TUESDAY 17th
Psalm 75 & 76
NIV (75:8, 76:7) – ‘In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.’
‘It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?’
ESV (75:8, 76:7) – ‘For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.’
‘But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?’
This is a startling and frightening text on its own, try and imagine it in your mind, the Lord God is standing in heaven with a cup in his hand, full of foaming wine and spices, the previous verse informs us that it will be a cup of judgement, judgment that will be poured out upon the wicked of the earth, who in turn will drink it down to its very last dregs. The next psalm (76) in v7 says that the anger of the Lord is roused, and that from heaven he will not only pour out judgment but will also utter judgment and the question is asked, who will stand? There is an earlier verse in Psalm 75, v2 that says that God will judge with equity, so we know that the cup of foaming wine mixed with spices will be a cup of righteous judgement, God will only ever do that which is right. It is a clear reminder that humanity needs to fear God, for he alone will judge mankind, and what a fearsome day it is going to be. But, thank God for another cup, it is called the cup of blessing in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, but before it could become the cup of blessing it needed to be a cup of suffering, and the Lord Jesus took up that cup and began to drink from it as he prepared himself to go to Calvary,* the place where he was going to take upon himself our sin, and the punishment that we deserved for that sin, the place where he was going to allow the cup of God’s fury to be poured upon himself on our behalf, so that as we come to believe in him by faith we would not have to face the cup filled with wine and mixed with spices, but instead be able to enjoy the cup of blessing, the cup we partake of when we come to share in communion together, to give thanks for his body that was broken and his blood that was shed.
Let us be sure about this, the day of God’s wrath, the day of his judgement upon sin and the sinner is coming and the outcome is not a very pleasant one, if we have rejected his incredible offer of salvation then the verdict will be ‘Depart from me’ and the command given to cast into the place prepared for the devil and his angels, but today while there is still opportunity, while his grace is still available we can come to the foot of the Cross, where Jesus died in our place and take all that he has made available to all who would believe and know that when God comes in judgement, we will be safe for eternity because we stand in the robes of righteousness, given to us because there was one who stood condemned in our place, ‘He took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his very own, he bore the burden to calvary and suffered and died alone.’
‘Man of sorrow,’ what a name, for the Son of God who came, ruin’d sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah! What a Saviour. Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood; sealed my pardon with his blood: Hallelujah! What a Saviour.
Today as you read this devotion, if you have not yet accepted the offer of salvation that God offers you and which has been provided by the Lord Jesus Christ, think about it, without Christ you will have to drink of the cup that is filled with the wine of God’s fury, it will have a bitter taste and an even bitter ending, choose instead to come and to receive Jesus, who drank from the cup of God’s wrath on your behalf so that you can enjoy the cup of blessing.
*(Luke 20:22 ‘. . . are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? See also Luke 22:42)