Week of Prayer, Day 3: Welcoming God’s Judgment
— Meditation —
Read slowly through the prophecy from Malachi 3v1–4 below.
Pay attention to the mixed emotions in the text. On one hand, the Lord’s coming is something longed for—“the messenger… whom you desire.” But on the other hand, Malachi asks, “Who can endure the day of his coming?”
The arrival of the Lord is both a comfort and a confrontation. It brings hope—but also heat. Joy—and judgment.
Let that tension guide your reflection as you read.
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says Yahweh Almighty.
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.
Then Yahweh will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Yahweh, as in days gone by, as in former years.
Malachi 3v1-4 (NIV)
— Devotional —
People often say they want God to show up.
But maybe they shouldn’t be so quick to say it.
Because in Scripture, when God comes near, it’s a fearsome thing. At Mount Sinai, “everyone in the camp trembled.” When Isaiah saw the Lord, he cried, “Woe is me! I am undone.” And when the Apostle John encountered the risen Jesus, he “fell at his feet as though dead.”
If we asked the prophets about the Day of the Lord, they’d tell us to be cautious. Zephaniah called it a day of “distress and anguish, trouble and ruin.” Joel described it as “a day of darkness and gloom.” Isaiah said it would be “a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger.” Ezekiel warned, “Wail and say: Alas for that day!” And Amos pressed the question: “Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.”
Malachi adds, “Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?”
The point is simple, but weighty:
When God comes, he brings both salvation and judgment.
“But judgment is necessary—unless we were to conclude, absurdly, that nothing much is wrong or, blasphemously, that God doesn’t mind very much.”
— N. T. Wright, Surprised By Hope
Judgment gets a bad rap.
But, for some reason, justice doesn’t. People long for justice. Clamor and campaign for it. In our world today, justice is a virtue. Judgment? Not so much.
And yet, in Scripture, judgment and justice are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. Judgment is simply this: God putting right what was wrong.
That’s why the Day of the Lord is so sobering. It’s the day God finally deals with all the injustice, wickedness, and wrong in the world. And who’s responsible for that wrong? According to Scripture—well… all of us. So yes, the Day of the Lord is a day of judgment. And we’d be wise to approach it with caution.
But here’s the wonder:
The Day of the Lord is also a day of salvation. It’s when sinners are forgiven. When tears are wiped away. When hope is restored. When lost sons and daughters come home.
Judgment and salvation—woven together in one “Day.”
So what makes the difference?
“The modern world has it wrong: we are going to be judged. But for the writers of the Bible, as well as teachers like Jesus, this cataclysmic “day of [the Lord]” is a bad thing, or a good thing, depending on where you stand with God.”
— John Mark Comer, God Has A Name
The author of Hebrews doesn’t shy away from the weight of judgment. He writes, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” That’s the terror of it. But then he qualifies it—saying that judgment is reserved for the one “who has trampled the Son of God underfoot” (Hebrews 10v29–31). In other words, the difference comes down to how we respond to Jesus.
Did we receive him? Then judgment has already fallen—on him, not on us.
Did we reject him? Then judgment remains—based on our sin.
For those who are in Christ, “there is now no condemnation” (Romans 8v1). Literally: “no judgment.” What a glorious truth of the gospel.
But don’t misread this. It’s not as though those who trust Jesus are exempt from all judgment. God still judges his people—but it’s a different kind of judgment.
Not punishment.
Purification.
That’s why Malachi says the Lord “will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” The Levites—the priestly tribe—were full of corruption and greed. But God promised that when he comes, he would cleanse them. Refine them like gold and silver. Make their offerings pleasing again. In Christ, this same promise is available to us.
Like a skilled metallurgist working precious metal, God applies the heat not to destroy us—but to transform us.
That’s why we don’t need to run from God’s judgment.
We can welcome it.
Ask for it.
Invite his Spirit to search us, weigh our hearts, reveal what needs refining (see Psalm 139v23).
Because the more we open ourselves to him, the more radiant we become in his sight (see also 1 John 3v1–4).
— Prayer —
Use this guide as a prompt for a personal time of prayer with the God who judges. Take your time—don’t rush through it. Go point by point, allowing space for your own thoughts and words to flow as you pray.
Begin by asking the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Let God in. Give him room to understand you and know you deeply.
Let him bring to mind one or two areas in your life that need his refining. Maybe it’s a string of unwise choices. Maybe it’s a mindset or a hidden motive. Whatever it is, listen for his voice. Let him speak to you—not with condemnation, but with creative intent for what he can remake.
Entrust that part of your life to his judgment. Welcome his refining work. Ask him to purify you, and offer yourself to his transforming grace.
[Pray this line from Psalm 139 out loud]
God my refiner,
I invite you to see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Amen.
