Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.[1]
Rebellious and Scorning
Psalm 78:17-20 NRSV
Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?”
Psalm 78:17-31[2]
T. M. Moore
Cast back to the desert they sinned evermore,
And tested the LORD by their greed o’er and o’er.
And though He provided them manna and meat,
His anger flared up and His wrath was complete.
Psalm 78:52-57 NRSV
Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy hill, to the mountain that his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. Yet they tested the Most High God and rebelled against him. They did not observe his decrees but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors; they twisted like a treacherous bow.
Psalm 78:52-64[3]
T. M. Moore
And yet like a flock He His people would tend
With care and compassion, as close as a friend.
He led them and brought them into the sweet land
Where they in His grace and protection could stand.
Yet over and over they turned from His love
And scorned Him Who ruled them from heaven above.
His glory departed, they fell to their foes
And suffered His wrath in uncountable woes.
J. I. Packer
Believers are saved from sin and death, but what are they saved for? To live for time and eternity in love to God—Father, Son, and Spirit—and to their neighbors. The source of love for God is knowledge of God’s redeeming love for us, and the evidence of love for God is neighbor love. God’s purpose, here and hereafter, is to keep expressing his love in Christ to us, and our goal must be to keep expressing our love to the three Persons of the one God by worship and service in Christ. The life of love and adoration is our hope of glory, our salvation now, and our happiness forever.[4]
The Gospel Way Catechism Question #19
How does God respond to sin?
God is not a permissive grandfather who winks at sin, but a perfect Father of fiery love. He hates sin because it defies his righteous character, disrupts our fellowship with him, and defaces us – his beloved image-bearers.[5]
Grant us, even us, O Lord, to know you, and love you and rejoice in you. And if we cannot do these perfectly in this life, let us, at least, advance to higher degrees every day, till we can come to do them in perfection. Let the knowledge of you increase in us here, that it may be full hereafter. Let the love of you grow every day more and more here, that it may be perfect hereafter, that our joy may be great in itself and full in you. We know, O God, that you are a God of truth. O make good your gracious promises to us, that our joy may be full. To your honor and glory, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God, world without end. Amen.[6]
Come, Ye Sinners
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Matthew 3:2
[2] The Ailbe Psalter, 2023, p. 124.
[3] The Ailbe Psalter, 2023, p. 125.
[4] J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 147–148.
[5] Trevin Wax and Thomas West, The Gospel Way Catechism, 2025, p. 75.
[6] A Prayer of Augustine, Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, p. 71.
