Psalms

Do we ever really find joy in forgiveness of sins?  It's probably something none of us spend enough time thinking of, let alone find joy in.  Yet, if we really understand what sin has done to us and how it has worked its destruction in our life, we can find joy in knowing that our sin is forgiven and we are being transformed by God from the inside out. 

Here we see a reflection on Israel's sin and God's faithfulness, mercy and longsuffering in dealing with them.  If we wrote a Psalm about our life, would we write a list of our failings so we could praise God in His faithfulness and patience?  The Psalmist not only does this but identifies himself with His people who have failed so often. 

Do we identify our self with America that is failing morally and slowly turning from God?  Or do we place the blame on others, on a political party or a generation?  Can we say verse 6?

Note that these accounts of sinful behavior are not in chronological order.

Joy in Forgiveness of Israel's Sins

¹ Praise the LORD!

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

² Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?
³ Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!

⁴ Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people.
Oh, visit me with Your salvation,
⁵ That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance.
The Psalm opens with an invocation to the Lord.  The Psalmist declares God's goodness and mercy.  These attributes endure forever because He is an eternal loving God.  Who of us can even understand the mighty acts of God?  Who of us could even praise Him enough for what He has done.  Verse 3 answers the questions asked in verse 2. 

The Psalmist makes it personal saying he wants to be included as one of God's people.  He wants the salvation of the Lord and desires the inheritance and all the benefits that come from following the Lord.

What are the benefits of the chosen ones? 

⁶ We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.

Then the language switches back to 'we'.  The nation, including the Psalmist, has sinned.

⁷ Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,
But rebelled by the sea-the Red Sea.

⁸ Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake,
That He might make His mighty power known.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;
So He led them through the depths,
As through the wilderness.
¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
¹¹ The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
¹² Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.
This section recalls God dealing with His people as they were brought out of Egypt.  You can read about this in Exodus 14:1-3.

Exodus 14:10

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. ¹¹ Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness."

In a few short verses of the Psalm we see the people go from unbelief and doubt to believing and trusting.  They were walking by sight and not by faith.  Their eyes were on the Pharaoh's army and not God.  God saved them in spite of the grumbling.  He saved them from the hand of him who hated him.  He saved them for His name's sake.

¹³ They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
¹⁴ But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
¹⁵ And He gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
It didn't take them long to forget again what God had done.  God didn't deliver them from the Pharaoh to bring them to the wilderness to die.  But they couldn't remember that.  They grumbled and longed for the basic provisions they had in Egypt.  God granted their request, but also sent leanness into their soul.  Is leanness into their soul a plague sent by God?  Leanness in their soul could mean discontent or a lack of feeling satisfied in their soul.

¹⁶ When they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the LORD,
¹⁷ The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
¹⁸ A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.
This recounts Korah's rebellion (Numbers 16:1-35).  They accused Moses of selfishly leading them when their were other worthy leaders.  The Lord made His choice of leaders.  This rebellion ended with God's judgment and the death of 250 men.  The opened up and swallowed the leaders of this rebellion while fire consumed the others. 

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
²⁰ Thus they changed their glory
Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
²² Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
²³ Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
While Moses was on the mountain getting instruction in the law from God the people became impatient and convinced Aaron to make the image of a calf for them to worship.  The people had already forgotten God.  They wanted a God that they could see and touch and hold.  They wanted a God they wouldn't forget quickly.  They wanted a God of their own making.  How quickly we forget God and all that He has done for us.  Once again, mankind learns the lesson, don't forget in the dark what you know to be true in the light.  They had stood in the light of God's provision and care.  Yet, when they found themselves in a darker time in their life, the memory of God's provision and care did not offer them any comfort.  They refused to wait on Him and trust Him.

God was going to wipe all these rebellious people out and start again but Moses stood in the gap.  This is the work of a pastor and priest, to intercede between God and the People.  This is like a soldier standing in the breech of the wall of defense to prevent the enemy from coming in.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word,
²⁵ But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the LORD.
²⁶ Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
To overthrow them in the wilderness,
²⁷ To overthrow their descendants among the nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.
You can read about this in Numbers 14.  The people didn't believe the good report of Caleb and Joshua regarding the Promised Land.  Instead they believed he bad report and cowered in fear.  Their unbelief kept them from claiming the promise that God had already given to them.  All they had to do was go in and possess the land.  As if the rejection wasn't enough, the people also longed for Egypt.  They looked back longingly at their bondage to Egypt as if it were the good old days.  God judged this people by making them wander the wilderness until that generation passed away.  That entire generation was scattered in the wilderness.

²⁸ They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
²⁹ Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
³¹ And that was accounted to him for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.
This story is found in Numbers 22-24.  The prophet Balaam tried to curse Israel at the urging of Balak, King of Moab.  God would not allow Balaam to curse His people.  He in fact turned the curse to a blessing.  Balaam then suggested to Balak to bring the Israelites down with immorality and idolatry.  The plague of Israel was stopped when Phinehas pierced an Israelite man who had brought a Midianite woman before the tent of meeting and the presence of Moses.

³² They angered Him also at the waters of strife,
So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
³³ Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
In numbers 20, Moses struck the rock in anger.  He was provoked at the grumbling of the people.  Because of this Moses and Aaron died prior to entering the Promised Land.

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples,
Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them,
³⁵ But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
³⁶ They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
³⁸ And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they were defiled by their own works,
And played the harlot by their own deeds.
Once in the land of promise the people were constantly turning away from God and His plan for His people.  They failed to utterly destroy the wicked inhabitants of the land.  Instead they mixed and mingled with them.  They allowed the evil and wicked things to infect their culture.  They, in turn, turned to these idols, served them and even sacrificed their kids to these demons.  Because to this their land was polluted with blood.  These dead works defiled the land.  God saw this as spiritual harlotry.

⁴⁰ Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred His own inheritance.
⁴¹ And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
⁴³ Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.
We can read through the times of the judges, through the kings, right on to the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities and see the repeated rebellion.  God's wrath was brought against His people and He gave them over to the wicked of the land.  When God dealt with them and they were judged they turned back to Him.  God then saved them only for them to turn around and rebel again.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When He heard their cry;
⁴⁵ And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
⁴⁶ He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.
God heard their cry every time.  When they humbled themselves and agreed with God that they had sinned He would hear them and save them.  In spite of all their sin and the many times they turned from God, He was always there to catch them.

⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, "Amen!"

Praise the LORD!

To recount our sin against the Lord brings us to praise.  Because He is faithful and loving to make a way fro us to receive forgiveness  from Jesus Christ.  Got eternal was never changing, patient and waiting for His people.