Deuteronomy 28:63
63 And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
In light of the recent events on Wall Street, I'm going jump ahead in this series to a post I was planning for later. God delights in bringing judgment.
("Wait, are you saying that what is happening on Wall Street is a judgment from God?" Yes. Not because the stock market fell 777 points, but because, 1. God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens - read Job; and 2. America deserves judgment - read Exodus 20).
Deuteronomy 28:63 is one of the harshest words from God to Israel in the Bible. God promised that He would rejoice in bringing destruction and exile to Israel because of their disobedience. Why? How can a God of love say and do things like that?
It's not because he enjoys doing harm. That's what we call "sadism" (or more succinctly "evil"). God explicitly says that He does not enjoy killing for its own sake:
Ezekiel 18:32 (see also Ezek 33:11; 2 Pet 3:9)
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
No, the reason that God can rejoice to bring judgment is because He sees the end from the beginning. He is not a disinterested Watchmaker, He is a tender Father and a passionate Bridegroom towards His people. He knows that there comes a point when human beings are so united in doing and approving of evil (Rom 1:32) that the only way to wake them up and spare them from eternal disaster is to bring temporal disaster on them. Mike Bickle calls it "removing everything that hinders love" or "knocking away the props."
Hosea is one of the clearest pictures of how God uses judgment to wake up stubborn and rebellious people (for example, see Hosea 2:6-8).
Compared to the Babylonian exile (the Holocaust of the 6th century BC), a few hurricanes and the Wall Street mess are extremely mild judgment. But if we do not repent, we can expect the "alarm clocks" to keep getting louder. Because God does not give up.
