Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


6.24.2006  

Word

Psalm 96
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the LORD in holy attire; tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; let the field exult, and all that is in it, then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

In reading this psalm early (very early) this morning and again later this morning, I smiled at several things. I won't comment on those things, since I want to mull over them for a while in my head. One thing I do want to point out, however, is the last verse, particularly the last portion that says, "He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness."

That proclamation is not good news. At least, not for those who know the character of God. From this Psalm alone, we know that God is the one who made the heavens, He is glorious, He is to be feared, and we are to tremble before Him in "holy attire." For people that are undeniably unholy (every single human that I've ever met or seen), this declaration of God's coming judgment cannot be good, nor is it something to make one happy. Why is this? God is righteous, and must be faithful to His holy name. If He were not, and merely looked over sin without judging it, He would be unfaithful, and therefore, would cease to be God. That's absurd, and it won't happen. Yet, that's precisely how absurd it is for us to think that God will gloss over our sin; it just isn't going to happen, because it can't!

Why, then, do I read this psalm with joy? The answer is absurd: God killed His own Son on a cross in order to make atonement for the sins that I would have been punished for, then raised Him from death in a glorious victory over sin and death. The righteous and faithful judgment that the psalmist proclaims takes on an entirely new light when one considers this, because now the righteousness spoken of is the righteousness of God's Son that I now claim as my own, and the faithfulness spoken of is the faithfulness that God has to save those whom He clothes in the righteousness of His Son.

posted by Bolo | 12:25 PM
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