Ephesians 5:21-33; Psalm 76

Ephesians 5;21-33
We come to a section of scripture that is not popular. But here it is! It begins by saying we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Christ Himself submitted to the will of the Father, and so this is a principle we must keep in mind. We are first of all submitting to the will of Christ.
Let's pray that we will always have an attitude of wanting to please Him and obey Him.

Marriage, as God intended it, is to be a picture of Christ and the church. The wife is to submit to the leadership of her husband, and the husband is to love his wife and give his life for her. (Rarely is he called on to give his physical life, but he is to give his life's attention to her needs.) In the same way we, the church, are to submit to Christ's leadership, and He loves us so much that He gave His very life for us. His death makes us holy and clean, and we are washed by the cleansing of God's word. We are "members of his body," v. 30 and He feeds and cares for us. Christ and the church are "one," and a godly marriage illustrates this.

Psalm 76
In this New Testament age, we tend to think of God's grace and love and care for us. And that is certainly an important part of His character. But the Old Testament teaches us that another part of God's nature is His holiness, and many of these psalms call on God to bring judgment on the wicked. We seem to be among those psalms right now. "God is "glorious and more majestic than the everlasting mountains," v. 4 but our strongest and boldest enemies are no match for Him. "At the blast of  your breath, O God of Jacob, their horses and chariots lay still." v. 6  No one can stand before His anger.

God can use anything to bring glory to Himself and to further His will. v. 10 says, "Human defiance only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon."

Truly we should not and cannot resist God, but we should make vows (commitments) to the Lord our God, and we should keep them. v. 11 This seems to be more than just submitting to His will but actively trying to please and serve Him.