They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their Redeemer.

But they deceived him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues,

their hearts were insincere toward him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

Yet he was compassionate; he atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them.

He often turned his anger aside and did not unleash all his wrath. (Psalm 78:35-38 CSB)

After leading his people out of slavery under Pharaoh through Moses, they consistently rebelled against his holiness and grace. So he disciplined them for their own good. And for a time they would repent and obey. It is almost a precursor to the times of the Judges. Blessing, forgetting, disobedience, discipline, crying for help, deliverance, blessing.

In the account recorded and recounted above, we see a profound breaking of the fourth commandment. And a warning to all of us! We speak untrue words before God: deceived/mouths and lied/tongues. The parallelism emphasizes the sin. And it is toward God. Yet we are told not to take his name in vain (not to mention not to bear false witness; see Exodus 20). But it goes deeper. Insincere hearts toward him. It hurts to type such words! Unfaithful to his covenant. Let us not deceive ourselves. We follow in their footsteps. Though we bear his name we bring shame on that name through our actions and even our ways of life.

Yet! Yet his response included compassion, atonement, preservation, holy patience, and the ultimate demonstration of self-control. (I do think God first is the perfect demonstration of the fruits of the Spirit he shares with us.) In Christ and by sheer grace God does not give us what we deserve. He shows compassion toward sinners. He sees that we are lost sheep in need of a Shepherd. He provides atonement. That actually means he removes the obstacle of his wrath and makes the way for us to be reconciled to him. He lets us live when we deserve to die for our sins. He relinquishes his holy anger that our sins rightly provoke and withhold his wrath that our sins rightly deserve.  What a comprehensive deliverance!

Of course this could not go on indefinitely. Sin had to be dealt with finally and fully. The answer to the dilemma? Jesus. Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed. (Romans 3:24-25) The answer is spelled out in the work of Christ for sinners like me and like you. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for the salvation you provide by grace through faith in Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.