Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 16 of 16

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2000-09-17

Synopsis: In this concluding sermon on Psalm 106, John Weaver examines verses 40-48, focusing on the sobering truth that God can both love and loathe His people simultaneously because of their persistent sin. He explains the distinction between God's intrinsic, unchangeable holiness and His external glory, which is affected by human obedience or disobedience. The sermon details how specific sins provoke God to loathing, the evidences that a person or nation is loathed by God (subjugation, oppression, refusal to learn, following one's own counsel), and yet how God's love remains through His regard for affliction, remembrance of His covenant, and mercy. The final prayer for salvation is understood as salvation from sin itself, and the application calls believers to holy living to avoid provoking God's loathing.

[John Weaver] All right, let's open our Bibles today to Psalm 106. Lord willing, today we're going to finish this psalm. Psalm 106, and let's begin reading there with verse 40, and we'll read through verse 48. Psalm 106, verse 40, Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. and he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity.

[John Weaver] Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.

[John Weaver] Let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord."

[John Weaver] Now, we looked last week in lesson number 15, in verses 34 through verse 39, and I pointed out the fact that As the psalmist is confessing the sins contained therein, the big difference is the sins in verses 34-39, or the sins that were committed after the Canaan conquest. All those previous sins had been committed before they entered into the land, beginning with verse 7 and going down through verse 33. But now these sins have been committed after they entered into the land. And of course, I pointed out how important obedience is for verse 34 says they did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them. In other words, because they disobeyed in this one area, all of these other sins followed.

[John Weaver] They mingled themselves with the heathen. They learned their works. They served their idols. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters. And I explain all of that. I hope sufficiently. So today we come to verse 40 and the Bible in regard to their sin says, therefore, was the wrath of Lord Kendall against his people in so much that he abhorred his own inheritance.

[John Weaver] Now, when I dealt with the sins of Moses and Aaron in verses 32 and 33, I emphasized Romans chapter 14 in verse 7. Now Romans 14 verse 7 simply says this, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. And now what I meant by that and what the Bible means by that is that our sins always affect other people. No one can say, well, this is my life.

[John Weaver] I'm going to live it the way I want to live it, regardless of what happens. Because whatever we do invariably has an effect upon other individuals. It does not matter if it is our family, our friends, our church, our ministry. It is true that whatever we do affects others. You've heard the proverbial saying of the old drunk who said, well, I'm going to get drunk. It's nobody's business but my own. until he gets in the car and kills another family. You see, the truth of the matter is, even if he doesn't kill another family, his sin still affects his wife, still affects his children, still affects a lot of other people as well. Now, as important as the principle of Romans 14.7 is, and it is important, there is still yet another, more important principle that we need to consider in relationship to sin.

[John Weaver] And that is this, how do our sins affect God, the sovereign judge of heaven and earth? Now, most of the time we don't think about that principle.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, and by way of introduction and try to explain something to you, I'm going to make a statement, then I'm going to explain how. It is true that our sins do indeed have an effect upon God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me begin by saying there is a difference between God's intrinsic and essential glory and God's external and outward glory. When you talk about God's intrinsic An essential glory. There is absolutely nothing that can change that or have an effect upon that or be added to or taken from that because God is absolutely perfect.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to hold someone of six, but turn in your Bibles to Psalm 16 and look if you would please beginning there. With verse one Psalm 16 in verse one, and by the way, This psalm is a messianic psalm, that is, it speaks of Jesus Christ. In fact, verse 10 shows you that. He says, For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption. This verse is applied directly to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. So in verse one of Psalm 16, the Bible says, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. Now look what the Messiah says. My goodness extended not to thee.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a statement. As perfect and as holy and as obedient as Jesus Christ was, his perfection, his obedience, his holiness added nothing to the essence of God. What do you say? Who did they add to? Well, first three explains it. Verse two, he says, My goodness, extended not to thee that is not to God, but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent whom is all my delight. So his holiness and obedience does indeed extend to us. But even the perfection of Christ added nothing. to the essence and intrinsic holiness of God, because God is perfect in and of himself. Now, while God does have an intrinsic and essential holiness which cannot be added to nor taken At the same time, God also has an external holiness that can be affected by man, by our obedience or by our disobedience. For instance, if you look in Psalm 50 and verse 23, look what the Bible says. Psalm 50 and verse 23. The Word of God says very plainly, whoso offereth praise glorifies me.

[John Weaver] Well, what do we do? We praise God. What are we doing? We're glorifying God. We're honoring God. Are we adding to God's essential or intrinsic holiness by praising Him? No. But we are declaring that God is God and we are worshiping His external holiness. Look in your Bibles to Romans 15 and verse 16. You'll see another passage. Romans 15 and verse 16. And here the Word of God says Romans 15 in verse 16. It is or verse. Verse 6 not 16 with verse 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note if you would please that you may with one mind in one mouth glorify God. It is possible that our actions will have an effect upon God's external holiness. Not his essential holiness, not his intrinsic holiness, but his external holiness.

[John Weaver] So let me put it to you very bluntly. It is true that our obedience and our praise has an effect upon God's external holiness, and equally true Our sins and our rebellion can have an effect upon God's external holiness. As we can obey God and praise God, likewise, we can also abhor God and be a disgrace to His external holiness. I want you to look in your Bibles to Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Look, if you would, please, at what the Word of God says.

[John Weaver] And once again, this is a Messianic passage. Isaiah 49, verse 6. Look at what God says. And He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel.

[John Weaver] Now here's a verse that is quoted in the New Testament applied directly to Jesus Christ. God says, I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. So we're talking about Messiah now. Verse seven. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, the Messiah, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, king, shall see thee in arise. Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee." So note, if you would please, it is possible for man to despise and to abhor God as well.

[John Weaver] Now, since you're in Isaiah, I want you to go back to Isaiah 43. Let me show you an extremely soul-searching passage. I want you to see just how our sins do indeed affect God. Look what God tells His people in Isaiah 43 and verse 24. God complains of the people and He says, Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices.

[John Weaver] In other words, you didn't bring what I asked you to bring to me. But look what He says, But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. Isn't that an amazing statement? Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins." In other words, when we are in covenantal relationship with God, there is a sense in that what we do, He does.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you that even more plainly. Look in 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6. Here's a passage that is against fornication. OK, showing you how wicked and vile fornication is. But look what he says, and I want you to see the added insult to the act of fornication for a Christian. Look at it, 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 13. God says meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. Now look what he says. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. So God did not make our bodies to be a fornicating machine. He made our bodies for him. He says in verse 14 and God had both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power. Now look carefully. No, you not. Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid, perish the thought, don't even let it enter in your mind.

[John Weaver] What? Know you not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? For two saith he shall be one flesh, but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flea fornication. Now listen to what he says, we are covenantally joined to the Lord and our Lord says if we commit the act of fornication it is the same as joining the Lord to harlot because we are one spirit.

[John Weaver] That's what it means in Isaiah 43 and verse 24 when God told his people thou hast made me to serve with thy sins. We are in a covenantal bond. And we're one spirit, and what you do does indeed have an effect upon me," says the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, the question is this. What is God's response to such wickedness and such sin? Is he pleased with such attitudes and actions? And the answer very clearly is no. Let me make a statement. And I want you to think about this. It is possible. To turn love. Into loathing. It is possible to turn love. Into loathing. Do you realize that our rebellion as Christians, our sins? As Christians. Turns love. into loathing. Now, does God love his people? Yes. Does that love ever change? And the answer is no. But does God at times loathe his people? And the answer is yes.

[John Weaver] For instance, look in your Bibles to Psalm 106 and verse 40. If this has not been duly impressed upon you, I want to do so at this time. Psalm 106 and verse 40, the Bible says in light of all of their sins, in light of all their rebellion, therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. Now the word abhorred is a very strong word.

[John Weaver] Sometimes it is translated refused. sometimes rejected, sometimes cast off, cast away, contend. It means literally to treat as foul and stinking. Or to loathe. Literally, what he says in verse 40, therefore, was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people inasmuch that he loathed his own inheritance. He treated them as foul I'm going to answer this question for you biblically a little bit later, but let me just throw something out to you. Is it possible to love and to loathe at the same time? And the answer is yes.

[John Weaver] Probably all of us in here have family members. I'm not necessarily talking about your immediate family. Sometimes it is your immediate family, but all of us have family members in here that we love by virtue of the fact that they are our family. But at the same time, we don't want to be around them. We don't like them. We loathe them. In fact, I was talking to a pastor friend of mine yesterday, and I said, let me throw something out at you.

[John Weaver] And I quoted this verse. I said, is it possible to love and to loathe someone at the same time? He said, yes. My two brothers, for example. What did he mean? He loved them because they were his brothers, but he loathed them because they were wicked and ungodly and everything that they did was contrary to Scripture and contrary to the Lord. So it is possible to love and to loathe at the same time. Now watch this.

[John Weaver] Let's get a little more specific. Verse 40. He says, Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. He loathed his own inheritance. Has this thought hit you yet? There are times that we don't want to be around people because we dislike them. We loathe them. And it's equally true that sometimes God doesn't want to be around His own people because He loathes them.

[John Weaver] Now, if Psalm 106 and verse 40 was an isolated text, if there was no other text in Scripture, This one text would still be sufficient, because it is exceedingly clear. The Bible says, therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance. Now, one may not like the text, one may not like the thought, one may not like the truth, but the truth is so clear and plain it cannot be misunderstood. There are times that God loathes his own people. But the truth is, this is not an isolated text. There are other texts that teach exactly the same thing. For instance, look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, we'll come back to these passages a little bit later. Psalm 78, and look, if you would please, at verse 59. Psalm 78 verse 59. The Bible says when God heard this, he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel. There's that word abhorred and greatly abhorred Israel. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 89 and verse 38.

[John Weaver] Psalm 89 verse 38. And of course, in the context is dealing with his own people. He says, But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. Isn't that amazing? But thou hast cast off and abhorred, that is loathed, thou hast been wroth or angry with thine anointed, that is with God's people. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32, and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Deuteronomy 32 verse 18. The Word of God says of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful and has forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them because of the provoking of his sons and his daughters. In other words, his sons and his daughters were provoking God and therefore God abhorred or loathed them. Look in your Bibles to the book of Amos chapter 6. Amos chapter 6. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Look, if you would please, at verse 8.

[John Weaver] You talk about a passage that cannot be misunderstood. Here it is. The Lord God has sworn by himself that the Lord, the God of hosts, I have before the excellency of Jacob and his palaces. Therefore, I will deliver up the city with all that is there in. What is God saying? I love my own people. I'm going to punish them. Then if you will turn back to the book of Lamentations right after Jeremiah Lamentations chapter two. And look at verse 7, Lamentations 2 and verse 7. Let me show you how God responds to sin. Lamentations 2, verse 7, the Lord has cast off his altar.

[John Weaver] He has abhorred his sanctuary. He had given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They've made a noise in the house of the Lord as in the day of the solemn feast. In other words, the people had sinned so against God, God even hated his own temple, his own sanctuary.

[John Weaver] Now, folks, I don't know about you, but when I was looking at Psalm 106 in verse 40, I thought, what an awesome and yet horrible thought. that we can be loved by God and yet loathed by God at the same time.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to reiterate this. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm going to reiterate it again. And I want you to stop and think about this. There are family members that we love. I can think of some right now in my own family. I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their actions. I don't like what they do. I don't even want to be around them. In fact, some of them, I don't even want people to know that they're in my family.

[John Weaver] The same thing is true among many Christians. What am I talking about? There are a lot of Christians, many times, that do not act like Christians. They don't talk like Christians. They don't think like Christians. Their attitudes and their actions are downright cantankerous. And I don't want to be around them. I can point out a number of Christian groups that I know right now, some churches, that are fussing and fighting between themselves.

[John Weaver] They call each other by horrible names. They're angry. They're bitter. They're resentful. They're full of malice and animosity. And I want to be honest with you. I don't want to be within a hundred miles of them. I don't want to be around them. I do not even want to be identified with them. They're immature, they're petty, and they're divisive. Now the question is, if I don't want to be around them, if it upsets me, if it bothers me, how does it affect God? May I point out that God is far more holy than I am. Far more holy than any of us and all of us put together. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Habakkuk. chapter one, a minor prophet Habakkuk chapter one. And as you turn there, let me just quote for you. First Peter chapter one. You know what the Bible says in First Peter chapter one, I'll put it later. But God says, as it is written, Be ye holy as I am holy, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] So God is demanding that we be holy as he is holy. But listen, if you would please, to what the Bible says in the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 1, and notice if you would please, verse 13. Here's what the prophet says of God. Watch carefully. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity. Now wait a minute. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity. What does that mean? Certainly we know that God sees evil and wickedness, for He judges it. And the Bible says in Proverbs 15, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, beholding the good and the evil. So we know that God sees it, and yet here's a verse that says, Thou art of pure eyes, and behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. How are we to understand that verse? Very simply. Thou art of pure eyes, and behold evil condoningly, and canst not look on iniquity approvingly.

[John Weaver] In other words, God does say sin in order to judge it, in order to mark it, but God never condones it and God never approves it. So the point I'm trying to make is this. If such actions and such attitudes are repulsive to me, and I don't want to be around people who act like that. God is far more holy than I am. And he doesn't like it either. So if I can loathe people like that, so can God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask a question. In fact, I'm going to try to ask and answer several questions. As you turn back in your Bible to Psalm 106, here's the first one that has to be answered. How does one become loathed by God? The Bible says in verse 40, therefore, was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people inasmuch as that he abhorred or loathed his own inheritance. How does one become loathed by God? Well, the answer, generally speaking, is sin.

[John Weaver] That is disobedience and rebellion. But specifically, If you will look at Psalm 106 with me and remember, please, this is the 16th message I preached on this passage. Let's go back to verse 7. Here is where the psalmist begins to specify sins and confess them specifically. Verse 7, he says, Our fathers understood not by wonders in Egypt. That's ignorance. Ignorance. They remember not the multitude of our mercies. That's ingratitude and provoke him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. So there's ignorance and ingratitude. Skip down to verse 13.

[John Weaver] They soon forget his works. They waited not for his counsel, their forgetfulness and impatience. Verse 16. They envied Moses also in the camp of Aaron, the same of the Lord. Envy and insurrection. Look in verse 19. They made a camp in Horeb and worshiped the molten image, idolatry and insolence. Skip down to verse 24. Yea, they despise the pleasant land. They believe not His word. There's despisement and disbelief. Look in verse 28.

[John Weaver] They join themselves unto Baal Peor. They eat the sacrifices of the dead. There's where they worship foreign gods. Verse 32. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that he went ill with Moses for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. Once again, here's where the sins of the people so affected Moses and Aaron that Moses and Aaron sinned. And then verses 34 through verse 39 shows all these other sins that they did.

[John Weaver] And what is God saying? In light of all of these sins, therefore, was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people inasmuch as he loathed his own inheritance. So these sins that I've preached on for the last 15 weeks individually and collectively are enough to make God loathe an individual or a nation. I want you to notice the context of Deuteronomy 32. If you go to Deuteronomy 32.

[John Weaver] Because I took three main passages just to show you that they are teaching exactly the same thing. This Psalm 106 is teaching. Look, if you would please, at verse 15 in Deuteronomy 32, but Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. That is, he grew fat and sassy and rebelled, is what it amounts to. Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he, that is Israel, forsook God who made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. Didn't think much of God. They provoked him, that is God, to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations. Provoked they him to anger, they sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

[John Weaver] And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred, he loathed them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." Once again, it's specific sins of forgetting God, of lightly esteeming God, engaging in idolatry, that produces loathing on God's part. Look, if you would please, in Psalm 78. Psalm 78. Note, if you would please, the same truth is given to us. Look in verse 8. Psalm 78, verse 8,"...and might not be as their fathers."

[John Weaver] A stubborn and rebellious generation. A generation that set not their heart aright, whose spirit was not steadfast with God. Verse 10. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in His law. Verse 11. They forgot His works and His wonders which He had showed to them. Verse 19. Yea, they spake against God. They said, can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Skip down to verse 35. They remembered not. They remember that God was and they remember that God was their rock and the high God, their Redeemer. Verse 42 is what I wanted. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. Skip down to verse 56. Yet they attempted and provoked the most high God and kept not his testimonies, but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers. that were turned aside like a deceitful bow. Verse 59, when God heard this, he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel.

[John Weaver] Note the specific sins that turn love into loathing. Look, if you would please, to Amos chapter 6. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Notice, if you would please, Beginning there with verse 1, what God says. Amos 6 verse 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations to whom the house of Israel came. So God says woe to those who are at ease, and they're trusting in Samaria. That is, they're trusting in government, not God. He says in verse four that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall. That is, they're rolling in prosperity.

[John Weaver] They chant to the sound of the vial and invented themselves instruments of music like David. They drink wine in bowls. They anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. In other words, they don't care anything about anyone but themselves. Therefore, God says in verse 8, the Lord God has sworn by himself that the Lord, the God of those I before the excellency of Jacob and I hate his palaces. Therefore, I will deliver up the city with all that is there in each instance.

[John Weaver] And each one of these texts. The people were constantly and continually sinning against God. So much so, that although they were God's people, God loathed them. Here's my next question. How does one know whether or not he is loathed by God? How does one know that God doesn't want to be around him? It's an interesting question. Sometimes some of us are so cantankerous, we don't even want to be around ourselves.

[John Weaver] Well, let me ask you another way. How can we tell when a nation is loathed by God? Well, go back to Psalm 106 and let's look at the scripture. Psalm 106 verse 40 says. And therefore, was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people inasmuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance. And here's how we know whether or not God loathes individuals and their nations. Verse 41.

[John Weaver] He gave them into the hand of the heathen and they that hated them ruled over them. In other words, the person or the nation is basically subdued, subjugated, captivated by their enemy.

[John Weaver] Now you put two and two together concerning our nation. You say, Brother Weaver, Red China hasn't overrun us. No, Red China hasn't, but a whole lot of other enemies have. And they're in control in the government. That's why we're not a constitutional republic any longer. But now they now call us a democracy. But that's not all. Skip down to verse 42, and he gave them into the hand of the heathen and they that hated them ruled over them.

[John Weaver] That is, here's the second evidence. Oppression. Persecution. Affliction. By the enemies. You say, wait a minute, brother Weaver, we're not persecuted. We're not afflicted. We're not oppressed. Oh, do you realize there are more types of oppression than just physical? And there are plenty of people who are being physically oppressed. Look at the Christians. Who are now being charged with paper crime, which are no crime at all.

[John Weaver] And the government wants them to do 15 and 20 and 30 years in prison. And they haven't done a thing wrong. What about economically? Oppressed? Yes, we're economically oppressed. You say, Brother Weaver, we've got more money than we've ever had before. But it is worth less than it's ever been worth before. It requires more money because the value of our money continues to go down, down, down, down. When Alice and I got married, I used to give her ten bucks a week to buy groceries with. That included meat.

[John Weaver] And I would fuss if she didn't bring three or four of it back. We bought a week's worth of groceries On six and seven bucks. You can't even buy a week's worth of groceries for 100 bucks today. Yes, oppression economically, mentally. He's a brother, we were not mentally oppressed. Have you ever heard of political correctness? I tell you what you just make A statement that is not politically correct.

[John Weaver] Notice what happened to John Rocker. Everybody's going to want you to go to sensitivity training. That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, and everything that John Rocker said was true. He just said it the wrong place. And he happened to be where pressure could be brought against him. Look in verse 43, here's another evidence. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity.

[John Weaver] Now, wait a minute, you say, Brother Weaver, I can understand subjugation being subdued. I can understand oppression and persecution and affliction. But I don't understand this verse. Many times he delivered them, but they provoked him with their counsel and they were brought low for their iniquity. All right, let me explain this verse for you. Here's the third evidence that you can tell an individual is loathed by God or a nation loathed by God.

[John Weaver] Spell it out for you. They refuse to listen. They refuse to learn. They refuse to receive reproof, correction, and instruction. They do their own thing, and God has to knock them down over and over and over and over. That's what he says. Watch it. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel. They didn't want God's way. They wanted their way. They didn't want God's word. They wanted their word.

[John Weaver] And they were brought low for their iniquity. Look in your Bibles, if you would please. Hold Psalm 106, but turn over to Jeremiah chapter 5 and look at verse 3. Jeremiah 5 and verse 3. Jeremiah 5, verse 3. Look what Jeremiah had to complain about. And we can just about voice the same complaint today. Jeremiah 5 verse 3, O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Now look what he says.

[John Weaver] Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They refuse to return. What's he saying? God, you beat the devil out of them and they're still rebelling. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And notice, if you would please, verse 5. Isaiah 1, verse 5. Look at the question that is asked. Why should you be stricken anymore?

[John Weaver] You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. In other words, correction doesn't do any good. You won't listen. You won't learn. And then Hosea chapter 6 and verse 4. Hosea 6 verse 4. Look what God says. Here's the average professing Christian. Hosea 6 in verse 4, O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?

[John Weaver] For your goodness is as the morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. In other words, you're not going to be obedient for long. You won't listen. You won't learn. So God says, then, when an individual or a nation refuses to receive correction and instruction, It's evidence that that nation, or that individual, is loathed by God. And you could say number four is found in verse 43 as well, and that is just simply following one's own counsel instead of God's counsel.

[John Weaver] Some of you can quote Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Some of you may not, but let me quote it for you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall bring it to pass. The individual that is loathed by God trusts to his own understanding. He listens to his own counsel. He refuses the Word of God.

[John Weaver] And here's my next question. Is it possible to be loved? And loathed at the same time? And the answer is yes, I've already given you that answer, but I never gave you the scriptures. Now I want to give you the scriptures. If you look in Psalm 106. Verses 41 through 43, deals with loathing. Verse 40 says that he abhorred or loathed his own inheritance. Verse 41, he gave them in the hands of the enemy. Verse 42, the enemy suppressed them. Verse 43, they wouldn't learn. They followed their own counsel. Now when you get to verses 44 through 46, it deals with loathing. Watch. Verse 44, nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry.

[John Weaver] Now, how do we know? How do we know that God loves us still, even when he loathes us? Well, here's one of the answers. Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry. In other words, God was concerned about our suffering just like he, or he is concerned about his suffering, just like he was concerned about the suffering of the saints in the Old Testament. And he heard their cries, now listen, even when they were suffering for their own sin and rebellion.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question as a parent. Have there been times that your children have done things that were just so horrible and so awful And you were so incensed that when you whipped them, you whipped them well. And yet, when they were weeping and crying, you still felt sorry for them. That's what God did. He whipped them well. But when they got to crying out because of their affliction, God heard them. And God considered that's not all. Look at verse 45.

[John Weaver] Here's another evidence of love. And he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He remembered for them. His covenant.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question, why did Israel get in the place that she was in here? Because she didn't remember the covenant. She didn't obey the covenant. But the Bible says God remembered for them his covenant. So what God is saying is this. They may not remember it. They may not be faithful. Yet I am going to be faithful. And here's what God is saying. I'm going to judge them. But not as partially. As they deserve. That's what it means when it says, and he repented according to the multitude of his mercies. In other words, he didn't finish them all.

[John Weaver] He allowed them to live. Now, I want you to hold right there, but turn right back to Psalm 103. And I want to ask you a question. My question is this, can you agree with this verse of Scripture? Is this verse of Scripture true in your life? Watch Psalm 103, beginning there with verse 9. Look what the Bible says. He, God, will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. Here's the statement.

[John Weaver] He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Aren't you thankful that God has not given you what you deserve? See what I'm saying? And that's what he did over here. He remembered for them his covenant. That's love. He could have destroyed them, but he didn't. And then if you look in verse 46. He made them also the pittance of all those that carried them captives. Here's the next evidence of love. That is, God gave them pity in the eyes of their captors. so that their captors would not deal harshly with them.

[John Weaver] You know, there is a scripture that goes like this. In wrath, remember mercy. And that's exactly what God does even when He loathes His people in His wrath against them. He remembers mercy. So love and loathing may be in the same person at the same time. Because although God loathed his people, he loved them as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me clear up one other question before I make some applications. Does not loathing constitute a change in God? And the answer is no, of course not. When we say that God is immutable, we mean that God is unchangeable. There's nothing that changes the essence of God. Malachi 3.6, he said, I, the Lord, change not. God is immutable. Now, when the Bible says that God loathes his people, that is not a change in God's essence. That is not a change in God's being. That is not a change in God's character. All that means is that God is now dealing differently with the people. God is administering another aspect of the covenant. That is, instead of administering blessing, He's now administering curses. The change is not in God. The change is in the people. The people changed from obedience to disobedience.

[John Weaver] And therefore, God refused to bless them but rather curse them and was angry with them because of their sin. You see, God is just as free to exercise his wrath as he is his mercy. He's just as free to demonstrate his loathing as he is his loving. So there's no change in God. The change was in the people. All God was doing was functioning according to the covenant.

[John Weaver] Now look at verses 47, verse 48. Save us, O Lord, our God is the final prayer. And gather us from among the heathen to give thanks unto thy holy name and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say Amen. Praise ye the Lord. Now, notice he said, Save us, O Lord, our God, and gather us from among the heathen.

[John Weaver] You know, I could ask a simple question. What did the psalmist mean? When he said, save us. Now, if you think the psalmist means save us from affliction, save us from persecution, save us from oppression, save us from our enemies, then I would say you were wrong. What good would it do for God to save us from our oppression and our persecution if there was no repentance in our lives?

[John Weaver] It would be just a matter of time before we were right back in it again. When the psalmist said, save us, he means literally this, save us from our sins. Because it is sin that brings all the oppression and the persecution and the trouble. You remember what the Bible says in Matthew 1 in verse 21? Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

[John Weaver] Salvation is not primarily salvation from judgment. It is not primarily salvation from punishment. It is salvation from sin, which brings on punishment and judgment. So the psalmist said, save us, oh Lord our God, save us from our sins.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. This is horrible. When a Christian sins. When a Christian rebels and disobeys, He is revealing and evidencing the fact that he values his sin and his lust and his wickedness more than God's fellowship, approval, and blessing. You talk about an insult to a holy God. When a Christian sins, what he is saying is essentially this, God, you are insufficient. You are not the all-sufficient God that you proclaim in the Bible. You are insufficient to satisfy me. Lord, I must have this sin, this fornication, or this covetousness, or this... I must have something beside you. What an affront to God.

[John Weaver] I hope you're beginning to see how God can loathe us when we act like that.

[John Weaver] Because when we sin, we're saying we prefer our sin more than the approval, blessing, and fellowship of God. If you understand what I've taught today, it should be an incentive to live a holy, godly, obedient life. Do you realize it requires holiness to satisfy a holy God? That's why He wrote, Be ye holy as I am holy. Set the Lord. So if we really want to give God praise, if we really want to glorify God, if we really want God's blessing and approval, then we'll live a holy life in obedience to His Word, for God is holy. Before I give you this last one, I want you to turn in your Bibles. The Hosea chapter five. Because I want you to see one verse. Hosea chapter five. Hosea chapter five, get ready. Here's the application.

[John Weaver] To not have a biblical attitude and corresponding biblical actions is to provoke God to loathing. Let me say that again. When you and I do not have a biblical attitude with corresponding biblical actions, we are provoking God unto loathing. Read your Bibles. Go back over these passages, get a concordance, look up the word provocation or provoke. Over and over, the Bible said in Israel, provoke God. So when you and I do that which is wrong, when we do that which is unbiblical and ungodly, we're provoking God to loathe Him.

[John Weaver] Now, I made a statement earlier. I said, there's some folks I just don't want to be around, even though they are Christians. I love them. But I don't want to be around them. Because I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their actions. They're unbiblical. They're unscriptural. If I can believe that and act like that, do you not think that God, who is far more holy than each of us, would do the same?

[John Weaver] Now, remember, I said when we fail to act biblically and have a biblical attitude, we're provoking God into loathing. Look in Hosea five and verse six. Look what God says. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord. They're going to worship and sacrifice, but they shall not find him. For he has withdrawn himself from them. Why? They have dealt treacherously against the Lord.

[John Weaver] I got news for you folks. There are times when God doesn't want to be around folks either. Because of their attitudes and their actions. And we provoke Him to love them. What an awesome and horrible thought that we can be loathed by the God who loves us. Let's pray. Father, we ask you in the name of Jesus Christ to speak to our hearts. Help us, Lord, determine to be holy, determine to do what is right, to determine to be obedient, and to bring our lives into conformity to your Word. May we, Father, be the saints of God that others always want to be around and that Thou dost want to be around. Help us, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 16 of 16

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	117091522516
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2000-09-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 053: The Hallelujah of Confession — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	83

Formatted Transcript

Opening

All right, let's open our Bibles today to Psalm 106. Lord willing, today we're going to finish this psalm. Psalm 106, and let's begin reading there with verse 40, and we'll read through verse 48. Psalm 106, verse 40,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 106:40-48

"Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity."

"Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting." "Let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord."

Introduction and Review of Psalm 106:34-39

Weaver reviews the previous lesson on sins committed after the Canaan conquest, emphasizing that disobedience in one area led to many other sins.

Now, we looked last week in lesson number 15, in verses 34 through verse 39, and I pointed out the fact that as the psalmist is confessing the sins contained therein, the big difference is the sins in verses 34-39 are the sins that were committed after the Canaan conquest. All those previous sins had been committed before they entered into the land, beginning with verse 7 and going down through verse 33. But now these sins have been committed after they entered into the land. And of course, I pointed out how important obedience is, for verse 34 says they did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them. In other words, because they disobeyed in this one area, all of these other sins followed. They mingled themselves with the heathen. They learned their works. They served their idols. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters. And I explain all of that, I hope sufficiently. So today we come to verse 40 and the Bible in regard to their sin says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance."

The Effect of Sin on God's External Glory

Weaver distinguishes between God's intrinsic, unchangeable holiness and His external glory, which can be affected by human sin or praise, using Psalm 16:2-3 and Psalm 50:23.

And that is this: how do our sins affect God, the sovereign judge of heaven and earth? Now, most of the time we don't think about that principle. Now, let me tell you, and by way of introduction and try to explain something to you, I'm going to make a statement, then I'm going to explain how. It is true that our sins do indeed have an effect upon God.

Now, let me begin by saying there is a difference between God's intrinsic and essential glory and God's external and outward glory. When you talk about God's intrinsic and essential glory, there is absolutely nothing that can change that or have an effect upon that or be added to or taken from that, because God is absolutely perfect. Now I want you to hold Psalm 106, but turn in your Bibles to Psalm 16 and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 16 in verse 1, and by the way, this psalm is a messianic psalm, that is, it speaks of Jesus Christ. In fact, verse 10 shows you that. He says, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption." This verse is applied directly to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. So in verse 1 of Psalm 16, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord."

Now look what the Messiah says.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"My goodness extendeth not to thee."

Now let me make a statement. As perfect and as holy and as obedient as Jesus Christ was, his perfection, his obedience, his holiness added nothing to the essence of God. What do you say? Who did they add to? Well, verse 3 explains it. Verse 2, he says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"My goodness extendeth not to thee,"

that is not to God,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight."

So his holiness and obedience does indeed extend to us. But even the perfection of Christ added nothing to the essence and intrinsic holiness of God, because God is perfect in and of himself. Now, while God does have an intrinsic and essential holiness which cannot be added to nor taken from, at the same time, God also has an external holiness that can be affected by man, by our obedience or by our disobedience. For instance, if you look in Psalm 50 and verse 23, look what the Bible says. Psalm 50 and verse 23. The Word of God says very plainly, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me."

Well, what do we do? We praise God. What are we doing? We're glorifying God. We're honoring God. Are we adding to God's essential or intrinsic holiness by praising Him? No. But we are declaring that God is God and we are worshiping His external holiness. Look in your Bibles to Romans 15 and verse 6. You'll see another passage. Romans 15 and verse 6. And here the Word of God says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Note, if you would please, "that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God." It is possible that our actions will have an effect upon God's external holiness. Not his essential holiness, not his intrinsic holiness, but his external holiness.

So let me put it to you very bluntly. It is true that our obedience and our praise has an effect upon God's external holiness, and equally true, our sins and our rebellion can have an effect upon God's external holiness. As we can obey God and praise God, likewise, we can also abhor God and be a disgrace to His external holiness. I want you to look in your Bibles to Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Look, if you would, please, at what the Word of God says.

God's Loathing of His People in Psalm 106:40

The sermon expounds the meaning of 'abhorred' as loathing, and establishes that God can love and loathe His people at the same time, supported by multiple Old Testament texts.

For instance, look in your Bibles to Psalm 106 and verse 40. If this has not been duly impressed upon you, I want to do so at this time. Psalm 106 and verse 40, the Bible says in light of all of their sins, in light of all their rebellion, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance." Now the word "abhorred" is a very strong word. Sometimes it is translated "refused," sometimes "rejected," sometimes "cast off," "cast away," "contend." It means literally to treat as foul and stinking, or to loathe. Literally, what he says in verse 40, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he loathed his own inheritance." He treated them as foul. I'm going to answer this question for you biblically a little bit later, but let me just throw something out to you. Is it possible to love and to loathe at the same time? And the answer is yes.

Probably all of us in here have family members. I'm not necessarily talking about your immediate family. Sometimes it is your immediate family, but all of us have family members in here that we love by virtue of the fact that they are our family. But at the same time, we don't want to be around them. We don't like them. We loathe them. In fact, I was talking to a pastor friend of mine yesterday, and I said, "Let me throw something out at you."

And I quoted this verse. I said, "Is it possible to love and to loathe someone at the same time?" He said, "Yes. My two brothers, for example." What did he mean? He loved them because they were his brothers, but he loathed them because they were wicked and ungodly and everything that they did was contrary to Scripture and contrary to the Lord. So it is possible to love and to loathe at the same time. Now watch this. Let's get a little more specific. Verse 40. He says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance." He loathed his own inheritance. Has this thought hit you yet? There are times that we don't want to be around people because we dislike them. We loathe them. And it's equally true that sometimes God doesn't want to be around His own people because He loathes them.

Now, if Psalm 106 and verse 40 was an isolated text, if there was no other text in Scripture, this one text would still be sufficient, because it is exceedingly clear. The Bible says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance." Now, one may not like the text, one may not like the thought, one may not like the truth, but the truth is so clear and plain it cannot be misunderstood. There are times that God loathes his own people. But the truth is, this is not an isolated text. There are other texts that teach exactly the same thing. For instance, look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, we'll come back to these passages a little bit later. Psalm 78, and look, if you would please, at verse 59. Psalm 78 verse 59. The Bible says, "When God heard this, he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel." There's that word "abhorred" and "greatly abhorred Israel." Look in your Bibles to Psalm 89 and verse 38.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 78:59

Psalm 89 verse 38. And of course, in the context is dealing with his own people. He says, "But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed." Isn't that amazing? "But thou hast cast off and abhorred," that is loathed, "thou hast been wroth" or angry "with thine anointed," that is with God's people. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32, and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Deuteronomy 32 verse 18. The Word of God says, "Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." In other words, his sons and his daughters were provoking God and therefore God abhorred or loathed them. Look in your Bibles to the book of Amos chapter 6. Amos chapter 6. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Look, if you would please, at verse 8.

You talk about a passage that cannot be misunderstood. Here it is. "The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." What is God saying? I love my own people. I'm going to punish them. Then if you will turn back to the book of Lamentations right after Jeremiah, Lamentations chapter 2. And look at verse 7, Lamentations 2 and verse 7. Let me show you how God responds to sin. Lamentations 2, verse 7, "The Lord hath cast off his altar.

He hath abhorred his sanctuary. He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast." In other words, the people had sinned so against God, God even hated his own temple, his own sanctuary. Now, folks, I don't know about you, but when I was looking at Psalm 106 in verse 40, I thought, what an awesome and yet horrible thought, that we can be loved by God and yet loathed by God at the same time.

How Sin Provokes God to Loathing

Weaver catalogs the specific sins confessed in Psalm 106 (ignorance, ingratitude, idolatry, etc.) and shows from Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 78, and Amos 6 that persistent sin turns love into loathing.

That is disobedience and rebellion. But specifically, if you will look at Psalm 106 with me and remember, please, this is the 16th message I preached on this passage. Let's go back to verse 7. Here is where the psalmist begins to specify sins and confess them specifically. Verse 7, he says, "Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt." That's ignorance. Ignorance. "They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies." That's ingratitude, "but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea." So there's ignorance and ingratitude. Skip down to verse 13.

"They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel." Their forgetfulness and impatience. Verse 16. "They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord." Envy and insurrection. Look in verse 19. "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image." Idolatry and insolence. Skip down to verse 24. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word." There's despisement and disbelief. Look in verse 28.

"They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead." There's where they worship foreign gods. Verse 32. "They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips." Once again, here's where the sins of the people so affected Moses and Aaron that Moses and Aaron sinned. And then verses 34 through verse 39 shows all these other sins that they did. And what is God saying? In light of all of these sins, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he loathed his own inheritance." So these sins that I've preached on for the last 15 weeks individually and collectively are enough to make God loathe an individual or a nation. I want you to notice the context of Deuteronomy 32. If you go to Deuteronomy 32.

Because I took three main passages just to show you that they are teaching exactly the same thing this Psalm 106 is teaching. Look, if you would please, at verse 15 in Deuteronomy 32, "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked." That is, he grew fat and sassy and rebelled, is what it amounts to. "Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." Didn't think much of God. "They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, he loathed them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." Once again, it's specific sins of forgetting God, of lightly esteeming God, engaging in idolatry, that produces loathing on God's part. Look, if you would please, in Psalm 78. Psalm 78. Note, if you would please, the same truth is given to us. Look in verse 8. Psalm 78, verse 8, "...and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God." Verse 10. "They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law." Verse 11. "And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them." Verse 19. "Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Skip down to verse 35. "And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer." Verse 42 is what I wanted. "They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy." Skip down to verse 56. "Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow." Verse 59, "When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel."

Note the specific sins that turn love into loathing. Look, if you would please, to Amos chapter 6. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1, what God says. Amos 6 verse 1. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!" So God says woe to those who are at ease, and they're trusting in Samaria. That is, they're trusting in government, not God. He says in verse 4, "That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall." That is, they're rolling in prosperity.

"That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." In other words, they don't care anything about anyone but themselves. Therefore, God says in verse 8, "The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." In each instance. And each one of these texts, the people were constantly and continually sinning against God. So much so, that although they were God's people, God loathed them. Here's my next question. How does one know whether or not he is loathed by God? How does one know that God doesn't want to be around him? It's an interesting question. Sometimes some of us are so cantankerous, we don't even want to be around ourselves.

Evidences of Being Loathed by God

From Psalm 106:41-43, Weaver identifies four signs: subjugation to enemies, oppression, refusal to receive correction, and following one's own counsel instead of God's.

Well, let me ask you another way. How can we tell when a nation is loathed by God? Well, go back to Psalm 106 and let's look at the scripture. Psalm 106 verse 40 says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance." And here's how we know whether or not God loathes individuals and their nations. Verse 41. "And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them." In other words, the person or the nation is basically subdued, subjugated, captivated by their enemy.

Now you put two and two together concerning our nation. You say, "Brother Weaver, Red China hasn't overrun us." No, Red China hasn't, but a whole lot of other enemies have. And they're in control in the government. That's why we're not a constitutional republic any longer. But now they now call us a democracy. But that's not all. Skip down to verse 42, "And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand." That is, here's the second evidence. Oppression. Persecution. Affliction. By the enemies. You say, "Wait a minute, Brother Weaver, we're not persecuted. We're not afflicted. We're not oppressed." Oh, do you realize there are more types of oppression than just physical? And there are plenty of people who are being physically oppressed. Look at the Christians who are now being charged with paper crimes, which are no crime at all.

And the government wants them to do 15 and 20 and 30 years in prison. And they haven't done a thing wrong. What about economically? Oppressed? Yes, we're economically oppressed. You say, "Brother Weaver, we've got more money than we've ever had before." But it is worth less than it's ever been worth before. It requires more money because the value of our money continues to go down, down, down, down. When Alice and I got married, I used to give her ten bucks a week to buy groceries with. That included meat.

And I would fuss if she didn't bring three or four of it back. We bought a week's worth of groceries on six and seven bucks. You can't even buy a week's worth of groceries for 100 bucks today. Yes, oppression economically, mentally. You say, "Brother Weaver, we're not mentally oppressed." Have you ever heard of political correctness? I tell you what, you just make a statement that is not politically correct. Notice what happened to John Rocker. Everybody's going to want you to go to sensitivity training. That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, and everything that John Rocker said was true. He just said it the wrong place. And he happened to be where pressure could be brought against him. Look in verse 43, here's another evidence. "Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity."

Now, wait a minute, you say, "Brother Weaver, I can understand subjugation, being subdued. I can understand oppression and persecution and affliction. But I don't understand this verse. 'Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.'" All right, let me explain this verse for you. Here's the third evidence that you can tell an individual is loathed by God or a nation loathed by God. Spell it out for you. They refuse to listen. They refuse to learn. They refuse to receive reproof, correction, and instruction. They do their own thing, and God has to knock them down over and over and over and over. That's what he says. Watch it. "Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel." They didn't want God's way. They wanted their way. They didn't want God's word. They wanted their word.

"And were brought low for their iniquity." Look in your Bibles, if you would please. Hold Psalm 106, but turn over to Jeremiah chapter 5 and look at verse 3. Jeremiah 5 and verse 3. Jeremiah 5, verse 3. Look what Jeremiah had to complain about. And we can just about voice the same complaint today. Jeremiah 5 verse 3, "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?" Now look what he says.

"Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return." What's he saying? God, you beat the devil out of them and they're still rebelling. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And notice, if you would please, verse 5. Isaiah 1, verse 5. Look at the question that is asked. "Why should ye be stricken any more?

Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." In other words, correction doesn't do any good. You won't listen. You won't learn. And then Hosea chapter 6 and verse 4. Hosea 6 verse 4. Look what God says. Here's the average professing Christian. Hosea 6 in verse 4, "O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?

For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away." In other words, you're not going to be obedient for long. You won't listen. You won't learn. So God says, then, when an individual or a nation refuses to receive correction and instruction, it's evidence that that nation, or that individual, is loathed by God. And you could say number four is found in verse 43 as well, and that is just simply following one's own counsel instead of God's counsel. Some of you can quote Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Some of you may not, but let me quote it for you. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The individual that is loathed by God trusts to his own understanding. He listens to his own counsel. He refuses the Word of God.

God's Love Evident Even in Loathing

Despite loathing, God's love is shown in His regard for affliction, remembrance of His covenant, repentance according to mercy, and granting pity from captors (Psalm 106:44-46).

Now, how do we know? How do we know that God loves us still, even when he loathes us? Well, here's one of the answers. "Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry." In other words, God was concerned about our suffering just like he is concerned about his suffering, just like he was concerned about the suffering of the saints in the Old Testament. And he heard their cries, now listen, even when they were suffering for their own sin and rebellion. Let me ask you a question as a parent. Have there been times that your children have done things that were just so horrible and so awful and you were so incensed that when you whipped them, you whipped them well. And yet, when they were weeping and crying, you still felt sorry for them. That's what God did. He whipped them well. But when they got to crying out because of their affliction, God heard them. And God considered. That's not all. Look at verse 45.

Here's another evidence of love. "And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies." He remembered for them his covenant. Now, let me ask you a question, why did Israel get in the place that she was in here? Because she didn't remember the covenant. She didn't obey the covenant. But the Bible says God remembered for them his covenant. So what God is saying is this. They may not remember it. They may not be faithful. Yet I am going to be faithful. And here's what God is saying. I'm going to judge them. But not as partially as they deserve. That's what it means when it says, "and he repented according to the multitude of his mercies." In other words, he didn't finish them all.

He allowed them to live. Now, I want you to hold right there, but turn right back to Psalm 103. And I want to ask you a question. My question is this, can you agree with this verse of Scripture? Is this verse of Scripture true in your life? Watch Psalm 103, beginning there with verse 9. Look what the Bible says. "He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever." Here's the statement.

"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Aren't you thankful that God has not given you what you deserve? See what I'm saying? And that's what he did over here. He remembered for them his covenant. That's love. He could have destroyed them, but he didn't. And then if you look in verse 46. "He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives." Here's the next evidence of love. That is, God gave them pity in the eyes of their captors, so that their captors would not deal harshly with them.

You know, there is a scripture that goes like this. "In wrath remember mercy." And that's exactly what God does even when He loathes His people in His wrath against them. He remembers mercy. So love and loathing may be in the same person at the same time. Because although God loathed his people, he loved them as well.

Loathing Does Not Change God's Essence

Weaver clarifies that God's immutability is not compromised; the change is in the people, and God administers covenant curses instead of blessings.

Now, let me clear up one other question before I make some applications. Does not loathing constitute a change in God? And the answer is no, of course not. When we say that God is immutable, we mean that God is unchangeable. There's nothing that changes the essence of God. Malachi 3:6, he said, "I am the Lord, I change not." God is immutable. Now, when the Bible says that God loathes his people, that is not a change in God's essence. That is not a change in God's being. That is not a change in God's character. All that means is that God is now dealing differently with the people. God is administering another aspect of the covenant. That is, instead of administering blessing, He's now administering curses. The change is not in God. The change is in the people. The people changed from obedience to disobedience.

And therefore, God refused to bless them but rather curse them and was angry with them because of their sin. You see, God is just as free to exercise his wrath as he is his mercy. He's just as free to demonstrate his loathing as he is his loving. So there's no change in God. The change was in the people. All God was doing was functioning according to the covenant.

Now look at verses 47, verse 48. "Save us, O Lord our God," is the final prayer. "And gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord." Now, notice he said, "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen."

The Final Prayer for Salvation from Sin

The psalmist's cry 'Save us' is interpreted as a plea for salvation from sin itself, not merely from affliction, because sin is the root cause of judgment.

You know, I could ask a simple question. What did the psalmist mean when he said, "Save us"? Now, if you think the psalmist means save us from affliction, save us from persecution, save us from oppression, save us from our enemies, then I would say you were wrong. What good would it do for God to save us from our oppression and our persecution if there was no repentance in our lives? It would be just a matter of time before we were right back in it again. When the psalmist said, "Save us," he means literally this, save us from our sins. Because it is sin that brings all the oppression and the persecution and the trouble. You remember what the Bible says in Matthew 1 and verse 21? "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Salvation is not primarily salvation from judgment. It is not primarily salvation from punishment. It is salvation from sin, which brings on punishment and judgment. So the psalmist said, "Save us, O Lord our God, save us from our sins."

Applications: The Insult of Sin and Call to Holiness

Weaver applies the message by stating that sin values lust over God's fellowship, and that unholy attitudes provoke God to loathing; believers are urged to live holy, obedient lives.

Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. This is horrible. When a Christian sins, when a Christian rebels and disobeys, he is revealing and evidencing the fact that he values his sin and his lust and his wickedness more than God's fellowship, approval, and blessing. You talk about an insult to a holy God. When a Christian sins, what he is saying is essentially this, "God, you are insufficient. You are not the all-sufficient God that you proclaim in the Bible. You are insufficient to satisfy me. Lord, I must have this sin, this fornication, or this covetousness, or this... I must have something beside you." What an affront to God.

I hope you're beginning to see how God can loathe us when we act like that.

Because when we sin, we're saying we prefer our sin more than the approval, blessing, and fellowship of God. If you understand what I've taught today, it should be an incentive to live a holy, godly, obedient life. Do you realize it requires holiness to satisfy a holy God? That's why He wrote, "Be ye holy; for I am holy, saith the Lord." So if we really want to give God praise, if we really want to glorify God, if we really want God's blessing and approval, then we'll live a holy life in obedience to His Word, for God is holy. Before I give you this last one, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 5. Because I want you to see one verse. Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5, get ready. Here's the application.

To not have a biblical attitude and corresponding biblical actions is to provoke God to loathing. Let me say that again. When you and I do not have a biblical attitude with corresponding biblical actions, we are provoking God unto loathing. Read your Bibles. Go back over these passages, get a concordance, look up the word "provocation" or "provoke." Over and over, the Bible said Israel provoked God. So when you and I do that which is wrong, when we do that which is unbiblical and ungodly, we're provoking God to loathe us.

Now, I made a statement earlier. I said, there's some folks I just don't want to be around, even though they are Christians. I love them. But I don't want to be around them. Because I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their actions. They're unbiblical. They're unscriptural. If I can believe that and act like that, do you not think that God, who is far more holy than each of us, would do the same?

Now, remember, I said when we fail to act biblically and have a biblical attitude, we're provoking God into loathing. Look in Hosea 5 and verse 6. Look what God says. "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them." Why? "They have dealt treacherously against the Lord." I got news for you folks. There are times when God doesn't want to be around folks either. Because of their attitudes and their actions. And we provoke Him to loathe us. What an awesome and horrible thought that we can be loathed by the God who loves us. Let's pray. Father, we ask you in the name of Jesus Christ to speak to our hearts. Help us, Lord, determine to be holy, determine to do what is right, to determine to be obedient, and to bring our lives into conformity to your Word. May we, Father, be the saints of God that others always want to be around and that Thou dost want to be around. Help us, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Dual Reality of God's Love and Loathing

Summary: God can simultaneously love His people with an unchanging covenantal love and loathe them because of their persistent, unrepentant sin.

Evidence: Psalm 106:40 says God 'abhorred his own inheritance,' yet verses 44-46 show His regard, covenant remembrance, and mercy. Weaver illustrates with family relationships where love and dislike coexist.

The Effect of Human Sin on God's External Glory

Summary: While God's essential holiness is immutable, human sin can disgrace and affect God's external glory, just as obedience and praise can glorify Him.

Evidence: Psalm 16:2-3 shows that even Christ's goodness did not add to God's essence but to the saints; Psalm 50:23 says praise glorifies God; Isaiah 43:24 says 'thou hast made me to serve with thy sins.'

Specific Sins That Provoke God to Loathing

Summary: The sermon catalogs sins from Psalm 106 (ignorance, ingratitude, idolatry, etc.) and other passages, showing that persistent rebellion turns God's disposition toward His people into loathing.

Evidence: Psalm 106:7-39 lists sins; Deuteronomy 32:15-19 links forsaking God to His abhorrence; Amos 6:1-8 connects ease and self-indulgence to God's abhorrence.

Evidences of Divine Loathing in a Person or Nation

Summary: Weaver identifies four signs from Psalm 106:41-43: subjugation to enemies, oppression, refusal to receive correction, and following one's own counsel.

Evidence: Psalm 106:41-43 describes being given into enemies' hands, oppression, repeated deliverance followed by provocation, and being brought low. Weaver applies this to contemporary economic, mental, and political oppression.

God's Mercy and Faithfulness Despite Loathing

Summary: Even when God loathes His people, He still regards their affliction, remembers His covenant, repents according to mercy, and grants them pity from captors.

Evidence: Psalm 106:44-46; Psalm 103:9-10 says He has not dealt with us after our sins; the principle 'in wrath remember mercy' is highlighted.

The Insult of Sin and the Call to Holiness

Summary: Sin is an affront to God because it declares His insufficiency; believers must pursue holiness to avoid provoking God's loathing and to enjoy His fellowship.

Evidence: Weaver states that sin values lust over God's approval; Hosea 5:6 warns that God withdraws from those who deal treacherously; 1 Peter 1:16 calls for holiness.

Key Arguments

Sin affects God's external glory, not His essence.

Summary: Weaver argues that while God's intrinsic holiness is unchangeable, human actions can either glorify or disgrace His external glory, as seen in Psalm 16:2-3 and Isaiah 43:24.

Evidence: Psalm 16:2-3: 'My goodness extendeth not to thee... but to the saints'; Isaiah 43:24: 'thou hast made me to serve with thy sins.'

God can love and loathe His people simultaneously.

Summary: Using Psalm 106:40 and other texts, Weaver contends that God's unchanging love does not preclude His loathing of sinful behavior, analogous to human family relationships.

Evidence: Psalm 106:40: 'he abhorred his own inheritance'; Psalm 78:59: 'greatly abhorred Israel'; personal illustration of loving but disliking family members.

Persistent, specific sins provoke God to loathing.

Summary: The sermon demonstrates from Psalm 106 and parallel passages that sins like idolatry, ingratitude, and self-indulgence lead God to abhor His people.

Evidence: Deuteronomy 32:15-19: forsaking God leads to abhorrence; Amos 6:1-8: ease and self-indulgence provoke God to abhor Israel.

Divine loathing is evidenced by subjugation, oppression, and stubbornness.

Summary: Weaver interprets Psalm 106:41-43 as indicators that God has given a people over to enemies and that they refuse correction, applying this to modern nations.

Evidence: Psalm 106:41-43; Jeremiah 5:3: 'they have refused to receive correction'; Isaiah 1:5: 'why should ye be stricken any more?'

God's loathing does not negate His love or covenant faithfulness.

Summary: Despite loathing, God still hears cries, remembers His covenant, and shows mercy, as seen in Psalm 106:44-46 and Psalm 103:9-10.

Evidence: Psalm 106:44-46; Psalm 103:9-10: 'He hath not dealt with us after our sins.'

Loathing reflects a change in the people, not in God's essence.

Summary: Weaver clarifies that God's immutability remains intact; the change is in human obedience, and God administers covenant curses instead of blessings.

Evidence: Malachi 3:6: 'I am the Lord, I change not'; explanation that God exercises wrath or mercy based on human response.

Salvation is primarily from sin, not just from affliction.

Summary: The psalmist's prayer 'Save us' is interpreted as a plea for deliverance from sin itself, because sin is the root cause of judgment and oppression.

Evidence: Matthew 1:21: 'he shall save his people from their sins'; argument that removing affliction without repentance would be temporary.

Sin is an insult to God that provokes His loathing.

Summary: Weaver argues that sin declares God insufficient and values lust over His fellowship, making holy living essential to avoid provoking God.

Evidence: Hosea 5:6: 'he hath withdrawn himself from them'; statement that sin prefers lust over God's approval.

Scripture References

Psalm 106:40-48

Context: The primary text of the sermon, describing God's wrath and loathing, followed by His mercy and the final prayer for salvation.

Psalm 106:34-39

Context: Reviewed as the previous lesson's focus on post-conquest sins that led to God's loathing.

Romans 14:7

Context: Cited to emphasize that no one sins in isolation; our sins affect others.

Psalm 16:1-3

Context: Used to show that even Christ's goodness did not add to God's essential glory but to the saints, illustrating the distinction between intrinsic and external glory.

Psalm 50:23

Context: Quoted to prove that praise glorifies God's external holiness.

Romans 15:6

Context: Cited to show that believers can glorify God with one mind and mouth.

Isaiah 49:6-7

Context: Messianic passage showing that man can despise and abhor God, affecting His external glory.

Isaiah 43:24

Context: Key text: 'thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,' demonstrating that covenantal sin affects God.

1 Corinthians 6:13-17

Context: Explains that believers are one spirit with the Lord, so fornication joins Christ to a harlot, illustrating covenantal union.

Psalm 78:59

Context: Shows God 'greatly abhorred Israel' as a parallel to Psalm 106:40.

Psalm 89:38

Context: States God has 'cast off and abhorred' His anointed, reinforcing the theme.

Deuteronomy 32:15-19

Context: Describes Israel's forsaking of God leading to His abhorrence.

Amos 6:1-8

Context: God abhors the excellency of Jacob because of their ease and self-indulgence.

Lamentations 2:7

Context: God abhorred His own sanctuary due to the people's sin.

Habakkuk 1:13

Context: God is of purer eyes than to behold evil approvingly, underscoring His holiness.

Jeremiah 5:3

Context: Illustrates refusal to receive correction as evidence of being loathed.

Isaiah 1:5

Context: Questions why further striking is needed when people revolt more, showing stubbornness.

Hosea 6:4

Context: God laments that Israel's goodness is fleeting, like a morning cloud.

Psalm 103:9-10

Context: God has not dealt with us according to our sins, showing mercy even in loathing.

Hosea 5:6

Context: God withdraws from those who deal treacherously, used as a warning application.

Historical References

Canaan conquest and post-conquest sins of Israel

Context: Weaver distinguishes sins before entering Canaan (Psalm 106:7-33) from those after (verses 34-39), which included failure to destroy nations, intermarriage, and idolatry.

John Rocker controversy

Context: Used as a modern example of mental oppression through political correctness and sensitivity training.

Important Quotes

Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

Significance: The central verse of the sermon, establishing that God can loathe His own people because of their sin.

Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

Significance: Key proof text that covenantal sin affects God, making Him serve with the people's sins.

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

Significance: Illustrates the covenantal union with Christ, so that sin involves Christ in the act.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.

Significance: Highlights God's absolute holiness and inability to condone sin, supporting the argument that sin provokes His loathing.

Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry.

Significance: Shows that even when God loathes His people, His love remains as He hears their cries in affliction.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Significance: Emphasizes God's mercy in not giving His people what they deserve, even when they are loathed.

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

Significance: Final warning that persistent sin can lead to God withdrawing His presence, provoking loathing.

Discussion Questions

How does the distinction between God's intrinsic and external glory help us understand that our sins affect God?

Context: Weaver explains that while God's essential holiness cannot change, our actions can either glorify or disgrace His external glory.

In what ways can a Christian simultaneously be loved and loathed by God, and how should this reality influence our daily conduct?

Context: The sermon argues that God's unchanging love does not prevent Him from loathing sinful behavior, using Psalm 106:40 and family analogies.

What specific sins in Psalm 106 and the parallel passages most provoke God to loathing, and are any of these present in our lives or churches today?

Context: Weaver catalogs sins like ingratitude, idolatry, and self-indulgence from Psalm 106, Deuteronomy 32, and Amos 6.

How can we discern whether an individual or a nation is experiencing God's loathing, based on the evidences in Psalm 106:41-43?

Context: The four signs are subjugation, oppression, refusal to learn, and following one's own counsel; Weaver applies these to contemporary society.

How does God's remembrance of His covenant and His mercy operate even when He is loathing His people?

Context: Psalm 106:44-46 shows God regarding affliction, remembering the covenant, and granting pity; Psalm 103:9-10 reinforces His mercy.

Why is salvation primarily from sin rather than from affliction, and how does this shape our prayers for deliverance?

Context: Weaver interprets 'Save us' in Psalm 106:47 as a plea for salvation from sin, citing Matthew 1:21.

What does it mean to 'provoke God to loathing' through unbiblical attitudes and actions, and how can we avoid this in our personal and church life?

Context: The application warns that sin values lust over God's fellowship and that unholy living provokes God, referencing Hosea 5:6.

Applications

Recognize the seriousness of sin as an insult to God.

Summary: Weaver urges believers to see that sin declares God insufficient and values lust over His fellowship, approval, and blessing.

Evidence: Statement: 'When a Christian sins, what he is saying is essentially this, God, you are insufficient... I must have something beside you.'

Pursue holiness to avoid provoking God's loathing.

Summary: Because God is holy, believers must live holy, obedient lives to satisfy Him and not provoke His loathing.

Evidence: Reference to 1 Peter 1:16: 'Be ye holy; for I am holy'; statement that unholy attitudes provoke God to loathing.

Examine attitudes and actions that may cause God to withdraw.

Summary: Weaver warns that God may withdraw from those who deal treacherously, as in Hosea 5:6, and calls for self-examination.

Evidence: Hosea 5:6: 'he hath withdrawn himself from them'; application that God doesn't want to be around cantankerous, divisive believers.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:07:59Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T04:08:03Z

Clean Transcript

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 16 of 16

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

All right, let's open our Bibles today to Psalm 106. Lord willing, today we're going to finish this psalm. Psalm 106, and let's begin reading there with verse 40, and we'll read through verse 48. Psalm 106, verse 40, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity."
#1 | 0:01 to 0:44 | cleaned
"Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting."
#2 | 0:45 to 1:09 | cleaned
"Let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord."
#3 | 1:10 to 1:14 | cleaned
Now, we looked last week in lesson number 15, in verses 34 through verse 39, and I pointed out the fact that as the psalmist is confessing the sins contained therein, the big difference is the sins in verses 34-39 are the sins that were committed after the Canaan conquest. All those previous sins had been committed before they entered into the land, beginning with verse 7 and going down through verse 33. But now these sins have been committed after they entered into the land. And of course, I pointed out how important obedience is, for verse 34 says they did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them. In other words, because they disobeyed in this one area, all of these other sins followed.
#4 | 1:15 to 2:07 | cleaned
They mingled themselves with the heathen. They learned their works. They served their idols. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters. And I explain all of that, I hope sufficiently. So today we come to verse 40 and the Bible in regard to their sin says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance."
#5 | 2:07 to 2:31 | cleaned
Now, when I dealt with the sins of Moses and Aaron in verses 32 and 33, I emphasized Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. Now Romans 14 verse 7 simply says this, "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." And now what I meant by that and what the Bible means by that is that our sins always affect other people. No one can say, "Well, this is my life.
#6 | 2:31 to 3:02 | cleaned
I'm going to live it the way I want to live it, regardless of what happens." Because whatever we do invariably has an effect upon other individuals. It does not matter if it is our family, our friends, our church, our ministry. It is true that whatever we do affects others. You've heard the proverbial saying of the old drunk who said, "Well, I'm going to get drunk. It's nobody's business but my own," until he gets in the car and kills another family. You see, the truth of the matter is, even if he doesn't kill another family, his sin still affects his wife, still affects his children, still affects a lot of other people as well. Now, as important as the principle of Romans 14:7 is, and it is important, there is still yet another, more important principle that we need to consider in relationship to sin.
#7 | 3:02 to 4:02 | cleaned
And that is this: how do our sins affect God, the sovereign judge of heaven and earth? Now, most of the time we don't think about that principle.
#8 | 4:03 to 4:17 | cleaned
Now, let me tell you, and by way of introduction and try to explain something to you, I'm going to make a statement, then I'm going to explain how. It is true that our sins do indeed have an effect upon God.
#9 | 4:18 to 4:32 | cleaned
Now, let me begin by saying there is a difference between God's intrinsic and essential glory and God's external and outward glory. When you talk about God's intrinsic and essential glory, there is absolutely nothing that can change that or have an effect upon that or be added to or taken from that, because God is absolutely perfect.
#10 | 4:33 to 5:04 | cleaned
Now I want you to hold Psalm 106, but turn in your Bibles to Psalm 16 and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 16 in verse 1, and by the way, this psalm is a messianic psalm, that is, it speaks of Jesus Christ. In fact, verse 10 shows you that. He says, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption." This verse is applied directly to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. So in verse 1 of Psalm 16, the Bible says, "Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord." Now look what the Messiah says. "My goodness extendeth not to thee."
#11 | 5:04 to 5:53 | cleaned
Now let me make a statement. As perfect and as holy and as obedient as Jesus Christ was, his perfection, his obedience, his holiness added nothing to the essence of God. What do you say? Who did they add to? Well, verse 3 explains it. Verse 2, he says, "My goodness extendeth not to thee," that is not to God, "but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight." So his holiness and obedience does indeed extend to us. But even the perfection of Christ added nothing to the essence and intrinsic holiness of God, because God is perfect in and of himself. Now, while God does have an intrinsic and essential holiness which cannot be added to nor taken from, at the same time, God also has an external holiness that can be affected by man, by our obedience or by our disobedience. For instance, if you look in Psalm 50 and verse 23, look what the Bible says. Psalm 50 and verse 23. The Word of God says very plainly, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me."
#12 | 5:53 to 7:25 | cleaned
Well, what do we do? We praise God. What are we doing? We're glorifying God. We're honoring God. Are we adding to God's essential or intrinsic holiness by praising Him? No. But we are declaring that God is God and we are worshiping His external holiness. Look in your Bibles to Romans 15 and verse 6. You'll see another passage. Romans 15 and verse 6. And here the Word of God says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Note, if you would please, "that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God." It is possible that our actions will have an effect upon God's external holiness. Not his essential holiness, not his intrinsic holiness, but his external holiness.
#13 | 7:26 to 8:36 | cleaned
So let me put it to you very bluntly. It is true that our obedience and our praise has an effect upon God's external holiness, and equally true, our sins and our rebellion can have an effect upon God's external holiness. As we can obey God and praise God, likewise, we can also abhor God and be a disgrace to His external holiness. I want you to look in your Bibles to Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Isaiah 49, verses 6 and 7. Look, if you would, please, at what the Word of God says.
#14 | 8:36 to 9:27 | cleaned
And once again, this is a Messianic passage. Isaiah 49, verse 6. Look at what God says. "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel."
#15 | 9:28 to 9:46 | cleaned
Now here's a verse that is quoted in the New Testament applied directly to Jesus Christ. God says, "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." So we're talking about Messiah now. Verse 7. "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee." So note, if you would please, it is possible for man to despise and to abhor God as well.
#16 | 9:46 to 10:33 | cleaned
Now, since you're in Isaiah, I want you to go back to Isaiah 43. Let me show you an extremely soul-searching passage. I want you to see just how our sins do indeed affect God. Look what God tells His people in Isaiah 43 and verse 24. God complains of the people and He says, "Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices."
#17 | 10:33 to 11:07 | cleaned
In other words, you didn't bring what I asked you to bring to me. But look what He says, "But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." Isn't that an amazing statement? "Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins." In other words, when we are in covenantal relationship with God, there is a sense in that what we do, He does.
#18 | 11:07 to 11:40 | cleaned
Now, let me show you that even more plainly. Look in 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6. Here's a passage that is against fornication, OK, showing you how wicked and vile fornication is. But look what he says, and I want you to see the added insult to the act of fornication for a Christian. Look at it, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 13. God says, "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them." Now look what he says. "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." So God did not make our bodies to be a fornicating machine. He made our bodies for him. He says in verse 14, "And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power." Now look carefully. "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid." Perish the thought, don't even let it enter in your mind.
#19 | 11:45 to 13:01 | cleaned
"What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication." Now listen to what he says, we are covenantally joined to the Lord and our Lord says if we commit the act of fornication it is the same as joining the Lord to an harlot because we are one spirit.
#20 | 13:01 to 13:30 | cleaned
That's what it means in Isaiah 43 and verse 24 when God told his people, "Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins." We are in a covenantal bond. And we're one spirit, and what you do does indeed have an effect upon me, says the Lord.
#21 | 13:31 to 13:51 | cleaned
Now, the question is this. What is God's response to such wickedness and such sin? Is he pleased with such attitudes and actions? And the answer very clearly is no. Let me make a statement. And I want you to think about this. It is possible to turn love into loathing. It is possible to turn love into loathing. Do you realize that our rebellion as Christians, our sins as Christians, turns love into loathing? Now, does God love his people? Yes. Does that love ever change? And the answer is no. But does God at times loathe his people? And the answer is yes.
#22 | 13:51 to 15:01 | cleaned
For instance, look in your Bibles to Psalm 106 and verse 40. If this has not been duly impressed upon you, I want to do so at this time. Psalm 106 and verse 40, the Bible says in light of all of their sins, in light of all their rebellion, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance." Now the word "abhorred" is a very strong word.
#23 | 15:02 to 15:32 | cleaned
Sometimes it is translated "refused," sometimes "rejected," sometimes "cast off," "cast away," "contend." It means literally to treat as foul and stinking, or to loathe. Literally, what he says in verse 40, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he loathed his own inheritance." He treated them as foul. I'm going to answer this question for you biblically a little bit later, but let me just throw something out to you. Is it possible to love and to loathe at the same time? And the answer is yes.
#24 | 15:33 to 16:22 | cleaned
Probably all of us in here have family members. I'm not necessarily talking about your immediate family. Sometimes it is your immediate family, but all of us have family members in here that we love by virtue of the fact that they are our family. But at the same time, we don't want to be around them. We don't like them. We loathe them. In fact, I was talking to a pastor friend of mine yesterday, and I said, "Let me throw something out at you."
#25 | 16:27 to 17:05 | cleaned
And I quoted this verse. I said, "Is it possible to love and to loathe someone at the same time?" He said, "Yes. My two brothers, for example." What did he mean? He loved them because they were his brothers, but he loathed them because they were wicked and ungodly and everything that they did was contrary to Scripture and contrary to the Lord. So it is possible to love and to loathe at the same time. Now watch this.
#26 | 17:05 to 17:33 | cleaned
Let's get a little more specific. Verse 40. He says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance." He loathed his own inheritance. Has this thought hit you yet? There are times that we don't want to be around people because we dislike them. We loathe them. And it's equally true that sometimes God doesn't want to be around His own people because He loathes them.
#27 | 17:33 to 18:11 | cleaned
Now, if Psalm 106 and verse 40 was an isolated text, if there was no other text in Scripture, this one text would still be sufficient, because it is exceedingly clear. The Bible says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance." Now, one may not like the text, one may not like the thought, one may not like the truth, but the truth is so clear and plain it cannot be misunderstood. There are times that God loathes his own people. But the truth is, this is not an isolated text. There are other texts that teach exactly the same thing. For instance, look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, we'll come back to these passages a little bit later. Psalm 78, and look, if you would please, at verse 59. Psalm 78 verse 59. The Bible says, "When God heard this, he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel." There's that word "abhorred" and "greatly abhorred Israel." Look in your Bibles to Psalm 89 and verse 38.
#28 | 18:12 to 19:42 | cleaned
Psalm 89 verse 38. And of course, in the context is dealing with his own people. He says, "But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed." Isn't that amazing? "But thou hast cast off and abhorred," that is loathed, "thou hast been wroth" or angry "with thine anointed," that is with God's people. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32, and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Deuteronomy 32 verse 18. The Word of God says, "Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." In other words, his sons and his daughters were provoking God and therefore God abhorred or loathed them. Look in your Bibles to the book of Amos chapter 6. Amos chapter 6. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Look, if you would please, at verse 8.
#29 | 19:42 to 21:08 | cleaned
You talk about a passage that cannot be misunderstood. Here it is. "The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." What is God saying? I love my own people. I'm going to punish them. Then if you will turn back to the book of Lamentations right after Jeremiah, Lamentations chapter 2. And look at verse 7, Lamentations 2 and verse 7. Let me show you how God responds to sin. Lamentations 2, verse 7, "The Lord hath cast off his altar.
#30 | 21:08 to 22:00 | cleaned
He hath abhorred his sanctuary. He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast." In other words, the people had sinned so against God, God even hated his own temple, his own sanctuary.
#31 | 22:02 to 22:24 | cleaned
Now, folks, I don't know about you, but when I was looking at Psalm 106 in verse 40, I thought, what an awesome and yet horrible thought, that we can be loved by God and yet loathed by God at the same time.
#32 | 22:24 to 22:46 | cleaned
Now, I want to reiterate this. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm going to reiterate it again. And I want you to stop and think about this. There are family members that we love. I can think of some right now in my own family. I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their actions. I don't like what they do. I don't even want to be around them. In fact, some of them, I don't even want people to know that they're in my family.
#33 | 22:48 to 23:23 | cleaned
The same thing is true among many Christians. What am I talking about? There are a lot of Christians, many times, that do not act like Christians. They don't talk like Christians. They don't think like Christians. Their attitudes and their actions are downright cantankerous. And I don't want to be around them. I can point out a number of Christian groups that I know right now, some churches, that are fussing and fighting between themselves.
#34 | 23:31 to 24:20 | cleaned
They call each other by horrible names. They're angry. They're bitter. They're resentful. They're full of malice and animosity. And I want to be honest with you. I don't want to be within a hundred miles of them. I don't want to be around them. I do not even want to be identified with them. They're immature, they're petty, and they're divisive. Now the question is, if I don't want to be around them, if it upsets me, if it bothers me, how does it affect God? May I point out that God is far more holy than I am. Far more holy than any of us and all of us put together. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Habakkuk, chapter 1, a minor prophet Habakkuk chapter 1. And as you turn there, let me just quote for you 1 Peter chapter 1. You know what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 1, I'll put it later. But God says, "As it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy, saith the Lord."
#35 | 24:23 to 25:47 | cleaned
So God is demanding that we be holy as he is holy. But listen, if you would please, to what the Bible says in the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 1, and notice if you would please, verse 13. Here's what the prophet says of God. Watch carefully. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." Now wait a minute. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." What does that mean? Certainly we know that God sees evil and wickedness, for He judges it. And the Bible says in Proverbs 15, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." So we know that God sees it, and yet here's a verse that says, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." How are we to understand that verse? Very simply. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil" condoningly, "and canst not look on iniquity" approvingly.
#36 | 25:48 to 26:54 | cleaned
In other words, God does see sin in order to judge it, in order to mark it, but God never condones it and God never approves it. So the point I'm trying to make is this. If such actions and such attitudes are repulsive to me, and I don't want to be around people who act like that, God is far more holy than I am. And he doesn't like it either. So if I can loathe people like that, so can God.
#37 | 26:55 to 27:27 | cleaned
Now, let me ask a question. In fact, I'm going to try to ask and answer several questions. As you turn back in your Bible to Psalm 106, here's the first one that has to be answered. How does one become loathed by God? The Bible says in verse 40, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred" or loathed "his own inheritance." How does one become loathed by God? Well, the answer, generally speaking, is sin.
#38 | 27:28 to 28:06 | cleaned
That is disobedience and rebellion. But specifically, if you will look at Psalm 106 with me and remember, please, this is the 16th message I preached on this passage. Let's go back to verse 7. Here is where the psalmist begins to specify sins and confess them specifically. Verse 7, he says, "Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt." That's ignorance. Ignorance. "They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies." That's ingratitude, "but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea." So there's ignorance and ingratitude. Skip down to verse 13.
#39 | 28:07 to 28:50 | cleaned
"They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel." Their forgetfulness and impatience. Verse 16. "They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord." Envy and insurrection. Look in verse 19. "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image." Idolatry and insolence. Skip down to verse 24. "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word." There's despisement and disbelief. Look in verse 28.
#40 | 28:50 to 29:19 | cleaned
"They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead." There's where they worship foreign gods. Verse 32. "They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips." Once again, here's where the sins of the people so affected Moses and Aaron that Moses and Aaron sinned. And then verses 34 through verse 39 shows all these other sins that they did.
#41 | 29:19 to 29:46 | cleaned
And what is God saying? In light of all of these sins, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he loathed his own inheritance." So these sins that I've preached on for the last 15 weeks individually and collectively are enough to make God loathe an individual or a nation. I want you to notice the context of Deuteronomy 32. If you go to Deuteronomy 32.
#42 | 29:46 to 30:33 | cleaned
Because I took three main passages just to show you that they are teaching exactly the same thing this Psalm 106 is teaching. Look, if you would please, at verse 15 in Deuteronomy 32, "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked." That is, he grew fat and sassy and rebelled, is what it amounts to. "Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." Didn't think much of God. "They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
#43 | 30:33 to 31:33 | cleaned
And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, he loathed them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." Once again, it's specific sins of forgetting God, of lightly esteeming God, engaging in idolatry, that produces loathing on God's part. Look, if you would please, in Psalm 78. Psalm 78. Note, if you would please, the same truth is given to us. Look in verse 8. Psalm 78, verse 8, "...and might not be as their fathers,
#44 | 31:33 to 32:16 | cleaned
a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God." Verse 10. "They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law." Verse 11. "And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them." Verse 19. "Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Skip down to verse 35. "And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer." Verse 42 is what I wanted. "They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy." Skip down to verse 56. "Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow." Verse 59, "When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel."
#45 | 32:17 to 33:15 | cleaned
Note the specific sins that turn love into loathing. Look, if you would please, to Amos chapter 6. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1, what God says. Amos 6 verse 1. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!" So God says woe to those who are at ease, and they're trusting in Samaria. That is, they're trusting in government, not God. He says in verse 4, "That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall." That is, they're rolling in prosperity.
#46 | 33:16 to 34:15 | cleaned
"That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." In other words, they don't care anything about anyone but themselves. Therefore, God says in verse 8, "The Lord God hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." In each instance.
#47 | 34:15 to 34:48 | cleaned
And each one of these texts, the people were constantly and continually sinning against God. So much so, that although they were God's people, God loathed them. Here's my next question. How does one know whether or not he is loathed by God? How does one know that God doesn't want to be around him? It's an interesting question. Sometimes some of us are so cantankerous, we don't even want to be around ourselves.
#48 | 34:50 to 35:41 | cleaned
Well, let me ask you another way. How can we tell when a nation is loathed by God? Well, go back to Psalm 106 and let's look at the scripture. Psalm 106 verse 40 says, "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred, he loathed his own inheritance." And here's how we know whether or not God loathes individuals and their nations. Verse 41.
#49 | 35:44 to 36:23 | cleaned
"And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them." In other words, the person or the nation is basically subdued, subjugated, captivated by their enemy.
#50 | 36:23 to 36:40 | cleaned
Now you put two and two together concerning our nation. You say, "Brother Weaver, Red China hasn't overrun us." No, Red China hasn't, but a whole lot of other enemies have. And they're in control in the government. That's why we're not a constitutional republic any longer. But now they now call us a democracy. But that's not all. Skip down to verse 42, "And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
#51 | 36:43 to 37:13 | cleaned
Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand." That is, here's the second evidence. Oppression. Persecution. Affliction. By the enemies. You say, "Wait a minute, Brother Weaver, we're not persecuted. We're not afflicted. We're not oppressed." Oh, do you realize there are more types of oppression than just physical? And there are plenty of people who are being physically oppressed. Look at the Christians who are now being charged with paper crimes, which are no crime at all.
#52 | 37:14 to 37:52 | cleaned
And the government wants them to do 15 and 20 and 30 years in prison. And they haven't done a thing wrong. What about economically? Oppressed? Yes, we're economically oppressed. You say, "Brother Weaver, we've got more money than we've ever had before." But it is worth less than it's ever been worth before. It requires more money because the value of our money continues to go down, down, down, down. When Alice and I got married, I used to give her ten bucks a week to buy groceries with. That included meat.
#53 | 37:54 to 38:40 | cleaned
And I would fuss if she didn't bring three or four of it back. We bought a week's worth of groceries on six and seven bucks. You can't even buy a week's worth of groceries for 100 bucks today. Yes, oppression economically, mentally. You say, "Brother Weaver, we're not mentally oppressed." Have you ever heard of political correctness? I tell you what, you just make a statement that is not politically correct.
#54 | 38:41 to 39:22 | cleaned
Notice what happened to John Rocker. Everybody's going to want you to go to sensitivity training. That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, and everything that John Rocker said was true. He just said it the wrong place. And he happened to be where pressure could be brought against him. Look in verse 43, here's another evidence. "Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity."
#55 | 39:23 to 40:04 | cleaned
Now, wait a minute, you say, "Brother Weaver, I can understand subjugation, being subdued. I can understand oppression and persecution and affliction. But I don't understand this verse. 'Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.'" All right, let me explain this verse for you. Here's the third evidence that you can tell an individual is loathed by God or a nation loathed by God.
#56 | 40:06 to 40:33 | cleaned
Spell it out for you. They refuse to listen. They refuse to learn. They refuse to receive reproof, correction, and instruction. They do their own thing, and God has to knock them down over and over and over and over. That's what he says. Watch it. "Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel." They didn't want God's way. They wanted their way. They didn't want God's word. They wanted their word.
#57 | 40:34 to 41:04 | cleaned
"And were brought low for their iniquity." Look in your Bibles, if you would please. Hold Psalm 106, but turn over to Jeremiah chapter 5 and look at verse 3. Jeremiah 5 and verse 3. Jeremiah 5, verse 3. Look what Jeremiah had to complain about. And we can just about voice the same complaint today. Jeremiah 5 verse 3, "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?" Now look what he says.
#58 | 41:05 to 41:39 | cleaned
"Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return." What's he saying? God, you beat the devil out of them and they're still rebelling. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. And notice, if you would please, verse 5. Isaiah 1, verse 5. Look at the question that is asked. "Why should ye be stricken any more?
#59 | 41:39 to 42:27 | cleaned
Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." In other words, correction doesn't do any good. You won't listen. You won't learn. And then Hosea chapter 6 and verse 4. Hosea 6 verse 4. Look what God says. Here's the average professing Christian. Hosea 6 in verse 4, "O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?
#60 | 42:27 to 43:02 | cleaned
For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away." In other words, you're not going to be obedient for long. You won't listen. You won't learn. So God says, then, when an individual or a nation refuses to receive correction and instruction, it's evidence that that nation, or that individual, is loathed by God. And you could say number four is found in verse 43 as well, and that is just simply following one's own counsel instead of God's counsel.
#61 | 43:03 to 43:41 | cleaned
Some of you can quote Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Some of you may not, but let me quote it for you. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The individual that is loathed by God trusts to his own understanding. He listens to his own counsel. He refuses the Word of God.
#62 | 43:43 to 44:21 | cleaned
And here's my next question. Is it possible to be loved and loathed at the same time? And the answer is yes, I've already given you that answer, but I never gave you the scriptures. Now I want to give you the scriptures. If you look in Psalm 106, verses 41 through 43, deals with loathing. Verse 40 says that he abhorred or loathed his own inheritance. Verse 41, he gave them in the hands of the enemy. Verse 42, the enemy oppressed them. Verse 43, they wouldn't learn. They followed their own counsel. Now when you get to verses 44 through 46, it deals with loving. Watch. Verse 44, "Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry."
#63 | 44:23 to 45:23 | cleaned
Now, how do we know? How do we know that God loves us still, even when he loathes us? Well, here's one of the answers. "Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry." In other words, God was concerned about our suffering just like he is concerned about his suffering, just like he was concerned about the suffering of the saints in the Old Testament. And he heard their cries, now listen, even when they were suffering for their own sin and rebellion.
#64 | 45:26 to 46:05 | cleaned
Let me ask you a question as a parent. Have there been times that your children have done things that were just so horrible and so awful and you were so incensed that when you whipped them, you whipped them well. And yet, when they were weeping and crying, you still felt sorry for them. That's what God did. He whipped them well. But when they got to crying out because of their affliction, God heard them. And God considered. That's not all. Look at verse 45.
#65 | 46:10 to 46:57 | cleaned
Here's another evidence of love. "And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies." He remembered for them his covenant.
#66 | 46:57 to 47:12 | cleaned
Now, let me ask you a question, why did Israel get in the place that she was in here? Because she didn't remember the covenant. She didn't obey the covenant. But the Bible says God remembered for them his covenant. So what God is saying is this. They may not remember it. They may not be faithful. Yet I am going to be faithful. And here's what God is saying. I'm going to judge them. But not as partially as they deserve. That's what it means when it says, "and he repented according to the multitude of his mercies." In other words, he didn't finish them all.
#67 | 47:13 to 47:54 | cleaned
He allowed them to live. Now, I want you to hold right there, but turn right back to Psalm 103. And I want to ask you a question. My question is this, can you agree with this verse of Scripture? Is this verse of Scripture true in your life? Watch Psalm 103, beginning there with verse 9. Look what the Bible says. "He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever." Here's the statement.
#68 | 47:56 to 48:30 | cleaned
"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Aren't you thankful that God has not given you what you deserve? See what I'm saying? And that's what he did over here. He remembered for them his covenant. That's love. He could have destroyed them, but he didn't. And then if you look in verse 46. "He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives." Here's the next evidence of love. That is, God gave them pity in the eyes of their captors, so that their captors would not deal harshly with them.
#69 | 48:31 to 49:18 | cleaned
You know, there is a scripture that goes like this. "In wrath remember mercy." And that's exactly what God does even when He loathes His people in His wrath against them. He remembers mercy. So love and loathing may be in the same person at the same time. Because although God loathed his people, he loved them as well.
#70 | 49:22 to 49:58 | cleaned
Now, let me clear up one other question before I make some applications. Does not loathing constitute a change in God? And the answer is no, of course not. When we say that God is immutable, we mean that God is unchangeable. There's nothing that changes the essence of God. Malachi 3:6, he said, "I am the Lord, I change not." God is immutable. Now, when the Bible says that God loathes his people, that is not a change in God's essence. That is not a change in God's being. That is not a change in God's character. All that means is that God is now dealing differently with the people. God is administering another aspect of the covenant. That is, instead of administering blessing, He's now administering curses. The change is not in God. The change is in the people. The people changed from obedience to disobedience.
#71 | 49:58 to 51:00 | cleaned
And therefore, God refused to bless them but rather curse them and was angry with them because of their sin. You see, God is just as free to exercise his wrath as he is his mercy. He's just as free to demonstrate his loathing as he is his loving. So there's no change in God. The change was in the people. All God was doing was functioning according to the covenant.
#72 | 51:03 to 51:39 | cleaned
Now look at verses 47, verse 48. "Save us, O Lord our God," is the final prayer. "And gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord." Now, notice he said, "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen."
#73 | 51:39 to 52:06 | cleaned
You know, I could ask a simple question. What did the psalmist mean when he said, "Save us"? Now, if you think the psalmist means save us from affliction, save us from persecution, save us from oppression, save us from our enemies, then I would say you were wrong. What good would it do for God to save us from our oppression and our persecution if there was no repentance in our lives?
#74 | 52:08 to 52:47 | cleaned
It would be just a matter of time before we were right back in it again. When the psalmist said, "Save us," he means literally this, save us from our sins. Because it is sin that brings all the oppression and the persecution and the trouble. You remember what the Bible says in Matthew 1 and verse 21? "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins."
#75 | 52:47 to 53:12 | cleaned
Salvation is not primarily salvation from judgment. It is not primarily salvation from punishment. It is salvation from sin, which brings on punishment and judgment. So the psalmist said, "Save us, O Lord our God, save us from our sins."
#76 | 53:14 to 53:39 | cleaned
Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. This is horrible. When a Christian sins, when a Christian rebels and disobeys, he is revealing and evidencing the fact that he values his sin and his lust and his wickedness more than God's fellowship, approval, and blessing. You talk about an insult to a holy God. When a Christian sins, what he is saying is essentially this, "God, you are insufficient. You are not the all-sufficient God that you proclaim in the Bible. You are insufficient to satisfy me. Lord, I must have this sin, this fornication, or this covetousness, or this... I must have something beside you." What an affront to God.
#77 | 53:40 to 54:50 | cleaned
I hope you're beginning to see how God can loathe us when we act like that.
#78 | 54:59 to 55:06 | cleaned
Because when we sin, we're saying we prefer our sin more than the approval, blessing, and fellowship of God. If you understand what I've taught today, it should be an incentive to live a holy, godly, obedient life. Do you realize it requires holiness to satisfy a holy God? That's why He wrote, "Be ye holy; for I am holy, saith the Lord." So if we really want to give God praise, if we really want to glorify God, if we really want God's blessing and approval, then we'll live a holy life in obedience to His Word, for God is holy. Before I give you this last one, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 5. Because I want you to see one verse. Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5, get ready. Here's the application.
#79 | 55:14 to 56:52 | cleaned
To not have a biblical attitude and corresponding biblical actions is to provoke God to loathing. Let me say that again. When you and I do not have a biblical attitude with corresponding biblical actions, we are provoking God unto loathing. Read your Bibles. Go back over these passages, get a concordance, look up the word "provocation" or "provoke." Over and over, the Bible said Israel provoked God. So when you and I do that which is wrong, when we do that which is unbiblical and ungodly, we're provoking God to loathe us.
#80 | 56:54 to 57:41 | cleaned
Now, I made a statement earlier. I said, there's some folks I just don't want to be around, even though they are Christians. I love them. But I don't want to be around them. Because I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their actions. They're unbiblical. They're unscriptural. If I can believe that and act like that, do you not think that God, who is far more holy than each of us, would do the same?
#81 | 57:43 to 58:14 | cleaned
Now, remember, I said when we fail to act biblically and have a biblical attitude, we're provoking God into loathing. Look in Hosea 5 and verse 6. Look what God says. "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them." Why? "They have dealt treacherously against the Lord."
#82 | 58:15 to 58:48 | cleaned
I got news for you folks. There are times when God doesn't want to be around folks either. Because of their attitudes and their actions. And we provoke Him to loathe us. What an awesome and horrible thought that we can be loathed by the God who loves us. Let's pray. Father, we ask you in the name of Jesus Christ to speak to our hearts. Help us, Lord, determine to be holy, determine to do what is right, to determine to be obedient, and to bring our lives into conformity to your Word. May we, Father, be the saints of God that others always want to be around and that Thou dost want to be around. Help us, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. Amen.
#83 | 58:49 to 1:00:03 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:07:59Z

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 16 of 16

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this concluding sermon on Psalm 106, John Weaver examines verses 40-48, focusing on the sobering truth that God can both love and loathe His people simultaneously because of their persistent sin. He explains the distinction between God's intrinsic, unchangeable holiness and His external glory, which is affected by human obedience or disobedience. The sermon details how specific sins provoke God to loathing, the evidences that a person or nation is loathed by God (subjugation, oppression, refusal to learn, following one's own counsel), and yet how God's love remains through His regard for affliction, remembrance of His covenant, and mercy. The final prayer for salvation is understood as salvation from sin itself, and the application calls believers to holy living to avoid provoking God's loathing.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Psalm 106:40-48

"Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity."

Introduction and Review of Psalm 106:34-39

Weaver reviews the previous lesson on sins committed after the Canaan conquest, emphasizing that disobedience in one area led to many other sins.

The Effect of Sin on God's External Glory

Weaver distinguishes between God's intrinsic, unchangeable holiness and His external glory, which can be affected by human sin or praise, using Psalm 16:2-3 and Psalm 50:23.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord."

Now look what the Messiah says.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"My goodness extendeth not to thee."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"My goodness extendeth not to thee,"

that is not to God,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 16:1-3

"but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight."

God's Loathing of His People in Psalm 106:40

The sermon expounds the meaning of 'abhorred' as loathing, and establishes that God can love and loathe His people at the same time, supported by multiple Old Testament texts.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 78:59

Psalm 89 verse 38. And of course, in the context is dealing with his own people. He says, "But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed." Isn't that amazing? "But thou hast cast off and abhorred," that is loathed, "thou hast been wroth" or angry "with thine anointed," that is with God's people. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32, and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Deuteronomy 32 verse 18. The Word of God says, "Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters." In other words, his sons and his daughters were provoking God and therefore God abhorred or loathed them. Look in your Bibles to the book of Amos chapter 6. Amos chapter 6. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 6. Look, if you would please, at verse 8.

How Sin Provokes God to Loathing

Weaver catalogs the specific sins confessed in Psalm 106 (ignorance, ingratitude, idolatry, etc.) and shows from Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 78, and Amos 6 that persistent sin turns love into loathing.

Evidences of Being Loathed by God

From Psalm 106:41-43, Weaver identifies four signs: subjugation to enemies, oppression, refusal to receive correction, and following one's own counsel instead of God's.

God's Love Evident Even in Loathing

Despite loathing, God's love is shown in His regard for affliction, remembrance of His covenant, repentance according to mercy, and granting pity from captors (Psalm 106:44-46).

Loathing Does Not Change God's Essence

Weaver clarifies that God's immutability is not compromised; the change is in the people, and God administers covenant curses instead of blessings.

The Final Prayer for Salvation from Sin

The psalmist's cry 'Save us' is interpreted as a plea for salvation from sin itself, not merely from affliction, because sin is the root cause of judgment.

Applications: The Insult of Sin and Call to Holiness

Weaver applies the message by stating that sin values lust over God's fellowship, and that unholy attitudes provoke God to loathing; believers are urged to live holy, obedient lives.

I hope you're beginning to see how God can loathe us when we act like that.

The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 16 of 16

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	117091522516
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession
Genre	Sermon
Date	2000-09-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 053: The Hallelujah of Confession — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	83

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review of Psalm 106:34-39: Weaver reviews the previous lesson on sins committed after the Canaan conquest, emphasizing that disobedience in one area led to many other sins.
The Effect of Sin on God's External Glory: Weaver distinguishes between God's intrinsic, unchangeable holiness and His external glory, which can be affected by human sin or praise, using Psalm 16:2-3 and Psalm 50:23.
God's Loathing of His People in Psalm 106:40: The sermon expounds the meaning of 'abhorred' as loathing, and establishes that God can love and loathe His people at the same time, supported by multiple Old Testament texts.
How Sin Provokes God to Loathing: Weaver catalogs the specific sins confessed in Psalm 106 (ignorance, ingratitude, idolatry, etc.) and shows from Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 78, and Amos 6 that persistent sin turns love into loathing.
Evidences of Being Loathed by God: From Psalm 106:41-43, Weaver identifies four signs: subjugation to enemies, oppression, refusal to receive correction, and following one's own counsel instead of God's.
God's Love Evident Even in Loathing: Despite loathing, God's love is shown in His regard for affliction, remembrance of His covenant, repentance according to mercy, and granting pity from captors (Psalm 106:44-46).
Loathing Does Not Change God's Essence: Weaver clarifies that God's immutability is not compromised; the change is in the people, and God administers covenant curses instead of blessings.
The Final Prayer for Salvation from Sin: The psalmist's cry 'Save us' is interpreted as a plea for salvation from sin itself, not merely from affliction, because sin is the root cause of judgment.
Applications: The Insult of Sin and Call to Holiness: Weaver applies the message by stating that sin values lust over God's fellowship, and that unholy attitudes provoke God to loathing; believers are urged to live holy, obedient lives.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Sin affects God's external glory, not His essence.

Weaver argues that while God's intrinsic holiness is unchangeable, human actions can either glorify or disgrace His external glory, as seen in Psalm 16:2-3 and Isaiah 43:24.

Psalm 16:2-3: 'My goodness extendeth not to thee... but to the saints'; Isaiah 43:24: 'thou hast made me to serve with thy sins.'

God can love and loathe His people simultaneously.

Using Psalm 106:40 and other texts, Weaver contends that God's unchanging love does not preclude His loathing of sinful behavior, analogous to human family relationships.

Psalm 106:40: 'he abhorred his own inheritance'; Psalm 78:59: 'greatly abhorred Israel'; personal illustration of loving but disliking family members.

Persistent, specific sins provoke God to loathing.

The sermon demonstrates from Psalm 106 and parallel passages that sins like idolatry, ingratitude, and self-indulgence lead God to abhor His people.

Deuteronomy 32:15-19: forsaking God leads to abhorrence; Amos 6:1-8: ease and self-indulgence provoke God to abhor Israel.

Divine loathing is evidenced by subjugation, oppression, and stubbornness.

Weaver interprets Psalm 106:41-43 as indicators that God has given a people over to enemies and that they refuse correction, applying this to modern nations.

Psalm 106:41-43; Jeremiah 5:3: 'they have refused to receive correction'; Isaiah 1:5: 'why should ye be stricken any more?'

God's loathing does not negate His love or covenant faithfulness.

Despite loathing, God still hears cries, remembers His covenant, and shows mercy, as seen in Psalm 106:44-46 and Psalm 103:9-10.

Psalm 106:44-46; Psalm 103:9-10: 'He hath not dealt with us after our sins.'

Loathing reflects a change in the people, not in God's essence.

Weaver clarifies that God's immutability remains intact; the change is in human obedience, and God administers covenant curses instead of blessings.

Malachi 3:6: 'I am the Lord, I change not'; explanation that God exercises wrath or mercy based on human response.

Salvation is primarily from sin, not just from affliction.

The psalmist's prayer 'Save us' is interpreted as a plea for deliverance from sin itself, because sin is the root cause of judgment and oppression.

Matthew 1:21: 'he shall save his people from their sins'; argument that removing affliction without repentance would be temporary.

Sin is an insult to God that provokes His loathing.

Weaver argues that sin declares God insufficient and values lust over His fellowship, making holy living essential to avoid provoking God.

Hosea 5:6: 'he hath withdrawn himself from them'; statement that sin prefers lust over God's approval.

Scripture References

Psalm 106:40-48: The primary text of the sermon, describing God's wrath and loathing, followed by His mercy and the final prayer for salvation.
Psalm 106:34-39: Reviewed as the previous lesson's focus on post-conquest sins that led to God's loathing.
Romans 14:7: Cited to emphasize that no one sins in isolation; our sins affect others.
Psalm 16:1-3: Used to show that even Christ's goodness did not add to God's essential glory but to the saints, illustrating the distinction between intrinsic and external glory.
Psalm 50:23: Quoted to prove that praise glorifies God's external holiness.
Romans 15:6: Cited to show that believers can glorify God with one mind and mouth.
Isaiah 49:6-7: Messianic passage showing that man can despise and abhor God, affecting His external glory.
Isaiah 43:24: Key text: 'thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,' demonstrating that covenantal sin affects God.
1 Corinthians 6:13-17: Explains that believers are one spirit with the Lord, so fornication joins Christ to a harlot, illustrating covenantal union.
Psalm 78:59: Shows God 'greatly abhorred Israel' as a parallel to Psalm 106:40.
Psalm 89:38: States God has 'cast off and abhorred' His anointed, reinforcing the theme.
Deuteronomy 32:15-19: Describes Israel's forsaking of God leading to His abhorrence.
Amos 6:1-8: God abhors the excellency of Jacob because of their ease and self-indulgence.
Lamentations 2:7: God abhorred His own sanctuary due to the people's sin.
Habakkuk 1:13: God is of purer eyes than to behold evil approvingly, underscoring His holiness.
Jeremiah 5:3: Illustrates refusal to receive correction as evidence of being loathed.
Isaiah 1:5: Questions why further striking is needed when people revolt more, showing stubbornness.
Hosea 6:4: God laments that Israel's goodness is fleeting, like a morning cloud.
Psalm 103:9-10: God has not dealt with us according to our sins, showing mercy even in loathing.
Hosea 5:6: God withdraws from those who deal treacherously, used as a warning application.

Historical References

Canaan conquest and post-conquest sins of Israel: Weaver distinguishes sins before entering Canaan (Psalm 106:7-33) from those after (verses 34-39), which included failure to destroy nations, intermarriage, and idolatry.
John Rocker controversy: Used as a modern example of mental oppression through political correctness and sensitivity training.

Important Quotes

Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

The central verse of the sermon, establishing that God can loathe His own people because of their sin.

Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

Key proof text that covenantal sin affects God, making Him serve with the people's sins.

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

Illustrates the covenantal union with Christ, so that sin involves Christ in the act.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.

Highlights God's absolute holiness and inability to condone sin, supporting the argument that sin provokes His loathing.

Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry.

Shows that even when God loathes His people, His love remains as He hears their cries in affliction.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Emphasizes God's mercy in not giving His people what they deserve, even when they are loathed.

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

Final warning that persistent sin can lead to God withdrawing His presence, provoking loathing.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the distinction between God's intrinsic and external glory help us understand that our sins affect God?

[Context]

Weaver explains that while God's essential holiness cannot change, our actions can either glorify or disgrace His external glory.

[Question]

In what ways can a Christian simultaneously be loved and loathed by God, and how should this reality influence our daily conduct?

[Context]

The sermon argues that God's unchanging love does not prevent Him from loathing sinful behavior, using Psalm 106:40 and family analogies.

[Question]

What specific sins in Psalm 106 and the parallel passages most provoke God to loathing, and are any of these present in our lives or churches today?

[Context]

Weaver catalogs sins like ingratitude, idolatry, and self-indulgence from Psalm 106, Deuteronomy 32, and Amos 6.

[Question]

How can we discern whether an individual or a nation is experiencing God's loathing, based on the evidences in Psalm 106:41-43?

[Context]

The four signs are subjugation, oppression, refusal to learn, and following one's own counsel; Weaver applies these to contemporary society.

[Question]

How does God's remembrance of His covenant and His mercy operate even when He is loathing His people?

[Context]

Psalm 106:44-46 shows God regarding affliction, remembering the covenant, and granting pity; Psalm 103:9-10 reinforces His mercy.

[Question]

Why is salvation primarily from sin rather than from affliction, and how does this shape our prayers for deliverance?

[Context]

Weaver interprets 'Save us' in Psalm 106:47 as a plea for salvation from sin, citing Matthew 1:21.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'provoke God to loathing' through unbiblical attitudes and actions, and how can we avoid this in our personal and church life?

[Context]

The application warns that sin values lust over God's fellowship and that unholy living provokes God, referencing Hosea 5:6.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T04:08:03Z