Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. — Psalms 50:3
Judgment does not wait for a distant future White Throne encounter after death. There is a great judgment of all things coming, but people step up to the bar every day. In our choices to appease our old nature, in our decisions to pursue our ends apart from Him, we are placing ourselves under judgment. Jesus says that we will have to give account for "every idle word". That sounds a little extreme. God keeps track of every stupid thing I say. That's a gig or two, at least.
But if He keeps track of all my stupidity, fielding errors and strikeouts, that means He is also present and aware when I do well, when I am suffering, when I am weak but faithful, when I struggle and cry out to Him. We get to decide whether we walk in grace and mercy or justice and dread. See what He says a little further long: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Psalm 50:14-15)
On the other hand, But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?" (v. 16)
There is no equivocation here. God is going to show up. He is ignoring nothing. God is paying attention. He is not fooled, just long-suffering and patient. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself (v. 21). This troubles a lot of us, believers and non-believers alike. There are times when the silence of God seems final, in the silence of death, in the aftermath of judgment's storm and flame.
Of course, He is like us for He is alive. He is dangerous, and He is wild. The fire rushes toward us. Everything that is combustible ignites. Everything that can be consumed is consumed. Everything that is dead is swept up into smoke and heat and vapor. The old hillbillies used to burn off the woods and fields every spring. It was a great destruction, but it was also a renewal. Fire was the only tool they had. As things advanced, machines gave them a means to accomplish many of the same ends without as much destruction. Grace is the tool God offers us to deal with the deadness and debris that builds up, that chokes out fruitfulness, to clear out the tangles, brambles, briars and thistles in our lives. If we make use of it, the field is green and growing and safe from the fires of judgment. If we refuse His grace, sooner or later, the fire will devour and leave behind a blackened emptiness.
This, too, is grace. It is a cleansing that we desperately need, though we will lose some things that are good. Judgment, by its nature, cannot be as discriminating. The wind blows where it will and the fire is driven on before it to the edge of utter barrenness or to the shores of the waters of life.
