Read Psalm 78:65-72. 65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. 66And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. 67He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, 68but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. 69He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever. 70He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; 71from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. 72With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
Asaph’s epic psalm ends with God’s choosing of David and Mount Zion. In spite of Israel’s shameful rejection of God, and the departure of his glory from Shiloh (see yesterday’s reading), he refused to give up on his people. David’s reign will be, by far, the high point of Israel’s Old Testament history, a time of peace and prosperity. The ark will be returned to the sanctuary of David in Jerusalem, and with it the glorious care of God will return through the guiding hand of the Shepherd King who guides the flock of God.
How much greater is Christ than David! Christ, our living sanctuary now living in us. Christ, our Shepherd King who laid down his life for the sheep. God continues to build his sanctuary on Earth in us, his glorious church. He continues to guide his people, exchanging our desperately wicked hearts for his own upright heart. Why? Why does God continue to work in us through the Son of David? Truly our shame is as great as Israel’s, as Ephraim’s. Don’t we deserve the same rejection?
The answer is, of course, yes, yes we do. So why did God save us?
2 Timothy 1:9. [He] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
To live is Christ embraces the eternal grace of God, the calling of his people to holiness, not because of our works, but in spite of them. The more we can embrace this great grace the more we will allow ourselves to be guided by his heart and his hand.
Prayer. Jesus, shepherd me today. Guide me from your upright heart. Amen.
To Live is Christ 