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Psalm 50:16-21(16) But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? (17) Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee. (18) When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. (19) Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. (20) Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. (21) These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. King James Version Change email Bible version The Message, a paraphrase, renders verse 21 as: “I kept a quiet patience while you did these things; you thought I went along with your game. I'm calling you on the carpet, now, laying your wickedness out in plain sight.” In other words, because the hammer had not yet fallen, the Israelites of old assumed that God did not care about what they were doing—but, as God declares, “. . . your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Solomon speaks of this same tendency in Ecclesiastes 8:11. He observes that, because a delay in justice occurs, people conclude that crime and sin are not so terrible. This pause between cause and effect encourages them to continue in their evil. God's longsuffering is thus double-edged. For those who are serious about following God, His longsuffering gives them time to repent and change. But for those who are ambivalent about what God thinks, His delay of justice reinforces their wrong beliefs and behavior. In this vein, the Israelites mistook God's silence for His approval, and as a result, the Day they thought would bring them glory instead delivered shame and defeat. This pattern is evident in Israel's history, and we can also see it happening in the Israelitish nations of today. — David C. Grabbe |
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