Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous. Surely there is a God who judges on earth.
– Psalm 58:11
Oh, what a good verse! What a good reminder that there is a reward that’s found in righteousness and there is a God who will bring ultimate justice to this world.
Psalm 58:11 Reminds Us that Righteousness’ Reward is Everlasting
These are bedrock truths that affect the way we live today. There is a reward for the righteous. You just think about all the times when the psalmist is looking around much like we do. He saw people prospering for evil and wickedness. He saw people who were not following after God experiencing what looks like prosperity. We need to remember continually that it is righteousness that leads to true reward, that it is trust in God. It is living in obedience to his righteous commands that is reward, that is life. Oh, don’t be fooled by this world.
Its pleasures and treasures will not last. They will fade. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Jesus tells us. There is a reward for the righteous, live for righteousness today and in the second part of Psalm 58 11. “Surely there’s a God who judges on earth and a world of injustice.” Isn’t it good to know that perfect justice from the perfect judge, the God over all the earth will reign in the end, which means we work for justice now? We want to reflect the character of our God.
Psalm 58:11 Reminds Us that We Should Live with an Eternal Perspective
We do justice in every way that God by His Spirit according to His word leads us to do justice in the world around us. And we hate injustice. We work against it with confidence that one day injustice will be no more. And especially on those days when injustice seems to be reigning or winning, to know that injustice will not have the last word and even that to thank God for his mercy, for if justice alone and the last word, we would all be condemned.
Praise God for his mercy and his justice for justly pouring out the judgment we deserve in our sin upon His Son. In his mercy, Jesus takes the judgment we deserve so that we don’t have to be afraid of the God who judges on earth so that we might be saved by the God who judges on earth. So we pray, God, all glory be to your name for your justice and righteousness.
We pray that you would help us live today, do justice and love mercy, and walk humbly with you in righteousness. God make our thoughts, our desires, our words, our actions today, righteous right before you and just pleasing to you in every way. And God, we pray you’d help us to lead others to righteousness, to warn others of coming judgment around us today and around the world.
Praying for the Bernde People
God, we pray for the Bernde people of Chad. God, no known followers of Jesus among them Bernde people. It’s Muslim people group. God we pray. We want them to experience your reward. We pray that you would cause the gospel to go to them. Send out your church from Chad and from other places outside of Chad to spread the gospel to the Bernde people. We pray that they might experience the reward that’s found in the righteousness of Jesus. That they might be saved on the day when you fully and finally judge the earth. We pray for the Bernde people even as we praise you for these rock-solid realities in Psalm 58:11. Help us to live today for the reward of the righteous with confidence today in you, the God who judges on earth. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 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.
