To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion.
Posts tagged Psalms
The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked
0The authority of scripture goes beyond other religious texts. It’s not just that the Bible is more authoritative than the Quran or book of Mormon. Rather the law of God, as revealed in scripture, is more authoritative than those we talk to, associate with, and go to for advice. The law of God is a standard of grace which offers us a greater way of understanding. It also offers us something you can’t mine from anywhere else in the world: righteousness. For all the great things that the world has it cannot offer us righteousness.
Let me ask you something: under what circumstances have people come back to life? Has it been because of their great wealth? Has it been because of their scientific knowledge? Has it been because of their great families? What brings men from death to life? Truly there is only one man who has walked this earth who has controlled the realm of life and death. This man is Jesus Christ. He followed the law of God in every way and was counted as righteous and he was given righteousness.
Psalm 1 is a celebration of this fact:
(The righteous man) is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
(Psalm 1:3-4 ESV)
The wicked cannot face the judgment of God and in the end their ways lead to death. Consider today what kind of sins we are allowing to control our lives. In what ways do we listen to the wicked counsel of the world? How do we neglect the law in pursuit of the ways of this world. This is the greatest part about Christianity: you will not be able to keep up constantly with the law (which leads to life). Christ already did that. The life of the Christian is spent keeping the law out of love for Christ, repenting of sin, and rejoicing in the glory of the completed work of Jesus on the cross.
The Anger of God
0When bashing Christianity, a lot of people will look at the perceived mo
rality of God in the Old Testament. A lot of people will say that they do not want to serve a God that is so crazy, so wild, and so destructive. People want to focus on God’s anger and wrath. Of course they never focus on his creation and peace, how he saved slaves and restored Israel over and over, but they will focus on his passion for destruction. This article is a look at the facts, and what God has to say about his actions. The bible records God doing some pretty incredible things which include destroying numerous armies, two cities with fire, and driving one king to the point of insanity. Why God did these things is hard to understand. How he can call himself loving and do these things can be even harder to understand. So let’s hit the word, because the answer to these questions can lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation for God.
For our foundation in the nature of God we have to check the bible, because that is what God has to say about himself. In Psalm 103 David is talking about the Lord’s faithfulness and love towards Israel and it is an easy example of how God can be passionately angry and passionately loving. David is pointing out that the “Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far doe she remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:8-12) (more…)