Meaning of Psalms 78:38

This verse from Psalm 78 highlights the persistent mercy and restraint of God in the face of repeated human rebellion. The psalmist, Asaph, is recounting the history of Israel's failures to trust and obey God, even after experiencing His miraculous deliverance and provision. Despite their "stubbornness and rebelliousness" (v. 8, 17), their "frequent provocations" (v. 17), and their "testing and provoking God" (v. 41), God’s foundational characteristic of mercy prevented Him from enacting swift and complete judgment. He chose instead to repeatedly hold back His full wrath, demonstrating a profound patience that underscores His covenant faithfulness and His desire for His people's repentance rather than their destruction.

Context and Background

Psalm 78 is a didactic psalm, meaning it is intended to teach. Asaph, a Levite and temple musician, recounts the history of God's dealings with Israel, from the Exodus out of Egypt to their present circumstances. The psalm serves as a somber reminder of Israel's repeated unfaithfulness, contrasting it with God's unwavering faithfulness and mercy. This specific verse falls within a section detailing Israel's grumbling and testing of God in the wilderness (v. 17-20, 32-35), a period marked by their lack of faith despite miraculous provision.

Key Themes and Messages

• God's Persistent Mercy: The central theme is God's enduring mercy, which is presented as a defining attribute even when Israel’s actions warrant severe judgment. This mercy is not a passive sentiment but an active withholding of deserved punishment.
• Restraint of Wrath: God possesses wrath against sin, but He actively restrains it. This restraint is not due to a lack of power or a change of heart regarding sin, but rather a deliberate choice stemming from His merciful nature and covenant promises.
• Forgiveness of Iniquity: The verse explicitly states that God "forgave their iniquities." This forgiveness is not a nullification of sin's consequence but a gracious act of pardoning, allowing for continued relationship and opportunity for amendment.
• Contrast Between Human Failure and Divine Faithfulness: The psalm consistently juxtaposes Israel's forgetfulness and disobedience with God's steadfastness and grace.

Spiritual Significance and Application

This verse offers profound encouragement for believers today. It demonstrates that God's relationship with humanity is not solely transactional, based on perfect obedience. Instead, it is rooted in His merciful character. When we, like the Israelites, fail, falter, and provoke God through our sin, His response is not immediate and total destruction. He offers forgiveness and restrains His righteous anger, providing ongoing opportunities for repentance and restoration. This underscores the importance of approaching God with humility, acknowledging our sinfulness, and trusting in His merciful nature, which is fully revealed in Jesus Christ.

Relation to the Broader Biblical Narrative

The concept of God’s merciful restraint of wrath is a recurring motif throughout Scripture. It is evident in God's dealings with Adam and Eve after the Fall, with Noah and his descendants, and throughout the Old Testament covenant. This verse foreshadows the ultimate expression of God's mercy in the New Testament. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is the supreme act by which God’s wrath against sin was fully satisfied, enabling Him to forgive sins and extend mercy to all who believe, without compromising His justice.

Analogies

One analogy for God's restraint of wrath could be a loving parent who, while disciplined and firm with a disobedient child, does not disown or abandon them. The parent’s love compels them to correct and guide, rather than to cast out. Another analogy is a physician who, while recognizing the severity of a disease, patiently administers treatment and offers hope for recovery, rather than immediately declaring the patient lost. God's mercy is like a reservoir, deep and abundant, from which He draws to withhold the full flood of His righteous judgment, offering instead a steady stream of grace.

Relation to Other Verses

• Exodus 34:6-7: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty..." This passage is a foundational declaration of God's character, mirroring the themes in Psalm 78:38.
• Lamentations 3:22-23: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." This verse echoes the persistent nature of God's mercy.
• Romans 5:8: "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This New Testament verse highlights God's proactive mercy, extending it even to those actively in rebellion.
• Ephesians 2:4-5: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved." This passage emphasizes the depth of God's mercy in saving believers while they were still in sin.