God's Faithfulness to His Unfaithful People
Psalm 78, written by Asaph, is the second
longest Psalm in the Bible (Psalm 119 is the longest). It chronicles the
history of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh, the Lord God. In the first section,
Asaph recites the miraculous ways in which the Lord had intervened for Israel
in the past. In the middle section, he describes Israel’s rebellion against the
Lord, which resulted in God becoming furious at their sin and disobedience.
Over and over, they rebelled. Over and over God loved them anyway. But they kept on giving Him a hard
time, rebelled against God, and refused to do anything He told them. Until the
day the Lord got so furious that he walked away from them and left them on
their own.
In the
final section of the Psalm, we read of the faithful God returning to Israel and
restoring their broken relationship with Him. After a period of ignoring
Israel, verse 65 tells us that suddenly the Lord “was up on his feet like
someone roused from deep sleep.” He returned to Israel and intervened
miraculously on their behalf once again. But this time, the Lord makes it clear
that things are going to be different, starting with Shiloh, the center of worship
for Israel.
Shiloh was
a city in the territory of Ephraim just to the west of the Jordan River. This
was the place that Joshua had established as the worship center for the nation.
Under Joshua, the Tabernacle was set up in Shiloh and remained there for nearly
300 years, until the people defiled it and the city was conquered by the Phillistines,
Israel’s fiercest enemy. Sadly, Israel had corrupted this place by their idolatry
and pagan worship practices. As a result, the nation no longer had a central
location for the spiritual gathering of the people.
When the Lord returns to the people, he disqualifies Shiloh
and the tribe of Ephraim, saying that from now on, the worship center for
Israel will be at Mount Zion. The Lord chose the territory of Judah instead,
and selected Mount Zion, which he loves so much, as the place for His new
sanctuary. Verse 69 says, “He built his sanctuary [in Mount Zion] like the high
heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.” Why did He choose Mount
Zion? Verse 68 simply tells us that it is a place that He loves. As He looked
down on the Earth He created, He lovingly sets His eye on this place as His
favored place. Just as you and I have favorite places we love to go, so does
our God – He loves Mount Zion. And to this day, the center of worship for
Israel is in Jerusalem situated in God’s favorite place.
All of this demonstrates the faithfulness of God to an
unfaithful people. Like a father’s love for His children, the Lord had mercy on
His chosen nation. He would not remain angry forever, but – despite their
disobedience and rebellion – He returned to them and brought His glory and
blessing and holy worship back upon Israel.
In the same way, we often go through times of disobedience and sin in
our walk with the Lord. When that happens, we feel distanced from the Lord and
our spirit begins to get dry and weary. But our God is faithful even to His unfaithful people
and will not allow us to be separated for long. He will awake! He will return
to us! He will restore us to a vibrant and growing relationship with Himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment