God, just do this for me. Alright?

In Psalm 79 11-13, described as a plea for mercy for Jeruselem) the psalmist writes:

"Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die/ Return sevenfold into the bosom oof our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord! Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thans to your forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise."

In Genesis 28:20-1, Jacobsays much the same thing after his dream at Bethel:

"Then Jacob made a vow, saying 'If Godwill be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God . . ."


How many times do you think Israel made promises such as this to God. "O Lord, just do this for me and I will follow you all the days of my life!" I would make a study of this but I might have to spend all the days of my life doing it! The history of Israel is cyclical: from the beginning it is a case of God blessing them, or doing miraculous deeds for them, Israel promising to praise and glorify him, and then, almost instantly turning their backs on him, until things get so bad that they cry out "How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?" psalm 79:5 and ask God to bless them, or save them once more and make promises that even they know that they will not keep. In the previous psalm Israel "remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.

I do not say this as any sort of condemnation of Israel, for the simple fact that I think it is also metaphorical of all of us in one way or another. Our lives in the Spirit are cyclical, we give ourselves to God, then take back from him, we move towards him, then run away.

And yet:
Yet he, being compassionate, forgave them their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath."

Thanks be to God that he is loving as well as wrathful, that he has the full compendium of emotions and more restraint then any human.

If not, well . . . we'd all be screwed