Greatly to be Feared!
"A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on all His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for all His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way and the clouds are the dust beneath His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, the blossoms of Lebanon wither. Mountains quake because of Him, and the hills dissolve; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, the earth and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him." (Nahum 1:2-7)
This God I serve is greatly to be feared! He is the great Wind-whirler, Cloud-walker, Sea-rebuker, Blossom-witherer, Mountain-quaker, Hill-dissolver, Earth-upheaver, and Rock-breaker! Further, He is the Maker of all those things which He whirls, walks upon, rebukes, withers, quakes, dissolves, upheaves, and breaks! How can I stand in in the presence of this God upon sturdy legs? How can my knees not buckle in weakness and I not fall on my face and crawl before Him who is most high! Covered in the blood of Christ I'm made able to rest in the hands of this great God of wrath! Wrapped safely in the sacrifice of Jesus, I bear none of the deserved indignation from this jealous and avenging God! As a receiver of God's mercy, I am made able to bow thankful for His justice and wrath on sinful flesh.
God's faithfulness to surely punish sin perfectly balances His faithfulness to keep His promise to His redeemed. He must be faithful and sure in both His wrath and His mercy in order to be just and the keeper of all His promises to the elect. Yes! He is altogether faithful in both His righteous wrath against evil and His loving mercy toward His chosen. Oh, that I am counted among His chosen and made a partaker of His mercy rather than His wrath, which was once upon my sin-sick head.
Oh God, thank You for giving me a heart that would seek its refuge in Christ. Renew my fear of You that I may ever tremble in Your holy presence and ne'er forget the peril of the state in which I once walked. Every day is one of great trouble as my flesh wars with Your Spirit who lives in me. May my heart be forever in Your strong hold, daily strengthened and made increasingly pure in the likeness of Jesus.
This God I serve is greatly to be feared! He is the great Wind-whirler, Cloud-walker, Sea-rebuker, Blossom-witherer, Mountain-quaker, Hill-dissolver, Earth-upheaver, and Rock-breaker! Further, He is the Maker of all those things which He whirls, walks upon, rebukes, withers, quakes, dissolves, upheaves, and breaks! How can I stand in in the presence of this God upon sturdy legs? How can my knees not buckle in weakness and I not fall on my face and crawl before Him who is most high! Covered in the blood of Christ I'm made able to rest in the hands of this great God of wrath! Wrapped safely in the sacrifice of Jesus, I bear none of the deserved indignation from this jealous and avenging God! As a receiver of God's mercy, I am made able to bow thankful for His justice and wrath on sinful flesh.
God's faithfulness to surely punish sin perfectly balances His faithfulness to keep His promise to His redeemed. He must be faithful and sure in both His wrath and His mercy in order to be just and the keeper of all His promises to the elect. Yes! He is altogether faithful in both His righteous wrath against evil and His loving mercy toward His chosen. Oh, that I am counted among His chosen and made a partaker of His mercy rather than His wrath, which was once upon my sin-sick head.
Oh God, thank You for giving me a heart that would seek its refuge in Christ. Renew my fear of You that I may ever tremble in Your holy presence and ne'er forget the peril of the state in which I once walked. Every day is one of great trouble as my flesh wars with Your Spirit who lives in me. May my heart be forever in Your strong hold, daily strengthened and made increasingly pure in the likeness of Jesus.
Yes, God is a fearsome God. (Too bad that I have an arminian-tainted theology that cannot fully comprehend this truth.)
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