The Response
Psalm 98
Cantate Domino
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, *
for he has done marvelous things.
2 With his right hand and his holy arm *
has he won for himself the victory.
3 The Lord has made known his victory; *
his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4 He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *
and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
5 Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.
6 Sing to the Lord with the harp, *
with the harp and the voice of song.
Comment:This morning I went back to the readings appointed for Sunday coming. This, after the Lord woke me up, no drama, just woke up, at 5 mins to 4:am. To read about his wrath in Zephaniah:
”The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.“
Zephaniah 1:14-18 NIV
And the passage which greeted me on opening my Bible randomly was this:
”Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.“
Zephaniah 2:3 NIV
Seek righteousness ! The Word from the Gospel for Sunday:
The Gospel
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
Comment: what do I glean from all of this? That we hug up sin at own peril. Individually, and collectively as a church, and even more dangerous as a nation – a reproach. This as the insidious nature of sin in the world has somehow crept into the church, so that in some measure and by some metrics, we are not much different from the world. Mercy! This happening when the Lord God of Israel told his people repeatedly, and which message rings true for us, even more so since we have been “ washed and sanctified by the precious blood of the Lamb, to “ Do not do what they do”. And “ Be holy as I am holy”. The truth of the matter is that God’s ( promised) wrath on sinful mankind, Adam’s helpless race, has been thwarted, paid for, substituted by the shed blood of the Lamb of God, even Jesus Christ our Savior. For those how believe in the gift of God. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…and the wages of sin is death…..but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. But for those who don’t believe and for those who like Saul disobey ( worse than divination) the commands of Jesus, the wrath of God hangs over their collective heads like the proverbial sword of Damocles. That’s Bible truth! Whether you want to accept it or not. And therefore earthquakes and other natural disasters pose an existential threat to the disobedient and to those who have rejected the gift of God.
A final message :
”And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.“
Matthew 5:30 NIV
Lord renew thy church with those who completely abhor sin and cry you to you day and night for mercy and forgiveness: Lord renew thy church we pray thee, that the church may renew the nation(s) standing in judgment for rejecting the shed blood of the Lamb of God. This as peace in anyone’s soul, in a community, and in a nation comes only when Christ rules within out hearts. In the classroom and in the whole nation. And then help us O Lord to sing to you a new song of praise and of thanksgiving. Just like the Psalmist did!
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ