Judgment and Mercy

 Psalms 75:2, 8

“At the set time that I appoint

I will judge with equity." …

For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup

with foaming wine, well mixed,

and he pours out from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs.

 

That is what I deserve -- to drink the cup of God's wrath and drain it down to the dregs.

 

For I have been these:

Psalms 75:4-5

"I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

and to the wicked, Do not lift up your horn;

do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.’”

 

I have been haughty toward others.

 

I have been wicked in every part of me, every faculty of my soul: my desires and will, my thoughts, words, and actions.

 

I have broken every one of God's commands:

 

I have worshipped other things, made idols for my heart, misrepresented the God I claim to serve, dishonored his day and used it for my pleasure, dishonored and disobeyed my parents, hated others, lusted after others, taken what was not mine, deceived, and coveted.

 

I have especially not loved my God with all my being, nor loved my neighbor as myself.

 

It is I who deserve to be included in the camp of the wicked who will drain the cup of God's wrath.

 

And yet God!

 

Romans 5:8

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

What kind of love is it, that would do this?

Why should the Lord drink the cup of wrath that I deserve, and be brought to death because of it?

 

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

 

Why did God show me this mercy? 

 

So that he might get the glory for his enormous grace toward me! (Eph.2:7).

 

So that I might boast in him and not in myself:

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

 

So that I might do good works as one who is in Christ:

 

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

So that I might be called one of God's children and one day be like him:

 

1 John 3:1-2

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. … Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 

 

Because God's goal is to make me like Jesus, my goal must be to purify myself and turn away from sin:

 

1 John 3:3,5,8-9

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. … You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. … Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

 

Why has God saved me?

So that I might now rejoice in him through Christ:

 

Romans 5:11

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

 

O God! Teach me to rejoice in you! Cause me to live as one who DOES "rejoice in the Lord always" -- because it is such an undeserved mercy to be included in Christ my Lord!

 

Every spiritual blessing comes through my connection to Jesus (Eph.1:3).

 

Every temporal blessing is given because you are kind to me through Christ (James 1:17; 1Tim.6:17); and because of my being in Christ, those blessings are truly blessings, rather than becoming something for which your wrath is stored up for me due to how I use those blessings (Rom.2:5).

 

Every temporal hardship is turned into good for me, because you have put me in Christ; a difficulty is no longer an expression of your anger but instead of your love working out your better purposes in my life (Rom.8:28).

 

O Lord, how can I not rejoice?!  Make me a perpetually rejoicing person -- not because my life has become easy, but because Christ is precious and lovely and all that I need.

 

Though this life be difficult and only increasingly so, help me to be one who is "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing":

 

2 Corinthians 6:9-10

as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

 

The Cup of Wrath

Many times in the Bible, "drinking a cup" refers to the cup of wrath in the LORD's hand that he makes the wicked drink: 

Psalms 75:8
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
 
Jeremiah 25:15-16
Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”

 
Jeremiah 51:6-8
“Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment, for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance, the repayment he is rendering her. Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail for her!"
 
Isaiah 51:20-22
Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more…"
 
Revelation 14:9-10
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."
 
Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
 
Surely the reference to the "cup" in John 18 also refers to the cup of God's wrath, which Jesus was about to willingly drink from the Father's hand, the wine of God's fury poured out upon himself in place of his people who were wicked:
 
John 18:11
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
 
The cup of the Lord's Table is his blood. Why? Because by drinking the cup of God's wrath, the Savior died. The cup we drink symbolizes the cup that Jesus drank for us. We remember the cup of wrath, from which we have been saved by his drinking of it. We remember that what it cost for him to save us from the "wrath to come" was his drinking it himself until the cup was drained.
 
Matthew 26:27-28
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
 
1 Corinthians 11:26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
 
1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
 
1 Thessalonians 1:10
…Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
 
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Christ also speaks of the "cup he must drink", in Mark 10:37-40; there it seems to refer in general to a type of suffering which all of his disciples will share in if they will also share his glory (Rom.8:17). But the overall symbolism in the Bible refers to God's wrath against the wicked.

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing

The American dream is contrary to the truth of the Bible.

"The American Dream is the idea that the government should protect each person's opportunity to pursue their idea of happiness." (https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-american-dream-quotes-and-history-3306009).

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (Declaration of Independence).

American culture defines "liberty" as "the freedom to be self-directed and autonomous, to do what I want with no one telling me I shouldn't" (unless of course, someone else's liberty infringes on mine, in which case mine should win).

It defines "pursuit of happiness" as a goal which can be attained by economic prosperity. Having enough money will let me "pursue my dreams" which will bring me happiness. Happiness also comes by the liberty to do whatever I want without having negative consequences for it.

But what does Scripture describe as the truth, and as the reality of living in a fallen world?

1. You are not ever free to do as you like with no consequences. You are either a slave to sin or a slave to God.

2. God made you, and as Creator he has the complete right to tell you what to do. You do not have the "liberty" to be self-directed and autonomous from God. By nature, you are under his jurisdiction, irrevocably.

3. True joy is only found "at God's right hand," and the love of money leads to being "pierced through with many sorrows."

4. In this life, and in this body, we "groan".  All creation groans under the curse, and that includes every individual life. One should never expect to reach a point at which they will achieve a life without groaning in this age.

5. True "life" is only found in Jesus, who is "the way, the truth, and the life."  He is the bread from Heaven and the living water.  Only in him will a person ever find satisfaction for the soul.

Especially for the Christian, we can expect life to be difficult and full of sorrows:

2 Corinthians 4:6-10

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:2-4

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Yet even with this in mind, Paul goes on to say:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Knowing the groaning of this age does not mean we should be constantly depressed.  No - he says, "so we are always of good courage".  Why?  Not because life got better. But because our better life is promised to us after death.  The prospect of being with the Lord is to give us "good courage" as we walk in a life of daily groaning.

And then, what is to be the result of this hope that we have?

2 Corinthians 5:9-11

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

We are to make it our aim, to please Christ.  

This is contrary to the American dream, which has as its aim, "liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Pleasing Christ will actually bring us true life, liberty, and happiness; but we can only gain those things by pursuing HIM, not by pursuing those things themselves.

And Paul, knowing that Judgement Day is coming, also makes it his aim to "persuade others" - to preach of sin, and judgement, and salvation, so that those around us who are pursuing all the fading pleasures of this life will be wakened to see the judgement to come and the Savior who is their only hope.

What is to be the Christian's purpose for living?

2 Corinthians 5:15

[Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

To live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

To live for Christ -- not for the American dream of pursuing liberty and happiness.

To sign up for the marine corp led by Christ, committing oneself to be "all in", with life revolving around the General's commands, and with everything else subservient to that.

So if one does this, what will his life in this world look like?

It will look like suffering servants of God, just like Jesus was:

2 Corinthians 6:3-10

We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

No wonder Paul says this:

1 Corinthians 15:19

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Why then is it worth living in the Christian marine corp?

Why is it worth looking like someone who is "most to be pitied"?

1 Corinthians 15:17, 20a

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. … But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.

In other words: in Christ, you are no longer in your sins; your faith is not futile. Your salvation is real, your reconciliation with God is accomplished, and your life in eternity will be full of joy and glory and satisfaction.

Matthew 13:44

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Jesus is the treasure in the field; he who embraces Christ as such is willing to pay whatever it costs to gain Him.

Mark 8:36-37

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

The Christian has to live by faith in these things.  If he lives by sight, he will see all the things "most to be pitied". He will see the dying, the punishment, the sorrow, and the poverty that can be the lot of Christ's followers, without being able to see by faith, the life, the rejoicing, and the riches that are ours in Christ -- and that are promised in greater fullness after we finish this race of faith.

Christian -- be encouraged!

Not because some prosperity preacher promises "your best life now."

But because, though we groan daily in this life now, we are promised the truest and best life to come, with Christ forever!

Revelation 21:3-5

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

Revelation 22:3-7a

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. … And behold, I am coming soon."

Psalm 89

https://www.esv.org/Psalm+89/

Ethan (the psalmist here) has a problem: he knows with a certainty, who God is and what God is like. God is righteous. Just. Full of steadfast love and faithfulness. He rules nature. He rules the nations. 

Yet Ethan looks around and sees circumstances that seem to contradict God's faithfulness.  God had made an eternal covenant with David, promising that his sons' dynasty would last forever.  Yet Ethan sees the covenant nation destroyed by enemies, in ruins, plundered and mocked.  Where is God's faithfulness now? Where is his steadfast love toward his people?

Do we not do this? We so easily use our circumstances to interpret God's ways. "If God is a God of love, a God in control of everything, and a God who has power to do everything, why does he give me chronic pain?  Why did he let my loved one die?"

If Ethan could have time traveled several hundred years into the future, he could have seen and understood that God's covenant with David would indeed be fulfilled - in Christ. That God's faithfulness was always there. That God's plan was higher and greater than the physical well-being of the physical nation of Israel.  That the ultimate King - and Prophet - and Sacrifice - would come one day, from the line of David, not to bring political and societal peace and prosperity, but to deliver his people from their real bondage: sin and death.

O God! Give us faith to believe in YOU. In your character. Your perfect plan. Your promises. When we see circumstances that seem to contradict all those things, help us to live by faith, remembering Ethan and the Israelites' time of exile.  So many who went into exile would never see the end result, the ways that your faithfulness worked itself out in the nation of Israel.  They would have had to either give up their faith that you were who you said you were (merciful and gracious, full of steadfast love, faithful to your promises) -- or to believe that somehow, you were true and faithful, and that that would be evident one day, even though they could not imagine now, how it would work itself out.

Ethan ends with "Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen."

He holds his faith though he does not understand what God is doing.

May we say the same.

Behold - your God!

Isaiah 40

whom the LORD would call his own
he chastens when they go astray
then tenderly would comfort them
bind up the wounds that he has made

when Yahweh's glory was revealed -
the Word made flesh, the Father's Son -
it showed itself in grace outpoured
in mercy, truth - salvation won

God has but to blow on man -
he withers, dies, a transient plant
no power to sustain his life -
but God's Word will forever stand

Behold! The Lord Jehovah comes
with mighty arm, with outstretched hand
the Ruler of the kings of earth
the Judge before whom none can stand.

Behold! He comes - to seek his sheep
the mighty One comes tenderly
the lambs to gather in his arms
the weak he carries, shields from harm
his weary ones he gently leads

The oceans fit within his hand
his fingers mark the stars' expanse
he knows how much the mountains weigh
he numbers all the grains of sand

what counsel would he need to seek?
what help, that he might understand?
all nations are as dust to him
inconsequential, weightless, chaff

to whom will you compare this God -
an idol that can never move
created by a man of dust,
itself consigned to turn to dust?

God rules the princes of the earth
makes them become as emptiness
he blows upon the mightiest
they wither, die, and are no more

To whom then will you liken God?
He knows the number of the stars
he made them, calls them all by name
his awesome might sustains them all

and yet the Everlasting One -
the infinite, the mighty God -
he understands my deepest needs
my ways, my thoughts - he knows them all

though he is high and lifted up
the weary he does not despise
the faint, exhausted, find in him
the strength to rise and soar the skies

Come, stand in awe of this your God
whose glories shine by showing grace,
whose mighty power, by tenderness;
the Infinite One knows my needs
the mighty God renews the weak
the stars appear by his command -
he carries me, his wayward lamb.

little foxes

little foxes

my fickle heart

so quickly swayed

to worship anything but God

to seek my satisfaction, joy

in all that is created

rather than allow those joys

to point to the Creator

it was a small, a good thing

a gift from God my Father

something pleasant, wonderful -

my heart began to chase it

to crave the satisfaction

the comfort to my soul

and always, wanting more

even when I knew

that this distracted me from Christ

I wanted both.

could I not thoroughly enjoy

a good thing - an end in itself -

and still hold fast to Christ?

and so I strove to do that

knowing Christ should be my all

yet pursuing something else

to be my satisfaction

one cannot have two masters

two rulers of the soul

only one will be obeyed

and here, while flesh still clings to me,

my heart will always stray

chasing satisfaction

from that which has been made -

a broken cistern which can hold no water -

never meant to satisfy the heart

but to turn me toward the Living Water

never think you are secure

unable to be tempted

nor that your hold on Christ is such

that you can safely grasp for other things

seek out your heart:

what are your loves?

what motivates your actions?

what pleasures turn you from the Lord?

where is your satisfaction?

beware the little foxes

they will destroy your vineyard

good gifts quickly turn to idols

for my heart forgets the Giver,

clings to what is seen and felt and touched

as though the gift did not point to the Giver

find the idols; cast them down!

ruthlessly remove yourself

from that which strays your heart

though it seem to be small

or is good in itself

for your flesh is too strong

do not deceive yourself

thinking you can keep idols, and Christ

for the idols will always win

until Christ tears them from you -

humbled, with Jacob's limp -

that you might cling only to Him

Shepherd

The mighty God, the LORD
tenderly cares for His sheep
yet they all go away
each to his own way.
The I AM puts on dust
the Shepherd comes in flesh;
to seek His sheep
He becomes one of them -
the Lamb of God
led to the slaughter
offering Himself up
to be crushed for their sins -
so that they would hear Him
follow Him
stay with Him forever;
so that never would their wandering
lead them to perish,
nor Hell nor sin nor Satan
snatch them
out of His hand.

----
Isaiah 40:10-11
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 53:6-7
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:5, 10
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. … Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:27-28
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.