The Law of Inevitable Consequence

Psalm 7

He digs a pit, digging it deeper,

and falls into the hole he has dug. —Psalm 7:15

Does God care that tyranny and injustice exist? Indeed, ”God is outraged every day" (7:11). And he will judge, not with immediate acts of judgment, like Thor with his hammer, but by allowing evil-doers to receive the natural consequences of their misdeeds. 

Ancient wisdom enshrined that principle: “Violence and injury enclose in their net all that do such things, and return upon him who began” (First Century B.C. Roman poet and philosopher, Lucretius). Israel’s poet/prophet David knew the principle long before Lucretius: “(The evildoer) digs a pit and keeps digging, and falls into the hole he has dug.” This is the hard logic of sin: We get what’s coming to us; we reap what we sow.

But God’s judgment is not only punitive; it is also redemptive. It falls on us to bring us to repentance. Thus there is hope for all of us, even me and my own petty tyranny. There is Someone to whom I can say, “I’m sorry; please forgive me” (7:12). And find forgiveness for all my sins (Psalm 130:4). 

David Roper

10.20.19