GOD HATES WAR
"He hath scattered
the peoples that delight in war" Psa.
68:30
The historic relations of this Psalm are
obscure, and definite. They are obscure as to the actual, time of the composition,
and as to the particular events in history which are celebrated. They are
definite as to the use which has been made of it by men of faith; in the process
of the centuries. Kirkpatrick finely says, of it: "To the Crusaders, setting out for the
recovery of the Holy Land; to Savonarola and his monks, as they marched to the
'Trial of Fire' in the Piazza at Florence; to the Huguenots, who called it
'The song of battles'; to Cromwell, at Dunbar, as the sun rose on the mists of
the morning and he charged Leslie's army—it has supplied words for the
expression of their heartfelt convictions." To all of this we
may add that, during the years of the First World War, perhaps no Psalm, with
the single exception of the 46th,
was more constantly used. It is preeminently the Psalm which celebrates the
march of God with His people, against their foes and His, to assured and
complete victory. The words we have stressed describe that victory in one
application, and in a very remarkable way. The whole song is of war; one is
conscious all through of the clash of conflict. Yet it is not a song in
glorification of war. God is manifested as the GOD OF BATTLES, but His victory
is that He scatters the people that delight in war. He does not delight in it;
His purpose is to end it and He will with the greatest of battles. Here is the true test of the relation of men of faith
to war. If the heart delights in war, God will make war the instrument for the
discomfiture and defeat of that unholy passion. If the heart hates war, then
He will give victory in war to those who thus fight. Whether that end has been
reached, it is not for us to say. Certainly the principle had remarkable
illustration in both the first and second world war and with a final one to follow and then war no more. They arm up now for the greatest of all with all nations against the nation that was created for the blessings of all nations as revealed in the previous article (Israel's Purpose for Existence). The nations reveal their hatred of God and His plan (Psa. 2).
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