Thoughts on 9/11

I was reading Psalm 37 this morning and it struck me how appropriate this Psalm is for the anniversary of 9/11. With all the swirls of talk, anger, and hurt that are surrounding some of the recent news on ground zero and the anniversary of a tragedy, I believe that there is heightened emotion on this 9th anniversary, more than even the past couple of years.

The anger and hurt in the hearts of the families who are sharply remembering their losses today is legitimate. What took place 9 years ago on this day was absolutely horrific, and totally unjust. Men, women, and children suffered and died because of war and hate that has built up for centuries. Families lost their fathers, their mothers, their beloved members. The United States of America was pierced to the heart, and very shaken. For my own part, I remember seeing life through a veil of fear for a time, feeling that even my home was not a safe place to be.

The cry for justice is very good. We have a sense of justice woven into the core of our beings, and when tragedies and crimes occur like the 9/11 attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., it is a good thing that our hearts know so strongly that this is not how things were meant to be. We desire justice - vengeance against evildoers, and healing for the hurt.

From Psalm 37, verse 4 is often quoted in the church. "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." This verse is usually said while speaking to someone who wants something very strongly, such as a husband, the ability to provide for a family, good education for children... However, this Psalm is not speaking to those types of desires. It is a Psalm written to those who are desperately seeking justice, to those whose hearts writhe and cringe at the mere thought of an evil man prospering in his ways. The "desires of your heart," in this Psalm, means the deep desires for justice.

Delight yourself in the LORD... is that truly what God asks us to do when pain and humiliation are torturing our hearts, and the only thought in our minds is that something would come down from the heavens and destroy the person who has committed evil against us?

I think that that command does not make sense to the human mind unless it is placed in the context of the grand narrative that God himself is writing.

God is a God of justice. We possess a deep desire for justice to be done because He made us in his image. However, when we allow that desire for justice to become self-righteous anger, rage, and hatred, we have usurped his throne of justice and tried to take his place as the One who will repay. Evil with evil, good with good.

I love this Psalm because it does not belittle the desire for vengeance. Its message is not "don't be angry." Its message is (8-9) "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. FOR THE EVILDOERS SHALL BE CUT OFF, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land" (caps lock mine). Instead of trying to take God's place as the one who deals righteously and repays evil, we are called in this Psalm to wait at the feet of the LORD, for his action, for his might, for his justice.

Those who trust in the LORD will eventually see true and total justice reign in this land. When we let anger take root, we end up generalizing that anger toward an entire people group, instead of waiting for God to judge rightly.

The bottom line is that God is a God of justice. Evil WILL eventually be destroyed by one of two ways: Either the evildoer will continue in his ways without repenting, and he will spend eternity suffering in hell, OR he will repent. In the latter case, God the Just will place every evil action of his on Jesus, whose shoulders bore up the full weight of the world's sins on the Cross. His death and resurrection is the ultimate expression of justice from the just God.

On this anniversary of an evil tragedy, grieve and cry to God for justice and peace. But do not allow bitterness to take root, and turn into generalizations of hatred toward people who look like the ones who committed that evil act. Trust that the LORD knows evil from good, and will bring restoration and justice in full, at the coming of Christ the King.