Wow, this may be a tough day, or week, or whatever time, when a word from Psalm 2 becomes my focal word for this time. This word is "wrath" and it surely does not denote a happy time or circumstance.
So why does that term stick out among all the others in that Psalm and the other readings of this morning?
Wrath is a bad word. In my mind I see it as extreme anger or displeasure, and its consequences are not pleasant to look on. It sounds like a word used by Jonathan Edwards, one that he might use in his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God", and well he might have, I can't remember.
But I remember it in a phrase used by our pastor in his message yesterday. He used the term "passive wrath of God", a phrase that I had not encountered before. He defined that as God letting us do our own thing and suffering the consequences.
Thinking about this term leads to a self examination of my life. Is the emphasis on what I have done, or what I plan to do, or any of the other "I" projects that are in my pipeline, or is it on what God wants of me? Do I even know the difference?
The only way to be right in all of this is to spend some time in God's presence and seeking His will for my life. Not asking Him to bless "my plans", but asking for His guidance in determining His plans for this day, or week, or whatever.
I don't want Him to just leave me to my own devices and take the consequences. I'd rather skip all of that and get it right the first time.
Wrath is not a pretty word, either active or passive, and I prefer to not go there.
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