Fear the Executioner

God, whom we worship, is a God of wrath.  He is holy and justly angry at sin as an offense to His perfect glory.

Deuteronomy 32:39-41 (NASB95)
39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,
41 If I sharpen My flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.

If you’re wondering who He’s talking about there, James 4:4 answers it:

James 4:4 (NASB95)
4 … do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

You may be thinking, “Thanks for that, Tim.  Now I really feel like singing.”

Indeed, let me say that you can’t begin to offer acceptable praise and worship to God unless you first recognize that He hates sin, and He will exact His perfect, divine wrath on all sin and those who practice it. 

God is wrathful.  And it is His wrath that makes His mercy and forgiveness so incredible.  It is His wrath that makes His grace so amazing. 

If you have been called out of darkness; if you’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ; then truly, you have something to sing about.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB95)
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 1:3-7 (NASB95)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.