Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
(Psalm 106:20 NLT)
Even so, he pitied them in their distress
and listened to their cries.
(Psalm 106:44 NLT)
Observation
A couple of verses have my attention today—two verses that, for me, summarize the whole of Psalm 106.
The first is verse 20—which declares a remarkable, stunning contrast:
They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
(Psalm 106:20 NLT)
What a really stupid deal, huh? I’ve made some bad deals in my day, but nothing close to that!
The minute I write the sentence above, I know I’m only fooling myself. The truth is, I’ve made that very trade (the same one the Israelites are chided for here) many times—trading loyalty to my God for the trinkets of this age. What a foolish trade! What a foolish trader!
But I love—and I take heart—from verse 44:
Even so, he pitied them in their distress
and listened to their cries.
(Psalm 106:44 NLT)
For as foolish as I’ve been, God has been just as gracious—and even more so. I’m not suggesting that my foolishness is inconsequential…that it doesn’t really matter what foolish choices I may have made or foolish actions I may have taken. I’m only declaring the wonder that, regardless of my foolishness…regardless of my propensity to make really bad deals with the Devil, God remains gracious towards me and responsive to me when I cry out to Him and return with all my heart. He, then, in all His glory is even more remarkable than me in all my foolishness. Wonderful, wonderful God!
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1 comment:
I am so thankful for His faithfulness. The older I get the more I realize I have to just keep emptying myself of those things I have traded for God. Some of those things try to stick pretty good, but I find as I let them go He fills me up with more of Himself, which is the only thing that can satisfy my soul. So thankful that his mercy endures forever. He is indeed a wonderful God.
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