Level Ground at The Cross (Proverbs 24:23)
Listen Here:
Proverbs 24:23
These also are sayings of the wise.
Partiality in judging is not good.
This week in Proverbs, we’ve been reflecting on judgment and justice. And it’s striking — the timing always seems to fit. I usually choose these passages weeks in advance, but somehow they land right when the world is aching for them.
Like I said in a recent episode, this week in America has been awash with blood — violence, murder, and a deep ache for justice. So the theme of justice rains hot right now, and Proverbs echoes the rest of the Bible in saying we are not to show bias in the way we judge.
The Judge of all the earth does not lean left or right; heaven’s bench is upright and true. God’s courtroom has no VIP section. To tilt the scales for friend or foe is to mock the One who holds the scales Himself.
Why? Because the cross reminds us: we are all guilty. The murderer and the murmurer both stand condemned before a holy God. The mass murderer and the mild-mannered neighbor share the same desperate need — the cleansing blood of Christ. We shudder at the crimes of others, but heaven shudders at the sins we excuse in ourselves.
Who, then, are we to demand a softer hammer for our failures, and a harder one for theirs?
Partiality is born when we forget that the ground at Calvary is level — blood-stained for all alike.
And when we remember that our own sins helped drive the nails into the Savior’s hands, we will tremble to play favorites in judgment. Instead, we will look up to the cross, where mercy and justice meet, and cry with joy: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”
Let’s pray.
