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 Psalm 83:13-17,
"Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name. May they ever be shamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace."
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
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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"Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name. May they ever be shamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace."
Psalm 83, attributed to Asaph, is one of many of the psalms that can be categorized as 'imprecatory." An imprecation is a curse and here we see Asaph calling for a curse on the enemies of Israel. Edom, Ishmaelites, Moabites, Hagrites, Byblos, Ammon, Amalek Philistia, Tyre and Assyria are all mentioned by name in this psalm. Verses 6-8.
Asaph quotes them as saying, "Come... let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel's name is remembered no more." Verse 4. Because of Asaph's view that Israel is the nation of God's people, Asaph calls the enemies of Israel, God's enemies, "See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish." Verses 2-3. While they very well may be God's enemies, God is using them to chastise his own people due to Israel's infidelity against God through their idol worship.
As I read this, however, I am reminded of Paul's admonition to the Roman church, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Romans 12:14. On the other hand we see Paul cursing those who attempted to destroy the fledgling new church in Galatia, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse!" Galatians 1:8-9.
Jesus taught, "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Matthew 6:27-28.
My take-away on all this is that I best understand what it is I am doing in living out what I find in the Scriptures. Blindly following what I see done in the Scriptures is not always appropriate - I need to understand the circumstances and the intention God has purposed for the various passages of the Scriptures. Good questions to ask ourselves when we read our Bibles are, "What exactly is it the Lord wants me to learn from this passage? How should this order my life?"
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!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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