
“Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken Your law.” -Psalm 119:53
Sinful nature has not changed. There are creatures who rebel against their Creator, reaping the consequences of sin which will last longer than our earthly dot of existence. The psalmist is zealous for God, and as he sees the apathy, the hatred toward his God he is appalled and angry. The wicked forsake God’s way because it is their nature bound in sin. We are all born sinners, not able to do good or even seek God on our own unless He seeks us first. “It is by grace you have been saved through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God’s rich mercy saves the hell-bound sinner when that soul comes to faith in Christ alone.
The law serves its purpose as a mirror to reflect the inner man, revealing to us our need of a Greater Adam than the one in Eden. Those who openly reject and mock God stir in our hearts grief, pity and righteous anger. The Christian hates what God hates and loves what He loves. What does God hate? Our sin. What does He love? People created in His own image. Although the sinful lives of the children of Satan should cause within us righteous anger for God’s honor, remember how the Lord has been long-suffering with you. We were once far from God yet He set His love on us unworthy though we are. God mercifully opened our spiritual sight so that we might truly see for the first time and live as new creations. We do not overlook or make excuses for sin, but rather approach it as God does rather than react from the flesh. He is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Let this be our example too.
Grace upon grace,
April
Grow deeper: Psalm 14; Psalm 103:8-19; 2 Peter 3:9