Psalm 85:3

Psalm 85:3

The wrath of God

We need to understand the difference between the wrath of God and the normal human expressions of wrath. Wrath is, of course, rage, fury and anger and when expressed by humans it is almost always driven by emotion and accompanied by verbal outbursts or physical violence. Wrath comes to us all, it can be the above but it can also be a simmering fire within that one day demands expression and bursts into flame. Woe betides the victim who stands in the way! Seething wrath is not good for us, it activates negative thinking and pushes the human spirit into dark places. If all of this is true, does God’s wrath have similar causes and effects? 

The first thing we need to remember is that the wrath of God is driven by righteousness. He is holy, His thoughts, emotions, and actions are holy. God does not lash out, take revenge or simmer with indignation. Any act of wrath against human beings is driven by righteous justice and vindicated by carefully considered motives. Thus, He is angered by our treatment of the poor, He is angered by the ignorance of ungrateful people upon who He has poured His blessings – namely Israel. He is enraged by injustice, the exploitation of the weak, by greed and corruption and by wilful rebellion. Men have no excuse for their acts of violence and manipulation, and God’s righteousness drives Him to righteous anger.

Our verse today tells us that even when we infuriate Him, our God is willing to turn away from His wrath and to forgive and restore. That is His grace and His mercy towards people who He created to be like Himself. Sadly, humanity is populated by ignorant, undeserving creatures who do not realise how blessed they are just to be allowed to live! Let’s not test God’s anger!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more