“The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Good versus evil. It’s one of the most commonly seen movie plots and has been in stories throughout the centuries. God makes it clear that he is on the side of those who do the right thing, but he stands in opposition to those who do evil. Yet we know from Romans 3 that we are all sinners and not one of us can be considered righteous. So before we go using today’s passage as a platform for thinking we are “good enough” for God, let’s take a deeper look.
Those who “do right” are later referred to as “his people,” and at the end of the passage we see the words “brokenhearted” and “those whose spirits are crushed.” All of these words describe the people God is going to stand with: the downtrodden, marginalized, victimized, broken and crushed people who are following God’s ways in spite of the way the world is treating them. And do you know who God opposes? Those who have done the oppressing, abusing, breaking and crushing. God has no place for this kind of evil.
Here’s your freedom for today: God sees you and is drawing close to you. Are you hurting today? Have you been harmed? Are you seeking comfort and protection from God? Then you can be certain he hears your prayers and is in the midst of rescuing you. If your heart is broken, God will mend it. Just hold still and keep doing what is right — in the end God will bring the justice you are longing for.