Psalm 106:44-45

Psalm 106:44-45

Out of His great love He relented

I have had cause, recently, to reflect in depth and teach about one of the greatest pronouncements found in the whole Bible. It comes when Moses had an audience with the Lord God on Mount Sinai, at the time the second or New Stone Tablets were written. “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed His name, the Lord. And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin……..” Exodus 34:5-7. These words, you may remember, were quoted in Psalm 103:8 and there is an echo of them here. Wickedness, rebellion and sin have characterised the Israelites for centuries, but the Lord still “takes note of their distress and their cries, for their sake He remembers His covenant and out of His great love He relents.”        

There are so many occasions when the Israelites have cried out to the Lord, in truth no one else ever did prior to Messiah, this was the only nation that believed in Him and that sought to obey Him. Time and again they made a mess of things and sank into desperate predicaments and helpless despair, time and again they cried out, and again and again the Lord God heard their cries, remembered His covenant and relented out of His great love. 

We must never forget that their God is our God, that He hears our cries too and He will always honour His covenant promises to us. Why? Because He is a “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Any preacher/teacher who tells you different doesn’t know who they are talking about!

 

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