Tag: indignation

Shine Your face upon us

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us”

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.”

“LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Psalms 80:3  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 85:4    Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

1 Kings 18:37    Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Jeremiah 31:18  I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God.  For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Lamentations 5:21    Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—

Psalms 4:6     There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

How do we know if our hearts are not in line with God and His plans and purpose?  What does it take to turn our hearts back to God?  How far do we have to drift away from Him before we realize the need to turn back to Him?  Tough questions to answer.  Let’s look at it another way.  What if we chose to stay close and continually grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him, Jesus Christ.  What if we determined to commit each day to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.  What if we devoted time each day to know Him more.  What if we listened for His whispers of guidance and leading?  What if we ?????  There is so much we can and should do to keep from drifting away.  The first of which is to have a heart desire each day to know and love and honor and obey and listen and follow Him.

History of turning away

Psalms 78:38  Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.  He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.   How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!  They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.   They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,   when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.  He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams.   He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.   He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust.   He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost.  He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts.  He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.   He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague.   He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.  Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.   He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.   And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won.   He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.   Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.

How many times in scripture does it speak of the great signs God performed in Egypt before all of the peoples of both Egyptians and Israelites.  Many of these references speak not only of God’s power and might in this provision but of the lack of faith and trust of the Israelites in God after just witnessing His mighty hand at work.  How hard must it have been for those who did not think this way. Their heart, mind, and soul was truly amazed,thankful, and fully anchored in and on God, yet most of the people around them were grumbling, ungrateful, and so soon forgetting the greatness God performed before their very eyes.  How hard must it have been to stand firm and not fall into the same thinking being bombarded day after day by those around them.  God is our rock, refuge, power, strength, and protector.  He is ever present and steadfast in love.  He is the creator, author, and finisher of all there is.  Do not neglect Him and an opportunity in this life to be fully dedicated to humbly serving, following and obeying Him.

Uttered Judgement

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”

“For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.”

“ But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.”

“Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.”

Psalms 76:7  But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is rouse?  From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth.

Psalms 89:7    a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?

Jeremiah 10:7    Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.  They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!  Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.

Matthew 10:28    And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Revelation 14:7     And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Revelation 15:4    Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Zephaniah 2:3     Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

Living in the this time of grace and mercy of God does not mean He is not storing up His anger and wrath.  We need to be mindful of what it means to our soul to neglect His word and be complacent in humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.  He is a living God who sees all of our actions and knows all of our thoughts.  Walk worthy of “Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”.

The Great Contrast

“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,”

“ For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.”

“His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.”

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

“Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.”

Psalms 52:1  ”Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.  Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.  You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right.  You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.   But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.  The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,   “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Psalms 103:17    But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,

Psalms 107:1  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Proverbs 18:10   The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Psalms 130:5  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;  my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Lamentations 3:25  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Psalms 27:14     Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

James 5:7   Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

The contrast of those who deny God and only seek self satisfaction and those who patiently wait for the Lord is very evident in scripture.  Those who take for themselves, who oppress the weak, who are greedy for more, who are sexually immoral, who lie, cheat, and rob, and who hardens their heart against God have no peace or place of rest for their soul.  I imagine, at times, we look at those who live like this with disgust.  That is so wrong for us to do.  We too were like this but for the grace of God our heart was opened to His grace, mercy, and love.  Think about how long suffering God is.  If we, who believe and have a glimpse of His holiness, look at the wicked with disgust think about God and in His Holiness withholds His wrath and anger, offering grace and mercy.  The contrast is seen in the book of John;  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”  God’s anger and wrath are Holy and are reserved for those who neglect this offer of salvation.  In this time of reservation there is hope for the lost just as it was for us who once was lost but now are found safe and secure in His grace, mercy and love.    To humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God is to be an example and light to all those who are lost.  God is long suffering not wanting any to perish and we too need to have our heart and mind filled with compassion for the lost.  

Momentary affliction

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”

Psalms 38:1   O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.  My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.  I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.  O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.

Hebrews 12:5  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Proverbs 15:10   There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.

We do not have to walk long on this path with God to experience His hand in our life.  Blessings, one after another.  I wonder if we count His discipline as a blessing.  We should but sometimes we have wondered away and He loves us so much that He disciplines us to get us back on path.  Staying close to God is always a blessing.  What is it that is pulling you away from this closeness?