A Curious Pilgrim Reflection on Psalm 98, Malachi 3:1–5, and John 3:22–30
Growing up, I often heard God described more as a judge waiting to punish than as a loving Father seeking to restore. The sermons of my childhood frequently emphasized hellfire, damnation, and condemnation. As a young boy, I learned to fear God long before I learned to love God.
Many years later, as I continue my journey as a curious pilgrim, I find myself reading the Scriptures with different eyes. The Daily Office readings for today reveal a God who is far different from the fearful image I once carried.
The psalmist begins with a song:
“The Lord has made known his victory; his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.” (Psalm 98:2)
Psalm 98 celebrates God’s righteousness, mercy, faithfulness, and justice. Notice that God’s righteousness is not portrayed as harsh punishment. Rather, it is good news. The psalmist invites the whole earth—the sea, the rivers, and even the hills—to rejoice because God is coming to set things right.
The judgment of God in Scripture is often misunderstood. We tend to think of judgment as condemnation. Yet biblical judgment is primarily about restoration. God judges not to destroy creation but to heal it. God’s righteousness is God’s commitment to make things whole again.
Malachi uses powerful images to describe this work:
“For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” (Malachi 3:2)
At first glance, these images sound frightening. Fire burns. Soap scrubs away dirt. Yet neither exists to destroy what is valuable. The refiner’s fire removes impurities from precious metal so that its true beauty can emerge. The fuller’s soap cleanses cloth so it can become what it was intended to be.
God’s refining work is not about rejection. It is about transformation.
That distinction changed my understanding of faith. The God revealed in Jesus is not standing over us with a hammer waiting for us to fail. God is patiently shaping us, cleansing us, and restoring us. The fire of God is the fire of love. The soap of God is the cleansing power of grace.
This theme continues in John’s Gospel. John the Baptist, whose ministry had attracted great crowds, sees people leaving him to follow Jesus. Instead of jealousy or resentment, John responds with remarkable humility:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
John understood something many of us spend a lifetime learning. Faith is not about making ourselves greater. It is about making room for God.
Our culture teaches us to build larger platforms, protect our status, and promote ourselves. John points in the opposite direction. His joy comes not from being the center of attention but from witnessing the work of God unfold through Jesus.
The remarkable truth is that God accomplishes this work through imperfect people.
John was imperfect. Peter was imperfect. The disciples were imperfect. The prophets were imperfect. Every saint who has ever walked this earth carried flaws, wounds, doubts, and failures.
And so do we.
Yet God remains faithful.
God’s mercy does not depend on our perfection. God’s grace does not wait until we have everything figured out. Again and again, Scripture reveals a God who works through blemished vessels and broken hearts.
That realization has become deeply comforting to me.
The God I feared as a child has become the God I trust as an adult. Not because God has changed, but because my understanding has changed. The God of righteousness is also the God of mercy. The God who refines is the God who restores. The God who judges is the God who heals.
Psalm 98 invites us to sing because God is faithful.
Malachi reminds us that God’s refining fire is meant to purify, not destroy.
John the Baptist teaches us that true joy comes when Christ increases in our lives.
Together these readings offer a beautiful invitation: Stop living in fear of God and begin living in the grace of God.
The God revealed in Jesus is not seeking reasons to condemn us. God is patiently, lovingly, and faithfully transforming us into the people we were created to be.
And that is a song worth singing.
Grace and peace,
William (The Curious Pilgrim)
The Curious Pilgrim 
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