Our Love for God

Love Songs That Glorify God

Living with God's Loving Assurance

Nahum 1:2-10 The Message

2-6 God is serious business.
    He won’t be trifled with.
He avenges his foes.
    He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.
But God doesn’t lose his temper.
    He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.
Still, no one gets by with anything.
    Sooner or later, everyone pays.
Tornadoes and hurricanes
    are the wake of his passage,
Storm clouds are the dust
    he shakes off his feet.
He yells at the sea: It dries up.
    All the rivers run dry.
The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
    the Lebanon orchards shrivel.
Mountains quake in their roots,
    hills dissolve into mud flats.
Earth shakes in fear of God.
    The whole world’s in a panic.
Who can face such towering anger?
    Who can stand up to this fierce rage?
His anger spills out like a river of lava,
    his fury shatters boulders.
7-10 God is good,
    a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
    anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
    But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
    No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
    He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
    Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
    they’ll go up in flames.

For Reflection

We all know those who get by with all sorts of untoward action.  They never seem to get caught or suffer the consequences of the harm they cause. So, how are we to understand the remarks in Nahum? We all would like to see justice in these cases. But, are we asking God to satisfy our need for revenge? For vengeance?
Perhaps retributive justice is not what God has in mind.  Those who commit violations against others are perhaps already suffering. Perhaps it is the fear of unidentified loss or living without the privilege to trust others or the loneliness that is inevitable. Or the fear and resulting paranoia from the potential for being discovered for what one really is.  There truly no second chances for those who will not recognize their human vagaries.  A change toward the light is not what they perceive would end their longing. Their suffering will continue as a result of their spiritual blindness

But those who trust in the Lord do not seek revenge.  Those who trust in the Lord respond to God's goodness. Believers are at peace and rest in the knowledge that their days can be filled with joy in spite of life's troubling events.  They are comforted by praying for those whose lives are driven by hate and self-engrandizement at the expense of others and for greater confidence in the promise of God.

Pray

Pray so that you will be more able to withstand the storms or chaos which surround you.  Pray so that your anger drives your compassion

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