Justice as Antidote (Rewind)

Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? Psalm 90:11  NASB

Power – Read the first verse of this psalm.  No, not the first English verse.  Read the first verse in the Hebrew text.  Let me help you:  tefillah le-Moshe ish ha-Elohim (A prayer of Moses, the man of God).  We are intended to realize that this psalm, this praise to YHVH, has been handed down from Moses, the greatest prophet of Israel.  Why do we need to read this first verse?  Because it sets the context for the entire prayer.  If any man knew the power of YHVH, it was Moshe.  And if Moshe warns us not to underestimate God’s power, we had better listen.

We are inclined to think of God’s power only in terms of His goodness.  We want God to act with benevolence toward us, to exercise His sovereignty on our behalf and to be El Shaddai for our good.  But that is only half the story.  Moses directs us to the other half, a half which we ignore at great peril.  “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  Pharaoh knew.  Far too often we read the story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt as if we were the protected ones, the rescued children.  Of course, we are the delivered ones, but that does not mean we serve an anemic God.  His wrath would scorch the entire earth if it were not mollified by mercy.  Perhaps we should tremble at our deliverance along with our rejoicing.

Can anyone truly imagine what it would be like to experience God’s terrible power unabated?  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  It is also the beginning of face-to-the-floor submission and humility.  No man can come face-to-face with His holiness and live.  And no man can come before the righteous anger of God’s power and survive.  Holiness and wrath come together.  The God who swallows up death in victory is also the God who casts into utter darkness and unquenchable fire.  If we aren’t just a little bit scared of His power, then we are spiritual sociopaths.  God invites me to walk hand-in-hand, but when I feel the grasp of His fingers, I am aware that He is touching me ever so lightly lest I be crushed.  I am the butterfly in His palm.  I depend entirely on His grace.

This is all the more reason to rejoice over the constant admonition “Fear not.”  “The power (‘oz) of the King loves justice” (Psalm 99:4).  We are rescued from the other side of the coin because God’s power is harnessed to love justice.

Topical Index:  power, ‘oz, wrath, justice, Psalm 90:11, Psalm 99:4, Moses