Just in love

Today: Psalm 80-85

Is it possible to be both kind and strong? Is it possible to be loving and to simultaneously lack tolerance?

These are not simple questions. If I took a poll on the street, the votes would be split...but my hunch is that most people would say that it is difficult to hold ideals that (at first glance anyway) seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The Bible teaches that God is love...but God is also just. At times, those two virtues could seem contradictory. I would argue that God is just in love. That may sound like a paradox or a total tongue twister. I'll explain a bit later, but I thought it would be interesting to first highlight some different scenarios from today's passage that illustrate these attributes of God's character.

In this part of the passage, Asaph highlights the loving blessing of God:

Smile your blessing smile:

That will be our salvation.

And a few chapters later, he discusses God's justice toward some evil judges:

God calls the judges into his courtroom, he puts all the judges in the dock...

O God, give them their just deserts!

You've got the whole world in your hands!

I think these excerpts contrast the loving and just natures of God:

All sunshine and sovereign is God,

generous in gifts and glory.

God, you smiled on your good earth!

You brought good times back to Jacob!...

Help us again, God of our help;

don't hold a grudge against us forever.

You aren't going to keep this up, are you?

Love and Truth meet in the street...

This may be a confusing concept to grasp--and far be it from me to say that I've got it all figured out. But here's what I think: When I write that "God is just in love," I am first and foremost saying it in its simplest form--God is madly in love with you, me and every human being. But on a deeper level, when I say, "God is just in love," I'm pointing to His justice. Because if He loves all of us--along with ideals like goodness and truth, it means that He hates other things (like evil and lies, to name a few).

Things to think about:

• Who and what does God love?
  
• What does God hate?
  
• How have we seen God's balance of love and justice play out in Scripture? How have you seen it unfold in your own life?
  
• Yesterday, I wrote about the idea of grace (see "Undeserved help"). How does grace fall into the mix of love and justice?

Tomorrow: Psalm 86-89