Psalm 143:11-12
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.
It seems that many people simply assume that because “God is love” (so He is; e.g. 1 John 4:16), God will surely extend graciousness and kindness to them. Indeed, they feel that God’s love practically obligates Him to do so, for if He did not, He would be unloving. And since “God is love” is read as if it said, “love is God” (which it does not say), the only God there is overflows with unchecked, unqualified, universal, and endless love.
The monkey wrench in this conception can be illustrated from Psalm 143. Notice what the text says, paying attention to the words “in” and “for”. We read, “In your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.”
In His love God will utterly obliterate the enemies of His people. In other words, God’s love can be terrifying. Salvation always comes through judgment; salvation always entails the vindication of God’s name and people.
However, there is a way to be found secure in the love of God. The Psalmist gives us a hint:
Psalm 18:50
Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed [LXX: χριστω, Christ], to David and his offspring forever.
The point of the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew is to point to Jesus as the anointed one, the Christ, the King of David’s line who could finally fulfill the promise (2 Sam. 7:13).
So if you want to be in the love of God, be found in Christ. Because if you’re not, the love of God for Jesus will be terror and destruction for you.
Psalm 18:26-27
… with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
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