God's Judgment Brings Praise from Everybody! - 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 Psalm 76:10,

"Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the
survivors of your wrath are restrained."

Here is an interesting comment by Asaph. When God brings his wrath
against mankind it brings him praise. Naturally, my first impulse is
to think in terms of the "afflicted of the land" are those that praise
God when he judges those who afflict them. God saves them from their
plight and they express their thankfulness, appreciation, reverence
and adoration of the One who brought them relief.

It does cause me to think of the culprits in such a context. Those who
perpetrate affliction on others who are helpless, and both suffer and
survive God's judgment, what is their outlook on God? I bring it up
because of another psalm that raises another interesting observation,
"In spite of all this, they [unfaithful Israel] kept on sinning; in
spite of his [God's] wonders, they did not believe. So he ended their
days in futility and their years in terror. Whenever God slew them,
they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered
that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer." Psalm
78:32-35.

Isn't that a fascinating observation? When God judged the rebellious
people of Israel, the survivors of his judgment would turn around and
seek him, "eagerly turned to him again." It would only be following
God's judgment of them that they would remember that God had done
wonderful things for them in the past, as their redeemer (a reference
to Israel's deliverance from their enslavement in Egypt and subsequent
exodus led by Moses.)

I suspect that all people praise God for his judgments, both
perpetrators of injustice as well as their victims. Certainly, it is
easy to see why the survivors of God's terrible wrath are restrained.
I suspect their is more than just restraint as this verse in Psalm 76
tells us.

Note: I will be on vacation for the next week and a half and out of
town next week. See you all back here May 13, Lord willing!

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!

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.