Falling Short (Psalm 78:9-16)

⁹ The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
¹⁰ they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
¹¹ They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
¹² He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
¹³ He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.

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What is striking in this passage is the unfaithfulness of the tribe of Ephraim after God had done so much for them in redeeming them.  The psalm recounts what God had done for them in the Exodus, rescuing them from Egypt.  But even still, they failed to keep the covenant and fell short of living by His law.

But what struck me in meditating on this is not so much the unfaithfulness of Ephraim, but rather how similar we are to them. OK, I’ll get more specific.  How similar I am to them.  Despite all that God has done for me, including the salvation won through the cross and resurrection, I still fail to keep His law as I ought, and I fall short of living in accord with the covenant relationship He has made with me.  Regardless of whether we classify it as spiritual weakness or full out rebellion, the result is still that I fall short of what He has redeemed me for.

And so my prayer today is one of confession and repentance. But it is also a prayer of thankfulness that the redemption I have received is new every morning. His forgiveness never fails.  Thanks be to God!

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