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Have you ever been betrayed by someone you love dearly? Even worse, have you ever forgiven them and taken them back, only to be betrayed by them again? If you answered "yes" to both questions, you aren't alone.
Psalm 106 describes an incredible love story just like this -- full of betrayal and forgiveness -- between God and His people. But God's love was "relentless.
"
Here are 5 short examples of how God's people deeply betrayed Him.
1) When in Egypt, God's people ignored miracles He performed to save their lives and they forgot His kind acts. Right before God performs one of the most epic miracles in the Bible (parting the Red Sea to rescue them from their enemies) they rebel and tell their leader Moses that God had led them into a trap to die. Faithless and fearful, they say that they would rather go back to Egypt and be slaves (Ex. 14:12).
But, in spite of their betrayal, God rescued them by parting the sea for their safe passage. Only thing is, they betray Him again and again...
2) Afterward, they decided to disobey a command to worship only God and instead put all their gold together and melt it into statues of bulls. In the end, they worshiped gold statues of bulls. And more...
3) They despised the promise God gave them of a new land -- a "promise land" God wanted to give them to rule and to finally end their captivity and wandering. But they didn't believe in God's gift for them.
4) God told them to take over a city and remove its inhabitants for good reason. But they disobeyed and mingled with the inhabitants for their own gain.
5) They killed their sons and daughters in sacrifice to demons.
And the list goes on and on.
God's people did suffer each time they betrayed Him, yet when they repented, He returned to their rescue.
So my question is, how have you betrayed God? You may not have murdered someone or worshipped a gold statue.
But what about believing His promises enough to obey his commands. To live purely, to hold on tight to your innocence, to work hard to put Him first in your life, to allow Him to be in the driver's seat of your life.
Well, thankfully, we are never too far from God's forgiveness.
In fact, His forgiveness is the most beautiful part of this Psalm:
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.
44 But he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.
(i had to add this... here's another translation of verse 46:
"And he caused them to find compassion of all those that had carried them captives.") -- meaning even when they were captured by their enemies, God made their enemies favor them... He still looked out for them.
God, give me a love for You like the love you have for me. A relentless love. Help me to follow Your leading, even when it doesn't make sense, because You always rescue Your people. Amen.
6:24 PM
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