God who disciplines
Psa
6:1
O LORD, do not rebuke
me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath
Our
initial response to these words may not be one that lifts our spirit.
Most of us would read these words and say, “Oh dear!” (or something
similar!). The thought of being rebuked or disciplined is not a comfortable
one! These exact words are repeated in Psa 38:1. In fact the concept
of the Lord disciplining His people is a very common one in Scripture,
and when we see it in context we will see what a good thing it is.
Psa
39:11 says, "You rebuke and discipline
men for their sin". So, there discipline is
linked with our sin. Well we would expect that perhaps but look at
Deut 4:35,36: "You were shown these
things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there
is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline
you". The ‘things' referred to there
were His acts of deliverance in Egypt before the Exodus and their
experience of Him at Sinai. This idea is repeated in Deut 11:2,3:
"Remember today that your children
were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of
the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched
arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of
Egypt." Again the discipline that is referred to
comes about by observing the mighty acts of God as He dealt with Pharaoh
and led them to their land.
Well
let's consider a general definition of discipline and see how it might
fit what we've seen here: discipline
= training that develops self-control and character.
Now what would have been the effect upon Israel of watching God at
work in Egypt? It would have gradually brought the revelation to them
that He is all-mighty, all-powerful and that He deals with pride,
arrogance, idol worship and sin generally. This should have taught
them that God was not to be trifled with! Psa 94:12 says,
"Blessed is the man you discipline,
O LORD, the man you teach from your law". In other
words, discipline comes about when we realize God's Law, when we realize
God's standards, the way God has made things to be, when we realize
the boundaries God has given us in life.
Discipline
can thus be seen to be conforming our understanding and our lives
to God's design, God's character and God's will. The Lord made us
perfect when He made the world but with the Fall, sin made us think
and do things contrary to that perfection. Discipline is both the
process and the product that brings us back to God's way of thinking
and acting. David was feeling very low in Psalm 6. It wasn't that
He objected to discipline but he didn't want God to have to discipline
him in anger because of sin.
Heb
12:5-11 is probably THE New Testament passage on discipline. The writer
encourages us to “not lose heart when he
rebukes you” (v.6) and then gives the reason: “the
Lord disciplines those he loves”
and “God disciplines us for our good”
(v.10), so that “Later on… it produces a
harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained
by it.” (v.11). Now substitute the word, “trains” for
discipline and we see more clearly what this is about. It's not about
punishment; it's about bringing us into conformity with the truth
– the truth of who God is, how He's made the world to be, and how
we are to live to get the best out of it.
Yes,
it so often needs difficult circumstances to mould us. That was what
was happening to David. We learn patience by having to wait, endurance
by having to hang on in with difficult and trying circumstances, to
love by being given difficult people, and so on. Each of these is
God training us, disciplining us, and conforming us to His likeness
– because He loves us and wants the best for us.
Response:
Dare you pause up and ask the Lord to help you conform your thinking,
your attitudes and your life more and more to His will today?