At Your Rebuke, O Lord

“Then the earth reeled and rocked;

    the foundations also of the mountains trembled

    and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,

    and devouring fire from his mouth;

    glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down;

    thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew;

    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,

    thick clouds dark with water.

Out of the brightness before him

    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

“The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

    and the Most High uttered his voice,

    hailstones and coals of fire.

And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen,

    and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your rebuke, O Lord,

    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.” (Psalms 18:7-15 ESV)

Now, I skipped over this section of Psalms 18 as I was working my way through the passage and writing out what the Lord was teaching me through it and then posting these writings on the internet. So, I am now going to return to this section, which was saved for last, because what it describes here are the kinds of things which are happening and will yet happen in our world before the return of Jesus Christ for his bride, when he also comes to judge the people of the world and to take with him his faithful ones.

This sounds to me a lot like what I have read in the book of Revelation where it describes the events of the last days before the return of Christ. For this sounds like God judging his enemies, which I believe he is presently doing and will continue to do until he is finished and those who have followed the Lord in obedience will be with our Lord for eternity. For this whole 18th Psalm is about the enemies of God coming against God’s people and God rescuing them from their enemies.

And the Lord is the one to judge (punish, avenge) our enemies, who are his enemies, and not us. For we are called upon to love our enemies and to pray for them and to do good to them and to say to them what is beneficial for them spiritually so that they will receive Christ and the blessings of salvation from sin. So the way that we are to oppose our enemies is not with physical weapons of warfare, but with the armor of God – with truth, righteousness, the gospel, our salvation, our witness, and with the word of God.

But we must be careful that we don’t become enemies of God, too, because so many professing Christians these days are not living much differently than the ungodly live. We must be those who are walking by faith in the Lord Jesus in walks of holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and no longer in sin. For if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and its end is eternal life with Christ Jesus (Romans 6:1-23).

So, be careful that you don’t assume that just because you professed faith in Jesus Christ once in your life that you are in the clear. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the ones DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father in heaven. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, regardless of our professions of faith, we will not inherit eternal life with God and he will deny us because we denied him by how we lived.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352