[Songs in the Night - May 15]
I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Deuteronomy 5:9
IF MAN could have his hatred and his jealousies
along the same lines as God it would be all right.
We,
as God does, should hate sin, but not the sinner.
God's
jealousy is just and is sure to bring to the sinner a just
punishment.
He tells us that when we have other
gods we must consider him jealous; but the impropriety
of jealousy is when it leads to bitterness and
other like qualities to which the fallen human mind is
subject and liable.
When the Lord announces himself
as a jealous God, he means us to understand that he
wants all of our affections, all of our confidence, our
entire trust.
He wants us to be so fully in accord
with him that his will shall be supreme in all the affairs
of life.
This is not to be considered selfishness on the
part of the Almighty; because this, under his overruling
providences, means to his creatures the largest
amount of happiness, the largest amount of success
in the duties and affairs of the present life, and the
fullest preparation for the blessings which God has
prepared for, and promised to those who love him. Z'11-93 R4789:2 (Hymn Appendix B)