Imagine for a moment that the Lord is loading his bow with a flaming arrow and aiming at you. You stand no chance that the Lord is going to miss his aim. If he lets go of the arrow, it will surely strike you right where it will cause the most lethal damage.
That is the imagery in Psalm 7:12-13. "If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows."
Surely God is just and is a righteous judge. He searches minds and hearts and knows exactly what is in our hearts. He knows fully well that out of a man's heart comes what makes him unclean -- evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matthew 15:19-20). On the day of the Lord's judgment, who can stand it?
Yet, I am struck by how boldly the psalmist declares "... if there is guilt on my hands ... let my enemy .. trample my life to the ground." (Psalm 7:3-5). Is the psalmist self-deceiving or is he foolish? He should know that God does not tolerate sin and the psalmist himself is as much a sinner as anyone else. How can he be so bold?
He can be so bold because there is one shield that can block the flaming arrows from God's bow. The shield is "God Most High" Himself (Psalm 7:10). No other shield will do. Only God Himself can shield us from His wrath.
God wraps around us with Himself to protect us. He covers us. God the Son bled for us and died for us on the cross, to bear the price of our sin.
How amazing this is! Just like the psalmist, "I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High." (Psalm 7:17) Hallelujah, Amen!
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"Yet, I am struck by how boldly the psalmist declares "... if there is guilt on my hands ... let my enemy .. trample my life to the ground." (Psalm 7:3-5). Is the psalmist self-deceiving or is he foolish? He should know that God does not tolerate sin and the psalmist himself is as much a sinner as anyone else. How can he be so bold?"
ReplyDeleteit looks like a key word in that psalm verse is "enemy".. the Lord isn't the enemy. so.. the psalmist isn't exactly foolish or self-deceiving. he isn't asking that God kill him. the psalmist is simply acknowledging that he understands at least some of the weight of sin that bears down on him as it weighs down on God's heart to know it.
"There is one shield that can block the flaming arrows from God's bow. The shield is "God Most High" Himself (Psalm 7:10). No other shield will do. Only God Himself can shield us from His wrath."
this is really interesting.. because it shows a convolution that is somehow... not convoluted. and it shows love. i think we all experience that constantly--the odd duality that we sometimes wish isn't there. because we love, we forgive. and because we love, we try to forget. because we love, we try to move on. and we do move on. God's love, and God as love, gets reflected even in our broken human state... because as humans, we seem to make irrational decisions at times simply because we care for another person.. and yet it is just a reflection of that love. and love knows no bounds.
The psalmist boldness is that God, who judges the sinners, can also judge his (the psalmist's) sin as well and punish as much. But God has chosen to bestow his grace on the psalmist and be the shield. This is absolutely because of God's love, not because of anything the psalmist has done to deserve it.
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