Psalm 28
Have you ever met someone who speaks about people going to hell with a large smile on their face? Have you ever heard a sermon where someone speaks of people being punished for their sins with a note of glee in their voice? Have you ever followed someone who was about to throw someone else into the fiery furnace with a sparkle in their eye?
God Hates ____!
Let's picket their funeral!
Bomb an abortion clinic!
Put a cross in their yard!
Way too often there are people who claim Jesus and then also claim that when people are damned God smiles.
Do they actually believe that the God who rejoices over just one sheep who is found also rejoices when that sheep stays lost?
Do they actually believe that the God who commands us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us requires much less of Godself?
Do they still overlook their plank and only see another's speck?
Here we find David calling to God to be his rock and to both hear and answer him. And then in the next second he calls on God to repay those who do evil with evil. It's important to read Psalms like this one because it shows us that anger is allowed in our prayers and our songs, but we must also remember that though we enter God's presence in anger we are called to leave our anger there and go out with a different yoke and a lighter burden. We are meant to be set free of our anger, not to be engulfed in it.
+ How has your anger been destructive to yourself and to others?
+ What work have you/can you do to shift the focus from another's speck to your plank?
No comments:
Post a Comment