Psalm 106:43 43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
The history of humanity is a history of rebellion. History is told by its battles, wars, famines, disasters, coups, and uprisings. It is told from the perspective of the winners. Those who are at the top get to write of their glorious defeat of the infidel hordes. All that is good is from the victors and all that is evil is from the vanquished. (Listen to the political elites’ language, and today is no different. Trump is evil, we are good.)
And it has been the same down through all history. But there are rare exceptions. A few nations have been able to be honest about their own failings. Germany has acknowledged the horrors of the Third Reich. Japan has acknowledged their brutal treatment of their enemies. America has honored the Tuskegee Airmen, among other things.
Israel had much to offer in the way of confession. They had failed more than most. Their history is one of human failure and grace-filled divine intervention.
Our Psalm today outlines some of those failures. It marches through Israel’s history starting with their time in Egypt. They had a habit of forgetting the LORD’s interventions on their behalf. They were shortsighted.
At each and every turn, they forgot the LORD. No matter the size and scale of the LORD’s intervention, they seemed unable or unwilling to bring the lesson of the LORD’s faithfulness forward with them. They had to learn the lesson repeatedly. They were always rebelling and the LORD was always redeeming.
Our text is a summary of the cycle the people of Israel followed. The LORD delivered, they rebelled and then received the natural consequences of that rebellion. In the words of Psalm 81:12 and the letter to the Roman Church, “God gave them over.” God let go of the reigns of control and let humanity guide its own train to destruction.
“Get on board, little children… there’s room for many-a-more.” The train of rebellion was filled with passengers. Everyone wanted a ticket on this popular train. Extra cars were added to accommodate the overflow crowds. The anti-virtue signal was sounded with every stop. And they got on board.
They seemed to love idolatry, the worship of anything or anyone other than the LORD. At every turn humanity has a way of lifting up the most unlikely objects for adoration. The media fawn, the elites turn a blind eye, even promoting the sin. And the train goes rumbling on.
But there was a bring spot in this Psalm. One man named Phinehas stood and took a stand. He was willing to name the sin and act obediently. And what he did “was credited to him as righteousness.” He got credit for living a godly life, being in right relationship with God and humanity. He stood on the LORD’s side, pulled the emergency brake, and forced the train into reverse. He saw the disaster ahead and did something about it.
But even Phinehas’ efforts didn’t bring a permanent change to the hearts of the LORD’s people. They were still sent into exile for their rebellion. They still faced the consequences of their sin. Bad things still happened.
Even if the Church in the United States repents, truly turns back to the LORD, confesses and lives godly, we may still face the consequences of our historic sins.
We have a responsibility to get ourselves not the right train. We can’t blame the conductor for arriving at the train’s destination if we walked onto the wrong platform. We must take responsibility for our own travel. We are responsible for our response to God’s offer of grace and mercy. We are responsible to keep the LORD’s faithfulness ever before us as an invitation to obedience. He remains faithful!
The Arnold Journey 