The reality of the exile has set in and life as the Israelites knew it is gone. They are now living with the consequences of their idolatry and disobedience to the Lord’s covenant. Thus, our theme for this week is consequences. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all live with consequences. As we will discover, some consequences are good and some are bad, and all of them are real.
Today's Devotional:
“Why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?” – Lamentations 3:39
A sign of maturity in the process of human cognitive and emotional development is the ability to accept consequences for our actions. As a parent of young children, I am fully aware that this is an ability that children must learn as opposed to being born with it.
In the reading today it seems as though the nation of Israel is still learning this lesson. Like a spoiled child who has never been disciplined, Israel responded to the Lord with shock and dismay that He would pour out His anger on them.
In the New Testament, Peter picks up on this theme in 1 Peter 2:20-21. Peter says that you will be rewarded for suffering if you suffer for doing good. However, if we suffer for doing wrong there is no reward.
We all must deal with the consequences for our actions. It doesn’t matter if we were right or wrong, every action will bring about some consequence.
Labels: 1 peter, bible, consequences, God, israel, Lamentations, old testament, suffering
Psalm 28 is what Bible scholars call an imprecatory psalm. This is because the psalmist asks God to judge the wicked and the enemies of the righteous. Some have been troubled by the presence of such psalms. They wonder how a God of love and grace could receive such a request. Will God really act in response to this request?
Today I am challenging you to think differently about this psalm and others like it. If these psalms are prophetically the words or prayers of the Messiah, then it changes their message, the reason being that Jesus came for the purpose of taking the punishment for the sins of mankind. Thus Jesus, in praying these imprecatory psalms, actually prayed for God’s judgment and wrath to come and then willingly became the object of that judgment and wrath on our behalf.
Because of Jesus, these imprecatory psalms are no longer messages of condemnation and judgment, but rather of grace and love, for “He personally carried away our sins in His own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds.” – 1 Peter 2:24
Labels: 1 peter, bible, Christ, christian, imprecatory psalms, Jesus, judgment, Messiah, old testament, psalms
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