God smiles in our troubles
I am not one of the Calvinist who believes a christian is under the universal law that we get what we deserve. I part ways with this kind of thing. One of the reasons is that Ive looked at this chastisement that is talked about in the Psalms ...which is a very few times..and its always in the context of the whole nation of Israel. So I believe its a miss interpretation to say that chastisement is referring to the elect within the nation.
I also believe that once we are delivered we no longer are in a relationship with God as a judge. But now our judge is our Father. I do not believe this relationship is abusive. In thinking through the whole teaching of the believers relationship with a Father I have come to believe that it is no longer our being confronted with the law but our Father now focuses only on our renewal. In other words He no longer deals with us according to our sin. But anytime He uses the law it actually is a way of cursing that person.
Ive study the Jewish interpretations of this and I find myself agreeing with them. I believe that God as our Father is uniting our experience with His sovereign goodness. Anytime the Psalmist talks about God in this Father relationship it starts with the covenant of grace. And so the Psalmist will appeal to His Father on the basis of these covenant promises. Faithfulness, kindness, eternal love, patience, long suffering and gentle. It is wrong to start from the law of returns. This is why I believe that we go from being someones advocate to his accuser. I mean no one would accuse a person who believed that to curse Gods people is the same thing as to not rejoice in their success. This in my opinion is how God describes this covenant of grace. The hate line is drawn by wishing a curse on those who oppose the support our success. I have spoken this way for 30 years so I am not guilty of being my brothers accuser- who are in Christ. This is accurate with how the Psalmist reasons about Gods people. And it is the reason that the Jews treated the sojourner{poor and fatherless }with such respect, and why they always stick together. The new relationship is our Father creating unity in us and in our lives.
So as the Psalms teach the reason that Israel went into exile was to discipline the whole nation with Gods elect being caught in the middle.You will see this very strict reasoning that does not allow for any disunity in Gods purposes. It is that God sent His nation into exile because society had become destructive... that being oppressing the poor... and His purpose for His elect was to doubly repay them in gifts by taking from the nation and giving it to them. In fact this is how a Father in the ot describes giving them their inheritance. lol Its taught by some theologians as God smiling on us in our disaster. Unity in all things and gentiles wouldn't throw each other under the bus. We should learn from the Jews.Ive meditated on the Book for 30 years ...with all the defensive postures of Gods people and the special Fatherly language in this advocacy it is just not consistent to believe in this kind of abuse. Shoot when I see a believer suffer I want the world to cave in. Being this passionate through the Psalms language is normal for me..I would feel heartless to look at it any other way.. lol
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