Woot!!
They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. Verses 10-11
Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. Verse 17
...they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Verse 22
In spite of all this, they still sinned;
despite his wonders, they did not believe. Verse 32
But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant. Verses 36-37
Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; Verses 56-57
I went back to yesterday's portion of this Psalm in the excerpts. Every one of those statements was made about the Children of Israel. God's "chosen people."
These were people who were seeing the miracles of God firsthand!! They were there. And, yet they forgot. Over and over, this Psalm proclaims the tragedy that God's people forgot the things he did for them and went on their merry way, sinning.
Are we any differnt? We, who are thousands of years removed from the miracles that these people witnessed firsthand? How much harder is it for us, who can only read about the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River? Who can only read about the rivers turned to blood, the slaughtering of the first-born, and the wheels of Pharaoh's chariot coming off?
But there is this one little passage that is snuck in the middle of all of this. I quoted it yesterday.
Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. Verses 38-39
If you know the history of Israel, of course, his patience finally ran out, and the temple was completely destroyed around 70AD. But this was after Jesus came. After salvation was given to the Gentiles. (That's me. Gentile.)
But thank God for his compassion. Thank him that he remembers that we are but flesh.
Luke 10:38-42
This the Mary/Martha passage. You know...where Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, soaking him in, while Martha scurries around, cleaning, cooking, whatever. Martha finally bursts in and expects Jesus to make Mary come help her. Instead, Jesus tells Martha that she is the one who has it wrong. Mary has chosen the better part.
I'm the kind of person that would have been Mary. I can always let the housework wait. And this was Jesus! The greatest teacher they had ever encountered. Plus, he was the Son of God, even if they didn't really grasp the importance of that fact, yet. I might have felt a little guilt when Martha complained. And I hope that I wouldn't have felt arrogant indignation when Jesus vindicated my choice. I would like to think that I would have encouraged Martha to come sit with us. Jesus would have been so engaging that I doubt I would have even noticed Martha running around, working. That's the way I am, anyway. If I'm into something...I don't notice anything else. The house could fall down around me.
If I'm Martha...I can't blame her for complaining. There's work to be done. We have a guest (maybe multiple guests), and we need to serve them, feed them, refresh them. And my sister is just sitting there! Grrr. But I'm quickly brought into reality by Jesus's response. I might have been angry at first. But I hope, as Mary encouraged me, that I might have just dropped all that unimportant stuff and sat at the feet of the Master with Mary.
If I could just sit with you a while
If you could just hold me
Nothing could touch me,
Though I'm wounded, though I die.
If I could just sit with you a while
I need you to hold me
Moment by moment,
'til forever passes by.
Now doesn't that just capture the spirit of Mary in this passage? Beautiful words! Say those words to Jesus. If you have the capability, find the song. Listen to it. Pray it.
Sit with Jesus.
Grace and peace, friends.