Read Psalm 75:6-10. 6For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, 7but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. 8For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. 9But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
Here is our response to God’s declaration of coming judgment in due time (see 75:2-5). Yes, God alone executes judgment. He is the only arbiter. He puts down and lifts up. He pours out the cup of wrath. No one else. Therefore, suffering is never the end of our story. Patience is not our eternal posture. The judge will rise. He will respond to the evils of this life. And in truth he already has in Christ.
Christ the God who executes judgment, became the wicked one drinking the dregs of the bitter wine of God’s wrath. He allowed himself to be put down that another (you and I) might be lifted up. Jesus’ horn was cut off at the cross, the glory of his majesty replaced with the shame of our sin.
And yet we sing praises to this Christ. Why? Because he overcame it all, all judgment, all sin, all shame, all death and dying, by the power of his indestructible life. Now, as OT scholar, Derek Kidner says, “We can share his glory without pride and his power without aggression.”
To live is Christ is the life of complete faith in the judgments of Christ. The judgment he took for us on the cross, and the judgment he will deliver in his return.
You: How does knowing that we will not wait forever allow you to wait patiently today for Christ’s judgment?
You in Christ: How does knowing that Christ took your judgment allow you to trust him?
Christ in you: What will “sharing Christ’s glory without pride and his power without aggression” look like for you today?
Prayer. Jesus, you drank the cup of wrath for me. I can never repay you, help me to trust you instead. Amen.
To Live is Christ 