The author of Psalm 94 expresses in what may have been a worship song one of the great hopes of the righteous – God’ judgment of the wicked.

O LORD, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! 2  Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. Psalm 94:1-2 (NLT)  

But we know that all people are sinners.

There is no one who is truly righteous; so, how can God’s people rejoice in his judging the wicked? Will that not also include us? Certainly each of us deserve judgment.

This is where the mercy of God provided an amazing intervention. God sent his only Son to take the penalty for our sin upon himself. When Jesus hung on the cross, God’s justice exacted from him the judgment due us. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, those who put their trust in him can count on encountering God’s mercy at the Last Judgment. In the case of those who believe the Gospel, God is both judge and justifier.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26  for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 (NLT)  

The gospel juxtaposes mercy against judgment. Mercy is extended to those who admit their treachery against God’s rule and ask for mercy and forgiveness.

Judgment looms for those who shake their fists at God, daring him to do something about it.

In fact, the coming judgment is part of our hope and will take place when Jesus returns as the divine Son of Man.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31  For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31 (NLT)  

There is something innate in every human being that longs for justice. That is why we love books and movies about justice being dished out to criminals and oppressors. God put that desire in us. No one in his right mind rejoices in oppression and injustice.

Some imagine that God is all mercy, but that would deny his justice. It is impossible for a just God to give evil and wickedness a pass.

When people and governments oppress others and deny them justice, God promises that he will one day step in to make things right. Heaven is a place of rest, glory, and joy for those who accept God’s provision of righteousness, and no wickedness will be found there.

Sweet loving grandmothers will not be forced to share space with totalitarian butchers and sex traffickers.

In fact, it will be just the opposite, as the psalmist wrote.

Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? 21  They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22  But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. 23  He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. Psalm 94:20-23 (ESV)  

When people enact laws in an attempt to validate their evil behavior, God is not fooled and will not be mocked. One of the signs that a society that has left behind God’s wisdom in favor of their own evil folly is when good is called evil and evil, good. Abortion, the government sanctioned slaughter behind closed doors of innocent, defenseless unborn children, will never be okay with God, no matter what any Congress or “Supreme Court” may say. There is only one Supreme Court, and it will be presided over by the Lord Jesus at the Last Judgment. And this is only one example. Around the world, people groups and governments have historically and are presently persecuting and oppressing the weak and those who truly love and serve God. Justice is routinely denied, suffering is inflicted, and lives are taken. God sees and will surely bring justice. This is our hope in a wicked world. Come, Lord Jesus!

For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18b (NASB) 

In the meantime, Jesus instructed us believers to pray for our enemies in the hope that they will recognize their need to repent and be reconciled to God before it is too late for them.

We who love God’s mercy and also long for justice are held in a dynamic tension between these two aspects of God’s character that was resolved in the cross of Jesus our Lord.