Psalm 78:65-77
The emphasis in this last section was on God’s behavior. Previous emphasis was on God’s devotion to physical Israel. However, Israel was faithless. They continuously repeated their spiritual failure. In spite of all the opportunities God provided Israel, in spite of all the reasons God gave Israel to trust His patient dedication, Israel had no enduring confidence in God. Occasionally a generation would trust God, but no continuous national trust emerged.
Note the focus in this section was on God—not on His hopes for the Israelite nation. Israel forced God to act on His behalf and to keep His intents, not on His desires for them. Sometimes God acts solely to demonstrate who He remains despite disappointing human failure.
These descendants of Abraham gave God no reason or encouragement to act as their divine agent. Therefore, God acted in His own behalf for His same purpose. It was as though God awoke from an oblivious sleep produced by a drunken stupor. He shamefully routed His enemies, but He no longer championed Israel.
He no longer operated from a moving tabernacle but, instead, from a definite temple in a definite place. Again Joseph’s descendants, unlike Joseph, proved to be untrustworthy leaders. Thus God chose to function through Judah and through David. A true shepherd of sheep (a lowly position) became the shepherd (king) of Israel.
It was not perfection but dedication of heart that provided skilled national leadership for Israel.
God’s early desire for Israel did not commit God to accept godless behavior. Beginning with David, love for Israel did not dictate divine behavior.
Link to other Writings of David Chadwell