9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And heard their cry by the [c]Red Sea.
10 “Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them,
And made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 “You divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And their pursuers You hurled into the depths,
Like a stone into [d]raging waters.
12 “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 “Then You came down on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 “So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,
And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
15 “You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You told them to enter in order to possess
The land which You [e]swore to give them.16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They [f]became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 “They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery [g]in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 “Even when they made for themselves
A calf of molten metal
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great [h]blasphemies,
19 You, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a [i]boundary.
They took possession of the land of Sihon [j]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 “You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24 “So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them [k]as they desired.
25 “They captured fortified cities and a [l]fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and grew fat,
And reveled in Your great goodness.
This isn’t the end of the song, but this section ends on an interesting note. Which is that their fathers reveled in the abundance provided by God. Yet their fathers all died in the wilderness for their rebellion, and their sons would rebel against God time and time again until they were carried off into captivity. The authors of this song rightly note that God was “slow to anger and compassionate…”
He gave them hundreds of years to get it right, and still they did not. Ultimately, God sent his Son to pay the penalty for their sin and for ours, because we can’t get it right either. He is indeed slow to anger and full of compassion, so much so that God was willing to pay the price himself, so that we could be made right. The requirement for justice was fulfilled, and we are released from the bonds of death and sin, so that we can know God more fully.
And even, one day, see Him face to face, to know him as he is. That is our quest, that is what we were made for, and that is what our hearts yearn for. You may deny it today, but God is patient, and still full of compassion. He will wait for you all your life if necessary, but that would be a life wasted instead of owning up to the fact that we are not our own. We were made with purpose by a God who loves us, we were bought with a price, and only in Him can we find fulfillment.