Worship Preparation Guide for Sunday, January 10

For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. (Is 9: 12, 17, 21, 10:4)   While we may be uncomfortable with this truth, the Bible is clear: the powerful hand of God is stretched out to save his people (as in the Exodus) and it is stretched out to strike his enemies.  Isaiah has already proclaimed the truth that those who rebel against God’s reign and ignore God’s Word are considered by God to be his enemies (Is 1:24).  God takes sin very seriously! 

It offends the modern senses, but the Bible speaks clearly and frequently about the anger/wrath of God.  “If God loves all that is right and good, and all that conforms to his moral character, then it should not be surprising that he would hate everything that is opposed to his moral character.” (Wayne Grudem)  John Oswalt writes, “So, does God get angry?  Yes he does, but it is not the selfish anger of a fallen human.  Nor is it the temper tantrum of an imperious heavenly monarch who will not permit his lowly subjects to do what they want. It is the heartbroken response of an Artist who watches his artistic creations doing things that are not only a violation of his original dream but are a violation of their very natures.”  Isaiah (The NIV Application Commentary)

The word “propitiation” is not a part of our regular vocabulary.  I believe every Christian should be intimately familiar with the word.  Wayne Grudem defines ‘propitiation’ as, “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.” (Systematic Theology, P 575)  God’s holiness responds to sin as only holiness can respond – with righteous anger.  God’s love steps in and provides a way to escape that anger.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his son as the propitiation for our sins. (I Jn 4:10)

So when understood rightly, the reality of God’s anger should shake us to the very core of our being.  The reality of God’s rescue from that anger through Jesus Christ should cause us to run to Jesus for refuge.  The reality that we rest in that safety of Christ should humble us and bring us to our knees in grateful worship and praise.

There are not many worship songs and hymns that sing about the wrath of God, at least none that our church family would be easily recognize.  In 1707 Isaac Watts wrote a hymn entitled Adore and Tremble For Our God.  We probably will not sing it during our service, but I encourage you to consider the lyrics Watts penned.  The hymn is based on Nahum 1:2-3:  The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.  The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.  His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Adore and tremble, for our God 

Is a consuming fire!

His jealous eyes His wrath inflame, 

And raise His vengeance higher.

Those heaps of wrath, by slow degrees, 

Are forced into a flame;

But kindled, oh, how fierce they blaze, 

And rend all nature’s frame!

                                                                   

At His approach the mountains flee, 

And seek a watery grave:

The freighted sea makes haste away, 

And shrinks up every wave.

Through the wide air the mighty rocks 

Are swift as hailstones hurled;

Who dares engage His fiery rage 

That shakes the solid world?

Yet, mighty God, Thy sovereign grace 

Sits regent on the throne;

The refuge of Thy chosen race 

When wrath comes rushing down.

How thankful we must be for the refuge we have in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!