What will it be? God's kindness or God's justice? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Nahum 1:2-3; 7,

"The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
    the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
    and vents his wrath against his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
    and clouds are the dust of his feet.

The Lord is good,
    a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him..."

As the Lord announces his judgment against Nineveh, his two primary qualities are on display. In verses 2-3 he proclaims himself to be jealous and avenging, wrathful. He may be slow to anger, but he gets there, and when he does he is "great in power." He will not leave "the guilty unpunished" as all sin will be paid for at some point. The folks that find themselves in the cross-hairs of the Lord's judgment are "his foes", "his enemies", "the guilty."

Just several verses later in chapter one we read that the Lord is good and that he is to be a trusted refuge in times of trouble, and, importantly, "He cares for those who trust in him." Throughout the Scriptures, beginning particularly in Genesis 15:6, where we are told "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" we learn the way to God's magnanimous heart, to become a recipient of his loving kindness, mercy and grace, is to embrace him in faith. "He cares for those who trust in him."

As the Lord says of himself in Jeremiah 9:24, "let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Those who embrace the Lord in faith will experience his kindness, those who choose to remain at odds with him will experience his terrifying justice.

Beyond any other possible threat, the greatest refuge needed is a refuge from God's own wrath. Our faith and trust in him secures that.  Something to think about today.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com