God’s Compassionate “Yet” to Our Unfaithfulness: Psalm 78-Supplication through the Scriptures

God’s Compassionate ‘Yet’ to Our Unfaithfulness

Psalm 78

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:13-14

When I’ve spent time reading through Exodus and Numbers, there are a couple of things that amaze me. One, God performs many wonderful things on behalf of His people. The plagues executed on Egypt to deliver His people, the parting of the Red Sea, the miraculous provision of water and food are just a few of the ways God worked for the people of Israel. If that wasn’t enough, His very presence went with them and dwelt with them, guiding and protecting them. The second thing that is always amazing is the number of times, despite God’s mighty works, the people rebel against Him and grumble against Him. Numerous times they cry out that they would rather have stayed in Egypt the land of their affliction than to be brought to the place God led them. But however wondrous God’s work and their repeated rebellion might be, it is a mirror into the soul of God’s children today.

We know all too well the rebellion of our own hearts. We have experienced a greater deliverance than the people of Israel. We have been set free from our bondage to sin and death, and yet how many times do we in practice return to our “land of affliction” and commit sin and rebellion against the Lord and even delight in it? We have tasted sweet fellowship with our Savior in His presence, but we still thirst for other things to satisfy us.

In Psalm 78, Asaph rehearses some of Israel’s history. He recounts the cycle of Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness. Twice he repeats the phrase “Yet he.” These words are preceded by Israel’s rebellion: “they did not believe in God, and they did not trust his saving power” (78:22); “their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant” (78:37). Yet He. The word “yet” should draw our attention to the fact that what follows will be in contrast to what was said before. We might expect that God would respond a certain way because of their rebellion and doubt, yet He responds in a way contrary to what their sin deserves.

Israel doesn’t believe in God or trust His saving power, yet He rains down manna from heaven for them to eat, and in fact He gives them food in abundance. They doubted, but He graciously supplies for their needs. Again, Israel is not steadfast or faithful to the Lord, yet He, “being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity” (78:38). They rebelled, they grieved Him, they tested and provoked Him, but He restrained His anger often and He remembered that they were but flesh.

He is this for us as well. In our repeated failings, He has promised to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. We might expect God to be disappointed with us, or we might expect the Lord to grow weary with our many failings, yet He is our Father. And “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14). We do not have to have a perfect faith. We may be even today struggling with believing God is really going to work all things for our good. We may be toying with sin. “But the power of faith is not in how perfect it is. Instead, the power of faith is found in the object of faith. If we truly trust in God and his promises through Christ, even if that trust is weak, then we will be saved through that faith and receive all of God‘s promised blessings. The surety of our faith is found not in the strength of our faith but in the strength of our Almighty Savior (Tabletalk July 2020 issue, emphasis mine). When we are weak, or our faith is weak, He is strong. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. In dependence on Him, we can cry out to Him to aid us in anything we are facing. Our almighty, compassionate Savior longs to be gracious to us.

So today, do not give up in your fight for hope and joy and in your fight against discouragement and despair. Don’t give up in your fight against that besetting sin that seems to ensnare you over and over. Keep enduring. Keep fighting. Keep pressing on in His strength and in His steadfastness. Our faith and our strength to persevere may be weak. We might be too much like the Israelites, repeatedly provoking and grieving the Lord, but we have a mighty and compassionate Savior. “O Lord Jesus, thou blessed manna of heaven, how all this agrees with Thee! We will even now feed on Thee as our spiritual meat, and will pray Thee to chase away all wicked unbelief from us. Our fathers ate manna and doubted; we feed upon Thee and are filled with assurance” (Charles Spurgeon).

Let’s pray through Psalm 78 for a steadfast and faithful spirit to fight against sin and rest in our Savior’s mighty power.

Yet He Provided

‬‬78:21-25 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.

Let’s pray:

▫️The Lord would take away any wicked unbelief in our hearts. “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark‬ ‭9:24‬). Is there something that is causing you to question or doubt the character of God?

▫️The Lord would help us trust His saving power: for the salvation of loved ones, for the difficult trial we are going through, or any place we need His power to work on our behalf. We would not lean on our own understanding, but we would trust in Him with all of our heart (Proverbs 3:5).

▫️We would praise Him for His continual abundant provision even though at times we are not faithful.

Yet He, Being Compassionate

78:32-38 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They 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 faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.

Let’s pray:

▫️We would repent of our unbelief and our unfaithfulness to Him, and we would seek Him earnestly.

▫️The Holy Spirit would bring to our remembrance repeatedly today that God is our rock and the Most High God is our Redeemer, and we would be able to fight well against sin, unbelief, and lack of trust.

▫️The Lord would direct our hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:5) that we would be steadfast toward Him and faithful to His covenant.

▫️The Lord would overflow with compassion toward us.

He Remembered

78:39-43 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.

Let’s pray:

▫️As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord would have compassion on us in the ways we have rebelled, grieved Him, tested Him, and provoked Him. We would be convicted and repent right away when the Holy Spirit pricks our hearts.

▫️The Lord would be the strength of His people and give His strength to His people. In our weakness, His strength would be made perfect in us. Our weakness would showcase His strength.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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