Instant Replay: Israel Finds Grace

Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned in disgrace as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund when he was charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. Since then Strauss-Kahn, a high-profile French political figure, has faced additional allegations of sexual misconduct; he’s been linked to a prostitution ring. His wife suffered the public embarrassment of his behavior and has decided to leave him.

Because our relationship to God has been designed for intimacy and loyalty, Scripture compares it to a marriage relationship. Sin, therefore, is often equated to adultery: whenever we choose disobedience, our relationship with God suffers a breach of that intimacy and loyalty.

Our betrayals of sin grieve the Father, and they merit His anger. Like any person who has been betrayed in egregious ways, God has the right to sever His relationship with us. But as we see in Psalm 78—and indeed throughout the entire Old and New Testaments—God’s character is longsuffering. Though we don’t deserve it, He initiates mercy and grace. For the nation of Israel, who had been disloyal and disobedient at every turn, whose very demand for a king betrayed their unwillingness to submit to and honor God, He proved Himself committed to them. They asked for a king, and He would give them a good and wise shepherd.

Today is our final reading of Psalm 78. We’ve traveled the terrain of temptation and seen the treacherous inclinations of the human heart. We are not unlike Israel. In the wilderness, it is easy to doubt God. And despite the record of His past provision, we’re inclined to forget and mistrust. Though we are as chronically disloyal as Israel, He will be faithful to us, just as He was to them.