“Upon further review, the ruling on the field is…”

In 1999, the NFL added an instant replay system to review questionable calls when a coach challenges the call. Each team is allotted two challenges per game. When a play is challenged, the referee has 90 seconds to review the play. He reviews the play at a field-level monitor to the side of the field. Then the call is made,

“Upon further review the ruling on the field is…”

The play is either confirmed, or overruled.

Israel knew what it was like to have a bad call made on them that seemed irreversible.

“We’re nothing but a joke to our neighbors, graffiti scrawled on the city walls.” (Psalm 79:4, The Message)

But Israel learned that although most of the messes they found themselves in were their fault, they could call on God; and unlike the pagan gods, their God had ears, eyes, and voice that could overrule any decision. situation, or opponent they were facing. They learned that He could turn their mourning into dancing.

God has been doing this forever. When people’s lives seem to have been irreversibly altered by the plays and strategies of the devil. When there seems to be no way out, and defeat inevitable, God declares on the loud system of the universe, “Upon further review, the ruling on the earth has been overruled by heaven!”