Most people like to think of God as loving and merciful, but the Bible tells us he is also a judge who hates sin. The Old Testament helps us understand the justice of God. J. I. Packer, in his book Knowing God, tells there are four things to remember about God as our judge.

1. “The judge is a person with authority. In the Bible world, the king was always the supreme judge, because his was the supreme ruling authority. It is on that basis, according to the Bible, that God is judge of his world. As our Maker, he owns us, and as our Owner, he has the right to dispose of us. He has, therefore, a right to make laws for us and to reward us according to whether or not we keep them.
2. “The judge is a person identified with what is good and right. The modern idea that a judge should be cold and dispassionate has no place in the Bible. The biblical judge is expected to love justice and fair play and to loathe all ill treatment of one person by another.
3. “The judge is a person of wisdom, to discern truth. In the biblical setting, the judge’s first task is to ascertain the facts in the case that is before him. There is no jury; it is his responsibility, and his alone, to question, and cross-examine, and detect lies and pierce through evasions and establish how matters really stand. When the Bible pictures God judging, it emphasizes his omniscience and wisdom as the searcher of hearts and the finder of facts. Nothing can escape him; we may fool men, but we cannot fool God. He knows us, and judges us, as we really are.
4. “The judge is a person of power to execute sentence. The modern judge does no more than pronounce the sentence; another department of the judicial executive then carries it out. The same was true in the ancient world. But God is his own executioner. As he legislates and sentences, so he punishes. All judicial functions coalesce around him.”

Different Views of God as Our Judge

We who believe in Jesus think very differently about God as our judge than the ancient Israelites did. We don’t expect to face God as our judge until we get to eternity. And since Jesus bore the judgment for our sins and paid the penalty in our place on the cross, we know we won’t be condemned when we stand before God. We don’t give a lot of thought to God’s role as a judge in our earthly life.

But the Israelites thought of God’s judgment frequently. He was their source of justice when wrongs were committed. They sometimes thought of themselves as the defendants in God’s courtroom, but they also saw themselves as the plaintiffs with cases against other people. It mattered very much to the Israelites that God promised to bring about righteousness and justice here on earth.

“We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds. You say, ‘I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.’” Psalm 75:1-2

Today we read those verses and think of the final judgment in eternity, but David and his contemporaries thought of this world and the wrongs that needed to be righted in their lifetimes. In order to understand the Psalms of David as they were written, we need to think of their fulfillment in real time, during David’s life.

“To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns. Do not lift up your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.’ No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.” Psalm 75:4-7

Gratitude for the God of Justice

One of the things that filled the psalmists with gratitude was being able to count on God’s perfect justice.

“As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob, who says, ‘I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.” Psalm 75:9-10

New Testament believers sometimes wonder why the actions of Jesus are so different from the actions of God Almighty in the Old Testament. The people of Israel expected God to go to war. They prayed that he would slay their enemies and right the wrongs in the world. In Psalm 76 Israel recalls when God helped David capture Jerusalem and make it their capitol city.

“God is renowned in Judah; in Israel his name is great. His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and swords, the weapons of war. You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game. The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands. At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still.” Psalm 76:1-6

This warfare was not metaphorical, nor was it just spiritual warfare fought invisibly in the heavenly realms. Israel saw God in action on their behalf against their enemies. People died. There were bodies strewn about after God helped Israel defeat their enemies. His people praised him because they saw him execute judgment before their very eyes.

A Healthy Fear of God

In the minds of the Israelites, their life, breath, wellbeing, and prosperity all depended upon God’s mercy and justice. They learned who he was when they prayed and he acted. It taught them a healthy respect for him.

“It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet – when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.

Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.” Psalm 76:7-12

God’s people were not immune to his justice themselves. In Psalm 77 the writer groans with his concern that God is angry with him.

“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Psalm 77:7-9

The psalmist reaches back in his memory to times when God blessed him before. God is the only resource for him to turn to and he wants God’s favor, so he will keep praying until he obtains it.

“Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” Psalm 77:13-14

Knowing God by Remembering God

One of the ways Israel knew God was by continually recalling what he had done. They told and retold the story of their national history with him and in their own story they were able see his character, his perfect righteousness, and his justice. They learned what to expect from God by remembering what he had already said and done.

When the Israelites failed, they attributed failure to forgetting who God was, dismissing what he had done or by deliberately rebelling against him. Their history reminded them that this was a dangerous thing to do.

“They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them . . . they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test . . . They spoke against God . . . When the Lord heard them he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob and with wrath he rose against Israel.” Psalm 78:11, 17-19, 21

In Psalm 78 we read that God punished Israel for their rebellion.

“God’s anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.” Psalm 78:31

But Israel expected God to judge them in real time. They were not waiting for eternity to find out about God’s justice; they saw it in action all around them, all the time.

In the Old Testament we see God’s wrath against sin in very real ways, and it disturbs us, but it also tells us exactly what Jesus has delivered us from. When we read that the wrath of God was poured out on his Son, we can recall what that wrath looks like because we have seen it in action — by reading the Old Testament.