January 18, 2012

Psalm 18
I was dancing around with the money I had just counted. “Wow! Look at this! Eighty dollars!” I had been working and saving for it for a couple of years. That was a grand sum for an eleven-year-old in 1966. I was excited about my achievement. All of a sudden the atmosphere changed to one of fire and smoke as my dad angrily snapped, “You don’t even have enough for a down payment on a car!” To this day I am not sure why Dad was so angry about it, but I will never forget the negative electricity in the air. I can relate to the David’s statements about the anger of the Lord:
Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
When Dad was angry, the whole room was filled, as it were, with “smoke and devouring fire.”
The glory of the Lord is that at times His anger is terrifying. Is it right for the Creator of the Universe to exhibit such anger? Let me ask you this, “If you were unjustly being pursued by a murderer who was hell bent on killing you, would you want a just God to be angry about the murderer’s intent?” I would. At what point should God cease being angry with sin? Is it just murder? Is it adultery? If I lust after a woman in my heart, but never do anything about it, is God still just in being angry with me? Is it lying? If I tell a lie in order to protect someone, is God still just in being angry with me? If I covet the world’s goods so that I dance around rejoicing in what I have earned, while my brother goes without, is God just in being angry with me? At what point. . . .
Lest you think that my concept of God is a Supreme Being who is always angry, consider the rest of the Psalm. The anger was against the murderer, Saul, who was pursuing David to kill him. Now look at it from David’s perspective. He is helpless before his earthly king who is hotly pursuing him to end his life.
He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
This Psalm drips with the mercies and lovingkindesses of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is that He does intervene in order to rescue us. If there were no anger against sin, would He intervene? So, is the intervention of God somewhat a function not only of His mercy but also of justice? “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Lord thank you for your justice, and thank you for your mercy, and thank you that mercy triumphs over judgment! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john