The God of Angel armies is always by my side
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The Blessing of Yielding to God’s Authority
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).
On December 7, 1941 the United States of America suffered a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. That attack plunged the USA into war. The Allies won the war and Japan, the aggressor, was defeated.
Back in 612 BC Nineveh, a capital of Assyria, suffered a surprise attack from which she never recovered. A vivid description is written up in chapters two and three of the book of Nahum.
Nahum a picture of God’s character
To set the stage for his write-up of Nineveh’s upcoming destruction, Nahum first gave his readers a picture of God’s character.
Nahum related that “God is jealous” (Nahum 1:2). God stands all by Himself. He alone is God.
God is personally involved in all aspects of His creation. He is aware of what the wicked do and will not acquit them (Nahum1:3). His anger is fierce (Nahum1:6) as He takes vengeance on His adversaries (Nahum 1:2).
God gives the wicked ample time to turn from their sin. He is “slow to anger, and great in power” (Nahum 1:3
One hundred years before Nahum lived, God sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh. The message God had for Nineveh at that time was harsh. He was going to overthrow the city if they did not repent within forty days.
On that occasion the leaders and residents sincerely and humbly repented of their evil. Sadly, the wholesale change of heart on the part of the Ninevites was temporary.
Nineveh “the bloody city”
Nineveh was one of the capitals of Assyria. At the time of Nahum’s writing, Nineveh had a reputation among the surrounding nations. From Nineveh, Assyria specialized in taking down key cities difficult to defeat. Nahum described Nineveh as a “bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery” (Nahum 3:1).
An example of Nineveh’s ruthless work was what they did at No, short for No-Amon, the Egyptian city of Thebes. Nineveh conquered this city in bloody conquest (Nahum 3:8-10).
God does not leave the wicked unpunished
Nineveh thought it was invincible. But Nineveh was no match for God. When God was ready, He brought down the city so thoroughly it could not get back on its feet again, so great was the devastation. Nahum advised them to “seek strength because of the enemy” (Nahum 3:11) even though it was a lost cause due to their blatant defiance of God.
God is serious about sin; God gives blessing to those who yield to him
By this we see God is serious about sin. On the other hand, for those who yield to God’s authority as LORD and have accepted His offer of salvation through Jesus, God shows a different side of His character. For them, “the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).
May we embrace God’s authority instead of running away from Him. By doing so we will find God’s great power is of great help to us in our personal battles we wage against sin.
As we trust God to help us with personal issues, we discover God is good. Following His principles of living found in His Word the Bible, we draw close to God and begin to get to know Him.
Yielding brings blessings
The longer we know Him, the greater the possibility of the friendship becoming more intimate. We see things in us we don’t like and we throw off unhealthy aspects of our character. We start thinking more like the God we read about in the Bible. Now we’re talking real living! May we let God have His way in us today, for His glory.
Shirley Logsdon
https://youtu.be/R0gu0nOaFsI Whom Shall I Fear God of Angel Armies by Chris Tomlin
additional message from Tiffinany McGinnis
