Psalm 83
“Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord,
that you alone are the Most High,
supreme over all the earth.”
Psalm 83:18
If I don’t see that God alone is the Master of the universe, then I am His enemy. Asaph sees it that way, and he wants God to respond to all enemies of God in such a way that they too will see it. I don’t know about you, but when I read once again a Psalm where the author is asking God to take action, I am uncomfortable. And I hear it as sort of accusing God for being too slow to act. I worry that Asaph is too aggressive in his desire for retribution and vengeance by asking God to utterly disgrace them. And some people might wrongly conclude that this is an Old Testament phenomenon. ‘Jesus isn’t like that,’ you might hear from someone. But Asaph isn’t out of step with God and God’s plans, desires or ways of thinking. So once again it is old William’s heart that needs to be adjusted. I wonder if it is repeated so often in the Bible because I am so resistant to the truth.
MAIN POINT: It is gracious, merciful and kind to use extreme measures to get someone to see that God is alone Lord and that (Jesus) He is the Most High, supreme over all the earth.
To fail to come to that conclusion is catastrophic. It is not merciful or kind to let someone live and die without knowing the truth about God. If I think that it is good for the person or pleasing to God to ignore the arrogance of those who reject God, I am sadly mistaken. Such arrogance does great harm to God, to others and to the person themselves and is an infectious evil that kills the thinking of all who might come in contact with it. That is why Asaph is up in arms about it.
I remember back when AIDs was first identified as a disease, and people with it were warned how dangerous and contagious it was and to be careful not to infect others. There were those who denied the danger and continued a promiscuous, multipartner life of supposed freedom and liberation, only to spread death and pain to many many others. Often this was a selfish older person knowingly and willingly infecting, sometimes using power, age, money and authority to infect many young men. It was nothing to be proud of in the Pride movement. Such arrogance was deadly, costly, painful and selfish. Why can we see that with AIDS or palm oil or climate change, one-world government, or Israel but we fail to see it concerning people's attitude toward God as Supreme? Do you hate the abusiveness of child molesters and rapists but let the godless attitudes of some humanists and atheists slide?
The whole Bible points to the inescapable, glorious fact that Jesus is the supreme being of the universe. And to fail to recognise that one fact and to love God for revealing it will be the downfall of many. All who mock Jesus as maker, ruler and judge of the whole universe are a detriment to themselves and to all others. Aspah knows this and begs God to effectively stem the tide of evil and save those bent on rebellion.
Prophets throughout the old and new testament of the Bible agree on God’s position and method of judgement. Compare Ezekiel’s prophecy to John’s Revelation below.
Conclusion:
If you care about the mockers, if you care about those they will influence, if you care about God’s reputation, you too will see these extreme measures as needful, so that all we will see God’s authority is supreme.
(It is Jesus on the white horse.)
“I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur! In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
Ezekiel 38:22-23 NLT
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. 16 On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: "Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great." 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast--miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.
Revelation 19:11-21 NLT
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