Psalm 78:57

Psalm 78:57

A faulty bow

The history of the Israelites is littered with rebellion, disloyalty and faithlessness. It seems that these people found it absolutely impossible to stick to God’s Laws and to have a steady, on-going relationship with Him. Perhaps one of the reasons is that their religion demanded an awful lot of them? Its daily rituals, its petty rules, its obscure ceremonies and conventions made it impossible for ordinary people to follow. Yet, by the time of Christ, the Pharisees and Scribes had added even more rules to the endless liturgy of observances that so overwhelmed those who just longed for a simple faith. And, despite all of the persecution and tragic circumstances of their past history, modern, orthodox Jews still seek to maintain an ascetic, religious lifestyle that is controlled by rules and regulations!

We know that we have a God who does not look at any of this, He is interested in men’s hearts, and He knows that we cannot keep all of His Laws, even though He gave them. As Paul says, “The Law is our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ.” Galatians 3:24. Mankind will always be unreliable, the Psalm uses an old metaphor here, “as unreliable as a faulty bow.” The original Hebrew uses the word deceitful rather than unreliable. An archer’s bow that looks alright and handles ok, but that is slightly warped or damaged will never deliver arrows that hit the target. It is impossible to aim straight. And that is the problem with Israel, and it is our problem too, we appear to be alright to the casual onlooker, but our inner structure is warped and, as a consequence, our arrows always miss the mark. How many of us have lived lives that are full of good intentions that never quite get fulfilled. Maybe, it’s time to have a look at the bow? 

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