Summer Playlist (Psalms): God of Vengeance

Missio Church - Bismarck

Verses Used:

• Psalm 94
• Matthew 5:44
• Ephesians 4:26
• James 1:19-20
• John 5:22
• Matthew 25:31-34
• 2 Corinthians 5:10

Takeaways:

What to do with Anger

• The first thing you might notice here is that the Psalmist seems to be angry.
• Psalms are those that imprecate - invoke judgment, calamity or curses upon one’s enemies or those perceived as the enemies of God.
• Anger needs to be handled properly. Anger can become sinful and hurtful, but in its most basic form, anger can be thought of as passion.
• We can learn from how Jesus displayed his anger:
• His anger had the proper motivation, control, duration, and result.

Coming Judgment

• Judgment has been delayed. There will be a final judgment.
• The sheep and goats refer to those who know Jesus by faith - sheep and those who don’t - goats.
• The point of the story that Jesus told was that we all are given opportunities.

Our Only Hope

• Jesus is our rescue, our comfort, our only hope.
• Sin is sin in God’s eyes and it has to be dealt with. We can thank Jesus for redeeming us.

Discussion Questions:

• How does the idea that God will judge everyone at the return of Christ make you feel? Why?
• How does God show his love by telling us about judgment before it happens?
• How can God be a God of vengeance and grace at the same time?
• What do we do with an imprecatory Psalm and Jesus’ command to love our enemies?

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