Behold His Wrath

Behold His Wrath

Psalm 76

Main Idea: While we deserve the wrath of God due to our sin, God provides salvation from this just punishment through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ.

As we read the Psalms, we should begin with the assumption that our greatest need is to know God, to have a high view of him in all of his glory. Unfortunately, however, we are constantly tempted in our lives, in our families, in the church, and in our culture to have a low view of God. More specifically, we are tempted to ignore or minimize characteristics of God that are not comfortable to us. That’s certainly true when it comes to the wrath of God, a characteristic highlighted in Psalm 76.

We live in a day, even in the church, when we rarely talk about God’s wrath. Even when we do, it’s almost as if we’re apologetic about it, as if we’re ashamed of who God is. Here’s how Francis Chan put it:

Like the nervous kid who tries to keep his friends from seeing his drunken father, I have tried to hide God at times. Who do I think I am? The truth is, God is perfect and right in all that He does. I am a fool for thinking otherwise. He does not need nor want me to “cover” for Him. There’s nothing to be covered. Everything about Him and all He does is perfect (Erasing Hell, 133).

Similarly, Ajith Fernando writes,

Evangelicals are often apologetic about the biblical view of [God’s judgment]. They say that they wish that what the Bible says about the punishment of sinners is not true, that they find it hard to accept this doctrine emotionally, but that because the Bible teaches it they are forced to believe it. This type of thinking is understandable, given our human frailty and inability to fully understand God’s ways. We do not see the seriousness of sin as strongly as God sees it. But many today seem [almost] to be proud that their hearts rebel against the judgment of God. The message they convey to an outsider is that they think God is wrong and unfair, but that’s what he is going to do, so they reluctantly include it in their statement of faith (Crucial Questions, 133–34).

It is not our job to apologize for God or to hide anything about him. Instead, we need to hear what God has revealed about his glory in his Word, and we need to realize what this means for our lives. We should pray that God would use the message of his wrath to do what he has done at various times in church history, namely, bring revival. The book of Hosea talks a lot about God’s judgment against sin and sinners, and in Hosea 10:12 the Lord says, “Break up your unplowed ground. It is time to seek the Lord until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.” Don’t you long to see that in your church and even in your own life? By the grace of God, Psalm 76 just might be a text that God uses to do this. It shines a light on the seriousness of sin, and it should cause us to cry out for God’s mercy.

The first half of Psalm 76 depicts a historical event when God poured out his wrath on a specific nation that had opposed him and his people, Israel. The second half then takes that historical event and raises it to another level in order to show that, ultimately, God’s wrath will be poured out on all people who oppose him. We don’t know for certain the specific historical event that’s referenced in the first half of this psalm, but the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) includes a note from the translators that it is referencing the Assyrians’ attack on Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18–19) (Boice, Psalms 42–106, 634).

The Assyrian army was on the assault against God’s people. They were taking over city after city in Judah, and they ultimately surrounded Jerusalem with 185,000 troops. The people of Israel were scared. Hezekiah, the Israelite king, was urging Israel to trust God. The Assyrian commander, on the other hand, was threatening them, saying,

But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my power? Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power? (2 Kgs 18:32-35)

The Assyrian commander taunted God, which was a huge mistake. God’s response comes in the next chapter:

Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! You have mocked the Lord through your messengers. . . .

Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble. Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.

But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against me. Because your raging against me and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came. (2 Kgs 19:22-23,25-28)

Then God keeps his word:

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build up a siege ramp against it. He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

That night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.

One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then his son Esar-haddon became king in his place. (2 Kgs 19:32-37)

The takeaway from this episode is clear: You don’t mess with God. His wrath is real. He struck down 185,000 troops in an instant, and then he had the Assyrian king struck down by his sons in the house of his (false) god.

This background is illuminating as we consider Psalm 76. This psalm as a whole leaves us with at least three conclusions, two exhortations, and one response.

God Is Infinitely Worthy of Our Worship

The language in verses 1-2 evokes something awesome, which makes sense in light of God’s judgment against Assyria in 2 Kings 19. The words translated “tent” and “dwelling place” are used in other parts of the Old Testament to refer to a lion’s den (Boice, Psalms 42–106, 633). In Jerusalem, God is like a lion in his lair, and he is “ready to pounce” on anyone who attacks his glory and his people (ibid.). Consider several reasons, according to this psalm, that God is worthy of our worship:

God Is Glorious above All

No nation, including the mighty Assyria, can stand against him. He breaks their arrows, their shields, their swords, and their weapons of war (v. 3). He is “resplendent and majestic” (v. 4). At God’s rebuke, “both chariot and horse lay still” (v. 6). In verse 10 the psalmist explains how even man’s wrath against God ultimately brings God glory, for God has the final word. Survey the silent battlefield filled with slain Assyrian soldiers, and stand in awe of the God whom they defied. God is infinitely worthy of worship because God is glorious above all.

God Is Sovereign over All

For God to be sovereign means that he has all power and all authority over all things. That was the focus of 2 Kings 18–19. God demonstrated that both Assyria and Israel were in his hands. We must see the world today in light of this reality. Whether it’s the United States, Israel, Syria, Russia, or North Korea, God is sovereign over all of them. He governs the world with power and authority.

God Is Feared by All

The concept of fear appears four times in verses 7-12. No one can stand before this God in all of his holiness, glory, sovereignty, and wrath. Every mouth is silenced before him.

God Is the Just Judge of All

When was it that the earth “feared and grew quiet” (v. 8)? When “God rose up to judge and to save all the lowly of the earth” (v. 9). This is one of those points where Psalm 76 takes things to another level, for this is not just about Assyria. One day every person on the planet will stand before God as Judge. He will be just. God’s wrath is a demonstration of God’s just judgment. The wrath of God doesn’t just come out of nowhere. It’s not an emotional outburst, like we might think of fury in people. No, divine wrath is the inevitable expression of divine justice. If we take the time to consider, this is a good thing.

In our hearts we all long for justice. When we see a gunman shoot and kill people, or a terrorist drive through crowded streets murdering men, women, and children, we long for justice to be served. When we read about Nazi Germany systematically exterminating millions of Jewish men and women, we long for justice to be served. When we think about America’s history involving slavery and other forms of injustice, we should long for justice to reign. And when we see the effects of sin in our own lives—adulterous spouses, abandoned children—something in us cries out, “Surely this is not all there is!” We long for goodness and justice to have the last word. And the Bible makes clear that God, the just Judge of the universe, will have the last word.

We Are Infinitely Deserving of God’s Wrath

God’s justice is a good thing, but it is also a terrifying reality when you realize who we are and how we have responded to him. Each of us is confronted with the reality of sin in our life. Many people are OK with God’s justice and wrath when expressed toward people who have done particularly heinous things. However, when it comes to our own sin, many of us believe justice and wrath are wrong. We are fine with God’s judging Assyria, but we fail to realize that we are Assyria. Each of us has opposed God to his face. Consider what the Bible teaches about our response to this just Judge.

We Have Denied the Glory of God

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all turned aside to other gods, whether it be money, possessions, sex, success, or whatever. We have turned aside to worldly pursuits and worldly pleasures. We have centered our lives around ourselves.

We Have Denounced the Sovereignty of God

We have looked into the face of the God, who is sovereign over all, and just like Assyria we have denounced his rule and reign over our lives. This is the God who speaks to creation and everything obeys his bidding, except when it comes to us. You and I have the nerve to look God in the face and say, “No.” We think we know what is best for our life.

We Have Failed to Fear God

We have not feared the God who is to be feared. We have feared so many other things instead. Fear is such a prevailing problem in so many of our lives. We fear failure, ridicule, embarrassment, the unknown, sickness, death, etc. Could it be that the reason we fear so many things is because we don’t fear God?

One indication that we don’t fear God is that we don’t fear sinning against God. We treat sin lightly, as if it’s no big deal; and we’re stunned, even offended, by how seriously God treats sin in Scripture. For example, in Genesis 19 Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back toward Sodom. In Numbers 15 a man was stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. In 2 Samuel 6 Uzzah was struck dead for touching the ark of the covenant. Some people claim that the God of the Old Testament was more severe, but the God of the New Testament is different. That’s not true. In Acts 5:1-10, to take one example, Ananias and Sapphira both lied about their offerings, and God struck them down dead. Think about what that would do to your church’s attendance next Sunday.

If we are honest, we sometimes read these stories and think God is being overly severe. That’s because we have a man-centered perspective of sin. But the key is not how severe the sin is; the key is the one who is sinned against. Think about it: if you sin against a rock, you’re not very guilty. If you sin against a man, you’re guilty. However, if you sin against an infinitely holy God, you are infinitely guilty. Sinning just once is infinitely serious in God’s sight. According to Romans 5:12-21, one sin led to the curse of God, the curse that affects the entire world today. In Genesis 3 Adam and Even ate a piece of fruit, and from that one sin has come all the evil and injustice in the history of the world—world wars, holocaust, cancer, disease, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, pain, suffering, and death. Yet you and I have committed thousands upon thousands of sins! We are clueless when it comes to the seriousness of our sin against a holy God.

We Have Dared to Judge God

We, as sinners, actually have the audacity to point the finger in God’s face and question his judgment. We ask how a good God can condemn sinners, as if we’re the ones who are right and God is in the wrong. We actually say things like, “I could never worship a God who .” It’s as if we cannot tolerate a God whose holiness is higher than ours, a God whose wisdom is greater than ours, or a God whose righteousness is greater than we can even begin to comprehend.

We Need God to Save Us from God

Every human being will one day stand before God as Judge, which means we will stand before him guilty of sin. We will be deserving of his just judgment and eternal wrath, and we can do nothing to change that. All kinds of people today all over the world try all kinds of ways to appease God—religion, church attendance, good deeds—but none of these things can eliminate the stain of sin and guilt on our hearts before a holy God.

Some people wonder why a God who is loving can’t simply forgive us of our sins. But, as John Stott recognized, this gets the problem completely backwards. Stott called forgiveness “the profoundest of problems” for God because God’s forgiveness of sinners is a threat to his holy character (Cross of Christ, 110). If God simply forgives sin and acquits sinners, then he is not a just Judge. Just think—if a judge today knowingly acquitted guilty criminals, we would want that judge off the bench in a heartbeat. So if God is just and we are guilty, then the question is not why it’s difficult for God to forgive sinners; no, the question is how it’s possible for God to forgive sinners. We need God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

The good news of the gospel is that God has done everything necessary to provide for us the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. He has done this by satisfying his own justice through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, his Son. Sadly, minimizing God’s wrath also minimizes God’s love. At the cross, God expressed his wrath toward sin. At the same time, at the cross, God endured his wrath against sin. Jesus was enduring the wrath of God that we deserve.

What happened at the cross was so much more than the physical picture of what we see there. Yes, the cross was physical, and Christ’s death as our human substitute is critical to our salvation. But we are not ultimately saved from our sins because of what a bunch of Roman soldiers did physically to Jesus. We are saved from our sins because of what God did and what Jesus chose to do.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was not sweating because he was afraid of what some Roman soldiers were about to do to him. Countless people have died martyrs’ deaths in the name of Christ since that day, and many of them went to their deaths singing. For example, one Christian in India was being skinned alive, and he said to his tormenter, “Take off my outer garment. Today I put on a new garment of righteousness.” Christopher Love was about to be led to the gallows and he wrote a note to his wife that said, “Today they will sever me from my physical head, but they cannot sever me from my spiritual head, Christ” (Platt, Radical, 35). Love went to the gallows singing with his wife applauding him. However, these martyrs were not braver than Jesus. Jesus was sweating blood in the garden, not because he was a coward about to face Roman soldiers but because he was a Savior choosing to endure divine wrath.

In the garden Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt 26:39). The cup Jesus referred to was a cup filled with the fury of God’s judgment due sin (Ps 75:8); it was a cup filled with the winepress of God’s wrath due sinners (Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15-16; Rev 14:10,19-20). Jesus was sweating blood because he was about to endure all that we deserve in our sin.

We stand before a holy God deserving holy wrath in our sin, but Jesus went to the cross in our place. He swallowed down the full cup of God’s wrath, and then he turned that cup over and cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Therefore, at the cross, God has enabled salvation for sinners. God’s wrath is ultimately a demonstration of God’s love! Becky Pippert said, “God’s wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition to the cancer of sin which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with his whole being.”2 This fits with the aim of God’s judgment as it is expressed in Psalm 76:9: “When God rose up to judge and to save all the lowly of the earth.”

God wants to save all who humble themselves before him. Therefore, turn today from your sin and yourself, and trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Heed the words of A. W. Tozer:

The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions. It hushes their fears and allows them to practice all pleasant forms of iniquity while death draws every day nearer and the command to repent goes unheeded. (Knowledge of the Holy, 80)

Even if you’ve already trusted in Christ, let the reality of God’s wrath lead you to stop toying with sin in your life. Humble your heart in holy awe before God.

Reflect and Discuss

1. When was the last time you heard a sermon about hell and the judgment of God? Why do you think this is such a neglected topic today?
2. What are some signs that a church or an individual has a low view of God?
3. Respond to the following statement: “A loving God would never send anyone to hell.”
4. Is God’s eternal wrath too severe a punishment for the sins we commit? Why?
5. What is the relationship between God’s holiness and his wrath?
6. How would you respond to someone who said, “Jesus is much more kind and forgiving than the God of the Old Testament”?
7. If God is perfectly just, then how can he forgive sinners?
8. How does the Bible’s teaching about God’s judgment make the message of the gospel more precious?
9. If God’s wrath turns some people away from Christianity, then why should we mention it in our evangelism?
10. How does a right view of God’s judgment affect our missions strategies?