For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled.
Man under a consciousness of Divine displeasure
I. It arose from a sense of moral wrong. “Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee,” etc. True it is that all our iniquities, even the most secret, those wrought in the deepest concealment, stand out clearly evermore to the eye of God. Thus a sin-convicted conscience profoundly feels that man is consumed by His anger, and by His wrath is he troubled. When a sinful spirit becomes conscious of its sinfulness, it invests the Almighty with the most terrible attributes of vengeance.
II. It solved the unhappiness of life.
1. Life is sad. “We are consumed by Thy wrath.” The same trials of life which are regarded by the man who has a sense of Divine forgiveness as the disciplines of a loving Father, are regarded by the man who is impressed with a sense of guilt as the inflictions of an incensed Judge. Hence Providence is different to different men. One feels it a system of grace, another a system of rigorous severity.
2. Life is empty. “We spend our years as a tale that is told.” Some translate “tale” thought, and some, sound that dieth away. How soon the loudest sound, even the crash of thunder, dies away in the atmosphere!
3. Life is brief. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten.” (Homilist.)
A conception of God’s anger
God’s anger is His love thrown back upon itself from unreceptive and unloving hearts; just as a wave that would roll in smooth and unbroken green beauty into the open door of some sea cave is dashed back in spray and foam from some grim rock. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)