HOW LONG, O LORD?

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

The incessant incidents of bomb blasts in Nigeria in recent time claiming lives of hundreds of people and the seemingly helplessness of the Nigerian government to curb the situation while the faceless wicked people are having a field day in perpetrating their evils made me to go into my archive and bring out the message below first posted on July 17, 2005:

HOW LONG, O LORD?

"How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant? Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?" (Psalm 94:3, 16 NIV).

I was chatting online with one of my spiritual fathers when he who resides in London told me the news of the series of bomb attacks by some terrorists. I quickly visited some news websites to get the details of what befell the city of London, nay the whole world and discovered there the havoc these heartless people have done again.

The September 11 attack in the US and another attack on a moving train in Madrid, Spain quickly came to mind as I was reading the news. To add insult to injury, these callous people still promised to do more harms to other cities in other countries. Evidently the terrorists have joy in causing these needless pains of loss of lives and property.

Nevertheless, for how long will these heartless people continue to break the hearts of people throughout the world? For how long will they triumph in their inhuman acts? For how long will they be jubilant in their hiding places for their seeming success? Who will rescue the world from these terrorists that are making life unsafe? Will they continue in these callous acts unchecked and unpunished? Who will rise up against these people and avenge for the evils they have done?

The psalmist also asked similar questions in Psalm 94 when his nation was facing some calamities. However, he found solace in God, the Judge of the earth. He called on Him in verses 1-3 to rise up and avenge.

Interestingly, in verses 8-11, he described the senselessness of these wicked people and the fact that God was, and still is, not indifferent to these situations. He gave a reassuring fact in verse 14, "…the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance" (NIV).

No matter what these terrorists and other wicked people may be doing, the Lord "will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy them" (Psalm 94:23 NIV). So, if you have been doing evil, know that the Lord will repay you one day according to your deeds.

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

NB

I dedicate this message to all that were affected in one terrorist attack or the other, especially the victims of the many bomb attacks in Nigeria.