Proverbs 16:4, God’s Wrath Is Just!

October 18, Proverbs 16:4

Mark 12:1-12 “Not justice but mercy must be my plea!”

God’s Wrath Is Just!

We have attempted to show in our last study that all things are to God and for God (Rom. 11:36). He made all things according to His perfect will and purpose. All things must fulfill His designs, and they will, without fail. The wicked, while they live, glorify Him not, but He will still be glorified upon them. He surely foresaw their wickedness. Try to understand this explanation from Jonathan Edwards. “Infinite foreknowledge proves the necessity of the event foreknown, yet it does not cause the necessity.” God permits evil by not stopping it. He hates all evil, yet permits it for the greatest possible good. He manifests His own glory through it. “It is the greatest praise of his (God’s] wisdom that he can turn the evil of man to his own glory” (Bishop Hall). This is what we would expect in a Sovereign God, that He is both the Author of All and the Finisher of all.

3. God is The Finisher of All. The Lord has made all things for himself (Rom. 9:11), that is, all things will fulfill their intended purpose. He rewards His saints. He punishes the wicked. Our Proverb reiterates this solemn truth. Every wickedness will have its “recompense” in the day of evil. The application of this should compel us to consider our true end and aim in life.

a. God’s Mercy: What if there was no wickedness in the world? There would be certain attributes of God’s character that we would never have known, such as His justice, His mercy, and His Grace. Man’s sin permits God to paint against that dark background, in glorious colours, the wonders of His patience, compassion and forgiving love.

b. God’s Majesty: The works of God can teach us something of our own human insignificance, and of the greatness and goodness of God. This makes our sins and moral failures all the greater. “The cross is the cost of my forgiveness”.

c. Man’s Dignity: Again, we should consider our duty to serve our Creator before whom every excuse for disobedience must be silenced. If God made all things for Himself, for His glory, there can be no higher motive for obeying Him. What dignity is bestowed on a redeemed sinner that, as a trophy of grace, he will be to the glory of God for all eternity!

d. Man’s Destiny: Obedience is not natural to fallen man. It can only come as he is renewed in righteous and true holiness through Christ. Put this day of evil into the context of the Parable of the Vineyard. Is the Lord unjust in his actions? Did not those who were entrusted with its oversight sin away their day of grace, lastly refusing to respect their lord’s son? This is the heir, they said. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours. Jesus then asks the chief priests and Pharisees interrogating Him, What will the lord of the vineyard do when he returns? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men (Mt. 21:33-46). They stand condemned out of their own mouths!

Thought: “Wrath rests upon the persons who are the agents of sin” (John Murray).

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to estimate aright my destiny in this world.