Thursday, July 16, 2009

How Does The Wrath Of Man Praise God?

Psalm 76.10 "For the wrath of man shall praise Thee; With a remnant of wrath Thou shalt gird Thyself."

Please read Albert Barnes' commentary below on this verse.

"The "wrath" of the invading host had given occasion for this manifestation of the divine perfections; or, in other words, his character would not have been displayed in this manner if it had not been for these wicked purposes of people. It is not that there was anything in the wrath itself, or in their plans or intentions, that was in itself "adapted" to honor God; but that it was overruled by him, so that he took "occasion" from it to display his own character.

The wicked conduct of a child is an "occasion" for the display of the just character and the wise administration of a parent; the act of a pirate, a rebel, a murderer, furnishes an "occasion" for the display of the just principles of law, and the stability and power of a government. In like manner, the sins of the wicked are made an occasion for the display of the divine perfections in maintaining law; in the administering of justice; in preserving order.

But there is another sense, also, in which the wrath of man is made the occasion for glorifying God. It is, that since there is such wrath, or since there are such wicked purposes, God makes use of that wrath, or of those wicked purposes, as he does of the powers of nature - of pestilence, disease, and storms, as instruments to accomplish his own designs, or to bring about great results. Thus he made use of the treasonable purpose of Judas, and the mad passions and the angry feelings of the Jews, in bringing about the work of redemption by the death of his Son...."

Even in the wrath of man, the glory of God is brilliantly seen in His divine character to uphold law, justice and order in the world. The wrath of man also displays the divine perfections for providing One who has taken upon Himself the punishment for our breaking His law, thus we clearly see His justice for our sin and to establish a spiritual order that is tethered to His gospel.

"And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach" ~ Colossians 1.21-22

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