Adjust or Self Destruct

God is in control. We are not. The more we know him, the more we will bring ourselves in line with the way he thinks and with his expectations, and that will be good for us.

Anyone who is a parent grasps the difference between a relationship with a compliant child and with a rebellious one. There’s more joy and freedom for the compliant child and more grief for everyone for the rebellious one.

Let’s aim to be compliant children of God.

Psa. 119:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.	It’s fair to reason with God, as long as we do it with God’s interests at the center and not our interests. Let me paraphrase this verse backwards. “God, I know I will better adhere to your prescribed tasks if you will hold me up and keep me safe.” You see, it’s to God’s benefit to come to our rescue, because then we’ll be in a better position to follow and obey him. Here’s another, Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. Psa. 119:146b
(118)  Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.	Why do bad things happen to some people? No matter who the bad things happen to, God is in control. God uses hardship to draw his children close to him and/or to discipline them. But for the unsaved, this verse answers it. Hard circumstances are the result of sin. We reap what we sow. The wages of sin is still death (Rom 6:23).
(119)  Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.	There is justice. We know that from reading God’s testimonies, or the stories written in the Bible that show us how God acts and responds. My absolute favorite example of this is the testimony of Haman in Esther. If you’re familiar with Esther, here are the concluding verses that show God puts away the wicked: And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.  So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. (Esther 7:9-10) I love God’s testimonies!
(120)  My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.	If there’s something to be afraid of, it’s God’s judgments (his acts of dealing with a case). While God is loving, he is also just. We have barely seen a blip of God’s judgments. We are living in the age of grace where the goodness of God is leading us to repentance. But from the book of Revelation, we know God’s wrath is as triumphant as his love. We should fear him.