Not so soft

I loved the psalm I read today. It has a wonderfully rounded picture of God. As much as I like picturing God as my friend, and as real as God's friendship is to me, "friend" is an indadequate description of who God is. Psalm 50 says:


"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
A fire shall devour before HIm,
And it shall be very tempestuous
all around Him....
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall
glorify Me."

and later

"But to the wicked God says;
What right have you to decalre my statutues,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?...

Now consider this, you who forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God."

That's a lot of text for one blog entry, but I loved it too much to cut it down any more. It seems a bit of an odd, harsh text to love, I know, but here's the thing: If I see a parent who is continually lenient with their child and when their child is acting up they just give chance after chance, I would consider that person a poor parent. How ridiculous of me to expect less of God! Love, real love, involves passion and justice. With so much evil in the world, I could only worship a God who intends to do something about that evil. I worship an amazing God of all consuming love. So much love that God cannot leave evil alone, but must act and must instruct and teach those who will learn, by whatever means necessary. I am so thankful for a powerful God.