Readings for today: Psalm 77-79, Romans 7
One of the things I love most about the Bible is how it never runs from the ugly reality of human sin. It never whitewashes human history. It never attempts the paint the people of God in any kind of overly positive light. It simply tells the honest story of our successes and failures and frames them all in light of the faithfulness of God.
Take Psalm 78 for example. I love how the Psalmist begins in verse 1-4…“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” If you’re reading this for the first time, you might find yourself a little confused. The Psalmist is going to utter “dark sayings from of old”, stories that his ancestors have passed down, tales that might otherwise be kept from children and yet these same stories will declare to the coming generation “the glorious deeds of the Lord?” This doesn’t make much sense to our 21st century, American Christian ears.
Things get only more confusing as we read the rest of the Psalm. In brief, it recounts all the ways the people of God have failed. All the ways they’ve sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. All the times they faced judgment for their disobedience.
“They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.” (Psalm 78:10-11)
“Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.” (Psalm 78:17)
“They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalm 78:41)
“They provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.” (Psalm 78:58)
One would think they would suffer terrible judgment for their sin. One would think they would rightfully earn death for the ways they abandoned God and His Law. One would think God’s justice would demand an account and they would be wiped from the face of the earth. Their destruction becoming a byword and warning to all who would hear. But that’s not what happens. Amazingly enough, God meets their sin with grace. Meets their crimes with pardon. Meets their transgressions with mercy.
“In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.” (Psalm 78:12-16)
“He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.” (Psalm 78:23-27, 29)
“He, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.” (Psalm 78:38-39)
“He led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.” (Psalm 78:52-55)
“He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.” (Psalm 78:70-72)
It’s an amazing read when we stop to think about it. It declares the goodness and graciousness of God’s character. It reminds us that though God will by no means pardon the guilty, His steadfast love will endure for a thousand generations. Most of all, this Psalm foreshadows the cross. It points forward to that unique event in human history where the overwhelming weight of human sin was carried on the shoulders of the Son of God. As He hung there between heaven and earth making atonement for all we had done and yet will do, the depth of our evil and suffering and sin was met by the wonder and glory of something even deeper still…God’s grace. Friends, the greatest miracle God has ever performed was our salvation.
Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 80-84, Romans 8