Psalm 104:³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord! 

It strikes me that the writer here doesn’t ask for “sinners” to repent of their sin and be restored to God. He just wants them gone, “let the wicked be no more”. I see and hear this sort of thing a lot these days, sometimes even from my own mouth. We have grown increasingly intolerant of those who think differently than we do – our version of “sinners”.

People are generally pretty good at confessing other peoples’ sins – and ignoring our own. Jesus understood how toxic this frame of mind can be so he addressed it in the gospels:

Matthew 7:“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ² For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”

Lord we love being “right” and pointing out where others are “wrong” – as if we were without sin, which we most certainly are not. Give us grace to lead with love rather than judgement. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.