Psalms 76:10 - Homiletics

The will of man and the will of God.

"The wrath of man shall praise thee." Two great streams of spiritual force meet our view, alike in the Bible and in human life and history, crossing one another every instant, as waves of light and waves of sound, in closest vital relation, yet each holding its course unhindered— the will of man and the will of God. When man was created, not in the image of lower creatures but "in the image of God," he was endowed with this glorious yet perilous heritage—will and conscience. Will— power to weigh reasons, balance motives, pursue a fixed purpose, choose the good or the evil, the right or the wrong; and conscience— power to pass judgment on himself, approving or condemning his own conduct. Yet God ' s will must needs be sovereign, supreme; even as God's conscience (if the phrase be lawful) must be supreme arbiter of right and wrong ( Daniel 4:35 ). Even the wrath of man shall praise him. That the obedience, love, piety, of men will praise God is natural and easy to understand; but that man's rebellion, disobedience, even angry and violent resistance to God's will, ends in bringing praise to God,—this is indeed the deepest mystery, both of the Bible and of human life. "The wrath of man"—human pride, enmity, ambition, revenge, lawless violence— praises God.

I. WHEN GOD MAKES IT THE INSTRUMENT OF HIS JUDGMENTS ; either in chastening his people or in subduing his foes. If this word " foes of God" sounds to any harsh and contrary to Divine love, let it be understood that the Bible means by it the enemies of truth, of righteousness, and of love. The Book of Judges is full of examples (see 2:7 , 2:12 , 2:14 , etc.). In later days, the just resentment of the ten tribes against Rehoboam was the means of executing God's sentence against Solomon, and rending the kingdom ( 2 Chronicles 10:15 , 2 Chronicles 10:16 ); the invasion by Shishak, the punishment on Rehoboam for forsaking God's Law, "and all Israel with him" ( 2 Chronicles 12:1 , 2 Chronicles 12:2 ); the leading captive of Israel by the Assyrians, and Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, the punishment of centuries of idolatry, and the fulfilment of the warnings of a long series of prophets ( 2 Chronicles 36:15-17 ); the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus was the fulfilment of God's promise to restore his penitent people to their own land.

II. WHEN GOD BRINGS TO NOUGHT HUMAN PRIDE AND POWER , AND DELIVERS HIS PEOPLE . The destruction of Sennacherib's host, the overthrow of Pharaoh's power in the Red Sea, are leading and stupendous examples. "The remainder," etc. ( Isaiah 37:28 , Isaiah 37:29 ). The rendering adopted by the Revisers is according to the common use of the word (as girding on a sword, a girdle, etc.); but "upon thee" should be printed in italics,—there is nothing to answer to it in the Hebrew. And the much more intelligible and apt sense of the Authorized Version has the authority of one of the greatest of all the Jewish commentators.

III. WHEN THE VIOLENCE AND WICKEDNESS OF MEN , IN MOST UNBRIDLED EXCESSES , WORK OUT THE PURPOSES AND FULFIL THE PROMISES OF GOD . The supreme example is the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus (see John 11:49-52 ; Acts 2:23 ; Acts 3:17 , Acts 3:18 ).

IV. WHEN GOD SUBDUES THE HEART OF HIS ENEMIES , AND TURNS REBELS INTO LOYAL SUBJECTS AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS , persecutors into preachers, blasphemers into witnesses to his truth (see Acts 9:13-16 ; 1 Timothy 1:12-17 ). Willingly or unwillingly, men's lives are weaving the web of God's providence, working the pattern of his purpose. The stormy current of human will cannot overflow its banks. In ways as yet unknown, unguessed by us, God will bring good out of evil. The song of eternity shall be, "He hath done all things well!"