Nahum 1 | When Judgment is Good News
Sermon Guide for September 20, 2026
How to Use This Guide:
These guides are designed to help you engage more deeply with my weekly sermon or serve as stand-alone, self-guided Bible studies. Use them to prepare your heart before worship or to reflect on God’s Word throughout the week.
Parents, use the “Family Practice” section to lead meaningful conversations that nurture your kids' faith and help them grow in God’s love.
BIG IDEA
We usually think of God’s judgment as bad news. But Nahum helps us see another side of judgment: When God judges evil, his judgment is good news for those who have suffered because of it.
Nahum was written during a frightening period for God’s people. Assyria had already destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and exercised tremendous power over Judah. The Assyrians were infamous for their violence and brutality, and from Judah’s perspective, they seemed unstoppable.
Then Nahum announced something remarkable: God was going to bring Assyria’s violence to an end.
That is why a book filled with judgment could also be a message of comfort (This is what Nahum's name means: "Comfort").
READ: Nahum 1
As you read, notice what this chapter teaches about God, evil, and God’s people.
1. GOD WILL VINDICATE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WRONGED
Read Nahum 1:2
Nahum describes the Lord as an “avenging God.” Divine vengeance is not the uncontrolled desire to hurt someone who has hurt us. God’s vengeance is his perfectly righteous response to evil.
Because vengeance ultimately belongs to God, we do not have to carry the burden of settling every score ourselves.
Dig Deeper
Read Romans 12:17–21.
Why does Paul tell Christians not to avenge themselves?
How does trusting God’s justice make forgiveness possible?
What is the difference between seeking appropriate accountability and seeking revenge?
Is there a wrong committed against you that you are still trying to “settle” in your own heart?
Put It Into Practice
Think of one person who has hurt or mistreated you. Instead of rehearsing what you wish would happen to them, deliberately entrust the situation to God.
Pray: “God, you saw what happened. You know the truth better than I do. Help me pursue what is right without becoming consumed by revenge. I trust you to judge perfectly.”
Remember: Because vengeance belongs to God, it doesn’t have to belong to me.
2. THE GUILTY WILL NOT ESCAPE JUSTICE
Read Nahum 1:3
Nahum holds two truths together: “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will never leave the guilty unpunished.”
God is incredibly patient. More than a century before Nahum, God sent Jonah to Nineveh (Assyria's capital) with a warning of judgment. When Nineveh repented, God showed mercy. But God’s patience should never be mistaken for indifference toward sin.
God's seriousness about sin is comforting when we think about the evil other people commit. But this truth also confronts us: we aren’t only victims of a sinful world. We are sinners too. We have failed to love God and others as we should. So where can guilty people find hope?
The answer is Jesus.
At the cross, Jesus bore the consequences of our sin so that guilty people could receive forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
Dig Deeper
Read Romans 3:21–26.
What does God’s patience teach you about his character?
Why would a perfectly good God be unable simply to pretend that evil does not matter?
Why is it dangerous to think about judgment only in terms of what other people deserve?
According to Romans 3, how can God remain just while also justifying sinners?
Put It Into Practice
Spend time honestly confessing your own sin to God. Resist the temptation to compare yourself with people whose sins seem worse than yours. Then thank God specifically for the mercy you have received through Jesus.
Remember: God is patient with sinners, but his patience does not mean sin will ultimately go unanswered.
3. GOD’S JUDGMENT FLOWS FROM HIS GOODNESS
Read Nahum 1:6–7
After describing God’s terrifying power and wrath, Nahum suddenly declares: “The LORD is good.”
That statement is not out of place.
God’s goodness and his judgment are not contradictory. His perfect judgment flows from his perfect goodness.
Imagine a loving father discovering that someone intends to harm his children. We would not expect a good father to respond with complete indifference. His love for his children causes him to oppose what threatens them.
In a far greater and perfectly righteous way, God loves what is good. Therefore, he stands against what destroys what is good.
Notice that Nahum 1:7 also calls God “a stronghold in the day of distress.” The God who judges evil is simultaneously a refuge for people who trust him.
Dig Deeper
Why do people sometimes assume that love and judgment are opposites?
What would it say about God if he were completely indifferent toward abuse, oppression, cruelty, and injustice?
When you think about God’s goodness, do you normally include his opposition to evil? Why or why not?
Put It Into Practice
Pay attention this week to something in the world that makes you think, “That isn’t right.” Instead of allowing that awareness to produce only anger, cynicism, or despair, turn it into prayer.
Ask God to protect those being harmed, bring repentance where possible, establish justice, and help you participate in what is good.
Remember: God’s anger against evil does not contradict his goodness. It is an expression of it.
4. NO EVIL IS TOO POWERFUL FOR GOD
Read Nahum 1:12–13
Assyria was one of the great powers of the ancient world. To tiny Judah, the empire must have seemed impossible to defeat.
God did not deny Assyria’s strength: “Though they are strong and numerous…” But then he announced that they would be cut down. Assyria was powerful, but it was not more powerful than God.
We need the same reminder because some things in our lives seem impossibly large. There are problems you cannot solve. There are people you cannot change. There are injustices you cannot make right. There are circumstances completely outside your control.
But your powerlessness does not imply God’s powerlessness.
Dig Deeper
What probably made Assyria seem unstoppable to Judah?
Why do overwhelming circumstances sometimes cause us to underestimate God?
What situation in your life currently feels beyond your ability to control?
What would trusting God look like even if he does not resolve that situation according to your preferred timetable?
Put It Into Practice
Write down one situation that currently feels overwhelming.
Underneath it, write: “This is beyond my power. It is not beyond God’s.”
Then pray about that situation every day this week—not merely asking God to change it, but asking him to help you trust his power and goodness while you wait.
Remember: What overwhelms us does not overwhelm God.
5. EVIL WILL NOT HAVE THE FINAL WORD
Read Nahum 1:14–15
Nahum ends the chapter with “good news.”
Assyria’s oppression would end. Judah would once again celebrate because the enemy that had terrorized them would be “utterly cut off.”
As the biblical story unfolds, we discover an even greater good news in Jesus: All evil, including sin and death, does not ultimately win.
The Christian hope is not merely that God will help us survive a broken world. Our hope is that God will ultimately make all things right.
Read Revelation 21:1–5.
There is coming a day when: Cancer will not have the final word. Abuse will not have the final word. Injustice will not have the final word. War will not have the final word. Satan will not have the final word. Sin will not have the final word. Even death will not have the final word.
Dig Deeper
Why was the judgment of Assyria “good news” for Judah?
Which promise in Revelation 21 means the most to you right now?
How should knowing the end of the story change the way Christians live in the middle of suffering and injustice?
Put It Into Practice
Choose one painful reality that regularly discourages you. When you encounter it this week, intentionally remind yourself: “This is real. This hurts. But this does not get the final word.” Then read Revelation 21:1–5 and thank God for the future he has promised.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
Nahum challenges the way we think about judgment.
God’s judgment means: Those who have been wronged are not forgotten. The guilty will not escape justice. God is not indifferent toward evil. No evil is more powerful than God. And evil will not have the final word.
But Nahum’s message also forces us to ask an important personal question: Where do I stand before the judgment of God?
We are not merely people who have been hurt by sin. We are people who have participated in it. Our ultimate hope, therefore, is not that we are good enough to escape judgment.
Our hope is Jesus.
FAMILY PRACTICE
Helping Our Children Trust God When the World Is Wrong
Main truth for kids: When bad things happen, God sees them, God cares, and God will make things right.
Read Together
Read Nahum 1:7 aloud:
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”
Explain:
Nahum lived during a time when some very powerful people were doing terrible things. God’s people may have wondered whether anyone could stop them. God reminded them that he was stronger than their enemies, he cared about what was happening, and evil would not win forever.
Talk About It
Ask your children:
What are some things that happen in the world that are wrong?
How do you think God feels when someone hurts another person?
What does Nahum 1:7 tell us about God when we are afraid?
Is there anything you are worried about right now that feels really big?
Who is more powerful than anything that frightens us?
For younger children, give them this sentence to complete:
“When I am afraid of __________, I can remember that God __________.”
Practice: “God Is Bigger”
Give everyone a piece of paper.
On one side, draw or write something that feels big, scary, sad, or difficult.
Then turn the paper over and write in large letters: GOD IS BIGGER.
Underneath it write: “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.” — Nahum 1:7
Put the papers somewhere your family will see them during the week.
Explain that this does not mean God always makes difficult things disappear immediately. It means nothing we face is beyond God’s power, nothing that happens to us escapes his attention, and we can always take refuge in him.
Pray Together
“God, thank you for being good. Thank you for seeing every wrong and caring when people are hurting. When we are afraid, help us remember that you are stronger than anything we face. Help us trust you, do what is right, forgive instead of seeking revenge, and bring your goodness into a broken world. Thank you that because of Jesus, evil and death will not have the final word. In Jesus' name, amen.”
