Friday, June 15, 2018

Year 8, Day 166: Psalms 7-9


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At first blush, the psalms for today seem dichotomous.  In Psalm 7, we talk about the Lord and His wrath.  The psalmist encourages the wrath of the Lord to come forth upon those who are pursuing Him.  He reminds us that those who do not repent will fell the sword of the Lord.  The wicked will fall into a pit that the Lord has prepared for them.  The point of the psalm is that the Lord is a righteous judge and will bring peace to those who are in God and judgment against those who are not.



Psalm 8 is entirely different is tone.  Psalm 8 is all about the glory of the Lord and His creative spirit.  God has made the universe.  He hung the stars and the moon. He has put splendor in its place.  Yet, God has been mindful of humankind and has lifted us above creation.  He has voluntarily lifted us up to be just short of His own splendor and glory.  He has done this for our sake and through His great love.



These psalms seem to be different in tone.  One is about wrath and judgment.  A second is about God’s splendor and righteousness.  How are these two things related?



Psalm 9 helps us see how these can be two sides of the same coin.  It is because of God’s righteousness that he can be a judge.  It is because of His glory that He can rule supreme.  Because of His great strength He can be the protection and avenger of the oppressed. 



So often we want to separate God’s love and His wrath.  We want to separate God’s ability to judge and His ability to protect.  These things are inseparable, though.  God’s wrath comes out when God’s love is unfulfilled.  God has the strength to protect the oppressed because He has the strength to judge.  One of the nice aspects about the psalms is that we can see multiple perspectives on God in proximity to others and help us see the fullness of God’s being instead of just focusing on the parts that we want to see.



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