Morning Musings: Psalm 103:8-12

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For anyone who would argue that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New Testament by being much angrier and more focused on judgment, you have to explain away passages like this one.  And this is not the only time this characterization appears in the Old Testament.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Chronicles 16:7, 10

“At that time Hanai the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ‘Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. . . .Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this.  And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Asa’s is really a sad story, but one that is repeated far too often in the lives of the people around us.  Nearly all of his life he sought the Lord faithfully and the nation prospered for it.  God led him to achieve incredible victories that would not have otherwise been possible.  He elevated the spiritual lives of the people and the spiritual climate of the nation.  He was a king in the model of David in nearly ever way.  Until he wasn’t.   Read the rest…