O God, why have you rejected us so long? Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture? Remember that we are the people you chose long ago, the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession! And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth. Walk through the awful ruins of the city; see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary. There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards. They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest. With axes and picks, they smashed the carved paneling. They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the place that bears your name. Then they thought, “Let’s destroy everything!” So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped. We no longer see your miraculous signs. All the prophets are gone, and no one can tell us when it will end.
It seems strange that the psalmist would ask why. “Why have you rejected us? Why is your anger so intense?” Had not the LORD God warned His people through prophet after prophet, that unless they turned from their idolatrous ways to serve the LORD wholeheartedly, that they would be destroyed? In a way, it is the LORD’s mercy that His people were not totally consumed. It is of the LORD’s mercies… And His faithfulness to the covenant with His people.
A covenant is much more than a legal contract. It is a committed relationship.
