3. Childless

ADVENT MEDITATIONS No.3

3. Goodness doesn’t mean freedom from pain

Luke 1:6,7 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

Much of a Christian leader’s life is spent, not simply in teaching, but in correcting wrong ideas about Christianity. One idea, that is often around in people’s minds, is that if you are good, godly and/or a Christian, life will always be good. Not entirely true!

There is a truth in the teaching that if you are a Christian you are in line for God’s blessing, because that’s what Jesus came to do. The only problem is that we live in a Fallen World where Sin is the name of the game and because of that, things don’t always work out right. Sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes other people get it wrong, sometimes it’s just that’s how a Fallen World works.

Elizabeth and Zechariah, as recorded in Luke, chapter 1, are good examples of good people. Luke doesn’t give us any grounds to think badly of them in his description. They were upright in the sight of God; in other words that was God’s view of them, so that must be right! Moreover they observed all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. Now that says something. There aren’t too many of us who could make that claim, so these are good people, but life isn’t truly wonderful for them. Why? Because they had no children and, to make it worse, they were both well along in years, so they weren’t likely to have children.

Anyone who has struggled to have children and been unable to, knows the anguish that this couple would have felt. Even more in their culture, for having children was a high priority. Solomon had written, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” (Psa 127:4,5). That was the thinking of the culture. It was bad news not to have children. So here is this elderly couple who have struggled through life without any children – but they are good!

Doesn’t God reward goodness, someone might ask. Isn’t there a link between being good and God blessing you? Well if you look at most world religions you might be led to believe that, because striving to be good is so often equated with encounters with God, in their claims. However, that’s where Christianity veers away from the rest because it acknowledges ‘goodness’ is something that evades us. Chief letter-writer in the New Testament, the apostle Paul, knew this to his detriment. He wrote, “what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” (Rom 7:19)

No, even our best efforts at doing good are tainted with self-centredness or self-effort. As we come to this ‘Christmas Story’ we need to realise from the outset that this is all about people, but none of them are perfect. This is all about God doing amazing things (including with Zechariah and Elizabeth) but not because they are good, but simply because He’s chosen them and they’re available. This is a story of God doing great things, not people doing them. Put aside your self-righteousness and you’re ready for this story!

2. History

ADVENT MEDITATIONS No.2

2. Truth based in History

Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

There are some people who have some funny ideas about Christianity and there are some people who just have funny ideas. The ‘funny ideas about Christianity’ people often think Christianity was just some fairytale set of ideas dreamt up by some mystics some where along the way in history. The people who just have ‘funny ideas’ often are people who are led by mystical ‘funny people’ who have just dreamt up some strange ideas somewhere along the way in history.

Now the truth of Christianity is far from either of these two groups of weird and wonderful believers. Christianity is rooted in down to earth, time-space history. Things happened and those things were recorded. Yesterday we started these meditations by considering Doctor Luke who wrote what we call ‘Luke’s Gospel’. He had gone to some trouble to make sure he had checked things out very carefully. Today’s verse is steeped in history. It identifies the time as that in history when King Herod ruled in Judea. It speaks of Jewish culture and life at that time, of the practice of Jewish priests coming from the tribe of Levi and specifically from the descendants of the family of Aaron in that tribe.

This says that all that we are about to read follows in the flow of history, and much of the culture and background is because of what has gone before. We are never simply isolated figures in history; we come into history, into a world that has been shaped by all that has gone before.

Later on, Luke was to write about the coming of a forerunner to Jesus Christ and described it as follows: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene – during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. (Lk 3:1,2). Those two verses are packed full of historical information defining the exact point in history when all this occurred. This is a writer who wants us to realize that this is all happening at a specific point of history in a specific geographical location, with a specific culture. You can’t be more down-to-earth than this!

In a day when political correctness or post modern rhetoric tends sometimes to spew out notions based upon emotion and little else, coming to the Bible and its concrete foundations may produce a sense of culture shock in some. There is nothing vague about the New Testament history; it is clear and concise, sometimes almost too much so. However, if we wish to use the Christmas story as recorded in the New Testament as a basis of our mediations, we would do well to face up to these things early on in the day.

What we are about to read is rooted in time-space history. Having read it verse by verse, word by word, for many years now, I am going to treat it as the accurate history that it is. If you have a problem with that, either stop reading these meditations now, or risk seeing how different they might be from the vagaries of unbelieving theologies. You might be pleasantly surprised! Risk it, stay with us!

1. Truth

ADVENT MEDITATIONS No.1

1. The Certainty of the Truth

Luke 1:3-4 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught

We live in a world of uncertainty which is strange because in so many ways we think we are in control. Science and technology have so pressed ahead in the past fifty years that one writer suggested we have been through greater changes than in all the millennia that man has lived on this earth. We have apparently made tremendous strides in nutrition and health and so we live longer. Yet still there is an uncertainty to life that we all struggle with. None of us can be absolutely certain that we will be here in a year’s time.

When it comes to the Bible, unbelieving theologians from last century created so many doubts that many who should know better, doubt. When it comes to Christmas the same doubters suggest that Christmas is an add-on to a pagan winter feast. The truth is that it was a Roman Emperor in AD 272 who established the pagan festival, but in northern Africa, Christians were already celebrating the birth date of Jesus as December 25 in AD 243, 30 years beforehand. No, the pagan festival was the add-on. Then there is the uncertainty of the date of the 25th December. One of the foremost scholars on ancient Jewish culture and sacred writings, states: “There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date. The objections generally made rest on grounds which seem to me historically unfeasible”. But he’s just a scholar, so what should he know!!!!

Post-modernism, the philosophical approach of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, is all about doubting what has gone before. That’s why, before we move into these meditations based upon the Christmas story, it’s important that we face up these things. It is refreshing, in the light of the current doubt and cynicism that so often prevails, to find Luke writing about the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke was a doctor and even by the standards of those days, that made him an intellectual, and intellectuals pride themselves on investigating the truth and getting it right! Hence he says, I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning and it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, which is the language of such a person.

If only critics of the Gospels would take the same care that Luke did, we’d have a lot less critics! So, when we come to think about theses amazing events as recorded in Luke’s and Matthew’s Gospels (Matthew has some equally good reasons for believing what he wrote), how about coming to the Christmas story with a new sense of openness that is willing to accept what a careful, intellectual scholar like Luke says.

Last century, a solicitor by the name of Morrison, decided to debunk the Gospels and carried out a serious investigation, which resulted in a book called, “Who Moved the Stone?” written by a man clearly converted to the truth of the Gospels. There are others we could cite (e.g. J.B.Phillips) who have had the same experience. Writer and evangelist, Michael Green, speaks of an atheist he met at a party, a clever man doing doctoral studies in physics. Green asked the man if he had ever read the Gospels with an open mind. The man replied, “I dare not.”

Dare we come and risk this same experience, of being confronted so powerfully by the truth, that we’ll never be the same again? That’s what open-mindedness does. It enables you to look the truth in the eye and realize that that is what it is – the truth! Risk it, read along open-minded this Advent.

God a Stronghold

God in the Psalms No.14

Psa 9:9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble

We have seen previously the Lord who is a shield (Meditation 3) and the Lord who is a refuge (Meditation 11) and now we consider an extension of this, to God who is a stronghold. We saw that a shield is something you hold out between you and an enemy for protection, but a refuge is something you run into so that the strength of the refuge protects you. A stronghold is a development of the idea of a refuge.  Indeed it is something you run into for protection, but the picture is a much stronger one.

When David escaped from Gath, he fled to the Cave of Adullam (1 Sam 22:1) where he was joined by his family. This place was then referred to as a stronghold (v.4,5).  A stronghold is a fortified place with strong defences. That is the difference between a refuge and a stronghold. A refuge is simply a general term for a place of retreat and safety, while a stronghold is a particular type of refuge, a strongly defended refuge. David frequently retreated to this particular place for safety and security (1 Sam 24:22, 2 Sam 5:17 , 23:14). In Psa 144:2 David piles on this imagery: “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge”. There fortress and stronghold are really one and the same thing, a strongly defended place of complete security. A refuge is somewhere you go to peace and protection, but a fortress or stronghold is somewhere you go to specifically withstand the enemy who comes to attack.

Thus it is that David speaks of going to the stronghold “in times of trouble”. The trouble he refers to is his enemy (v.3,6), other nations (v.5) who may be described as ‘the wicked’ (v.5). He has seen the Lord dealing with them (v.3-6). So many of the things about the Lord come together in this Psalm. The Lord who is enthroned (v.7,11 and Meditation 2), the Lord who judges (v.8 and Meditation 12), and the God who delivers (v.3-6 implied and Meditation 4).  In all these ways the Lord acts as a stronghold, a place of strong defence. Because He is The King who is reigning, enthroned, because He is the Judge who stands against and judges against unrighteousness and because He comes to deliver, He is a stronghold, a place of strong security. When David is in trouble, when nations rise against him, when enemies come and oppose him unrighteously, he knows that when he runs to the Lord, the Lord WILL stand against unrighteousness, He will deal with the enemy, and so David can feel entirely secure. There is no way that the enemy can come and get him when he’s with the Lord.

It’s not merely that the Lord is a refuge, as good as that is, but the Lord is a stronghold, a strong place of defence that will not be breached and so there is utter security with him. To get a sense of the strength that is conveyed with the picture of a stronghold we need to go to countries that have castles and see the incredibly high and thick walls that were utterly impossible to scale or breach. This is a stronghold, a place that is impregnable and which cannot be breached. It is a picture of total and utter security. There no stronghold like the Lord. Because He is who He is, with all His might, power and authority no enemy can get through Him to us when we are ‘in Him’. This is the sense of security the Lord wants us to have. We are secure, not because of anything we do, not because of our activities, but simply because we are ‘in Him’ and He is utterly impregnable!  Is that the sense we have when troubles come on us? We run to the Lord, we call on Him and He draws near, and then comes the sense that all these troubles mean nothing because He surrounds us, He is our stronghold.

(This will be the last of this particular series for the time being. )

God of Glory

God in the Psalms No.13

Psa 8:1 O LORD , our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

In the 6th of these meditations, when we considered the face of the Lord, we briefly considered the glory of the Lord. Let’s now think about that more fully. David starts this eighth psalm off by reflecting on how wonderful the Lord’s name is.   He uses the covenant name for God (LORD = “I am who I am” – see Exodus 3:13-15 and footnotes) which is another way of saying “God of Eternity” or “the Eternal One”.

When he thinks of the Lord he feels His name is majestic, higher than any other, and then he gives the reason for this: the Lord, he says, has set His glory above the heavens. Now that’s an interesting way of putting it: “above” the heavens. In some old paintings the painter showed the earth and the sky above it, and then had heavenly beings above the sky. It’s like they wanted to put the heavenly world above “the heavens”, the sky, to give a fuller or more complete picture of reality.

When we look at the rest of this psalm we see David marvelling at God’s work in Creation (v.3). He then wonders at the fact of God making man and giving him all this and making him ruler over all of it (v.4-6). As he ponders on this and on the wonder of this incredible world, God’s gift to mankind, he just bursts out with, “how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (v.9). Man may have been given this world to rule over, but God Himself is the King over all things. He’s the One who created all things and therefore He’s the only one who can really claim to be King, Lord of all.

But there’s more than this, there’s this reference to the Lord’s glory. When we considered God’s glory before, we saw it as the brightness that literally shines from God’s presence, the glory that was first revealed to Israel at Sinai.   It was subsequently seen at the completion and dedication of the Tabernacle (Ex40:33-35) and the completion and dedication of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 8:10,11).   Is that the glory that is being referred to here by David now?   Not quite but the same sense is there in what he describes.   He is saying that when you look at the wonder of God’s creation you see the wonder of the Master Craftsman, the Creator, behind it all; it isn’t just a bland piece of construction; it is a masterpiece that reflects the staggering nature of the One who brought it all into being from nothing.  What it reflects is the glory or wonder of the One who made it all.

Have you ever seen it like this?  Have you ever been somewhere in the world and gazed upon what you see before you – and marvelled and wondered at what is before you – the handiwork of the Master Creator?   Have you ever stood on the seashore with the sun setting and marvelled?  Have you ever stood on a hillside gazing on the panorama before you, and marvelled?  Have you ever seen the Canadian Rockies, or any other great mountain chain, and marvelled?  It would be possible to write for hours describing the incredible variety of the features of the world that are so beautiful.  This is God’s world; this is what He has made.  You have to be hard-hearted or blind not to see the handiwork of God in all this and remain unmoved. Paul wrote about such people, “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen” (Rom 1:19,20). His conclusion about their blindness and refusal to respond? They have no excuse! Let’s not be like them!

God who Judges

God in the Psalms No.12 

Psa 7:6-8 Awake, my God; decree justice. Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high; let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD

These verses introduce us quite clearly to a new description of the Lord: the Lord who is a Judge. What does a Judge do? He (or she) assesses a case in the light of the Law and pronounces a verdict based on that Law. For the Lord this is a circular thing for the Lord designed the world in accordance with His character (perfection) and decreed the Law to ensure people lived in accordance with that design.  Now He judges according to that Law, according to that design, according to His character.  Justice is weighing actions in the light of that Law and bringing appropriate action to bear on the miscreant to make right the situation.

Now with the Lord, nothing can be hidden.  The writer to the Hebrews was able to write: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:13).  So, when the Lord assesses the situation He does so with full and complete knowledge. But there is more. Paul described the Lord as, “the only wise God” (Rom 16:27).  The Lord is the only one who not only knows all things but knows that is right to do in every situation.  (Wisdom is knowing what to do). Therefore the Lord looks, the Lord knows, and the Lord knows how to respond.  The one thing we will never be able to do when we get to heaven, if the Lord should allow us full vision of all that has happened, is criticize anything the Lord has said or done.  His ways are perfect (Deut 32:4).  Thus in heaven they cry, “Just and true are your ways” (Rev 15:3).

So it is, that when we come before the Lord we may never fear injustice. But do we want justice?  Do we want to be judged by the One who sees all things, every wrong thought, every wrong word, every wrong deed? If every such thing throughout our lives were brought out for accounting, it would truly be a terrible thing.  There would be no doubt; we are guilty!   Piled up before, us all these things condemn us.  It’s all right for David in this one situation to say, Judge me according to my righteousness. Oh, yes on specific occasions we can say, well, yes, I was righteous then, I did respond well then. But what about all the other times when we were not so careful, the times when we do not quite come up to the mark, or even fell well short of it?

Yes, this is why we need an advocate, one who will step in and speak up for us. But what could he plead?  Extenuating circumstances?   No, there were none.  We were guilty, it was our fault!   No, there is only one ground on which he can plead – that he himself has already stood in for us and taken our punishment and the penalty for every sin has been paid.  That’s what John had in mind when he wrote: if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 Jn 2:1,2)

Here is the advocate speaking for our defence and here is the one who has paid for our sins – and they are one and the same person, Jesus Christ. Thus when God stands as Judge before the whole of Creation, He CAN bring justice, He can decree rightly in respect of our sins. There is no ‘letting us off’, there is no turning a blind eye. The judgment is given, justice is done, the sins are paid for.  It has been done!  The Judge does give a right judgment – and we are released!   How wonderful!

God of Refuge

God in the Psalms No.11

Psa 7:1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me

We have seen previously (Meditation 3) God as a shield, the one who stands between us and our enemy and provides protection, but the idea of God being a refuge takes us on beyond that to a fuller and more intimate picture of God with us.

Yes, there is the same idea of God being a protector and He does it by being a deliverer (as we saw in Meditation 4), to save David from those who pursued him and sought to kill him (v.2).   So what’s the difference between a shield and a refuge?   A shield is something you hold out in front of you to protect you from the enemy, while a refuge is a place you retreat into to receive that same protection.   A shield is before you and a refuge is all around you.   A shield you have to hold up strongly, but a refuge is something you retreat into when you are weak and unable to defend yourself.  The refuge provides the strength and you need do nothing except get into it.

In mountain areas, there is sometimes a refuge in high places which is either a hut or simply a wall in a square shape with a single opening. In both cases the climber or walker simply gets into the refuge to escape the weather. When wives have been beaten by husbands who are bullies, we now have ‘refuges’ where they can go where the husband cannot. All they need do is flee into the refuge and they are safe.

Thus, similarly, we can have a sense of the Lord’s presence surrounding us and when that happens, the noise of the winds of adversity are cut off and we have peace.  God is our refuge.  There are times when the enemy seems to rage against us and affliction comes in a variety of ways, and we cry out to the Lord and then, suddenly all is still, the struggle seems to be terminated.  God is our refuge.  It is simply His presence being manifested and whenever He comes into our circumstances, He takes control and peace comes. The picture of Jesus asleep in the boat with the disciples, in the storm (Mt 8:24 -), although an historical event, is also a good analogy of this.  A storm blew up that threatened the boat. They woke Jesus and he returned to their conscious world and rebuked the wind and the waves.  Suddenly there was peace. Thus was God manifest.   God was their refuge.

In Num 35:9 onwards we find God giving Moses the law for the cities of refuge. These were simply places where someone who had committed manslaughter could go to get protection against the avenger. We have an accuser, Satan, for that is what his name means.  When we fail and sin, we confess it and when he accuses us we have to flee to the refuge that is Jesus and all he’s done of us on the Cross.  That was why John wrote in 1 Jn 2:1,2 about how, should we sin, we have one who speaks in our defence, the one who died for us, Jesus. When we are accused we are to flee to God, our refuge, for He alone has provided safety and protection for us against the demands of Satan and the Law, so that we might live and not die. He is our refuge because of who He is and what He’s done.  Psa 126:1 says, “Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.” This is what a refuge does, it keeps us safe; it makes us feel secure.   That is far more than the work of a shield.  As we said, the refuge surrounds us and it is His strength, not ours, that prevails against the enemy. We just have to cry to Him and then let Him be Himself for us, for His very presence acts as a refuge from all the enemy can bring against us. Hallelujah!

God who disciplines

God in the Psalms No.10 

Psa 6:1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath

Our initial response to these words may not be one that lifts our spirit. Most of us would read these words and say, “Oh dear!” (or something similar!). The thought of being rebuked or disciplined is not a comfortable one! These exact words are repeated in Psa 38:1. In fact the concept of the Lord disciplining His people is a very common one in Scripture, and when we see it in context we will see what a good thing it is.

Psa 39:11 says, “You rebuke and discipline men for their sin”. So, there discipline is linked with our sin. Well we would expect that perhaps but look at Deut 4:35,36: “You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you”. The ‘things’ referred to there were His acts of deliverance in Egypt before the Exodus and their experience of Him at Sinai.  This idea is repeated in Deut 11:2,3: “Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt.” Again the discipline that is referred to comes about by observing the mighty acts of God as He dealt with Pharaoh and led them to their land.

Well let’s consider a general definition of discipline and see how it might fit what we’ve seen here:

discipline = training that develops self-control and character.

Now what would have been the effect upon Israel of watching God at work in Egypt? It would have gradually brought the revelation to them that He is all-mighty, all-powerful and that He deals with pride, arrogance, idol worship and sin generally. This should have taught them that God was not to be trifled with!   Psa 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law”. In other words, discipline comes about when we realize God’s Law, when we realize God’s standards, the way God has made things to be, when we realize the boundaries God has given us in life.

Discipline can thus be seen to be conforming our understanding and our lives to God’s design, God’s character and God’s will. The Lord made us perfect when He made the world but with the Fall, sin made us think and do things contrary to that perfection. Discipline is both the process and the product that brings us back to God’s way of thinking and acting. David was feeling very low in Psalm 6. It wasn’t that He objected to discipline but he didn’t want God to have to discipline him in anger because of sin.

Heb 12:5-11 is probably THE New Testament passage on discipline. The writer encourages us to
“not lose heart when he rebukes you” (v.6) and then gives the reason: “the Lord disciplines those he loves” and “God disciplines us for our good” (v.10), so that “Later on… it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (v.11). Now substitute the word, “trains” for discipline and we see more clearly what this is about. It’s not about punishment; it’s about bringing us into conformity with the truth – the truth of who God is, how He’s made the world to be, and how we are to live to get the best out of it.

Yes, it so often needs difficult circumstances to mould us. That was what was happening to David. We learn patience by having to wait, endurance by having to hang on in with difficult and trying circumstances, to love by being given difficult people, and so on. Each of these is God training us, disciplining us, and conforming us to His likeness – because He loves us and wants the best for us.

God who leads

God in the Psalms No.9 

Psa 5:8 Lead me, O LORD , in your righteousness because of my enemies – make straight your way before me

There is one particular truth in Scripture that many people have never taken hold of: God is an initiator. Yes, God knows the future, God knows what He wants to do, God knows the plans He has (Eph 2:10) and they are firm and sure (Psa 33:11) and He has an end in mind (Prov 16:4). We can plan and strategise, but it is HIS purposes that will succeed (Prov 19:21) and the good news is that they are for our blessing (Jer 29:11, Eph 1:4-11). It is with this understanding that we should always approach the subject of guidance. Guidance is all about bringing our lives in line with God’s plan for our lives. [You may need to copy this meditation and look up the verses later]

Thus we find David asking the Lord to “lead me”, but this comes some way into this psalm that we’ve already considered twice. He’s called the Lord his King – recognizing the Lord’s right to rule over him. He’s recognized that the Lord hates evil and blesses good. He’s clear in his mind about the nature of the One he is asking to lead him. He comes to the Lord, morning and evening (v.3), to talk to Him. He recognizes that it is only by God’s mercy that he can come to worship God (v.7). He’s got a problem with enemies (v.8) who speak badly of him (v.9) and he’s aware he needs the Lord’s help.

He needs the Lord to lead him, to make straight the way before him. Why? Because when you have enemies coming against you, your emotions go all over the place, your vision can get blurred, worry or even fear can take a hold of you, and even confusion can upset you. When all of those things happen we need to come and make the way clear, to clarify the path we should be walking with Him.

There is one little word in that last phrase that is so important: make straight your way before me. This brings us right back to everything we considered in the first paragraph above; it is God’s plan for our lives that we want, it is HIS way ahead that we want to walk in. He is righteous, His ways are right and because they are right they are good. The way ahead? We want His way, not a way that is dominated by the enemy, a way that distorts us, that is confusing, and worrying. No, His way is good, His way is right, and His way brings peace and blessing. But His way might be different to the way of our natural inclinations.

Our natural inclinations may be defensive in the face of an enemy, in the face of unkind, harsh, untruthful words about us. And when we are defensive we respond in like manner; we attack and that is not God’s way. Thus we find ourselves in a place of real need, of being led, of being guided into God’s way of doing things, God’s way of leading us through the days ahead. Oh yes, there’s the problem! Tomorrow and all the days ahead! We’ve got to live through these days in the sight of the enemy. Somehow we need God’s grace to walk in His way.

That’s why, so often, the apostle Paul would start his letters with “grace and peace to you.” Grace is God’s ability there for us, to help us cope, to help us overcome, and to help us triumph in the situation – in His way. Peace is the ability to be at rest in the knowledge that the Lord IS Lord, that He reigns and He has a plan that he is working out. Perhaps this word comes to you like the word through Isaiah, Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isa 30:21). Is your tendency to veer off God’s path? Then the quiet word comes from behind you, still on the path, “THIS is the way!” Wondering how to proceed? Needing guidance? The answer is God’s way, God’s plan carried out in God’s way!

God who Hates

God in the Psalms No.8

Psa 5:4,5 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong

In theses two verses we focus on the last phrase: you hate all who do wrong. How, we might think, does this fit with the God who is love? Let’s check, first of all, what the Bible says about the things or people God hates.

Deut 12:31: You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
Deut 16:21,22 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.

Psa 11:5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.

Prov 6:16-19 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

That will do for now, a good selection. God made the world perfect. Sin came in and spoilt it, yet it is still possible for men and women of faith to enter into relationship with the Lord and receive His ongoing restoration. Such people who turn to Him, He calls His children (e.g. John 1:12). For God, perfection is normal and natural. Thus Jesus was able to say, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48). Perfect there means whole or complete, i.e. let God restore you by His Holy Spirit and the work of the Cross, so that you are the complete being He wants you to be in the likeness of Jesus.

Now because God is perfect, He loves what is perfect, all He has made, and those He is restoring but, conversely He hates anything that spoils or mars the wonderful world that He has made. Thus whenever He sees sin He hates it, in the same way that a surgeon may hate cancer cells, knowing that unless it is eradicated it will destroy. Thus in the verses above we find a variety of expressions of sin that God hates because He knows that unless it is dealt with it will destroy His people, His creation.

But people? Yes, even people. Look carefully at their descriptions: the wicked, the arrogant. These are not people who just occasionally do these things, these are people who have settled into this way of life. Like an infection in the body these are “carriers” that cause sin to spread. What to you do with a life-threatening infection? You destroy it by whatever means you can before it destroys you. No wonder God hates or detests these “carriers” of sin. They are working to destroy the wonder of all that He has made.

But note something else. As soon as this person comes to repentance, if that is possible, then God is instantly there for them. The second they turn to God He is there for them. Here is a mystery. We can see someone who we would describe in the language used above, and then somehow God moves in their life, they pause, they question, they seek and they submit, and we see God’s salvation was there for them just as it was for us. Jesus told us to pray for and love our enemies (Mt 5:44). Is it possible that God loves and hates at the same time, or is it that He sees the possibility of repentance coming in this person, and although He hates what they are at the moment, He knows they will respond and become one of His – pre-chosen! (Eph 1:4) A glorious mystery!