let this happen…

Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-165 Sunday 23 Sep 2001

Reading: PSALM 79 – GOD, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

God disciplines his people, but he does so for our ultimate good. Talk to him about any discipline you are experiencing at present.

In 587 BC the armies of Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and overcame it. In a horrific battle many people were killed, others were taken into exile, and the rest were left in Jerusalem to live surrounded by constant reminders of their humiliation. Their beautiful city was ruined. They had lost family and friends to death or to exile. The Temple of God had been defiled. How could God have allowed this to happen? They pour out to God, with total honesty, their heartfelt despair at the brutality and destruction they have seen.

None of this should have come as a shock to them, for prophets like Jeremiah had been warning them for years about the danger of their complacency (e.g., Jer 18:11,12). They had refused to listen, even mocking the prophets for their pessimistic message. Now, too late, they understand that this is God’s judgement, and they plead for forgiveness. In spite of what has happened, they still cling to God: they are still his chosen people. They can even look forward to praising God again in the future, when he will act for them. In spite of it all, they choose to trust God.

God did not judge his people on a whim. Perhaps it was the only way he could get their attention and turn them back to love and serve him. Paradoxically, it was because he loved them that he punished them so severely. After all, he could have just given up on them.

In the New Testament we are reminded that God’s discipline is a sign of his love (Heb 12:5-11;Rev 3:19). He wants us to take seriously his call to obedience and holy living, to become more like Christ. There is no better way to live.

Is there anything that God has been saying to you recently that you have not been taking seriously? What action do you need to take?

– Rosemary Linton

Copyright Scripture Union, 2001