“Let the sea roar and all that fills it. The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the Hills sing for joy together before the Lord. For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.”
– Psalm 98:7–9
What a glorious picture of all creation, joining in praise and glory and honor and celebration before the Lord. When he comes to judge the earth, to judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with equity. The whole picture here is anticipation in creation over the coming of Christ. And not just His first coming, obviously, yes, yes. All of history points up to Jesus, God in the flesh coming. The stars being rearranged in the sky to point to where He is.
Waiting for The Return of Jesus Christ
The light shines gloriously in the night before the shepherds who are watching their sheep. All creation, yes, got in on that picture, but then in a much greater way. Romans eight talks about how all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time, waiting for the fullness of time to come when Jesus returns, when the Lord comes, and he makes all things right. And he brings about a new heaven and a new earth and perfect and final justice.
Like this is what we all long for, right? Don’t we long for wrongs to be made right? Don’t we look at injustice in the world? When I think specifically about something like trafficking and seeing boys and girls sold, trafficked into slavery for horrible, horrible, evil I don’t even want to think about. And I see in justice like this in the world, and I long for God’s kingdom to come and his justice to reign.
Psalm 98:7–9 Hopes for the Justice of Christ
That’s just one picture. There are so many pictures of evil and sin and injustice in the world today that we long to be made right? And the reality is the Bible teaches that one-day justice is coming and all creation is longing for it. So our hearts just join with creation and saying, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Bring justice and righteousness.” Yet even still, we know that as sinners we deserve the justice of God, the judgment of God in our sin. And that’s the beauty for the Lord has come. It’s what we celebrate at Christmas, to save us from our sins, to make a way for us to be saved from the judgment we deserve.
Psalm 98:7–9 Thanks Jesus for His Sacrifice for Us
In all of this, we pray first and foremost, Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you for coming to save us from our sins. Jesus, thank you for taking the just payment we deserve for our sins upon yourself. Thank you for dying as a substitute sacrifice for us. All glory be to your name for coming to save us from the judgment we deserve and as sinners saved by your grace, we now pray for your second coming. We ask Lord Jesus, come quickly. We join with creation and longing for the fullness of your redemption. Lord, bring about justice and righteousness on the earth, we pray. And help us to live in the meantime for justice with righteousness.
Help us to spread the good news of your love and grace in Christ and to live to show your justice. In a Micah 6:8 kind of way. Help us to walk humbly with you and do justly in this world. God, we pray that you’d help us to live justly as we anticipate with all creation, the coming of your justice and righteousness in full, in the future. Come even today. Oh, come Lord Jesus. Come quickly. As we celebrate your coming here at Christmas, we anticipate your return. We pray these things in your name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
