Psalm 78:34-35

Psalm 78:34-35

They eagerly turned to Him again!

What an indictment of Israel, these verses are. They are effectively telling us that it was only when God got angry and punished the people that they turned to Him and sought His companionship and His Will. As soon as things started to go well again and the “blessings” resumed, they turned away and resumed their old ways. It is sad to realise that the Lord needed to punish the people just to gain their attention and to remind them of all that He had done for them. He was their Rock and their Redeemer. 

We need to remember that the land of Israel was God’s land and He promised it unconditionally to Abraham, for all time. The people, however, were contracted to belong to God, by a covenant that was conditional. Thus, the history of Israel is one of ups and downs, of restitution and neglect, of blessings and curses, of intimate relationship and fickle disbelief, of success and failure.

The lessons are obvious and, sadly, they have been played out over centuries in the life of the Christian Church. In truth, we have to admit that our individual spiritual lives have been a succession of similar ups and downs, of times of faith and then disobedience. What remains constant, is the compassion, mercy and faithfulness of our Rock and Redeemer. Let us decide today, not to be people who fluctuate in their walk by forgetting and ignoring the goodness of the Lord. Let us give thanks to Him this day and never stop recalling how much He has blessed and loved us. 

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