With One Hand In a Pot of Gold...

My pastor said something very interesting in Sunday School last week that's been on my mind a lot. He was discussing the very touchy subject of God's hatred toward sinners. This concept, I believe, is very biblical, but conveniently ignored by the modern church. The idea that is taught is that God hates sin, but loves all sinners. This is plain heresy. God hates sinners. And we don't want to accept this. God has never sent a sin to Hell, but he does send un-repentant sinners to Hell. But what we also have to accept is that we, as sinners, hate God. This is a really difficult thing to understand and believe.

Here are some verses expressing this concept:
"The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence."
--Psalm 11: 5
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."
--John 3:36
"If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."
--Rev. 14:9-10
"They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."
--Rom. 1:29-32
"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
--Rom. 8:7-8

But we can find peace in knowing that we are not of the flesh, we are of the Spirit. Paul continues in Rom. 8:9, "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you." And this is just the set-up for my main topic. haha. Anyway, the actual comment made by Pastor Cadman that I want to focus on has to do with worship music. We were discussing this attribute of God and he commented that we have lost this in our worship music particularly. I had never thought about that before. When we think of worshiping God we think of his love, grace, faithfulness, patience, and goodness. We completely ignore his {righteous} anger, justice, and hatred toward sin and sinners. These attributes are just as important as his love and faithfulness. If God has no hatred for sinners and no need for justice, then what is the purpose of salvation? If God is nothing but love, then why do we need a savior? You clearly cannot have one without the other. God's love is pointless without his justice and vice-versa. So if God's wrath is necessary in the story of redemption then why do we leave it out {particularly in our music}? That's the main question I'm asking. After he made this comment, I sat back a minute and tried to think of a song I knew about God's wrath and I couldn't think of one. But what I could think of was the Psalms. The Psalms repeatedly praise God for his wrath towards sinners and even plead with God to bring justice to the wicked. Of course the book of Psalms is not the only book that describes God's wrath, but is a clear example of praising God for his wrath.
Examples:
" Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked." -- Ps. 3:7

"Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.

The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.

If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts." -- Ps. 7:6-13

"The LORD tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup." -- Ps. 11:5-6

"But to the wicked God says:
"What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you." -- Ps. 50:16-21

That's just four examples and there are plenty more. Our modern music is missing not only this, but also the blatant honesty that infests the psalms. We don't have any songs titled "Why Have You Forsaken Me?" or "The Faithful Have Vanished" or "He Will Tread Down Our Foes". Yet these are the topics of so many songs that are inspired by God! The next question is, what do we do about it? I'm not really sure. I think that for my church {Providence}, singing Psalms {all of them} should become a regular part of our service. Our church's key phrase is "Speaking the Truth in Love". I think that expressing these attributes of God and man is a way of speaking the truth in love. I want to figure out a way to incorporate this into youth group praise and worship and even my personal prayer&worship life. I'd love to hear your thoughts....

"Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak." -- Psalm 12:1-2