“Rule them with a rod of iron”
Psalm 2
Are you the kind of driver that when you pass a
police car on the road you look in the mirror to see if he whips around and
turns his lights on? I don’t know if it’s a guilty conscience or what, but I do
that. Maybe it’s because there are consequences for breaking the law and I/we don’t
like consequences.
We also don’t like to think of God as a judge. We
prefer to think of Him as being a loving, forgiving and understanding Father
who takes us in His arms and comforts us. But Psalm 2 is very clear as it
presents God as a judge of those who don’t obey the law, who rebel against Him
and who prefer to go their own way.
4 “But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by all their
puny plans. 5 And then in fierce fury he rebukes them and fills
them with fear. TLB
And again it is written: 8 “Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the
world. 9 Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay
pots!” TLB
The worst part of God being a judge is that we
deserve to be judged. Isn’t our natural inclination exactly what the psalmist
wrote about? Don’t Paul’s words in Romans 7 apply to us as well?
21 “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil
is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in
God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war
against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work
within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death?” NIV
There is a war within us that we battle every day.
And because of our sin, because of this war with us, someone had to pay. God
the judge had to judge. Judgement was required.
Thankfully, Christ paid the price for our sins.
Indeed, as Paul wrote, 25 “Thanks
be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ps.2
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