In reading through the Bible this year, I decided to listen to the Psalms as well as read them. This online plan allows me to read and listen to a section from the Old Testament, the New Testament and a Psalm each day.
Listening to Psalm 11 brought several things to mind:
1. God hates not only the wicked deeds and thoughts of people, but He hates the wicked person himself.
“The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” (vs. 5)
I thought, “Could this be true?”
I began to run the references:
“You hate all who do wrong.” Psalm 5:5 ”
“The face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12
“The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.” Psalm 34:16
When was the last time I heard that in a sermon? When was the last time I preached that? I have to read the Puritans (Jonathan Edwards comes to mind) to hear that.
How does that fit “God so loved the world?”
Does God both love and hate at the same time?
What does this mean for believers? What Biblical doctrines does this throw light upon?
Does this not make the doctrine of propitiation more precious? Jesus bore the wrath and hatred of God for his people, and the only place of spiritual safety is to flee to Jesus – who is God himself? We take refuge in God, from God!
The doctrine of election – God actually chooses his enemies, who hate him and whom his soul hates, to be His people.
The doctrine of adoption – God actually adopts his enemies, making them his children, with full rights as children.
The doctrine of regeneration – He changes the very nature of people – removing a heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. He gives new birth to a new man with a new nature, the very nature of God himself (2 Peter 1:4)
The doctrine of sanctification and mortification of sin – given the price paid for our adoption and the very nature of God himself, how can we remain in sin?
The doctrine of evangelism – we are in a rescue operation, cooperating with God himself, as he makes his enemies into his friends.
2. The great motivation for holy living is knowing that “I shall see his face.” (Rev 22:4)
….or, as Psalm 11 puts it,
“The upright shall behold his face.” (vs. 7)
I remember reading the account of a Christian leader who lived a secret life of pornography and lust. He told of trying every means of breaking free – bringing to mind the shame of being found out and the possible loss of his family and ministry, fasting, scripture memory, repeated prayers for deliverance, etc.
One day, in his daily reading of the Bible, he saw Jesus’ beatitude in a new light:: “Blessed are the pure in heart – they shall see God.” For the first time he saw the great goal and hope of the Christian – seeing God’s face. The desire to see God’s face gave him the courage to break free from his sin through accountability with his wife and a few friends and ongoing boundaries. He wanted to see God!
This notion of the Face of God is fascinating – We are to “seek His face.”
God “sets his face” against some people. He sometimes “hides his face.” He “makes his face to shine upon us.” Men spit in the face of Jesus. At his transfiguration, “his face was shining like the sun.” We have “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” And one day, we shall see his face.
3. The means of a holy life is Coram Deo, the awareness that I am living before the face of God.
Psalm 11:4 says, “His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.”
This is sometimes called the Fear of God – living with the constant awareness that my holy God sees me in every moment, my heavenly Father who deeply loves me sees me, Jesus (who gave his life for me) sees and is with me in every moment, and the Spirit (whose name is Holy) lives in me.
Here is the point – it was in hearing the Word that my attention was gripped and imagination stirred. The Bible was written, in large part, to be heard as well as read – after all, it was an oral culture that first received God’s revelation. We are to be “hearers of the Word.”
There are several ways to hear the Word – tapes and CDs can be purchased and listened to while driving, working out, etc. By now, podcasts of someone reading the Scriptures can probably be downloaded.
In order to hear the Word, I am using the website of the Crossway, the publisher of the English Standard Version Bible – www.gnpcb.org.
Posted by svshaw 
