Nahum 1:7-15 - Caring Judgement

Now we read of the goodness of the Lord and that is a refuge in times of trouble. Some people find it hard to reconcile the gentleness of God and the wrathful side of God. However, the two go together. If God is to care for the downtrodden, for those who are oppressed, then it is necessary for Him to work against the oppressor, to bring judgement upon the wicked. Indeed we get this very feature in v7b, 8. God cares for those who trust in Him, but He will be an overwhelming flood for Nineveh. 

For evil people plot against the Lord and against His people. So should God sit back and do nothing? That would be truly evil. 

Verse ll portrays the evil of Assyria. This is possibly a reference to King Ashurbanipal, to whom Manasseh paid tribute. 

Assyria had a large army and numerous allies, but this would be of no use to her. No one can stand against the Lord. Judah had been subject to God's judgement. Indeed the only reason that Assyria had been able to have any success was because of Judah's sin. If Judah had repented sooner Assyria would have been defeated sooner. It is worth remembering that in a battle our strongest weapon is repentance (Isaiah 30:15).

Assyria and all her idols would be destroyed. This would happen because they are vile. False religions are not quaint curiosities.

Verse 15 speaks of a time of perfect and everlasting peace.

Nahum 1:1-6 - Introduction and the wrath of God

This prophecy is largely concerning the destruction of Nineveh, which happened at the hands of the Babylonians in 612 BC, and so was given at some stage before that date. Assyria had been the regional superpower and had caused much trouble to Israel. She had conquered the northern kingdom (Israel), and had reached the gates of Jerusalem (Judah), before Judah was miraculously saved, as recorded in Isaiah 36-39. These attacks on Israel and Judah had happened as a result of her sin.

Little is known about Nahum himself. There is no other mention of him in the OT, but his name does appear in Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:25). The name Nahum means "consolation".

The prophecy itself starts with the detailing of some of the attributes of God. Our modern ears often recoil at talk of God's wrath or jealousy, and we try to explain away these terms. We would do better to face up to them. First, we need to realise that our objection to the terms is partly coloured by the fact that we only see them in form they appear in sinful people, and jealousy and anger in a sinful man are almost always sinful attitudes. In God there is no sin, and these emotions take on a very different hue. This is why Paul says vengeance belongs to the Lord, it is not safe to leave it in human hands.

What is God jealous of and what is He avenging? He is jealous for Israel and is avenging the unrestrained violence that Assyria inflicted upon Israel and Judah.

We cannot sin against God and it have no consequence. Then we read that God is slow to anger.In human terms wrath and anger are usually associated with an uncontrolled rage. In God's case they are utterly rational and based on reason and justice. And God is a God of power, no nation, no individual, can withstand Him.

Psalm 150 - Praise Him in the sanctuary

This is the last of the psalms, and fittingly is another psalm of praise. Indeed it could be viewed as a picture of praise in the new heaven and new earth. We are called to praise God in His sanctuary and in His mighty heavens. After Christ's return we will see God as He really is, no longer will we see Him as through a glass darkly, but will see Him face to face.

Then we will see the truth of all His acts of power and His all surpassing greatness. There will be an outburst of praise, on all sorts of instruments and with dancing and a loud noise. Everything that has breath will praise the Lord.

So what about now? We should look forward with faith. Today we receive confused messages because sin is still in the world, and sin is still in us. But we should filter the messages, knowing that the end result is that we will see the faithfulness of the Lord.

Psalm 149 - A Psalm of Praise for God's People

This is another psalm of praise, but is directed at how God's people should praise Him.

The starting point is, as always, simple: Praise the Lord. Then His faithful people are called to sing a new song. The Lord makes our lives different, He brings salvation, restoration, regeneration. He makes our lives new.

We have a personal relationship with the Lord, so we should rejoice in Him. And this worship is to be exuberant. And why is it to be so? It is because the Lord takes delight in His people. Worship is actually a two way process. We worship Him, He delights in us.

Moreover He crowns the humble with victory. Remember Jesus said "the meek will inherit the earth". The world teaches us that it is the proud and boastful who will "inherit the earth". This is not true. We are to rejoice in this honour and sing for joy. 

The praise of God is to be on our mouths and a double-edged sword in our hands, the latter is the word of God. With this we are to execute judgement upon the world. Now this concept does not sit easy with us, but it is vital that we get a hold of it. It is definitely not a call for us to use violence of any sort, but we do bring judgement upon the world. We do so by the quality of our lives and by the words that we preach. As Paul says, for some we will be the aroma of life, that is for those who repent and turn to Christ, but to others we will be the stench of death. In the current debates on sexual morality we need to remember that we are here to bring God's word, to present His ways, not to acquiesce to the ways of the world.

Psalm 148 - Let all creation praise Him

Another Psalm of praise, this time starting with a call to all of the cosmos to praise the Lord. The angels too are to praise Him.

Verse 5 gives the fundamental reason why all of creation (and angels are part of creation) is to praise the Lord. It is that we were created by God.

Then the psalmist turns his attention to the earth. All aspects of creation are to praise Him. Natural phenomena, all creatures, all people, including the rulers.

The psalm closes with an allusion to Christ. Horn is a sign of strength, Jesus is the horn that God has raised up for His chosen people.

Psalm 147 - Praise the Lord

Praise again! It is good to praise the Lord, and it is fitting and pleasant to do so. 

In verses 3-7 we see both the universal power of the Lord in keeping the whole universe going, His concern for Israel, and for the humble. He binds up the broken-hearted. Atheists try to reduce the universe to mere physical/material phenomena, futilely seeking to explain everything in pure material terms. In doing so they seek to render our thoughts and emotions as worthless, but in the process they of course render their own thoughts as having no intrinsic value. But more seriously, they render the heart of our being as worthless. God, on the other hand, gives true value to our lives.

At the same time God judges the wicked.

The Lord has concern for all of creation. Extreme environmentalism is an unbiblical idea, but it is equally unbiblical not to have any concern for the environment. The environment is not there just to be exploited. We are to make use of it, but we are also to take care of it.

The world seeks to get us to put faith in human power, even in our own strength. At times we can feel intimidated by the seeming power or wisdom of others. We should not be so, for God does not delight in human strength. Rather He delights in those who fear Him and put their hope in His love.

So we should praise the Lord, and He will strengthen our gates. Ie He will bring blessing and security into our lives.

Then again we get the global power of God, this time in commanding the weather. Finally the Psalmist exults in the fact that God has revealed His law to Israel and to no other nation. Now Israel's failing was that she did not keep the law, and did not show others how to live as God intended. Today we should delight in the fact that God has revealed His ways to us. Sadly much of the church is currently in the process of abandoning God's ways and adopting the world's ways. What fools we are!

Psalm 146 - Praise the Lord

This is another Psalm of praise. Indeed the last few psalms are all predominantly psalms of praise. 
David contrasts praising the Lord to putting our trust in human princes. There are two ways to live life. One is to live it praising and trusting on God. The other is to seek machinations with men, but men cannot save us. When a man dies he is of no further use, and all his plans come to nothing. Better by far to trust in the Living God, the Everlasting Lord. 
Our God is the maker of heaven and earth, and everything in them. Who does it make more sense to praise? The Lord who is the creator of all things, or mere men who are here one minute gone the next?
Our God sets prisoners free, He provides, and He heals. 
He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked. We need to remember this latter aspect as well as the others. For we see the wicked prospering, but this will not go on forever.