirty-eight-plus million Persian-speaking men, women, boys, and girls in Iran. God, all of them who don’t know your grace and your mercy in Jesus are under your judgment in their sin. God, we pray that you would cause the gospel to go forward. We praise you for what you have done and are doing amidst the church in Iran. God, we pray that you would bless the church there for the spread of the gospel, so that more and more Iranians might come to know your grace and your love in Jesus.

God, I think about one person who was in our church family just this last week, who walked away saying, “I don’t know if I can believe in a love like that—in a love that great.” That’s what he was saying. So, God, may you open his eyes to know that there is a love that great. There is a mercy that great, and it’s found in you; it’s found in Jesus.

God, we pray for the exaltation of Jesus among Iranians. We pray for the exaltation of Jesus in the world—the just and merciful Savior of the nations. God, we pray for the exaltation of Jesus through our lives. We love you, Lord, and we praise you for your justice and your mercy, according to Judges 9:56–57. In Jesus’ name, amen.